Friday, April 25, 2008

Proposed Riverwalk Site

Someone has posted a video on YouTube showing what the 158 acres of the Proposed Riverwalk Site looks like now. Please take two minutes and watch it. How is this "smart" growth? This is about as "smart" as the lonely landscaped roundabouts at Lakeside Business District.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not that I'm necessarily FOR the RiverWalk development.... but, um, isn't that probably similar to the land that your own house (and mine too) was on?

ALL undeveloped land is beautiful in it's own way.

Anonymous said...

True, but the issue isn't that there is raw land which will be developed, but that the RiverWalk goes against the density it is zoned for and will bring traffic, pollution, to the core of the Town's center. Remember, there has been 27 million in infrastructure in Lakeside and none invested at this location. It amazes me that developers continue on insisting on buying land that is not zoned for what they want to do with it. It's not like that information is not public.

Anonymous said...

Chances are your home was not build on flood plain, an ESA, and an area with old growth forest on it. This is a little different.

Anonymous said...

It is pretty land- but really, I can't expect everyone to just sit on the land they own and do nothing with it, just because it is pretty. I think the RiverWalk project is exciting for the town and am quite sure the majority of the town is for a project of this type. I remember when the WalMart in Highland Village went in and everyone caused such a ruckus- and now everyone loves it!

Anonymous said...

Maybe the property that the Riverwalk is proposed for is similar to the land my house is on. The difference is my neighborhood does not have 1800 residential units crammed in to a small area. Shops and gas wells too. Okay, I agree the hospital is something we could use here. I guess I have a problem with the fact that Parker Square (same developer) has never quite lived up to it's hype and never drew the right type of retail to be successful. I do not see any committed retail stores mentioned. This could be the disappointment of Parker Square times four. Lakeside is a better location for this and already has the infrastructure in place. My question is why River Walk and why that developer? Something no one has a good reason for and wants to explain!!!

Anonymous said...

I agree completely with the zoning issues.

It scares me to drive around town and constantly see "Zoning Ammendment Request" signs all over the place.

Developers buy that land and get the zoning changed because they CAN. The town keeps rolling over on the Master Plan.

Anonymous said...

The Master Plan was designed to be a fluid, constantly changing document- an overlay.
As far as Parker Square, it may not seem "successful" to you, but the developer is not losing money on it and each and every tenant has the right to stay or leave. It has been so successful to the developer, he has been able to add addtional office space and lease it out. I'd love to see it be more than it is, but the truth of the matter is, it is what the developer wanted it to be. And it has made him very successful.
I am excited about the Riverwalk Project. While I wish we could keep all of the trees and natural areas, I also understand a landowner's rights to sell and develop his property. Since most, including me, are probably not willing to pony up millions of dollars to buy the land and keep it natural- the next best thing would be to put the highest quality of developments on the property rather than another strip mall with a donut shop and drycleaners. Those wouldn't even require a master plan amendment. Or we could have apartment complexes, since that is currently okay under the Master Plan for that location. The developer is trying to bring us something better than that- if we insist he sticks to the Master Plan, then get ready for a massive increase in density. He needs no approval to put in apartments as of right now. But once again, we'll probably shoot ourselves in the foot to preserve the almighty Master Plan. Bring in the apartments!