Coppell Chronicle Vol. 1, No. 6
Anamia's is Moving Across the Street • Hat Creek Painting's Days are Numbered • All Hail Our Award-Winning Library • Candidate Questionnaires Coming Soon
Last Monday, the day after I published an article about how much I like to pay my utilities bill by dropping a check in a box in the Town Center parking lot, the city issued a press release that said the box is being replaced by a kiosk that “will be available 24/7 and will allow for cash, check and credit/debit card payments for permits and utility bills.” The city hopes to have the kiosk ready to roll by May 3.
Now, let’s shift to news that will be far more important to most Coppell residents.
Anamia’s is Moving Across the Street
Anamia’s is on the move — again. One of Coppell’s beloved Tex-Mex eateries is taking over the space vacated by Mi Cocina last year. A woman named Donnet broke that news (to me, at least) when she posted this picture on Facebook:
After learning of this MAJOR DEVELOPMENT, I stopped by Anamia’s on Friday afternoon and spoke to general manager Nitzia Rivera, who said her team is planning to move across the street by late May. Brace yourselves for this next bit of news: There will be a period of four to five days when Anamia’s won’t be open at either location. (If Ole’s and Kelly’s are paying attention, that would be a good time to offer some specials.) Rivera said the dark days will be necessary because some equipment will need to be moved from one kitchen to the other.
Newish Coppell residents may be unaware that the current location of Anamia’s is not the first location of Anamia’s. About 25 years ago, it moved to the Tom Thumb shopping center from its original site, which is now Ole’s. But Coppell is where Anamia’s (or as some nerds in my family call it, Onomatopoeia’s) got its start before expanding to five other cities: Flower Mound, McKinney, Plano, Southlake, and Trophy Club.
All of those other Anamia’s have patios, but the Coppell location has never had one. In these unprecedented times, when many people are still uncomfortable going out to eat indoors, Rivera’s crew couldn’t resist the opportunity to take over a patio-compatible space.
That space was available because Mi Cocina shut down shortly after the pandemic began. This note is still taped to the door: “For the health and safety of our guests and team members, Mi Cocina will be temporarily closed until further notice.” Speaking of further notice, a “Notice of Lockout” taped just a few feet to the right of the note from Mi Cocina includes this sentence: “Under the Lease, as well as applicable law, Landlord has exercised its right to change or modify Tenant’s door lock because of Tenant’s non-payment of rent and refusal to respond.” Dang. Meanwhile, this third note taped to the door gave me a chuckle:
Here’s the most important part of this report: Rivera assured me that the change of scenery will not lead to any changes for the Anamia’s menu. Whew! In my humble opinion, the Cowboy plate — a brisket taco, a shredded beef enchilada, and a pork tamale with rice — is an essential part of the Anamia’s experience, regardless of its location.
Hat Creek Painting’s Days are Numbered
During the most recent Coppell Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, someone mentioned in passing that a “mural” was still visible at Hat Creek Burger Company. The discussion was brief, but I inferred that said mural was not supposed to be there.
I’ve never eaten at the fast-food joint that opened last year along State Highway 121. Although we consume more than our fair share of burgers at the Koller household, we prefer a nearby establishment decorated in orange and white stripes. Nonetheless, I’m a big fan of Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry’s novel about the Hat Creek Cattle Company, which surely inspired this restaurant’s name. So I scooted over to the Hat Creek Burger Company to see what was up. This is what I saw:
Huh. I’d hardly call that a mural. It is, however, a painting, which is not permitted by Coppell’s sign ordinance. This painting — which is visible only to Hat Creek’s drive-thru customers and patrons of the L.A. Fitness next door — was the subject of a public hearing during the commission’s October 2020 meeting. According to the staff report filed in advance of that hearing, the sign contractor did not seek permission for the 127-square-foot painting because they didn’t realize they needed to. Scott Brown, Hat Creek Burger Company’s director of construction and development, was asking the commission to allow the painting after the deed had been done.
The city doesn’t archive videos for old Planning and Zoning Commission meetings, so everything I’m about to tell you is gleaned from the official minutes. Everything I’m about to tell you will also be filtered by my appreciation for Gus McCrae, one of the fictional proprietors of the Hat Creek Cattle Company.
When McCrae finds Sheriff July Johnson blaming himself for the deaths of his son, his deputy, and a girl they’d met upon the trail, McCrae says, “Yesterday’s gone. We can’t get it back.” This quote aligns with the view of commissioner Ed Maurer, who leaned toward granting Brown’s request over concerns that removing the painting could potentially damage the building. Tyler Smith of Comet Signs told the commission he would try to eliminate it by finding a paint color to match the brick. Absent a matching color, he might try acid wash, which could discolor the brick.
On the other side of the argument were commissioner Glenn Portman, who noted that the 127-square-foot painting was larger than the maximum size for a non-painted sign, and commissioner Sue Blankenship, who pointed out that Hat Creek Burger Company had already been granted a size variance for its non-painted signs. Commissioner Eddie Haas also said he didn’t want to set a precedent by allowing the painting to remain in place.
These arguments brought to mind what McCrae told Jake Spoon just before hanging him with a gang of murdering horse thieves: “You know how it works, Jake. You ride with an outlaw, you die with an outlaw. I’m sorry; you crossed the line.”
The commission denied Brown’s request on a 5-1 vote, with Maurer being the lone dissenter. However, as I said at the start of this article, the painting is still there nearly six months later. So I emailed Brown on Friday morning to ask, “Do you plan on removing it anytime soon?”
He politely replied on Saturday morning: “This was scheduled to be removed and slipped through the cracks. I have contacted the team for removal. Thanks for letting us know for sure.”
McCrae’s partner in the Hat Creek Cattle Company, Woodrow McCall, famously says, “I hate rude behavior in a man. I won’t tolerate it.” (He says it right after beating an army scout to a pulp.) In my view, McCall would have no issue with Brown.
All Hail Our Award-Winning Library
Today is the first day of National Library Week, so this is the perfect time to recognize the treasure we Coppell residents have in the Cozby Library.
For 16 consecutive years, the Cozby Library has received the Achievement of Excellence in Libraries Award from the Texas Municipal Library Directors Association. This signifies being in the top 10 percent of Texas’ public libraries, according to Frank Gasparro of the Coppell Library Board, who presented the board’s annual report during the most recent City Council meeting.
That’s an award for general excellence, but the Cozby Library recently garnered a very specific achievement: the Demco/Upstart Innovative Programming Award, which the Texas Library Association grants to only one non-school library each year. The Cozby Library was honored for its series of “Meet Your Neighbor” events. Those began in January 2019 with “Meet Your Immigrant Neighbor,” which featured Coppell residents born in Colombia, Romania, and India.
“We’ve estimated that there are about 750 to 800 [non-school] libraries in the state of Texas,” Gasparro said. “We’re the only program that was selected … from that massive group. That makes you feel pretty good about our community, the way people have participated.”
Since hosting “Meet Your Immigrant Neighbor,” the library has facilitated several other discussions between Coppell residents of different faiths and races. The most recent such event was last month’s “Meet Your Native American Neighbors.” The next one is in the works for May.
“Because of a lot of the backlash towards Asian-Americans that we’re experiencing around the country, we thought it would be a good time to have ‘Meet Your Asian Neighbor’,” Gasparro said.
Keeping up the multicultural theme, the library announced in December that it had received a $2,500 grant from the Texas Book Festival to establish a collection of books in other languages. The first purchases were adult books written in Spanish and Hindi. Based on survey responses from the community, the collection will also include children's books in Spanish, French, simplified Chinese, and Hindi.
“The Cozby Library has striven for many years to curate a collection of resources and a calendar of programs that has something for everyone — that reflects the diversity of our wonderful community,” library director Dennis Quinn told the City Council. “And we have striven to make our building into a gathering space, though for this past year that’s mainly been in the metaphorical sense.”
Gasparro shared the following timeline to show how the library reacted to the pandemic:
March 2020: Closed to public. Staff working remotely. Programs migrated online.
May 2020: Curbside holds pickup initiated.
June 2020: Reopened Monday-Friday for lobby holds pickup; computer and document service by appointment.
September 2020: Study tables available by appointment.
October 2020: Collection browsing by appointment.
He also shared these statistics for March 2020 through February 2021:
Onsite visitors: 30,203 (11 percent of pre-COVID levels)
Circulation transactions: 291,242 (58 percent)
Programs: 247 (40 percent)
Attendance: 3,463 (29 percent)
As of last month, appointments are no longer necessary for browsing, computer use, or study table use. Your humble correspondent entered the building on Friday afternoon for the first time in a year. I was in and out in a matter of minutes, picking up a couple of books that I had requested via the library’s website only hours earlier. Curbside pickup is also available for those who still aren’t comfortable going inside.
If you’re a parent or grandparent looking for something to do with little ones in the pleasant spring weather, I highly recommend the Storybook Walk due west of the library, in the plaza between the Coppell YMCA and Town Center. The books presented across a series of 17 panels are changed on a quarterly basis, and one out of every four is by a Coppell ISD student.
“You’re outside, you’re getting some fresh air, and you’re reading a book at the same time,” Gasparro said.
Before Gasparro presented the Library Board’s annual report, the City Council approved a proclamation recognizing April 4-10 as National Library Week.
“I am once again pleased on this occasion to extend an invitation to any who may be watching who haven’t visited the Cozby Library — or haven’t in a while — to pay us a visit again in person or online,” Quinn said. “As the proclamation says, ‘Come explore new worlds with us.’ We’d love to help you find your next adventure.”
Candidate Questionnaires Coming Soon
Early voting begins April 19 for the May 1 municipal elections. Last week, I sent questionnaires to the candidates listed below (incumbents are marked with asterisks), and I plan to publish their answers in the April 18 edition of the Coppell Chronicle.
Before I get to the list of candidates, I wanted to let you know that the Coppell Gifted Association has already posted the questionnaire answers it received from the three candidates for Place 7 on the Coppell ISD Board of Trustees. Click here to review them.
Meanwhile, the League of Women Voters of Irving will host Zoom forums on Tuesday evening for Coppell ISD and Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD candidates. Click here to register. The League of Women Voters will also host forums on Wednesday evening for Irving City Council and Irving ISD candidates; those will be broadcast on the Irving Community Television Network.
Coppell Mayor
Coppell City Council Place 2
Brianna Hinojosa-Smith* (I still couldn’t find a website as of publication.)
Coppell City Council Place 3
Coppell City Council Place 4
Coppell City Council Place 6
Coppell ISD Board of Trustees Place 7
Irving City Council Place 8
Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD Board of Trustees
(Reminder: Each CFBISD voter gets two votes. You can give both votes to one candidate or one apiece to two candidates.)
Dan, agree with Cathy below, your sense of humor and entertaining writing style are superb. Not to mention content in which I am quite interested! Good work.
This is such fun to read; I love the humor!