by KIM HILSENBECK
Four months after passionate input from residents about site plans, the Kyle City Council has unanimously approved a conditional use permit for Wal-Mart to build a 156,000-square-foot retail store at the intersection of Interstate 35 and Kyle Parkway.
Wal-Mart is expected to bring about 300 new jobs to Kyle’s economy, and sales tax revenues could be upwards of $35 million annually, according to City Manager Lanny Lambert. He said the new revenue could be used to pay for much-needed road improvements in Kyle.
The city has said it may put forth a bond election in November – at a cost of about $20 million – to fix Lehman, Bunton, Goforth and Burleson roads.
Wal-Mart’s initial site plans presented to the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission last fall – even before the company applied for a conditional use permit – had the box store entrance facing the interstate. H-E-B, Lowe’s and Target all face Kyle Parkway.
Despite complaints from residents, as well as a lack of full support from the zoning commission, Wal-Mart seemed ready to continue with its plans.
In an about-face, however, the giant retailer came back to the City Council with revised plans showing a new orientation for the building; it will face Kyle Parkway. The change involved the company purchasing additional land from the developer to provide parking spaces lost by the switch.
In addition to the revised site plans, Wal-Mart also requested a landscape variance – meaning, an exception to the city’s existing ordinance.
Wal-Mart requested the variance to create three large islands of trees rather than many trees spread out around the parking lot. A Wal-Mart official said the grouping of trees would require less irrigation. The request does not ask for a reduction in the number of trees planted, just a change in how and where they are planted.
The council also unanimously approved the landscape variance.
City planner Sofia Nelson said it could take at least a year or more until the store opens.
