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FM: Council approves Kroger improvements, fuel station
By Chris Roark, croark@starlocalnews.com
Flower Mound residents will soon be able to go “Krogering” in an improved store.
The Flower Mound Town Council on Monday approved a site plan for $14.3 million in store improvements and a specific use permit (SUP) for a fueling center at the store located near the intersection of FM 1171 and FM 2499.
This comes eight months after the council, which consisted of different members, had denied the same request because of concerns about traffic flow along FM 1171 because of the fueling center.
Kroger officials had said last year that not moving forward with the project would make it difficult for Flower Mound to get another chance at it.
Monday, council members expressed gratitude to Kroger representatives for bringing the project back.
“I’m sure Flower Mound has been on the lips of several people at the Kroger headquarters,” said Councilman Steve Dixon. “I hope that what Kroger takes away from this is that Flower Mound residents appreciate Kroger being here and its tenacity in coming back to us.”
Kroger’s Nate Collins outlined the plans for the store improvement. Among the many features are: a new natural foods department, a new bakery department, an expanded deli, a new cheese/olive island, an expanded fresh sushi department, a new upscale wine area, a new pharmacy with a drive through, a new express checkout area, wider aisles and more.
Collins said the improvements are expected to bring in 75-80 new jobs.
He also said the sales tax revenue the town will get should jump from $164,000 a year without the improvements to $332,000 a year with the improvements.
Collins also said the project will provide $542,000 in street improvements, as well as two electric car charging stations.
Kroger officials have said the fuel center helps support the improvements. But the fuel center had been a point of contention for the last few months.
The planning and zoning commission voted to recommend the SUP and the site plan last month, which came months after it had denied the request, citing concerns about traffic flow near the fuel station.
As a result of last year‘s P&Z denial, the town council needed a supermajority vote in November to approve the requests, which did not happen. Al Filidoro and Steve Lyda voted against the motion for the SUP and the site plan, though they favored the store improvements. They, too, were concerned with traffic flow problems along FM 1171.
Following the town council election, in which Tom Hayden became mayor and Steve Dixon and Bryan Webb were elected to the council over Lyda and Filidoro, Kroger executives brought the plan back to the table.
This time, plans called for the fuel station to be moved back to address traffic flow concerns. Also, Kroger representatives agreed that fuel delivery would only take place during the non-peak traffic times of 7-9 a.m. and 4-7 p.m. The delivery truck will enter through the west driveway along FM 1171 and exit on the east driveway along FM 1171.
Collins said the construction on the project should begin this year, and it should be complete between nine and 12 months after construction begins.
There has also been talk about adding a fuel station and improving the Kroger on Flower Mound Road and Gerault Road.
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I applaud the new council for undoing the damage that the old NFL-driven council members did by negotiating in such bad faith with a good corporate citizen like Kroger.
Now hopefully the council can mend relationships with the gas well companies who are working so hard trying to provide a practical alternative energy source for the new LNG powered trucks and certainly bringing new revenue into Flower Mound. "