Plano City Council Preview

Plano City Council Preview – January 25, 2021

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  • 01-24-2021
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On Monday, Plano City Council will determine which projects to include on the Bond Referendum for the May 1st election, out of the $404 million in proposals. See my article on the bond referendum here.

You can sign up online to speak at council meetings in person or via Zoom online at this link up to 15 minutes before the scheduled meeting, which is typically at the 7:00 Regular Meeting. You may alternatively share your thoughts by emailing the council members any time at our email addresses here, or by 4:00 PM the day of the meeting at councilcomments@plano.gov. The council meeting will be livestreamed on PlanoTV.org and on the City of Plano Facebook page.

 

Preliminary Open Meeting

(Whenever Executive Session, which starts at 5:00 PM, ends)

(Review agenda here)
  • Introduction of Ethics Investigators – Kim Moore and Taylor Holcomb
  • Presentation of the FY 2020 Audit Results
  • Term limits, evaluation timelines, and mandatory retirement age for Council Appointees
  • COVID Vaccination Site
  • 2021 Special Election to fill the vacancy created by Councilwoman Lily Bao on announcement as candidate for Plano Mayor

 

Regular Meeting (starts at 7:00 PM)

Notable Consent Agenda items are at the bottom of this post.

(Review agenda here)

Comments of Public Interest: every meeting, anyone can speak about anything for up to three minutes, with 30 total minutes allotted for this segment.

Proclamations and Special Recognition
  • Certificate of Commendation to the Plano Planning Department has received the Silver Planning Achievement Award in Environmental Planning for the Expressway Corridor Environmental Health Study, and the Richard R. Lillie, FAICP, Planning Excellence Recognition from the Texas Chapter of the American Planning Association
Board and Commission Appointments
Certificates of Appreciation

Items for Individual Consideration

NOTE: the items below are related to proposed new zoning districts for Envision Oak Point, and were tabled by council last August because the new Comprehensive Plan was not yet complete. It still is not complete, and the Comprehensive Plan Review Committee (CPRC) has not settled on appropriate residential categories.
  • Item (1): Consideration of a new “Residential Community Design” zoning district, which encompasses the following housing types (shown in the picture below of the “Middle Housing” category proposed to the CPRC): small, detached, single-family homes, duplexes, townhomes, manor homes (also triplex/fourplexes -a single building that shares 3-6 dwelling units), stacked townhomes, and stacked flats (a single building sharing 6-9 dwelling units).
    midtown housing
  • Item (2): Consideration of the proposed “Neighborhood Business Design” zoning district, which can be entirely commercial, or can include residential with the following housing types: Live-Work (business loft), multifamily, single-family attached or detached, Studios, and two-family residences. Basically anything. It’s a complete and total mystery what type of housing developers would propose under this zoning.
  • Item (3): Rezoning of the Plano Event Center property to the proposed “Neighborhood Business Design” zoning district above, to allow for the construction of the hotel and restaurant. The Neighborhood Business Design district would encompass a much greater area than the Event Center property, including the hotel. When council this tabled in August, I asked how long it would take to redraft this rezoning as a Planned Development* so that we could take care of the Event Center hotel without prematurely applying this zoning district to half the Envision Oak Point area. If I recall correctly, I was told nearly six months ago that it would take about six months. Monday’s item is the same Neighborhood Business Design proposal.
* A Planned Development is basically what’s used when what’s intended doesn’t match existing zoning; I’m not generally a fan, but our comprehensive plan and related zoning is up in the air at present.

 

Notable Consent Agenda Items

Total of $3,753,686 of your money in proposed expenses

  • Item (b): $136,665 for a screening wall for the new Sand & Salt storage facility
  • Item (c): $288,488 to replace approximately 1,000 square yards of downtown brick pavers
  • Item (d): $3,194,394 for four fire trucks (really, if I’d known they were that expensive, I wouldn’t have asked for one for Christmas when I was a kid…)
  • Item (e): $134,139 for replacement equipment for portable surveillance towers for the Plano Police Department (3 solar powered trailers, 12 Axis cameras, 28 Milestone XProtect licenses, 6 antennas, 3 Axis speaker horns, 3 mounting brackets, and a Partridge in a Pear Tree)

 

Review City Council agendas and minutes here.