Plano City Council Preview - September 27, 2021

Executive Session (starts at 5:00 PM)

• Personnel Appointments: Board of Adjustment Members and Chair, Building Standards Commission Chair, and Heritage Commission Member and Chair

Preliminary Open Meeting

• Appointments to Boards and Commissions

1. Animal Shelter Advisory Committee – Member and Chair
2. Civil Service Commission – Member
3. Community Relations Commission – Members, Interim Member and Chair
4. Cultural Affairs (Arts) Commission – Member, Interim Member and Chair
5. Library Advisory Board – Members and Chair
6. Parks and Recreation Planning Board – Member and Chair
7. Retirement Security Plan Committee – Chair
8. Senior Advisory Board – Members and Chair
9. Tax Increment Financing Reinvestment Zone No. 2 & 3 Boards – Members and Chair

• Collin Central Appraisal District Board Nomination
• Neighborhood Services Report
• Homelessness Update
• Review of Backyard Hens Ordinance Update

Regular Meeting (starts at 7:00 PM)

• Certificates of Commendation: The Estates of Forest Creek and Whiffletree V, VI, and VII have received National Awards from Neighborhoods USA
• Award Presentation: The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) is presenting the Engineering Department with an award for their Stormwater Design Manual

Items for Individual Consideration

• Item (1): Repeal and replace city code Chapter 4, Animal Regulations to provide for backyard hens and to tighten up legal language throughout our Animal Regulations
• Item (2): Amend city code of ordinances Article 8 (Definitions), Article 9 (Residential Districts), Article 13 (Lot and Building Standards) to provide for backyard hen enclosures
• Item (3): Amend zoning for the Home Depot at the southeast corner of U.S. Highway 75 and 13th/14th Connector to allow for a building expansion, open storage areas, and to add compact construction equipment for rental.
• Item (4): Grant a Specific Use Permit (SUP) for New Vehicle Dealer at a location in Legacy West for an inventory of up to nine (9) vehicles.
• Item (5): Interlocal Agreement between Plano, Frisco, McKinney, and the Collin County Sheriff’s office for disbursement (divvying up) of the 2021 Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant funds, which allow for the purchase of Police equipment. Plano will receive $24,770 which we will use toward laser eye protection used in crowd control in civil disorder situations (where rioters/protesters increasingly use laser pointers to try to temporarily blind police officers).
• Item (6): Taking of a portion of Schell Park for a permanent utility easement for water and storm sewer improvements. State law prohibits the taking of park land without specific requirements.
• Item (7): Adopt a policy Resolution requiring the Planning & Zoning Commission and the Plano City Council to make specific findings when approving zoning requests that do not conform to the new comprehensive plan awaiting passage. I stated at the last council meeting that I would prefer an ordinance to make it as ironclad and as enforceable as possible.
• Item (8): Amend the resolution which created the Comprehensive Plan Review Committee (CPRC) to establish a process for amending the draft plan, if required, as a result of public comment. The process proposed is that after public input and comment, the CPRC would be able to make any changes to the plan based on public input, and if passed by a 75 percent vote, the plan would then go to public hearing. After this, Planning & Zoning would be able to make any changes based on input from the public at the hearing, which would then become the Planning & Zoning-recommended plan submitted to council. If it differs from the CPRC-approved plan, council would receive a copy of the CPRC-approved plan. I’m requesting clarification about whether council would then legally be able to make amendments before passage.

Notable Consent Agenda Items

• Item (h): Request to withdraw a resolution regarding DART use of eminent domain for property at 901 10th Street for the DART Silver Line Regional Rail Project. This is significant because DART has eminent domain authority under law, but must first receive approval from the city in which it seeks to exercise it. As such, DART has a policy of preemptively seeking eminent domain approval before engaging in (or at least before concluding) negotiations. When DART previously sought this approval with council, we tabled it pending the outcome of negotiation, citing that having the leverage of pre-approved eminent domain doesn’t create a level playing field for negotiation. Negotiation is presently ongoing, and DART and the property owner have not yet reached an impasse, so DART is withdrawing their request for approval to use eminent domain. This appears to be a validation of council’s direction to postpone eminent domain until DART has exhausted efforts at negotiation.
• Item (j): $800,000 for an additional $400,000 in each of the two remaining years in the term for downloadable content (e-books and e-audio library materials) with Kindle functionality from OverDrive for our libraries.
• Item (m): $123,480 for a Chapter 380 Economic Development agreement with Dematic
• Item (n): $273,900 for a Chapter 380 Economic Development agreement with Albertson’s
• Item (u): Repeal and replace city code Chapter 11, Article IV, Peddlers, Solicitors, Itinerant Vendors, Carnivals, and Job Placement Activities to remove speech-related solicitation regulations, and utilizes state law to address related health, safety, and privacy concerns. This ordinance relates to handbills in terms of littering rather than regulating speech, and makes it an offense to solicit a residence with a conspicuous sign prohibiting trespassing. Read the new ordinance here.
• Item (w): amend regulations for political signs/noncommercial purpose signs at city-owned active polling locations to allow no more than five (5) signs per candidate, committee, issue, proposition or measure, and require that signs be set back approximately eight (8) feet from the property line. Read the ordinance here.
• Item (x): Revise code of ordinances to address trees and shrubs which died in Snowmageddon (aka Winter Storm Uri, but you all more likely know what I’m talking about when I say ‘Snowmageddon’).