How do you make both sides happy?  That was the question looming at City Hall Thursday night as council members heard impassioned debate over the proposed Super Wal-Mart at Northcross Mall.  One of the biggest issues?  How it would affect traffic in the area.

KVUE News

Neighbors living near the mall took their turns at the podium in the last city council meeting of the year. 

Earlier in the day, protesters were more vocal about Wal-Mart becoming a neighbor.  An army of protesters clad in red carried signs and chanted in unison outside of City Hall.  Their message for city leaders was the same.

“Wal-Mart and (developer) Lincoln (Properties) have really put forth a pretty shameless and blatant attempt to manipulate the city council and the public,” said Hope Morrison, the Vice-President of Responsible Growth for Northcross.

“It’s not going to be a development in the middle of our neighborhood, it’s going to be a malignancy,” said Jason Meeker, who lives near Northcross Mall.

What really has neighbors near Northcross fired up is an independent traffic study released Thursday by the city.  City leaders say it shows that Wal-Mart and its developer, Lincoln Properties, underestimated the number of additional cars to the area by 150%.

“Those numbers are pretty extreme and nobody’s entitled to a site development permit by submitting false information,” said Austin City Councilman Brewster McCracken.

An attorney for Wal-Mart attending Thursday’s city council meeting refused to comment.

Wal-Mart has agreed to postpone demolition for at least 60-days.  A lawsuit could be filed by neighbors or even the city in hopes of scrapping the deal altogether.