Dateline: September 21, 2001 8:09 PM

meeting leaves unanswered questions for local businesses and property owners

Approximately 35 people attended a specially called meeting Tuesday night, September 19, to discuss the medians recently installed on Colleyville Boulevard.  Some of those in attendance said they once again learned about the meeting by accident, not from official notification from the city.  The meeting, called as a result of the questions raised during the Colleyville Corridor Committee public meeting held two weeks ago, gave business and property owners another chance to express their frustrations, but few left feeling all their questions had been answered.  This article is a chronological account of the events and statements made during that meeting.  

Mayor Donna Arp opened the meeting and turned it over to Bill Lindley, Colleyville's City Manager, who conducted the entire meeting.  Lindley gave a brief overview of the situation and opened the meeting for questions.  During the overview Lindley explained that the city had initiated discussions with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) regarding the re-alignment of Pleasant Run Road in 1998 or 1999.  The plan was to shift the intersection of Pleasant Run and Highway 26 from a Y-intersection to a T-intersection.  Several months later Richard Myers of Realty Capital approached the city regarding constructing a new intersection, Main Street at Highway 26.  A restructuring of Highway 26 was considered necessary due to cross-over traffic and continued commercial growth in the vicinity.  Realty Capital contracted with the Parsons Group to do a study, which eventually led to the plan to install the medians currently in place on Highway 26 between Glade Road and Thompson Terrace.  It was stated that TxDOT preferred the raised median design over other options and required that a meeting be held with property owners prior to the adoption of any design plan.  That meeting was held in January, 1999, and was initiated and conducted by Realty Capital.  In February, 2000, the consulting engineers submitted the design information to the city.

Articles previously published by LNO related to this issue can be found by clicking here (8/31, 9/7, and 9/14 articles).

Following the overview City Manager Bill Lindley opened the meeting up for questions.  A member of Dr. Brad O'Neal's staff started the discussion off by asking about the new traffic light recently installed at Main Street and Highway 26.  She stated that it was now dangerous to turn into their building and patients were asking them questions about how best to access their office.  At that point Dr. Brad O'Neal asked "What's the purpose of the light?"  The city manager responded that the state required the light because of the construction of Main Street.  When questioned about what their patrons should do, city engineer Keith Fisher responded that the city has contacted TxDOT and that they are looking at several options.

Dr. O'Neal then asked "What was the rush in getting that light in?  Are there any businesses there yet (in the Village)?"  Keith Fisher again responded to the question.  He stated that the city's desire was to build the infrastructure first (for the Village) and also to create a controlled intersection (for Pleasant Run).  At that point Dr. O'Neal said "So the plan wasn't to direct traffic to the Village?" 

In response to that question Richard Myers remarked that the primary reason for the light was to provide a controlled intersection and that the underlying reason for that was a safety concern.  He stated that the current traffic on Pleasant Run Road is between 7,000 and 9,000 cars per day and the Village will add another 1,600 to 1,700.  Dr. O'Neal then asked what the distance was between Pleasant Run and 26, and how the traffic at that intersection would be handled.  The developer's consulting engineer responded by saying there would be a four way stop at Main Street and Pleasant Run.  He then addressed the issue of why a signal was needed at the Main Street/Highway 26 intersection.  He stated that it will eventually be a cross intersection (with Thompson Terrace) and asked if that answered Dr. O'Neal's question.  O'Neal answered "No, not at all.  Several years ago we had two lights at Glade Road and 26.  One was removed to reduce congestion.  Now we're adding another one.  Why is Pleasant Run being diverted to Main Street? What will happen at Thompson Terrace and Glade Road?"

At that point another member of the audience asked "Why is there such a concern for safety here?  There have been two fatalities at Highway 26 and Tarrant and there's no apparent concern there.  While Pleasant Run has been closed there's been no concern for safety at the alternative intersections, such as Church Street."  This speaker and Dr. O'Neal both then stated that there seemed to be "over concern" for Main Street and the Village.

Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Williams, owners of the Red Barn Saddle Shop, stated that their business had been off considerably since the medians went in.  Mr. Williams asked if Highway 26 was a state highway and when told it was said "Well, where is the state?  Where is there engineering on this?"  Bill Lindley responded that they had been invited but did not come, but had signed off on the design.  Mr. Williams continued "When something is done to the highway they always inform me, but they didn't inform me of nothing.  I can't get home out of my business.   I must go all the way to Hall Johnson and back to Glade to get home.  Why wasn't the state involved in the first place?  You can't get to my business from the right or the left."  Mr. and Mrs. Williams left the meeting early and outside the meeting room added the thought "We need some wisdom in the city."

Dr. O'Neal again stated that it was very dangerous for clients to turn into his building due to the new traffic light.  He stated that there was no room to make turns and that there were near-accidents every day.  "You're forcing everything down Main Street.  Isn't there supposed to be pedestrian traffic in there?  Won't that be dangerous?"

Jan Hennig, owner of JH Interiors, a tenant in Colleyville Plaza (located at the northeast corner of Glade Road and Highway 26) said that her customers could not reach her business due to the construction on Glade Road and the medians on the highway.  "It's ridiculous that you have to go so far to get turned around.  I feel like everything is working around the Village of Colleyville.  All of us that are here now are getting pushed out of the way.  What will happen when Sonic moves?"  The city staff responded that TxDOT is doing the Glade Road/Thompson Terrace intersection work as part of a state congestion reduction and air quality program.  Bill Lindley stated that "the Village is only one development in Colleyville.  The city won't live or die on one development.  I don't know what will happen to Sonic."  At that point it was pointed out that Rick Ervin, owner of Sonic Drive In, was present at the meeting.  It was noted that Sonic is building a new facility at the intersection of Highway 26 and Village Park Drive, and the present site is on the market.   

Lloyd Brothers, long time resident and former council member asked "We have many good businesses and developments in town.  Why would we focus on one developer?  Why would we turn all of the streets over to the Village and nothing to the east?  Everything leads to the Village.  Why do we let one subdivider control this whole town?"  The consulting engineer responded "the roads are not really focused on the Village.  They're focused on street intersections (Village Drive, Main Street, Pleasant Run).  Richard Myers stated "we didn't start the medians, TxDOT did".  Attendees then asked why medians weren't required along other sections of 26 (in Hurst and North Richland Hills for instance). 

Lloyd Brothers then added "If we're going to let one subdivider control this, I'd like to buy some stock in it."

Dr. Richard Driscoll of Total Eye Care, also located in Colleyville Plaza, noted that his business has been down 15%.  "We've been open for several years and summer is usually our busiest time.  This is the first summer we've had negative growth and the medians are the only thing that has changed."  He suggested removing the medians and restricting the access to Colleyville Plaza.  "People make U-turns when they're not supposed to.  It's a terrible design.  This doesn't help us.  We had the best location in Colleyville, but now it's bad.  It's just a bad deal.  I was never notified.  It's my understanding that the city was supposed to notify us.  Fixing Glade Road won't help."   Bill Lindley then stated that the developer (Realty Capital) sent letters in 1999 to property owners.

Norman Gibson, whose wife owns the property where the snow cone stand is located, then said "The state said if businesses didn't want the median there wouldn't be one.  They also said the city was required to notify."  Mr. Gibson made several attempts to have the city manager read the letter he had received from the state highway department stating this, and finally later in the meeting read it himself.

When asked about the possibility of removing the median and installing a continuous left turn lane, Keith Fisher said the medians aren't wide enough now for a car to pull out and be protected.   That requires 20' and there is only 14'. 

Keith Dale, owner of the Flower Market, stated there was no access to his business.  He asked if some lanes could be reconfigured and asked if the state paid for the medians.  He was told no, the developer (Myers) did.

Rick Ervin, owner of the Sonic Drive In, said he went to the original meeting, but never heard from anyone again.  He stated that his business is down 20%.  "What's going to happen to me at my new location?  If this wasn't for the Village, who paid for it?  I found out about the medians when they dumped the asphalt."  Addressing Bill Lindley, Ervin stated "You came in at a bad time.  I'm not going to take it out on you."  He then made a reference to 1709, as did others (meaning there were no medians there).  He then asked who drew up the design for the medians and was told by the city manager that the consultant hired by the Village developer did. 

Lindley then addressed the issue of communication.  "I can't speak to the level of communication in the past. I will commit to the future in that we will have good communication.  You see this happening already with the Teague Nall & Perkins web site, although there isn't much information on it yet."  He stated there would be a series of meetings over the next years as the work on Highway 26 begins.

Richard Newton asked why the installation of the medians wasn't delayed until Pleasant Run was finished since it is required to provide the necessary circulation into businesses.  The city stated they were two separate projects.  When asked when Glade would be open the response was November 1.  When asked again why the medians weren't delayed the city manager responded "I don't know". 

Dr. Brad O'Neal and Rick Ervin both questioned why there was such a rush to put the medians in.  Lindley responded that things were "out of synch" with the Pleasant Run realignment and contractor delays.  O'Neal stated "the city gave carte blanche to the developer - his engineers, his design, his dollars.  Who is going to pay to have the medians redone?"  The city's response to that question was "I don't know." 

Glen Steubing, Applebee's manager, said their guests were complaining, but that now they could be accessed from Pleasant Run.  "With the medians the way they are, I'm concerned about people getting bottled up and just bypassing my business."  In response to one of Steubing's comments about future plans for Highway 26, the consulting engineer said "What you're really saying is are we going to get rid of the median" and Steubing answered "I hope you do it."

A citizen then asked "why is Colleyville being singled out for medians? Did someone on council go to the state and ask them that when this started?"  The consulting engineer replied "other cities have strict requirements regarding driveway spacing and ingress/egress."  O'Neal then asked if that was ever considered (changing ingress/egress).  Ervin said yes and when asked what happened he said "You saw what happened" (meaning the medians). 

At this point Lindley asked Richard Myers to come forward and address the history of the process.  Arp then stood and said the same thing Lindley had just said.  Myers stated that they started designing the Village in the spring of 1998.  They had meetings with TxDOT and city staff.  "No one had any desire to do medians.  When TxDOT looked at it they saw we had plans to add two new public streets that come into that area.  The highway department had been looking at this general area for the last ten years (Glade Road/Highway 26).  They (TxDOT) wanted controlled access."

Then Lindley opened the meeting up to ideas from the participants.  Luann Edwards, former Colleyville Planning & Zoning Commissioner, asked whatever happened to Doug Henderson's plan.  Henderson was the former planning director for the city.  He had proposed a plan that would provide a  road that would connect the commercial properties without cars getting on 26.  No one from the city knew what had happened to that plan, but they said they would look. 

Norman Gibson then read a letter he had received from Jimmy Archie of Realty Capital and displayed a drawing showing the section of Highway 26 in front of the snow cone stand.  He stated that even though the medians had not been installed there, there was a sold yellow line, which still prohibits people from turning.  He again referenced the letter he received from TxDOT in 1999 saying if the businesses don't sign off it won't go.  It was once again stated that the city requested the developer (Myers) to take care of negotiations with the property owners.  Brad O'Neal then said to Lindley "I know you weren't here when this happened.  But there are people here who were, and we haven't heard from them."  Arp and Councilperson Dana Feldman were present from the council but did not respond.

Jan Hennig then said "What we have heard from everyone is that the small businesses are getting hurt because of the median.  That doesn't make sense.  We need something done now.  This is all so simple to me.  I was hoping Richard (Myers) would fight for us. This should concern the chamber and the city.  You've heard over and over again that businesses are losing business.  What we're all here for tonight… we don't have time to wait….we want answers… all we're asking for is a left hand turn."

Tim McNamara, manager from Krogers, spoke next, saying "I've met with Richard (Myers) and the city.  We support the Villages.  When the median went in it also hurt our business.  We were excited about the Village project.  We met with Richard many times and thought we knew what was going on, but we were surprised by the median.  Kroger just spent $1.2 million to upgrade the store.  We thought there was going to be a signal at the Village/Highway 26 intersection.  The owner of the shopping center is not happy because he's losing tenants to the Village.  I want to request on Kroger's behalf a full median cut so people can get into our store.  We had one and it went away and that hurt us."

Bill Lindley said that "temporary" for the medians is approximately 4 years, and that there would be a 2 year construction period for the Highway 26 improvements.  He again asked for ideas from the attendees.

Trip Buchwald announced that he had just purchased the property directly across from the Pleasant Run intersection and plans to use it for offices.  He believes the medians are even more dangerous than what was there before.  "I've seen people make illegal U-turns, drive over the medians and knock down the signs." 

Ret Stansberger of the Colleyville Area Chamber of Commerce asked "what kind of time frame would we be talking about if we get with the state to make changes?".  Keith Fisher said they would submit the ideas to TxDOT within the next 2 weeks and see what is acceptable to them. 

Brad O'Neal asked if there would be another meeting with the property/business owners and if they (businesses) could have access to TxDOT.

Kipp Whitman, a member of the Corridor Committee, said they had been meeting for about a year and held their first public meeting with business owners two weeks ago to present their recommendations.  Referring to the response from the businesses at that meeting he stated "It was really rather shocking.  We were unprepared for the new points of view that were brought out." 

Stansberger then asked "what can we all do working together, proactively and positively - write letters, circulate petitions?"  Lindley responded that the city needs to look at the various ideas (openings, turns, etc.) and see which are within TxDOT's guidelines.  "Letters and petitions won't sway the highway department. They look at traffic standards."

A summary of the ideas that had been presented at this point included 1) removal of the medians (by far the most popular choice), 2) remove the U-turn signs, 3) add signage for individual properties, and 4) look into obtaining cross-access agreements.  As of Friday, September 21, it appeared the U-turn signs were being removed.

John Arnett, owner of Texas Back Rub, expressed the same concerns held by others.  He is also a tenant at Colleyville Plaza and plans to move to the Village, but commented that he needs to be able to stay in business until then.  Colleyville Plaza is owned by Realty Capital, the developer of the Village.

Trip Buchwald again spoke and said "is it too simple to just remove the median?"

Then Mayor Donna Arp stood and spoke.  She addressed the questions raised about FM1709 by saying that was not a state highway, but was owned by the cities and county and had different restrictions.  She stated that the city didn't want to spend city dollars on the median and that was why they let the developer pay for it.  When asked if the city could change the medians, Arp responded "We will be talking to TxDOT.  The city is very interested in your business and interested in keeping businesses that are here.  We asked Richard Myers if this was signed off by TxDOT and if there was an owner's meeting."  She also said "one of the unfortunate things we hadn't counted on was that Pleasant Run was delayed". 

Tim McNamara then said "I think you guys (council) have more influence over those (TxDot people) than you lead us to believe.  The property owners are putting our trust in you.  We look to you to protect our interests.  There needs to be much better communication, and not leaving it up to the developer.  I hope in the future you'll be more proactive in reaching the business owners."  O'Neal echoed these sentiments and said "we trust our elected officials to take care of us". 

Mayor Arp again mentioned that Glade Road and Pleasant Run are behind schedule.  Norman Gibson asked how business owners would be notified of future meetings.  Lindley responded that notices would be mailed to property owners and also hand delivered to businesses.  Councilperson Feldman added that it could be added to the cable channel, city web site, and asked for email addresses of those present.  Gibson added "property owners and businesses are complaining, but wouldn't it be nice to find out what citizens think about the medians?  I can tell you they don't like it."

HAVE COMMENTS ABOUT THIS OR OTHER STORIES?
SEND AN EMAIL TO THE EDITORS
Comments will be posted on Editor Emails unless otherwise requested.