Denton residents don’t lack for ideas when it comes to the best way to redevelop the Fry Street area.

How about a grocery store? A dry cleaner? An entertainment venue? Maybe even a public park?

All of those ideas and more were proposed Thursday night during a neighborhood meeting over the future of a block whose demolition and planned redevelopment have often polarized the city. More than 100 people attended the meeting at The Village Church on West Oak Street for a chance to offer their opinions to the Houston-area developer that owns the land.

“This part of town needs to be developed so that it has a feeling of camaraderie — that has, for lack of a better term, Denton-ness,” resident James Canavan said.

United Equities Inc. called the meeting nearly two months after its plans for a new Fry Street retail and restaurant development fell apart before the Denton City Council.

A divided council voted Dec. 11 to reject a drive-through lane in the proposed Fry Street Village, citing concerns over traffic, air pollution and pedestrian safety in the heavily walked area across the street from the University of North Texas.

The drive-through would have served CVS Pharmacy, the anchor tenant of the proposed development. The project would sit on nearly 4 acres bordered by Fry, Oak, Welch and Hickory streets.

United Equities project manager Tim Sandifer said company leaders would consider residents’ views as they deliberate their next move. Company officials offered no new plans during the meeting, and Sandifer said it could be months before they decide how to proceed.

“I think it was very helpful, the good input from people giving constructive criticism,” Sandifer said.

Still, some of the rancor that has characterized the Fry Street debate seeped into the meeting.

Some complained that the moderator, Denton psychologist Leon Peek, was on United Equities’ payroll and frequently interjected biased comments.

“I thought a moderator was supposed to be neutral,” one man called out from the audience.

“I’m not neutral because I don’t like the sandlot,” Peek countered, referring to the vacant land where popular businesses such as The Tomato, Mr. Chopsticks and Uncommon Ground stood until United Equities demolished them last summer.

Some also questioned United Equities’ intentions in calling the meeting, pointing out that some council members chided the company for failing to organize a neighborhood meeting before the December vote.

“This is just a ruse to get this [project] through,” said Mary Anderson, a Denton scientist.

Sandifer defended the company’s community outreach efforts, noting that it did meet with Save Fry Street. The grassroots group collected nearly 9,500 petition signatures in a failed effort to save the Fry Street buildings, some of which dated to the 1920s.

Early in the two-hour meeting, Peek opened the floor to the audience to offer their redevelopment ideas.

Many speakers favored bringing small, independent businesses to the area instead of well-known chains. Speakers also suggested areas for public music and art.

Student Jeb Hagan had another idea.

“I guess the smartass answer to what I want to see is: a pizza restaurant, a Chinese food restaurant, maybe a bar, maybe a vintage clothing store, maybe an Italian restaurant/hookah bar,” Hagan said, listing businesses that vacated Fry Street after United Equities purchased the property. “I would love to see those things.”

Other speakers defended United Equities’ right to build a profitable development.

“There are two sides to this story,” said Donald Moore, a Denton resident who owns properties in the Fry Street area. “From that standpoint, I think these people deserve the benefit of the doubt to see what they can come up with.”

The property’s zoning category allows for a variety of uses, including apartments, hotels, professional services and offices, restaurants and private clubs, laundry facilities and indoor recreation.

Sandifer has said the entire project is in limbo because CVS will not come to Fry Street without a drive-through. Asked if the company had a “Plan B” without CVS, Sandifer said he couldn’t answer the question.

“We’re looking at our alternatives,” he said. “I don’t have anything to announce at this time.”

Under city code, United Equities must wait 12 months before resubmitting its proposal unless significant changes are proposed. Even if the company submits an amended proposal, it would take up to six months to move it through the city’s review process, city planner Lori Shelton said.

That’s bad news to people like Peek, who say they’re sick of looking at “the sandlot.”

“There’s no going back,” he said. “The question is, what can we have now?”

LOWELL BROWN can be reached at 940-566-6882. His e-mail address is lmbrown@dentonrc.com .

“I see this every day when I walk
out my door. This is a wound.”

—John Rhodes, on the empty lot
where Fry Street businesses stood

 

“It has to be walkable.”

—Patrice Lyke, a Denton planning and
zoning commissioner, on the type of
development she’d like to see on Fry Street

 

“Better late than never. … Too little, too late.”

—Chuck Norton, saying the two phrases
he believed best described United Equities’
“belated” neighborhood meeting

 

“We’re going to try to take these
ideas you’ve given us, bring it
together and communicate with everybody what our plans are.”

—Tim Sandifer, project manager,
United Equities Inc.