Fairview Mayor Darion Culbertson said his top priority as mayor is to help the town grow while still keeping its small-town feel.

Culbertson has served as Fairview mayor for the past three years after serving on the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Fairview Town Council.

“I always found it difficult to be a mere spectator,” Culbertson said. “I thought it would be a good opportunity to put my thumbprint on the blueprint of the town.”

Culbertson moved to Fairview from Allen in 2004.

When he became mayor, he said one of his key initiatives was to bring the town together.

“We knew that Fairview had great groups of neighborhoods but not necessarily a great community,” he said. “So one of the things we started immediately was a town newsletter. We knew it was important for us to start telling stories, for us to start communicating with one voice and create something that was uniquely ours.”

Culbertson said Fairview is unique by design and different from other surrounding municipalities because the town offers large residential lots.

“Those who live in Fairview have the best of both worlds,” he said. “They have the ability to have larger lots and also have access to the amenities that many urban communities have.”

By the end of this year, Culbertson said he expects the population of Fairview to be about 9,500.

At build-out, the town is expected to reach a population of between 16,000 and 18,000.

“With that number of residents coming, it was incumbent [on] us to start thinking about planning for our future today,” Culbertson said.

In 2015, Fairview Town Council developed a 10-year capital improvement plan to help the city grow commercially and residentially.

“We’re in the first year of executing the plan, and the beauty of it is that it will be in place long after [the current council is] out of office,” Culbertson said. “So we’ve created a blueprint for future mayors and future elected officials in the town of Fairview for them to follow.”

Culbertson said the town is addressing major needs to help the city become more efficient.

“We think our residents should be really proud that we’re planning this far in advance,” Culbertson said. “We don’t know what business economic cycles will take place over the next 10 years, but here is what we do know: Growth is going to happen, and it’s just a matter of how we control that growth.”

As growth continues, Culbertson said it is important to keep the small-town feel in Fairview. He said the town will do so by holding developers accountable for adhering to the town’s zoning standards, pushing for large residential lots and continuing the town’s philosophy of keeping thoroughfares to a maximum of two lanes.

“That is how we plan on maintaining that smaller town feel—not only through communication with our residents but also [infrastructure keeping] the city smaller,” he said. “We still have a lot of work to do, but that is our vision and the legacy we will leave for the town.”