Plans for another Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market store in Cypress are moving forward following the approval of a letter of non-objection from Cy-Fair ISD.

During the Jan. 20 CFISD board meeting, trustees unanimously gave the district authorization to submit a second letter of non-objection to Harris County regarding the construction of a new store near Woodard Elementary.

The store is proposed for the corner of Cypress North Houston and Barker Cypress roads, adjacent to Woodard Elementary, which is currently under construction and set to open for the 2015–16 academic year.

"When we purchased this land site, we pushed into the development, meaning [demographic firm Population Survey Analysts] told us we really needed a school site here," CFISD's general counsel Marney Collins Sims said. "We asked if we could purchase the school site, and [Taylor Morrison] said yes, but we have a master plan for commercial and want to put a grocery store at the entrance to our subdivision."

Homebuilder Taylor Morrison will develop the Alder Trails community off Barker Cypress Road between Queenston and Cypress North Houston roads. When build-out is complete, the community will feature 388 home sites.

The district has approved similar letters of non-objection in the past for other grocery stores, most recently an H-E-B, Sims said.

"If we were unable to get these types of waivers, I think it would hinder our ability to get these school sites near master-planned developments," she said.

Wal-Mart has been expanding its presence not only in Cypress but in the Greater Houston area. Another Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market opened at the corner of Barker Cypress and Longenbaugh roads on Jan. 21 along with two other stores in Pearland and Atascocita.

The company's neighborhood market stores are typically around 40,000 square feet—compared to around 200,000 square feet for the superstores—and carry daily household essentials, such as fresh produce, groceries and health and beauty supplies.