Frisco City Council was set to vote on the controversial Universal Studios theme park during the Feb. 22 meeting but delayed the vote once again.
The Frisco city council and planning and zoning committee initially set to vote on Feb. 7 but postponed it to Feb. 22 — the vote was then rescheduled once more. Council voted to postpone the meeting, this time to March 7.
Frisco residents have spoken out against the theme park at multiple public hearings, citing concerns about crime and traffic, according to KERA.
“I’m not necessarily for it, I’m not necessarily against it,” one resident previously said. “There’s a report of a 198% increase in crime in a five-mile radius of amusement parks.”
But Mayor Jeff Cheney previously addressed the concerns and explained that crime is less likely to increase because the park is for younger children rather than adults or teens. He also explained that traffic would not be any worse with an H-E-B or other popular store.
Several of the residents who spoke out against the park reside in or near the Cobb Hill neighborhood, which is close to the park’s proposed location.
Steve Cone, a member of Frisco’s planning and zoning commission, also lives in Cobb Hill. Cone said during the meeting it’s important to educate Frisco’s citizens about the theme park, while also hearing concerns.
“Universal is asking us to do something really big, to be the research and development city for where they’re going to try this big, bold project,” he said. Cities like Dallas, publicly remarked they would gladly take the park as a way to increase tourism. But Universal selected Frisco for a reason: The city was chosen due to its rapidly growing population and ability to attract businesses. With other Frisco tourist attractions such as PGA, the city is likely to rely on tourism for a great deal of its revenue.
