As revisions to the city's comprehensive development plan are approved by three-fourths of the committee, recommendations for the plan must be reviewed by planning and zoning officials and receive a simple majority approval. Three areas of the plan still need committee and zoning body revisions and approval: the redevelopment of neighborhood centers, plan map amendments, and redevelopment and growth management.
Additionally, the future land-use map and density guidance map are still up for committee discussion.
With some remaining points of discussion at an impasse among committee members, City Council directed them to create a subcommittee for discussing matters outside of set meetings. This subcommittee's members should be chosen by the whole committee, council members said.
Using this tactic, presented as a possibility by committee Chair Doug Shockey during a committee update to the council Jan. 11, final decisions could be made by the end of April or early May, Shockey said.
An initial budget of $900,000 was set aside for the committee's work and related consulting fees, Planning Director Christina Day said. Consulting fee payments are expected to last through April, with a cost of roughly $50,000 per month.
Shockey expects to have a better idea of whether an April deadline will be feasible in mid-February, he said.
Further discussion on whether or not more funds can be made available will take place if recommendations are not finalized by May, council members said at the meeting. Whether to continue the committee would likely be up for debate, based on City Council discussion at the meeting.
The committee did not have any items for planning and zoning commissioners to review at the most recent planning and zoning meeting Jan. 4, and items are not expected to make it to the commissioners for review at the next meeting, Day said at the Jan. 4 meeting.
The 16 Plano residents reviewing the city’s comprehensive development plan began their work in January 2020, with an expected year's work ahead of them. The plan serves as the foundation of the city’s zoning ordinances, and the findings and recommendations of this committee will guide the city in the creation of a new comprehensive plan.
The city is following development guidelines that were put in place in 1986 following the repeal of the Plano Tomorrow plan last summer.
The committee's process is being documented online, including a page with revisions at each stage and a breakdown of what items are covered in each meeting. The next meetings for the committee are expected to take place Jan. 19 and 26.
