By Edmond Ortiz
Home improvements retailer Lowe’s plans to build a store in a growing part of Converse, but some residents living near the planned store site have concerns about its various potential impacts.
What you should know
Representatives for Lowe’s formally registered the store construction project Aug. 19 with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
According to preliminary plans, the new Lowe’s will be built at a vacant lot at the corner of Coppergate and Loop 1604.
Construction of the $10.5 million, 107,100-square-foot store is expected to start in January 2027 and last 10 months.
Converse’s would be Lowe’s 12th location in the San Antonio area. Currently, the Lowe’s stores closest to Converse sit along Austin Highway, and in the Interstate 35/O’Connor Road area.
The subject of Lowe’s coming to Converse arose at a July 20 city planning and zoning commission, which unanimously voted to recommend approval of a variance request to let the company plan for 379 parking spaces at the planned store. The city requires more than 440 parking spaces for a commercial site of that size.
City Council voted Aug. 4 to fully approve Lowe’s variance request. Henry Couch, interim community development director, said the peak number of filled parking spaces at a store varies according to store location.
In this case, Couch said in conveying Lowe’s information, the retailer would rather have more overall property space available for future development use in lieu of meeting the city’s required maximum number of parking spots for a commercial site of that size.
What they are saying
The new Lowe’s is proposed for construction near the Copperfield neighborhood, in a growing section of Converse.
Some residents close to the planned store site have already posed questions to the city at the aforementioned planning and zoning commission and City Council meetings.
A few homeowners questioned why the city has not provided them more information about the planned Lowe’s, but to be sure, the retailer has only recently registered the project with the state, and city staff is now reviewing the proposed site plan.
When a handful of residents asked why they were not notified about the parking space variance request, city officials responded that they are legally required to notify nearby property owners only in the instance of a requested zoning decision.
Still, those neighbors such as Jonathan Vargas said construction of the store, and then daily operations around the store will negatively affect the neighborhood, especially with traffic as well as noise emanating from large vehicles.
Vargas asked the city to commission a traffic study of the immediate area, and to consider that neighborhood children often play in the streets because they have no short-distance access to public recreational amenities, such as a community park or playground.
“Our City council has not built our children a playground. The least that you can do is not build them a loading dock,” Vargas said.
Another resident, Emma Nguyen, said she is troubled by a perceived lack of foresight that city officials are paying towards how a big-box retail store such as Lowe’s could affect a residential neighborhood.
“This council is being asked to choose between the interests of a corporation and the interests of the families who live in this community,” she added.
It is not yet known when the planning and zoning commission or the council will next address other elements of the Lowe’s project.
