Kyle doesn’t consider Blanco Vista an ‘established, stable’ neighborhood

Kyle says it's OK to build a truck stop across the street from here because this is not an established stable neighborhood
 

As expected, Tuesday’s Planning and Zoning Commission agenda includes an item seeking approval to change the zoning on property at I-35 and Yarrington Road so that the owners can locate "a truck/travel center" (i.e., a Godzilla truck stop) on the property that the city of Kyle claims is in a "remote location from established stable neighborhoods."

The city’s staff does not seem to be opposed to the zoning change, but I do expect a host of citizens from the neighboring Blanco Vista residential district to fill the chambers and protest the proposal. The problem is those well-meaning citizens live in an established stable neighborhood on the south side of Yarrington, which is in San Marcos, so their objections will carry only moral, but absolutely no political, weight with the commission or the city of Kyle. The San Marcos City Council, incidentally, has gone on the record in opposition to a truck stop being located on the property.

In a letter accompanying the zoning request from the owners’ attorneys, Terrence L. Irion of Austin writes "Transportation related services, such as a truck/travel center and warehouse facilities are ideal uses for this property located … in close proximity to the railroad tracts to the west." The letter makes no reference to the residences in Blanco Vista to the south.

In his letter, Irion tries to appeal to the sensibilities of the five "whatever a developer wants, a developer gets" members of the City Council by writing: "As has often been said by Kyle Officials (sic) in recent years, business growth is key to stabilizing the tax base and taking the burden of paying for growth off the shoulders of the homeowners in the community." What remains to be decided, perhaps, is whether that means any kind of business growth.

The staff analysis accompanying the request states "…at some point in the near future the site will have utility services available (no wastewater line currently serves the site, but that has not stopped P&Z or the City Council from approving zoning changes identical to this one in the past) and, once that occurs, the property — with its proximity to interstate and rail, and it’s remote location from established stable neighborhoods — will be well-suited to those uses permissible in the warehouse district."

Those residents of the nearby Blanco Vista subdivision may not think too highly of the comment that the property is in a "remote location from established stable neighborhoods."

The complete P&Z agenda for Tuesday's 6:30 p.m. meeting can be found here.