Here's your weekly Keller recap.

Still no ruling on the data center, and the clock runs out Tuesday

Judge Kimberly Fitzpatrick was expected to rule this week on whether to keep blocking Westlake from approving the Circle T data center agreement. She hasn't. The order she extended after the August 26 hearing runs through September 8, which is next Tuesday, so as of today nothing is approved and no dirt can move. The lawsuit from the Lakes at Marshall Ridge HOA argues Westlake's site plan leaves out the 150-foot setback and landscaped buffer its own zoning ordinance requires, and points to a December 2024 amendment that nearly doubled the allowed building height from 45 feet to 80. If the judge lifts the order, the agreement goes straight back to the Westlake Town Council. If she grants the injunction, this stays frozen through the litigation. Either way you should know by the middle of next week.

Kroger is asking the city for a 100,000 square foot store with gas pumps

Kroger Texas LP has filed for a specific use permit covering an approximately 99,992 square foot grocery store with fuel pumps, outdoor display and seasonal sales on 16.3 acres at 1025 Keller Parkway, at the northeast corner of Town Center Lane and Keller Parkway. The hearing is Tuesday, September 8 at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at Town Hall. The city's notice doesn't say whether this replaces or expands the Kroger already sitting on that corner, which is the question worth asking if you show up. Fuel pumps at that intersection would change traffic on an already busy stretch of Keller Parkway.

31 brownstones proposed on North Main

The same night, the commission takes up Samantha Springs Commerce, a request to rezone 15.63 acres at 800 N. Main Street from Commercial and Light Industrial to a mixed-use planned development. The plan is 31 brownstone units, about 8.19 acres of non-residential development and about 3.27 acres of open space, on the east side of North Main roughly a quarter mile northeast of Johnson Road. It also needs a Future Land Use Plan amendment, which means the city would be formally changing what it says that land is for. Applicant is Catalyst Commercial; the owner is Joe McCombs.

Four more hearings that same night

The September 8 agenda has six items total. Also up: a new "Community Facilities" zoning district being added to the city's development code, a dog grooming and boarding shop called Pet Care Plus going into 2,088 square feet at Bear Creek Plaza, 750 S. Main Street, and Earth Nail Spa at 1637 Keller Parkway. That's the biggest single planning agenda Keller has posted in months, and all of it is open to public comment.

The district bought the land under the natatorium

Trustees approved the resolution on August 27, authorizing Keller ISD to buy the property at 1000 Bear Creek Parkway from the City of Keller for up to $675,000 plus closing costs. The district built the natatorium on city-owned ground years ago under an arrangement that had since run out, so this settles who actually owns the dirt. The pool has been closed since May with a repair bill over $2 million, and the district says repairs are still on track for an October reopening. KISD did not publish a vote count on this one, so if a trustee dissented we don't know it yet.

A Place 4 candidate has dropped out

Keller ISD's elections page now lists Jessica Zafiriou as withdrawn from the Place 4 race, leaving Rachel Weatherington and Geramie Parrish. Place 5 is still a three-way between Andrew Walsh, Chris Coker and Colin Hodges, and Place 6 is still Barbara Brewer against Tommie Johnson. The district doesn't post a withdrawal date, so we can't say when it happened, only that the official list reflects it now. Register to vote by October 5; early voting is October 19 through 30.

The bond oversight committee got talked about, not created

Trustees discussed setting up a Citizens Bond Oversight Committee before the November election so it could start work the moment a bond passes, but they took no vote to establish it. If you were counting on independent eyes on $828 million, that structure does not exist yet. Worth watching at the next regular meeting on September 24.

Keller Farmers Market
Saturday, September 5, 8 a.m. to noon at Bear Creek Park, 400 Bear Creek Parkway. Free to walk in. Produce, meat, bread and crafts, and it's the easiest thing to do with kids on a long weekend morning.

Keller Writers' Association
Saturday, September 5, 9:45 to 11:45 a.m. at Keller Public Library, 640 Johnson Road. Free, open to adults and teens. Bring pages if you have them, or just sit in.

Enjoy the long weekend. Keller ISD is closed Monday for Labor Day. See you next Friday.