Fort Worth residents decry Walmart expansion

Residents: Stop building Walmarts in our neighborhood

A neighborhood in North Fort Worth, near Dallas, already has one Walmart. Now, the retail giant has announced plans to add two more stores -- a regular Walmart and a Walmart neighborhood grocery store.

That would give the area three Walmart stores within three miles of each other. Some residents are not happy about it.

"I think there's too much -- there's too many cars, too many people in this area," resident Melissa Martin told CBS TV station CBS11 (KTVT) in Dallas. "I think there's a Walmart on every corner."

The concern is that the new stores would contribute to congestion and traffic, and could even threaten property values. Neighborhood associations have pushed back against Walmart's expansion plans in the area, but the city says what's done is done.

"Texas is a property rights state -- the property owner can sell their properties to whom they wish," City of Fort Worth spokesman Bill Begley told CBS 11 in a statement. "Walmart has done their due diligence and determined that the demographics will support these stores."

The properties were already zoned for commercial use before Walmart purchased them.

Not everyone is unhappy about the retailer's planned expansion. "There's good jobs coming in, so that's good," said resident Brandy Karamol. The local are is "going to grow anyway, so why push it away?"

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