Wimberley HEB Meeting

Wimberley HEB Meeting Wimberley Planning and Zoning Commission 6 pm, Dec 12, 2013 City Hall Chambers office, 221 Stillwater, Wimberley HEB has a contract to purchase the site of the old Bowen Elementary School on RR 12. Wimberley ISD has agreed to the sale, and will be looking for a new site for the ball field originally planned for the Bowen property. HEB has approached the Wimberley City Council and the Planning and Zoning Commission with plans to build a “small scale” HEB store on the Bowen site. First reports are that HEB will build a grocery store, car wash, and gas station. The HEB store will be approximately 45,000 square feet. Compare that to the 37,000 square feet for Brookshire’s and 30,000 square feet for the rebuilt ACE Hardware store. CARD has heard from many citizens that they want HEB to respect the small town environment of Wimberley in the design of a new facility. Meetings are being conducted by HEB with city officials with the next meeting planned for December 12th at 6 pm before the Wimberley Planning and Zoning Commission, in the City Hall Chambers office, 221 Stillwater. Earlier meetings held by city officials were workshops with HEB planners at which public input was not allowed. At the December 12th meeting the public will be given an opportunity to be heard. Citizens within the Wimberley Valley are encouraged to attend the December 12th P & Z meeting and share their opinions with city officials. Since citizens outside the city limits support Wimberley with their sales taxes, CARD believes that these citizens also have a right to speak and be heard along with residents within the Wimberley city limits. CARD (Citizens Alliance for Responsible Development) has not taken a position on whether an HEB should be located in the city of Wimberley; if HEB can comply with the city’s rules, it will be given a permit to build. However, the city does have broad latitude to seek the best development it can for the city through its planned development ordinance. In making decisions on the proposed development, CARD urges our elected officials, HEB planners and citizens to consider how a large multi-purpose facility of this magnitude will impact virtually all existing businesses, business people and citizens of Wimberley. How many local businesses will disappear? What new businesses – some of The train has not left the station. CARD believes there is still opportunity to make the coming changes as beneficial as possible for Wimberley. Here are recommendations of steps CARD hopes the city will require from HEB as part of a Wimberley Planned Development District (WPDD) or a negotiated 1. Prevent light pollution: The Texas Hill Country is noted for its spectacular night skies. Light pollution threatens these night skies. Cities, businesses, institutions, and residents throughout the Hill Country are taking steps to reduce the amount of light that spills over, creating light pollution. The city of Dripping Springs has adopted a lighting ordinance to help control light pollution. Wimberley should work with HEB to use simple, inexpensive lighting controls that will minimize light pollution. Design guidelines to meet the goals of the Night Skies Initiative are available through the Hill Country Alliance. www.hillcountryalliance.org. 2. Preserve water through rainwater collection and other conservation methods: Water supply is a critical issue for central Texas and HEB, like all businesses, can be part of the solution. Rainwater collection and beneficial use is a strategy that has great potential for reducing demand on the Trinity Aquifer, our water supply source. HEB should incorporate rainwater catchment into its site design and use the rainwater to reduce its demand for city water. In a normal year HEB can produce 860,000 gallons of high quality rainwater from the roof of the 45,000 square feet HEB building. Adequate storage capacity is key to a successful rainwater collection system. The proposed car wash should be operated entirely off a rainwater collection system, and the water should be recycled. A large rainwater storage tank sized to provide a reliable supply should be built and operated by HEB. Only during extreme periods would city water be required for the car wash operation. The HEB building will require a fire sprinkler system to meet city fire codes. The city should require a water storage tank that will provide the emergency capacity to operate the fire sprinkler system when it is needed since WWSC mains may be unable to meet the high demand of the sprinkler system. Rainwater could be used to fill this tank and maintain the reservoir required to meet the fire sprinkler demand. Daily non-potable water needs inside the HEB store could be provided by stored rainwater, i.e.: toilets. These locations would be marked as non-potable water. Outside of the store, water consumption should be minimized by the use of drought-resistant native plants and using the rainwater with drip irrigation for landscaping. 3. Traffic management: A store this large will greatly impact traffic volume and could negatively impact traffic flow. It could also create serious safety issues. Careful study and design should be done to prevent negative impact on other businesses and Wimberley citizens and shoppers. 4. Progressive recycling: In some cities, in line with local ordinances, HEB has recycling programs for bags. (In Austin, no plastic bags are dispensed). HEB should make provisions to make its store a progressive local leader in recycling of all kinds, in preventing waste, as well as incorporating policies and actions to “Keep Wimberley Beautiful”. CARD respects the role of the city of Wimberley’s elected and appointed officials and staff in guiding the development of the city and hopes that these comments are taken as positive input in the decision-making process. CARD Steering Committee