Richardson City Council Meeting July 8th, 2024
OPENING
All councilmembers are present as well as City Manager Don Magner and City Secretary Aimee Nemer.
Councilman Barrios leads a prayer and the pledges of allegiance.
Mayor Dubey acknowledges two high school students in attendance who are shadowing Council.
Minutes of the previous meeting are approved unanimously.
Two written comments are submitted. The first comment is regarding lights at Cottonwood Park. The second comment is in support of ZF 24-11 (Cityline East). One speaker is present to speak about his water bill.
STORM RECOVERY
The first presentation is an update on storm recovery efforts. 34 days into recovery, the city estimates they are 82% complete in collecting a total of up to 250,000 cubic yards. The first round of collection should be completed this week with a second round of collection beginning next week. This second round of collection is estimated to take three weeks. The estimated total cost of recovery is now $5M. The state and Dallas County have now reached the FEMA damage thresholds to be eligible for reimbursement up to 75%. Collin County is not likely to meet its damage threshold for FEMA reimbursement.
Mayor Dubey reannounces the Replant Richardson effort, a plan to recover tree canopy across the city that was lost during the storms. He states that an official plan will be announced in the future.
HOME SWEET HOME AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
The next discussion is on a Council tactic to discuss an awareness campaign to increase curb appeal for residential properties. Community Services Administrator Lindsay Turman presents. She begins by clarifying what falls under code compliance. Code compliance is focused specifically on health and safety maintenance issues. Code compliance cannot regulate anything regarding aesthetics.
Kim Newcomer, a consultant with Slate Communications, presents a proposed public awareness campaign to encourage residents to maintain their properties. She presents a door hanger design that addresses different categories of property maintenance. Home Sweet Home is the proposed campaign slogan. This will also include a social media campaign, postcards, and newsletter articles. An ambassador program is also proposed to partner with HOAs and neighborhood associations to engage with homeowners on issues that don’t fall within code compliance. Program materials will be developed throughout the summer. This program will be presented at the Fall Neighborhood Leadership Workshop and training sessions would begin in November. The official campaign would launch next March.
Councilman Barrios encourages the inclusion of volunteer assistance program information on door hangers for those who need assistance with maintenance. Councilwoman Justice encourages the inclusion of information on lower-maintenance native plants. Councilman Corcoran asks if they could expand the purview of code compliance to include more issues. Lindsay responds that anything not tied to health and safety would not hold up in court and would not be wise to attempt to regulate. Councilman Hutchenrider asks about creating a day for college student volunteers to help neighbors with low-skill maintenance tasks. He acknowledges that a lot of residents want to maintain their homes but can’t afford it or can’t physically do it. He encourages the program to advertise ways to help. Lindsay replies that the campaign will be positive and they will explore a larger-scale volunteer assistance day. Councilman Dorian suggests that ambassadors reach out to lawn service providers to conduct workshops to educate homeowners on maintenance. Mayor Dubey suggests maintaining an inventory of tools for residents to borrow.
FY 2025 STREETS AND ALLEYS MAINTENANCE (BUDGET PREP)
Next is a presentation on the next fiscal year’s streets and alleys maintenance strategies. Asst. Director of Capital Projects & Engineering Nick Kohel presents. He provides an overview of the various pavement repair methods. Materials costs have risen roughly 20% across the board. The requested streets maintenance budget for the next fiscal year is $5M. He also presents a map of the planned projects within this requested budget. The West Prairie Creek Dr. and Custer Rd. projects have been completed. The Glenville Dr. project should be completed this winter. The Custer Pkwy project should begin construction in the fall. The West Shore Dr. project should be completed next spring.
Nick then presents a map of alley maintenance projects and sidewalk maintenance projects for the next fiscal year. The city does have an interactive project map on its website. City manager Don Magner describes the difference in complexity between developing a new road and redeveloping an existing road. Councilman Corcoran encourages public communications on these projects to always include an estimated date of completion. On projects that rely on other entities’ utilities, an overestimate is still better than no estimate. Councilman Barrios asks about the difference in street maintenance costs in this requested budget compared to the current fiscal year. City Manager Don Magner explains that the current budget included year-end savings from last year. This explains the difference between the years' budget spends. $3.5M of reserves were used, meaning next year’s budget is approx. 12% lower than this year’s with that considered.
PUBLIC HEARING – ZF 24-11 (CITYLINE EAST)
Next up is a public hearing on ZF 24-11, a planned development amendment request for Cityline East to increase the maximum allowable residential units by 1,175. As a reminder, the CPC attempted to recommend denial on June 18th but did not actually recommend denial until the second hearing on July 2nd, six days before this third hearing. This recommendation of denial requires at least six councilmembers to vote to approve the request. This case was discussed for roughly 2 ½ hours between the two CPC hearings. (This is the second time this year that a zoning case is being heard just six days after a CPC vote. ZF 24-01, the zoning case regarding Lockwood Distillery’s bottling facility approved back in April, was the other case that received approval six days after the CPC meeting.)
Staff begins by presenting a background of the zoning in Cityline. In the 2009 land use plan, this tract is designated as Regional Employment. In the currently proposed future land use plan, this tract is designated as Transit Village. Form-based code is the zoning that is applied to this development, which dictates the form of the property/building and allows flexibility for the mix of uses. Staff then presents a background of the request. This request is also paired with an increase to the minimum density from 30 units/acre to 60 units/acre. There are also some amendments to the regulating plan that apply to open space. The difference appears to be connecting the gaps to make a continuous open space corridor. It sounds like this reflects what exists today so it may just be lining up what’s on paper with reality.
Staff notes that one letter in support has been received. Staff also references comment cards related to the item. (I submitted an email suggesting the minimum density be raised to somewhere in the 90-120 units/acre range, for what that’s worth.) Mayor Pro Tem Shamsul asks why the increase in mandatory open space requires approval from Council. Staff answers that it does not. This part can be approved internally. This part of the amendment request won’t change any space that already exists today. Councilman Barrios asks for an explanation as to how a case goes from being denied by the CPC to being heard by Council. Staff answers that the request was denied on July 2nd. The applicant has ten days to appeal that decision. The applicant has appealed and that has been provided to Council. This denial recommendation requires at least six votes to approve.
Councilman Corcoran asks about the outlook of office and recreational/entertainment uses. City Manager Don Magner states that the real estate world has changed post-pandemic. He says that developers will be looking for a plan that completes Cityline’s buildout. He also says that the entertainment sector wants to see more people walking within the development. Councilman Corcoran asks if there are any cons to approving this. Don replies that he doesn’t see a con. He says that approving this creates another marketable benefit for economic development. This would make their job easier when marketing Richardson to corporations looking to relocate to the region. He states that this would differentiate Cityline from other developments. This could also help support the DART station.
Councilman Dorian asks if this would preclude any other existing uses. Staff answers that it would not. The open space amendments also ensure that no existing open space gets taken away in the future. Councilwoman Justice asks if there are any public safety concerns about the impact of approving these units. Don answers there are not. He adds that these apartments would be easier to respond to than a high-rise office building. Mayor Pro Tem Shamsul asks about building heights. Staff replies that the minimum density being applied would ensure at least 4 or 5-story buildings. There are 32 acres undeveloped in Cityline East. (The applicant has stated they are achieving around 90 units/acre with their 5-story residential buildings. If all 1,175 additional units are developed at exactly 90/acre, that’s 13 acres. That would leave 19 acres. If they are developed at the minimum required 60/acre, it’s the inverse. That would be a little over 19 acres developed as multifamily, leaving just under 13 acres remaining for other development.)
The applicant steps forward to present their case. He explains the history of the Cityline development. He explains the impact of the pandemic and working from home. He explains that 39,000 sq. ft. of retail on State St. has never been occupied. He says this to show that more retail space is not needed. Additional residential units are needed to support the existing retail.
Mayor Pro Tem Shamsul asks if these apartment developments could be converted into condos if the market changes. The applicant responds that these would be hard to turn into anything else. He states that Texas has a very condo-unfriendly legislature. He says they are amenable to developing high-rise apartments if the market supports it and acknowledges that Cityline is headed towards more density. Councilman Dorian asks how long it would take to develop the remainder of the residential unit allowance if approved. The applicant replies that it would take eight years to develop if they chose to develop the buildout with this plan.
Three speakers are present for this hearing. The first is a regular attendee and participant in Council meetings. He thinks the 2014 approved vision for additional entertainment/recreation, retail, and high-rise residential uses is a better way to go than this current request. He asks that impacts on utilities be considered in this request. He opposes the request. The second speaker is former Place 3 Councilman Scott Dunn. He supports the request. The third speaker is former Mayor Paul Voelker. He states that entertainment is still missing from Cityline. Approving this request might make entertainment use more difficult to develop. He encourages Council and the developer to be patient and consider whether Cityline should be an office development or a bedroom community.
Councilman Corcoran points out that entertainment is accessible one or two stops away on the DART light rail. He doesn’t want to see development stall out at Cityline and supports the request. Councilman Barrios sees the request for more units as uniquely appropriate for Cityline. He acknowledges that it’s a change to the original vision but says this is the right place for it. He supports the request. Mayor Pro Tem Shamsul sees this as an appropriate place for more density. He supports the request.
Councilman Dorian also supports the request. He suggests a condition to make the first floor 15 ft. and “allow” steel and concrete construction. City Manager Don Magner reminds Council that they cannot dictate construction type as the state has taken that from city councils’ purviews. Councilman Dorian asks if they could include a 15 ft. first floor as a condition. Don states that, if they built a 15 ft. first floor podium, it would have to be concrete. I’m not sure that’s responsive to Councilman Dorian’s question but he is satisfied with that answer and does not request the added condition.
Councilwoman Justice doesn’t see this as abandoning the original vision. She supports the request and trusts the city’s partnership with the developer to build a quality product. Councilman Hutchenrider acknowledges that the entertainment industry has changed post-pandemic. The original vision was formed before anyone knew that a pandemic would change the world. He says that this requires enhancements to the vision. He acknowledges that the CPC has a different view of the request, but he will support it. Mayor Dubey wants to support the developers and investors involved with Cityline. He supports the request. Council unanimously votes to approve the request.
PUBLIC HEARING – ZF 24-12 (PARTY STREET)
Next up is a public hearing on ZF 24-12, also discussed in the June 4th CPC meeting. This is a special permit request for Party Street, a birthday party and events venue, at E. Campbell and N. Plano Rd. Staff presents a background of the request. The comprehensive zoning ordinance does not define a ‘special events center’, so a special permit is required. The CPC unanimously recommended approval of the request. The applicant steps forward to present their request. Councilman Barrios asks if they will use any amplified live music. The applicant answers that they will use a small speaker for speaking only, no loud music. Mayor Dubey asks if they allow alcohol on site. The applicant answers that they do not plan to have alcohol at parties. No speakers are present for this hearing. Council unanimously approves the request.
CONSENT AGENDA & CLOSING
The consent agenda is also approved unanimously. It includes an ordinance codifying the approval of ZF 24-07. Seven bid awards are also included: $1M to Axis Contracting for stormwater repairs, $3.6M to Kik Underground, LLC for pavement & utility improvements, $2M to Ratliff Hardscape, Ltd for alley reconstruction, $2.5M to DDM Construction Corp. to reconstruct Newberry Dr. and Royal Crest Dr., a $65K annual requirements contract to DH Pace for door service and repair, $185K to Sigma Surveillance for Eisemann Center security cameras, and $98K to Tyr Tactical for police tactical vests.
Council discusses the Independence Day celebration, and the meeting convenes into executive session to discuss economic development negotiations for commercial developments in four areas: Renner/U.S. 75, Renner/PGBT, Lakeside Blvd/Galatyn Pkwy, and E. Lookout/N. Glenville. Council returns after executive session to unanimously authorize the city manager to execute an agreement with Project Ascent. (I believe this is a data center.)
Meeting adjourned.