City officials said the meeting, which will take place at 5 p.m. at Old Settlers Recreation Center, will be a chance for community members to learn about the different projects developing in east McKinney. Residents will have the opportunity to learn and ask questions about the new City Hall, Tupps Brewery, the silo mural project and more. Spanish translators will be on-site.
The meeting will also serve as a kickoff to the Neighborhood Preservation Study, an initiative through the city’s housing and community engagement office. The purpose of the study is to maintain affordable housing in east McKinney, said Janay Tieken, director of housing and community engagement.
“We know the property values are going to go up,” Tieken said. “We know that there's going to be a lot of development—and those are all good things, but we want to make sure that the folks that want to remain in their homes are able to do so.”
Economic & Planning Systems, an independent consultant, will conduct the study that will look at areas such as ownership data, the condition of residential and commercial properties, employment clusters—wages and commuting patterns—and more.
The information from the study, which is expected to be complete in September, will give city staff a roadmap on how to address any issues that are identified through the data, Tieken said.
In addition to learning about the study and upcoming projects, Tieken said another main purpose of the meeting is to strengthen the sense of community in east McKinney since the area does not have homeowners associations.
“One of the other things that we're looking at is really strengthening the infrastructure in those neighborhoods, not from a physical infrastructure [outlook], but from a governance infrastructure [outlook],” Tieken said. “If they want to have a neighborhood organization, [we will be looking at] helping them bring that together and [getting] people that want to be together and have more of a unified voice.”
The community meeting will feature door prizes, food, a children’s play area and other activities to engage residents. It will be in a come-and-go format, according to the city’s website.
There will also be an opportunity for residents to share thoughts about topics that are not spelled out in the agenda. For those that cannot make the meeting, there is a virtual comment card in English and Spanish on the city’s website.
