Waxahachie council approves Sam's Club rezoning with noise and roadway conditions after residents press safety concerns

Waxahachie ' The Waxahachie City Council voted Oct. 7 to approve a zoning change and development agreement that paves the way for a Sam's Club on roughly 30 acres near North U.S. Highway 77, after residents raised safety, traffic and noise concerns and the developer agreed to additional mitigation measures.

The approved ordinance and attached site plan require a sound/partition wall along the store's loading-dock area; the city and Sam's Club also committed to further engineering discussions aimed at improving roadway connectivity between Grove Creek Road and the planned Cardinal Road extension. Council members then approved the accompanying development agreement.

Why it matters: The project will add a large retail anchor to a growing commercial corridor. Sam's Club officials told the council the development represents about a $55 million investment, would build a 166,000-square-foot club with roughly 220 employees and include 12 fueling stations. City staff and developers said the project will trigger infrastructure work, including extending Cardinal Road through the site and adding turn and deceleration lanes on Highway 77.

Presentation and key facts: Trenton, Waxahachie's senior planning director, told the council the proposal covers approximately 29.85 acres and that the plan exceeds the city's parking and articulation requirements. Ivan Heimam, director of government affairs for Walmart and Sam's Club, told the council: "This is a $55,000,000 investment for Sam's Club in this center," and described expected local spending, construction activity and employment benefits. Matt Smith, the project's civil engineer, summarized the traffic and noise studies and said the largest noise source on site would be refrigeration units; he reported the modeled increase at nearby homes was about three decibels in the areas tested.

Residents push on traffic, safety and noise: Dozens of neighbors spoke during the public hearing. Rodney Hopper, who lives east of the site, said the location would become a regional destination and warned of added congestion on an already busy U.S. 77: "This is going to be a destination," he said, adding that Grove Creek Road is narrow and may not safely accommodate the truck and shopper traffic the project will attract. Other residents asked for the project's traffic impact assessment to be made public and urged clearer timelines for the Cardinal Road extension.

Council response and negotiated protections: Council members pressed Sam's Club representatives on truck routing, construction staging and buffering. After back-and-forth, council adopted motion language requiring inclusion of a sound/partition wall in the detailed site plan attached to the zoning ordinance; the wording makes the wall's design and location subject to approval by the senior director of planning and zoning. The motion also requires Sam's Club to "further commit to discussions with city staff to improve connectivity between Grove Creek and Cardinal Road." Sam's Club representatives said they were willing to work with staff on design details.

What the approvals do not yet decide: The motion and ordinance do not lock in a final wall design or specific roadway engineering; those details will be carried into subsequent site-plan review and design phases and will require final staff approval. Participants acknowledged the need for engineering-level plans, traffic modeling and drainage work before the city or developer can commit to a specific construction timeline.

Next steps: Council approved ZDC-75-2025 (the rezoning) and the development agreement and authorized staff to finalize documents. Sam's Club must complete final site plans and permitting, including the detailed location and engineering of the required wall and the connectivity improvements discussed with staff. The council directed staff to continue negotiations on roadway connections and stormwater/drainage considerations.

Attribution: Quotes and characterizations in this article come from speakers recorded in the city council transcript: Trenton (senior planning director), Ivan Heimam (director of government affairs, Walmart/Sam's Club), Matt Smith (civil engineer), and several named residents who spoke during the public hearing. The council vote carried and the development agreement was approved at the Oct. 7 meeting.

Ending: With conditions in place and further engineering work ahead, the approval advances the project toward permitting and construction while leaving technical design and final mitigation details to the next review stages.