Comments

Posted by: On: Sunday, June 28, 2009 11:48 PM

Comment Title:
I don't have a stake in this battle, but what in the heck would you do with this land other than zone it commercial. It sits on a major roadway. Why was the land across the street where the Italian rest. zoned commercial? What is the difference? Are you going to allow cows, pigs, horses or other livestock to live in the middle of progress. Maybe this is where the city of CS wants to put their new conference center and they are mad they didn't purchase the land first. CS City Council members don't make any better decisions than Bryan Council memebers. If you want additional revenue, take the land off agriculture use, and zone it commercial, and then look at the tax generated.
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Posted by: Willie On: Friday, June 26, 2009 5:42 PM

Comment Title: Do Your Research
I live in Bryan. I looked at the area that was vacant around me prior to purchasing my home and called the city to see what could be built there. If you have a BIG vacant piece of land near HWY 6 and think it will never develop or develop to what YOU want - you are truly living in Utopia. Odds are it will be a commercial development. If you do not like what might be developed on that vacant track - here is the great thing about it - you can BUY it yourself and CONTROL what happens. Dont own the land then you can whine about to the city or hear on these message boards.
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Posted by: On: Friday, June 26, 2009 4:20 PM

Comment Title: paying for growth
I cannot imagine Weingarten paying for a new Rock Prarie overpass over Highway 6. Obviously, they pay for roads internal to their land ... regarding widening Rock Prarie, addition of traffic lights, etc., I think it is really unclear if the "owner's rep" was being truthful about how much of that they would pick up. Let's face it, the current traffic problem at Rock Prarie and Hwy 6 is barely acceptable. The lights are timed to let traffic go west to east easily because that is where most of the traffic is from and where Rock Prarie cannot be widened. If there was significantly more traffic going east to west, the current timings no longer work and things will become much worse. There are (I think) solutions but most involve more systemic solutions than merely work on Rock Prarie east of the bypass and the feeder road.
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Posted by: On: Friday, June 26, 2009 3:02 PM

Comment Title:
Willie is exactly right! It is the developers responsibility to build the internal and bordering roadways, in addition to the sewage and storm water lines, etc. This was pointed out to the P&Z commission a couple of weeks ago by the owner's rep. And why does the city need to hire a consultant to review Weingarten's request? And what does the consultant's comment of "the change would not ensure the protection of natural resources....and could strain city services and utilities" mean? If the city remains obligated to growth, it has to grow to meet the increased need for services and utilities. And what natural resources is the city concerned about protecting on that parcel? Absolutely absurd. I see another law suit on the horizon.
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Posted by: Willie On: Friday, June 26, 2009 2:23 PM

Comment Title: Is your comment correct 'Managing Growth'?
Why would the city be paying for these upgrades to the infrastructure? This is the responsiblity of the developer.
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Posted by: jtp On: Friday, June 26, 2009 11:22 AM

Comment Title: go Charles!
Almost six weeks ago, this company razed the trees and they had every legal right to do so (regardless of the motivation). On May 20, the Eagle reported on this story and quoted Eric Strauss... "In furtherance of its development efforts and in accordance with current law, Weingarten has elected to remove certain trees on its property to the extent necessary to position the property for its future development." To Mr. Strauss: there is quite a difference between "remove" and "cut". These gorgeous trees were CUT and left as an unsightly and dangerous fire hazard. It is heartbreaking to all that see this site and Weingarten has left this as a one-fingered salute to our city. If Weingarten honestly wants to be viewed as a "good corporate citizen", they will clean up this dangerous mess.
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Posted by: On: Friday, June 26, 2009 10:53 AM

Comment Title: managing growth
Actually, the city council is doing just what the council should do for a premiere community, which is to manage growth. Look at cities like Boulder, CO, always on the best places to live lists, that maintain a green belt and limit growth to what the infrastructure and plan supports. While Weingarten says they do not want resources from the city, once the land is zoned in a particular way and the building/traffic commences, the city will HAVE to pay for the infrastructure upgrades (with your tax dollars).
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Posted by: Charles On: Friday, June 26, 2009 10:46 AM

Comment Title: Good Show CS City Council
I have never entered a city and made an observation that it was such a fine place to live by the view of a commercial development. The cities that I am impressed with are those where you enter a green way with majestic trees and all commercial developments are away from main thoroughfares and shielded from view with greenery and limited signs indicating their presence. Those communities are few and far between. It would be nice if Bryan and College Station were so arranged instead of the appearance of wanton greed now displayed.
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Posted by: On: Friday, June 26, 2009 10:09 AM

Comment Title: interesting Dr Brick
I wonder how you feel about Blinn when they need to cut down trees in Bryan or Brenham?
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Posted by: On: Friday, June 26, 2009 9:25 AM

Comment Title: confused
I don't have a dog in this fight, nor do I live near the property, but I can't understand how the leaders of this community constantly speak of becoming a top-tier community while stifling growth. This property is near one of the major intersections in a community which has no true downtown area. What else do you do with the property but develop it commercially? A true test would be for the current owners to let the agricultural exemption lapse and then see how much they would be taxed for the land. That would set up a conflict between the city and county appraisal district and would, at least, be an interesting sideshow. How can the city not allow this zoning change but decided, out of the blue, to annex the land off of Capstone and allow the building of an ugly apartment complex right next to country estates which families had sunk their life savings into? Something stinks, and it is not just the Aspenheights apartment complex. The smell is originating from city hall.
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Posted by: On: Friday, June 26, 2009 7:56 AM

Comment Title: To Pig Farmer
You don't sound like a very good neighbor either.
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Posted by: On: Friday, June 26, 2009 7:44 AM

Comment Title:
Hope they do not turn it into a giant pig farm which is what I would consider doing to this childish irresponsible council. I just bought a house not far from there.
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