Coppell Chronicle Vol. 5, No. 39
City Has Options for Old Town Parcel • Budget Talks Shift to Efficient Staffing • Long Appreciated With Praise and Pudding • Coppell’s Veterans Honored by New Plaza
City Has Options for Old Town Parcel
A vacant lot in Coppell’s Old Town may be converted into a park, but some of our elected officials are holding out hope for attracting a restaurant to the site.
The city owns the empty parcel that sits east of Twisted Root Burger Co. and across Houston Street from George Coffee + Provisions. The City Council was recently briefed on a proposal to turn it into something like this:
The beige area would be decomposed granite, the green portion would be artificial turf, and the remainder would be concrete. There would be seating throughout the third-of-an-acre space, with much of it shaded. The plan calls for a stage on the northeast corner and games on the south side.
“The goal is to create a more cohesive and vibrant space by connecting residents, restaurants, parks, and public facilities with an engaging area that keeps the space relevant and appealing to visitors,” Director of Community Development Mindi Hurley said during the council’s Sept. 23 work session.
The conceptual plan was drawn up by LJA Engineering, a Houston firm that was asked to “design an inviting area that could support both organized events and casual, unstructured activities,” Hurley said. She estimated it would take $1.3 million to execute LJA’s plan, which includes establishing electrical and utility hookups along Main Street and Travis Street. That infrastructure would eliminate the need for generators when food trucks arrive in Old Town for events such as Sunset Socials, Kaleidoscope, Scare on the Square, and Vintage Christmas.
The City Council members all seemed to think the food truck accommodations were a great idea, but they were divided on the future of the vacant land. In a 2023 survey about Old Town, more than 75 percent of respondents supported the idea of having a restaurant in the neighborhood that served alcohol past 9 o’clock. Citing that survey, Jim Walker suggested hiring a headhunter to find such a restaurant.
“I’d rather try to recruit what everyone has said that they want, that would also be a source of sales tax in the future,” Walker said. He proposed devoting at least 12 months to such an effort. “If that just proves to be, you know, a hill we can’t climb,” then Walker would be fine with executing “an otherwise excellent proposal.”
Ramesh Premkumar said he was aligned with Walker, but Don Carroll said this about trying to lure a restaurant to the property: “We haven’t had anything up to this point, so that’s part of my concern.” And Kevin Nevels added, “I am for anything that brings traffic down to Old Town.”
City Manager Mike Land said the discussion will continue on a date to be determined, when the council will get a breakdown of the $1.3 million estimate, as requested by Biju Mathew, as well as details about how the food truck accommodations wouldn’t be tripping hazards, a concern raised by Mark Hill. Land also made a passing reference to a related topic that the council discussed earlier that evening, when they were behind closed doors during their executive session: “Deliberation regarding economic development and negotiations with economic prospects south of Bethel Road and east of Freeport Parkway,” per their agenda.
One more thing about food trucks: Since the council’s Sept. 23 meeting, I’ve noticed yet another update to the leasing flyer for the Victory Shops at Coppell, the multiuse development that’s under construction on South Belt Line Road. The plans now include an area designated as a “food truck park.”
Budget Talks Shift to Efficient Staffing
Although Coppell ISD trustees rejected the idea of closing Town Center Elementary School, they still have to figure out how to deal with a multimillion-dollar deficit.
The agenda for the trustees’ Nov. 17 meeting — the first since their 5-2 vote against the Town Center recommendation on Oct. 27 — includes discussions of the following topics:
District and building efficiency
Potential boundary realignment
Zero-based staffing