farelmeson: This Texas Town Is Building A $40M Bus Barn, To Go With Its $60M Football Stadium*

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

This Texas Town Is Building A $40M Bus Barn, To Go With Its $60M Football Stadium*

The same board that approved a $60 million high school football stadium in Allen, Texas a few years back now intends to throw tax dollars at a $40 million industrial bus depot one block from a local elementary school, according to a group of local residents embittered over the school district's new plans.

Angry town members are expressing their issues over what they refer to as a "bus barn" through a website called stopthebarn.org.

According to the site, the bus complex is a massive 130,000 sq. ft. facility on a 42-acre lot that will provide parking for 120 buses and 200 employee and visitor vehicles. The property will also also serve as a bus maintenance center and warehouse facility.

*Tim Carroll, Director of Information for the Allen Independent School District, disputes the term "bus barn," instead calling it a bus service center. He also says the true cost of the center, which is already in an industrial part of town, is actually $31.7 million.

"This is not massive compared to other bus service centers in the country," said Carroll.

The county's current bus service center, originally built in 1976 for 6,000 students, can no longer support the district's fast-growing student population of 20,000, he pointed out.

Tim Chun is part of a group of local residents trying to stop the Allen ISD board from moving forward with the new site. But according to Chun, backdoor discussions suggest the site is "already a done deal," despite valid concerns of some homeowners.

According to Stop the Barn!, the Allen ISD board claims the consolidated facility will save $140,000/year. But residents argue this would be at the hefty cost of $87 million — $40 million in initial costs plus an additional $47 million in destroyed property values. There are also majors concerns about increased traffic and pollution dangers from hundreds of diesel buses.

Chun refers to a 2011 report from the Environmental Protection Agency, which notes that centers located within half a mile of distribution centers and bus terminals (facilities with more tha 100 buses/day) are at greater risk of air pollution.

Although a petition with more than 1,300 signatures is making the rounds, complaints have mostly fallen on deaf ears, says Chun.

In an email, Chun said the Allen ISD board has been unresponsive to the idea of retrofitting existing sites at considerably less cost. The board's inability to manage the town's budget has also resulted in teacher lay-offs and increased property taxes, he said.

Details of the proposed site as envisioned by Stop the Barn! are below. The group has labeled sections which it says violates city zoning regulations. (Click for larger size):