To understand why the city of Dallas struggles against competitors one only needed to tune in to the City Council meeting Wednesday afternoon as one of the most reputable and desirable companies in the state of Texas tried to do business within the city’s borders.
H-E-B is the grocery store that cities across Texas (and beyond) hope to attract. Its ownership is accustomed to the red-carpet treatment because the stores are well-stocked and well-run and because H-E-B has a long history of integrating into communities in uplifting ways.
But this is Dallas, so hang on to your hat, H-E-B. In a voice vote, the Dallas City Council did ultimately approve H-E-B’s request for zoning at LBJ Freeway and Hillcrest Road. And many council members did sing the company’s praises.
That wasn’t the tone of the meeting, however. H-E-B officials and city staff supporting the development were harangued about everything from traffic to equity in ways that suggested the company doesn’t know its own business and doesn’t care about people in marginalized communities.
Opinion
There was much debate about why H-E-B wasn’t building south of Interstate 30 (the answer now, as it has long been, is because of population density relative to the north). The planned store at Hillcrest and LBJ is near a large and diverse population of lower-income residents.
We are all eager, even desperate to see southern Dallas develop. The city has to grow south to realize our full potential. But until there is substantial growth with more rooftops of every sort, large grocery stores operating in a low-margin environment will struggle to pencil out a profit.
More worrisome were the objections from council members Bill Roth and Cara Mendelsohn. Roth represents the area where the store is planned. Mendelsohn’s district is just north.
Both embraced dubious traffic claims to support a NIMBY movement to keep this important development from happening. Roth’s motion to kill the deal failed. Then he oddly made a motion to support the deal but voted against his own motion.
Mendelsohn supported the H-E-B with her vote, saying she didn’t want a headline that Dallas had turned down H-E-B. Thank goodness for headlines, we guess.
But why does this have to be so hard? H-E-B is offering the city a huge benefit. It not only will build something people want. It will also pay for major roadwork at the site that will improve traffic for everyone.
What does it say when one of the most sought-after businesses in our state comes to City Hall and gets treated like a pawnshop or a check-cashing operation?
Dallas has to do better to demonstrate that we welcome the best businesses with open arms. Otherwise there is going to be a lot less welcoming to do.
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