Letter to the Editor: Why we said ‘no’ to Kroger

" When Kroger came before P&Z on October 24, 2011, P&Z was not given any options by the applicant. We were told by Gary Huddleston, Director of Consumer Affairs for Kroger, that if they did not get their fuel station, it would be his recommendation not to go forward with it, because they needed the sales of the fuel station to recapture the investment of the $14.3 investment. After our meeting, there was an Economic Development Team meeting on November 7, 2011 to revisit possible solutions. As a commission, we did not have the opportunity to hear the solution of moving the fuel center back 10 from the north side of the parking lot to allow for extra time and space coming from the deceleration lanes on FM1171. We did not have the luxury of hearing the expert testimony, nor the Council deliberation that may have served as a catalyst of changing opinion versus being backed into a corner by the applicant when the majority of us were concerned about access from a driveway that needed an exception to Town ordinance due to its close proximity to a major intersectionFM 1171 and FM 2499. Even Michael Clark, President of Winkelmann & Associates, the engineering consultant stated at the November 21, 2011 meeting that safety is a word that engineers do not want to throw out there. So when you are sitting in our seats and are not 100% sure that a proposed project is safe, would you approve it?

Town Council was wise to remand the Kroger agenda item to Planning and Zoning, so that the commissioners could have an opportunity to revisit the any possible solutions, but unfortunately this was not to occur. On December 6, 2011, the Flower Mound Leader reported that Gary Huddleston said that Kroger was not convinced that they would be successful at planning and zoning, so they decided to withdraw the item from the agenda. http://www.flowermoundleader.com/articles/2011/12/06/flower_mound_leader/news/024.txt

Lastly, thank you fellow Commissioner McKaige for addressing the political nature of what has transpired with the Kroger application denial from late 2011 and been blown out of proportion by those who are running for office. Candidates who are running against the incumbents are stating in their campaign literature that the incumbents were against the $14,3 renovation/expansion of the Kroger store, which is not true. I do not know of any sitting council member who was against the improvements and expansion of the store. It is on record that Bryan Webb announced his candidacy for Town Council during public participation at the Public Hearing for the Kroger SUP request before Town Council meeting on November 21, 2011, If that is not political posturing, I dont know what is. "

" I'm sure that opposition from other neighborhood stations like 7/11, Chevron, Shell, etc NEVER played
into the equation either!

Nobody likes competition! "