Coppell Chronicle Vol. 6, No. 23
Neighbors Oppose Sandy Lake Development • Pickleball Players Voice Their Concerns • Plat Provides Path to Batch Plant Permit • Council Debates Groups’ Funding Requests
I apologize for the lateness of this edition. I lost several reporting and writing hours last week to a worthwhile effort: driving my son to and from a camp in Central Texas for individuals with disabilities.
As I have written before, my long-term plan is for the revenues generated by this newsletter to fund his adult life. So on that note …
Neighbors Oppose Sandy Lake Development
The latest proposal for a vacant lot along one of Coppell’s busiest streets does not include restaurants, but nearby residents still can’t stomach the concept.
A firm called Rose City Partners has updated its plans for a development branded as The Shops at Sandy Lake. In April, the City Council rejected a proposal that called for restaurants, retail stores, and medical offices on the empty parcel across Sandy Lake Road from Sprouts. This month, the Coppell Planning and Zoning Commission considered a revised set of plans that positions the commercial building further from the homes in the Arbor Manors subdivision and eliminates the possibility of restaurants.
(See “Plans Get Finetuned for Shops at Sandy Lake” in Vol. 6, No. 5, and “Council Rejects ‘Shops at Sandy Lake’ Plans” in Vol. 6, No. 11.)
Despite those changes, Arbor Manors homeowners still lined up during the commission’s July 16 public hearing to voice their opposition. The bulk of their complaints concerned the traffic on Sandy Lake that they said makes exiting their neighborhood difficult.
“Having a big, 14,000-square-foot commercial development is only going to make matters worse,” Debasish Mukherjee said. “It doesn’t matter what kind of businesses there are — you’re gonna have some increase in traffic.”
Tyler Alley, a managing principal with Rose City Partners, told the commissioners that his firm was willing to contribute $100,000 to the construction of a traffic signal at the intersection of Sandy Lake Road and Arbor Manors Drive. But Cole Baker, a civil engineer employed by the city, said a traffic study indicated that a signal was not warranted there. Baker said the study, which was conducted by a consultant, said the same thing about Arbor Manors’ other access point at the intersection of Denton Tap Road and Braewood Drive.
Monica Panda finds those conclusions hard to believe. She lives on Arbor Manors Drive, and she said it can take at least 10 minutes to make a right turn out of her neighborhood during rush hour.
“I’m really flabbergasted with the findings of the study,” Panda said. “I feel like we have not done our due diligence.”
Panda told the commissioners that she and her neighbors want more details about the study, and I’m right there with them. I requested a copy of the study last week, and city spokesperson Ginene Delcioppo told me on July 24 that it was not yet finalized.
Anjali Kulkarni, whose home backs up to the vacant lot, questioned why the Shops at Sandy Lake proposal was placed on the commission’s agenda before the traffic study was completed.
“We pay higher taxes to be in the Coppell school district,” Kulkarni told the commissioners. “What’s the point if we don’t feel safe enough for our kids to walk to Coppell High School?”
As they did in March, the commissioners recommended approval of the latest proposal by a vote of 6-0, with Samit Patel being absent. Multiple commissioners praised Alley for modifying the plans to address some of the neighbors’ concerns, and others pointed out that the property has been zoned for commercial uses for years.
“Stopping the development and having nothing be developed here really isn’t an option,” Commissioner Ed Maurer said, “unless, you know, the city’s gonna buy the property.”
The City Council’s April vote was a 3-3 tie; Don Carroll, Brianna Hinojosa-Smith, and Kevin Nevels supported the previous version of the proposal, while Mark Hill, Biju Mathew, and Ramesh Premkumar opposed it, and Jim Walker was absent. Mayor Wes Mays could not break the tie, because he is an Arbor Manors resident and therefore had to recuse himself from the hearing.
During the commissioners’ July 16 work session, Maurer asked about the basis for the three council members’ opposition. When answering that question, City Attorney Bob Hager said this: “A lot of the council’s concerns have been addressed. Now, I don’t know what they’ll do.”
Neither do I. But we should find out on Aug. 11, which is when the council is scheduled to consider this case.
Pickleball Players Voice Their Concerns
When the Coppell Recreation Development Corporation board got together last week, about three dozen spectators filled the room. That’s about three dozen more than the typical attendance for such meetings.
“We will show up any time there is pickleball on an agenda,” former Mayor Candy Sheehan said. “You can count on us.”
The Coppell Recreation Development Corporation, also known as the CRDC, is a sales tax revenue fund that pays for projects in parks and other recreation facilities in the city. It’s governed by a board that is separate from the Coppell Parks and Recreation Board.
One of the first items on the agenda for the July 20 meeting was a public hearing regarding the addition of a court resurfacing project at the Wagon Wheel Tennis and Pickleball Center to the CRDC’s 2025-2026 work program. Some courts that were resurfaced about a year and a half ago have been deemed unplayable due to shoddy craftsmanship.