rw
member
Posts: 420
Reg: 10-11-01
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12-05-11 02:14 PM - Post#143027
A new WalMart at the corner of Bethany and 2551...
glad I did not buy in Parker Lake Estates...
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/c oll...
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starrlac
enthusiast
Posts: 642
Loc: Allen, TX
Reg: 11-03-00
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12-05-11 02:26 PM - Post#143028
In response to rw
I can't read the whole article because I'm not a subscriber, but this came up several years ago. Before the Super Target was built in Allen, there was talk of a Super Target or Walmart at the intersection of Bethany/2551.
Edited by starrlac on 12-05-11 02:26 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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civicminded
Community Guide
Posts: 9244
Loc: Lone Star State
Reg: 04-24-02
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12-05-11 02:54 PM - Post#143029
In response to rw
Which corner?
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rw
member
Posts: 420
Reg: 10-11-01
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12-05-11 03:08 PM - Post#143031
In response to civicminded
NE. Across from CVS.
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roukie
newbie
Posts: 21
Reg: 07-08-08
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12-05-11 03:43 PM - Post#143033
In response to rw
Here is the entire article...
try this link
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/c oll...
Country living slipping away as suburbs, Wal-Mart come to Lucas
G.J. McCarthy/Staff Photographer The Lucas city limit sign stands not far from an empty field that will soon hold a Wal-Mart along FM2551 north of Bethany Drive-Lucas Road. AText Size By MICHAEL E. YOUNG
Staff Writer
[email protected]
Published: 04 December 2011 11:07 PM
RelatedThe past and future of Collin County meet at the intersection of Bethany Drive-Lucas Road and FM2551.
On the west sits Allen and its neat red-brick neighborhoods, thousands of homes with manicured lawns and holiday decorations and six lanes of traffic running through it. To the southeast, it’s Parker and the Parker Lakes development — big homes on big lots and no citified sidewalks in a country-suburban setting.
And just to the north, across West Lucas Road, open fields of dark earth stretch north along FM2551, a landscape unchanged for decades at the western edge of Lucas.
But like much of the Dallas area, where growth mushrooms out from the cities and suburbs, change is on the way. In a matter of months, this little corner of Collin County will look a whole lot different. A new Wal-Mart is coming to Lucas, 180,000 square feet of groceries and merchandise that will attract people and money and traffic and, almost inevitably, more commercial development.
For the city, that means jobs and, most important, tax revenue — good things in a place that saw its population increase by almost 80 percent from 2000 to 2010 as the first bits of suburbanization pushed the population to 5,166. That lifted the population density of this still largely rural area to more than 400 people per square mile.
That pales in comparison with Allen’s 84,000 people — more than 3,200 per square mile — and even smaller Parker’s density of almost 700 per square mile.
But some already lament the loss of the dark nighttime skies and open spaces.
“I’m only a seven-year veteran of this area,” said Chris King, who lives across West Lucas Road from the Wal-Mart site, “but I can only imagine what people think who have lived here all their lives.”
His family moved to Parker Lake Estates in Parker so the kids could play in the yard without fear of crime or traffic. King expects all that to change.
“Once this is built, if I go up to the second floor of my home and sit on my daughter’s bed, there’s no way I won’t see it,” King said.
Lisa Swan, who serves on the board of the Parker Lake Estates homeowners association, said people thought the Wal-Mart project had been put on hold because there were no sewage lines in that part of Lucas. And the roads haven’t changed in the 18 years she’s lived in the area.
“It’s still the original farm-to-market road. They haven’t widened it at all,” she said. “And even though the Wal-Mart would face south, they say the main entrances will be on the west, on the Angel Parkway [FM2551] side. So there are no plans to widen Bethany Drive or Lucas Road or 2551 going south. That will be a real problem.”
The Texas Department of Transportation does have plans to widen this portion of FM2551 someday but no money to actually do the work, said Barry Heard, TxDOT’s engineer for Collin County.
“There is no funding for any project in that area,” Heard said, adding that he was surprised to learn of the project.
“We were at a town meeting in Lucas not too long ago and the subject was roads, and nothing was ever said about a Wal-Mart,” he said.
But questions about the roads and other issues don’t seem likely to slow the project down.
Wal-Mart officials, in a written statement, said the company “sees an opportunity to serve our customers in a county that is seeing tremendous growth.”
The store will include all the usual Wal-Mart features — general merchandise, groceries and a pharmacy — in a building designed with “energy efficient technology and environmentally friendly features to reduce energy and water consumption and minimize waste.”
Wal-Mart hopes to begin construction in early to mid-2012, opening for business in 2013.
And Stacy Caudell, public works director in Lucas, said there’s nothing to slow Wal-Mart down.
“They could start construction pretty much any time, I believe,” he said.
As part of Wal-Mart’s agreement with the city, the company will add turning lanes into the property, Caudell said, and will work with nearby Allen on road improvements leading to the shopping center.
None of that is likely to satisfy neighbors across the road in Parker, though.
“I’d say most people here are opposed, although there’s probably a handful that are not unhappy because they wanted a grocery store close by,” Swan said. “But I don’t think anyone wanted one that close and they definitely don’t want the traffic in the neighborhood.
“And the houses that back up to Lucas Road, you can look right into them at night. And Parker has an ordinance against having solid fencing,” she said, “so we’ll have to see if we can get an exception.”
Then there are a few like King, who is already considering moving when the Wal-Mart comes.
“If everyone says, ‘So what?’ and goes on, that’s all right,” King said. “But I think most people don’t know what’s going on. They should at least let people know what’s happening so they can decide what to do.”
He’s already looking at other areas.
“Would I move? Absolutely,” King said. “I couldn’t be more serious about it.”
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EnjoyingLife
enthusiast
Posts: 368
Reg: 08-09-10
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12-05-11 05:58 PM - Post#143035
In response to roukie
It's needed. Other than the Walgreens on the NW corner, there's residential and NOTHING else. No gas stations, nothing and man that Krogers at Bethany and Allen Heights is a beating! Bring it on Walmart!
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SB
enthusiast
Posts: 1134
Reg: 09-07-03
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12-05-11 06:57 PM - Post#143036
In response to EnjoyingLife
A Walmart?! Would you want a ginormous Walmart across the street from you? Wish there was a unique zoning for these superstores so they would locate where they would be less of an aesthetic detriment to the surrounding area. These big box stores really need a more extensive graduated buffer from residential to retail than say, a corner plaza does.
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civicminded
Community Guide
Posts: 9244
Loc: Lone Star State
Reg: 04-24-02
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12-05-11 07:37 PM - Post#143037
In response to roukie
While it will please some and upset others, such progress moves on. What is more interesting to me is how people move to growing areas and think it won't grow anymore. Hmmm, at least if it's a super Wally, they'll have a Mickey D's in there. One more place to get senior coffee!   
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RRRquilter
enthusiast
Posts: 1243
Loc: Allen
Reg: 05-02-05
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12-05-11 08:32 PM - Post#143039
In response to SB
Welcome to life run by the almighty dollar.
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gma3
enthusiast
Posts: 607
Reg: 10-17-06
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12-06-11 03:32 AM - Post#143040
In response to civicminded
Or more than likely a Subway like the one in Allen. I got very sick eating some food from the one in the Allen Walmart, so beware....
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TC2112
enthusiast
Posts: 750
Reg: 08-16-07
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12-06-11 10:45 AM - Post#143043
In response to SB
I'm fairly certain the city of Lucas has the right to allow a Wal-Mart with the city limits of Lucas. If people live in Parker or Allen, across the street from Lucas, then they took that risk when they chose to purchase a home there.
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Arcturus
enthusiast
Posts: 226
Reg: 05-11-10
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12-06-11 11:40 AM - Post#143044
In response to TC2112
This is why I wouldn't buy new tract housing with fields around them. Sure it is nice to not have a lot around you, but unfortunately unless you are really far away, this sort of stuff will find you.
My parents made this mistake when I was a kid. Bought in a small development surrounded by corn fields. Next thing you know there is a highway running behind the house and a huge warehouse park with trucks day and night.
Edited by Arcturus on 12-06-11 11:41 AM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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mspam3
enthusiast
Posts: 2193
Loc: Allen TX
Reg: 03-10-07
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12-06-11 05:22 PM - Post#143059
In response to Arcturus
Same here. We moved here 20 years ago to have a more "country feel" yet close to a big city. Everyone else had the same idea. We built near an elementary school so there were alot of business types that couldn't be built too close by.
I think we are kind of saturated with Wal-Marts around here. The one on Spring Creek, our new one on 75, the Neighborhood Market, and now another is coming.
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civicminded
Community Guide
Posts: 9244
Loc: Lone Star State
Reg: 04-24-02
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12-06-11 05:59 PM - Post#143060
In response to gma3
Oops, I didn't know the Allen one was different. Me sorry. Well maybe they'll do something kinda country with the image? After all, the one in Arlington (by those stadium sites) is adorned with sports thingies around the top. 
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AllenConsumer
member
Posts: 75
Reg: 07-06-11
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12-06-11 08:55 PM - Post#143065
In response to civicminded
I'm so happy when the rich folks get the Walmart. Enjoy that second bedroom view to the big and nice store.
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mgrayar
enthusiast
Posts: 3154
Reg: 09-25-09
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12-06-11 09:34 PM - Post#143067
In response to AllenConsumer
Just wondering, what did you think would happen with that land eventually?
Learn more about Cystic Fibrosis and how you can help at:
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MikeC
member
Posts: 76
Reg: 07-21-02
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12-07-11 03:23 AM - Post#143070
In response to civicminded
... What is more interesting to me is how people move to growing areas and think it won't grow anymore. ...
Hmm, like the NIMBY folks on the west side of town. Buying a house next to an open field and expecting it to stay that way. Then complaining about the potential noise when they live less than a mile from 75.
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mgrayar
enthusiast
Posts: 3154
Reg: 09-25-09
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12-08-11 11:35 AM - Post#143124
In response to MikeC
... What is more interesting to me is how people move to growing areas and think it won't grow anymore. ...
Hmm, like the NIMBY folks on the west side of town. Buying a house next to an open field and expecting it to stay that way. Then complaining about the potential noise when they live less than a mile from 75.
What does this refer to? Plenty of proximity battles happening on both sides of 75.
Learn more about Cystic Fibrosis and how you can help at:
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lcr2004
enthusiast
Posts: 2384
Reg: 03-10-05
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12-09-11 12:14 AM - Post#143171
In response to mgrayar
(to any or all of you but no one in particular)
If you don't want development near your house, move to a developed area or stay outside a major MSA. That Walmart has been rumored for at least 8 years now.
Oh, and I'm sorry that your 2nd floor view of Walgreens will now by blocked by a Walmart. That's awful.
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 Webmaster
Community Manager
Posts: 3110
Loc: Allen, Texas
Reg: 01-24-00
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12-09-11 02:23 AM - Post#143182
In response to lcr2004
(to any or all of you but no one in particular)
If you don't want development near your house, move to a developed area or stay outside a major MSA. That Walmart has been rumored for at least 8 years now.
Oh, and I'm sorry that your 2nd floor view of Walgreens will now by blocked by a Walmart. That's awful.
We all know that you have posted many negative comments about the Allen community. This is of course your right-no problem here. However, this post is disrespectful and close to being hateful. The forum rules prohibit this. Please review the community rules under the help link.
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