Austin-American Statesman: Costco likely on its way to Southwest Austin (Link will rot)
Barring any last-minute developments, Costco Wholesale Corp. is going where Lowe's and Wal-Mart of late have failed to tread: the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone.This week, the Austin City Council will consider final approval of a development that would put a 153,000-square-foot Costco store on William Cannon Drive at MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1), near areas where neighborhoods successfully fought two other big-box projects in the past year.
Neighbors and several council members say this project is different because it protects the site's 72 acres from further big-box development and enacts strict environmental controls.
[...]
But some people, including members of the Save Our Springs Alliance and Council Member Brewster McCracken, aren't convinced. They say the project, known as the Southwest Marketplace retail center, is too large, would worsen traffic congestion and would defeat the spirit of a ban on big-box retail enacted by the council late last year.
"This proposal violates every planning effort in this community in the last quarter-century," McCracken said Thursday. "I cannot vote for a plan that will massively increase traffic on MoPac."
Copyright 2001-2004 Cox Texas Newspapers, L.P. All rights reserved.
I was sick of this shit in the past (Austin Bans "Big Boxes" Over Edwards Aquifer, Another Victim of Democracy, Walgreens, South Austin, and Zoning Regs) and I'm sick of it now. What is it with some people and their unerring desire to rule the lives of others? Why do they think that their rule is legitimate?
A neighborhood association has every right to be concerned about the impact of business development in its area. It does not have the right to block those businesses' legitimate purchase and usage of that land.
ATTENTION: Comments are closed. You are viewing my old blog, archived for search engine purposes.
To view the new blog, please go to the homepage. To find the current version of this entry, search here.
Man, those arguments never go away, no matter where you go or how 'tolerant' of diverse land uses people seem to be!
In my years of representing developers both residential and commercial, I've heard them all: The use is always 'inappropriate', 'too big' and will 'make a bad traffic situation even worse'. Objection 1 is just a matter of taste, 2 is completely relative and 3 (imo) has more to do with how poorly the State manages 'public goods' like roads than anything project specific.
I've adopted the credo from the Lone Mountain Compact: http://www.tppf.org/environment/news/lone.html
"absent a *material* threat to other individuals or the community, people should be allowed to live and work where and how they like"
Posted by: Jay Jardine on August 31, 2004 05:15 PMCity Council Brewster McCracken,
I would like to share some insight into the mind of McCracken. This man has directly infringed upon my 4th, 5th, and 14th ammendment right granted to me under the US Constitution. I am a landowner in Austin who can't afford the upkeep on an old delapidated structure. Mr. McCracken single handedly has tryed to force historic zoning on my property against my will to win favor with a large voting populous. This will end up costing me over 1 million dollars and possibly bankrupting my family. He has laughed in my face. He has no concern over property rights, nor placing a huge financial burden on me with his decision. I am only one person, that doesn't live in Austin. He told me your vote doesn't count! If you are a landowner in Austin Texas be aware of Brewster. He does not acknowledge your rights as a landowner and will directly infringe upon those rights granted to you by the federal government. He is an evil man that has manipulated the Austin community into believeing he is for small business and free enterprise. His actions are appalling. H Goodwin
Posted by: Goodwin on March 4, 2005 07:08 AM