Goods news and perhaps some not so good news about proposed Goodwill store

I must admit I was struck by a feeling of wistfulness bordering on sadness as I left City Hall following tonight’s Planning & Zoning Commission, turned left to walk to where my car was parked and immediately cast my eyes on the Kyle Library Thrift Store. That emotion swept over me because of the sudden and stark realization that, because of what just took place during that Planning & Zoning meeting, the days of the Kyle Library Thrift Store may be numbered.

That’s because the commissioners unanimously approved a conditional use permit for a 30,000- (30,001 actually) square-foot Goodwill Store immediately to the east of the Wal-Mart on Kyle Parkway. Frankly, I don’t see how the much smaller Kyle Library Thrift Store can compete against the overwhelming presence of a Goodwill giant whose operators told the commissioners this evening that they plan on employing as many as 300 persons to work at the facility. I’m not saying they can’t compete, but it’s going to be tough. So tough, in fact, I hope the owners/operators of the Kyle Library Thrift Store are thinking about another business model that would allow their establishment to remain as a locally owned and operated landmark in what hopefully will shortly become a revitalized and re-energized downtown Kyle.

But, then, I’m a relic of a bygone era, a product of the times when there weren’t giant chains dominating the retail market, when one did all their grocery shopping at the corner market with the fresh fruits and vegetables on display outside the store and that was no larger inside than … well … the Kyle Library Thrift Store. Oh, there were some chains — Robert Hall’s for men’s clothing and Buster Brown’s for kids’ shoes — but those stores didn’t overwhelm the mom-and-pops. On the contrary, they co-existed alongside with them.

And I know, no matter how much I miss listening to those radio episodes of The Lone Ranger, that I’m never going to be able to return to those thrilling days of yesteryear, but that’s not going to stop me from feeling at least of tinge of nostalgia because of what is likely to be the fate of the Kyle Library Thrift Store.

On the positive side, I spoke to the individuals who made the pitch for the Goodwill Store before the commission immediately after the commission’s vote and learned Goodwill plans to lease the building, not own it. That’s good news because, if Goodwill Industries owned the building, being a 501(C)(3) corporation, it could have been exempt from property taxes and everyone knows that Kyle needs all the commercial property tax it can muster flowing into the city’s coffers.

Everything on the commission’s agenda tonight was approved unanimously, possibly because the one semi-controversial item, a zoning change request for a parcel of land largely in a 100-year flood plain, was withdrawn from consideration. The only item that didn’t receive affirmative votes from all seven commission members was the loopy letter the commission will be sending to the City Council which the commission decided to send instead of the Comprehensive Plan mid-term update the Council requested from the commission. I have absolutely no clue how the Council is going to receive this letter when it specifically requested an actual update. Not only that, I posed that question to Council member Shane Arabie who, as is his custom, attended tonight’s meeting, and he told me he had no clue either. Watch this space.

The only reason it did not receive the blessing of all seven commissioners was because newly appointed commissioner Brad Growt abstained from the voting because everything that took place regarding this issue occurred before he joined the commission.

In other action this evening, the commissioners

• Recommended the City Council approve a request to rezone 1.118 acres at 289 Anton Drive, just off Beebee on Kyle’s eastern edge, from Agriculture to Retail Services to allow the owners to locate an automobile inspection facility there. The owners stressed the facility would conduct state inspections exclusively and the only thing remotely connected with automobile repair would be they might replace burned out light bulbs in the vehicles they inspected..
• Recommended the Council approve a request to rezone a 3.576 acre lot on the corner of Porter and Cockerham streets, just behind the Exxon station/convenience store on Rebel Drive, from single family residential to community commercial. According to Kyle’s zoning ordinances, "The purpose of the community commercial district [CC] is to provide for slightly more intense commercial uses than allowed in the neighborhood commercial zoning district. The district is established to provide areas for quality retail establishments and service facilities. This district should generally consist of retail nodes located along or at the intersection of major collectors or thoroughfares to accommodate higher traffic volumes." These are the kinds of establishments that may be located there: multi-family on the second floor and above shall be permitted by right regardless of base zoning; bed and breakfast up to five rooms; retail; restaurant; restaurant with drive-through; religious assembly; art gallery; child care center (outdoor playground allowed); fire/police station; professional office; funeral home; barber/beauty shop; convenience/grocery store; fuel station; nursing/retirement homes; veterinarian without outdoor boarding; health and fitness center; and/or a financial institution with drive-through banking. A spokesperson for the developer said the developer had specific plans for the lot. He wouldn’t divulge what they were, but said they adhere to what’s allowed in that zoning district.
• Granted a conditional use permit to construct two warehouse-type office buildings behind two similarly styled and constructed buildings on the east side of I-35, directly across the interstate from where Opal Lane intersects on the highway on the west side.
• Granted a variance from the Landscape Ordinance for an apartment complex being constructed on Marketplace Boulevard almost directly across the boulevard from the Kohl’s store because the land did not contain enough acreage to accommodate the number of trees required by the ordinance.