Friday, Aug. 29, 2008

Awkward moments fill meeting on development plan for U.S. 377

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By SARAH JUNEK

A scheduled meeting between property owners in a section of U.S. 377 north of Johnson Road and engineers with Freese and Nichols, a firm hired by the city to study and present a plan to develop the corridor, was filled mostly with awkward moments.

"It was like two plugs that just don’t match," Mike Keel, owner of Mc Donnell Building Materials, 600 N. Main, said of the disconnect between the owners and engineers at the Aug. 21 meeting.

The city-sponsored meeting was held to gather feeback from owners about land use, access to properties, streetscaping and gateway options in that section. But it quickly turned into a forum for the confused crowd of about 20 to air complaints.

"This is really one of the last undeveloped arterials in Keller," Wendy Shabay, the firm’s representative, said to start the meeting. "We really want to make sure we develop this right."

However, Shabay was unable to solicit much information relevant to the study, as the owners seemed to lack enough information to provide feedback and were frustrated with Shabay’s technical presentation, which seemed to fuel confusion.

As a result, questions were focused on other issues. Some landowners were hoping to hear about a timetable for bringing public works to the area and raised drainage questions. Others asked about new driveways put in by the Texas Department of Public Transportation about a year ago and why some were bigger than others.

"The issues people had were not exactly issues the folks we met with could answer," said Sue Salstrand, daughter of longtime residents John and Claudia Perrigo along North Main Street who also attended the meeting.

For example, Shabay asked whether the 55 mile-per-hour speed limit should be reduced to 45 in order to allow for more driveways – therefore, more commerical buildings – under requirements set by the state transportation agency. But responses veered towards disatisfication with the current driveway configurations.

The study, which seeks feedback from all stakeholders, is expected to be finished in January. Some large landowners have met privately with city officials and engineers.

The study, which costs $57,323, was commissioned to prepare a comprehensive plan for the city’s last major commercial corridor as it reaches build out. The city expects more interest in that area once the Marshall Ridge and Marshall Point subdivisions, which will add about 1,000 homes that cost between $250,000 and $400,000 there, are finished.

The meeting is "one of the first steps. Now it’s going back to the drawing board," city planner David Hawkins said.