Frisco Officials & Residents Try To Balance Population Boom
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COLLIN COUNTY (CBS 11 NEWS) - Good schools and nice neighborhoods in Frisco continue to act as powerful magnets.
So people and home builders keep coming.
But proposed high voltage power lines along Stonebrook Parkway and Main Street pose a threat to Kendall Meade's way of life. "These are forever lines, once they are placed here, they will not leave."
Meade chairs the West Frisco Homeowners Coalition, which is working with the Collin County Association of Realtors to urge Co-Serv and Brazos Electric to bury the lines instead.
The city favors that as well because power lines that are above ground will make it impossible to widen both roads to accommodate future growth.
The utility is now studying how much that would cost, and say they need the new lines to provide electricity for all the newcomers.
While Meade acknowledges the population boom, she also argues there must be a balance. "Trying to back-fit transmission lines through a densely populated area after the fact is not acceptable."
The city's population grew from just under 130,000 on January 1 of 2013 to nearly 138,000 on January 1 of this year. By this January 1, it's estimated nearly 146,000 people will call the city home.
Residents, are also fighting against a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter at 423 and Stonebrook Parkway.
Kamal Kanaujia just moved into his new house two months ago, and from his front yard, he can see where the store would be built. "Traffic will be one of the big concerns because obviously you'll have parking lots, lots of cars coming in."
Frisco's mayor, Maher Maso, says the city balances growth by allowing residents to give their input into the city's comprehensive plan. "Our residents get a say in how much retail we have, how mich commercial, residential we have and that's on-going and the final part is revised every few years, so our residents are involved in just about every decision."
Meade agrees the city is well-planned. "That's why we moved here and we want to maintain that same feel as when we moved here."
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