Richardson will expand its city landscaping program to include private medians located on public streets.
Through the Matching Fund Beautification program, the parks and recreation department partners with Homeowner Associations, Neighborhood Associations and other civic groups to improve landscaping on public property. Following a discussion at the Nov. 2 City Council meeting, council agreed to expand the program to include some projects on private property.
The overview
The Matching Fund Beautification program was developed in 1972 to promote partnerships and community engagement, said Shohn Rodgers, assistant director of parks and recreation.
Partner groups apply for the program in the spring and work with city staff to design the project, which could include improvements on parks, medians and neighborhood entrances.
The city matches 100% of partner group funds to perform beautification projects on the public or city-maintained properties. Projects are included in the annual budget, and the city committed $80,000 to the program for fiscal year 2026-27.
The city manages the project and performs maintenance on the property after completion.
“Our neighborhood associations have always had the opportunity to utilize this program, which is invaluable to them and the city, and it certainly continues to elevate our communities,” council member Curtis Dorian said.
Council decided to expand the program to limited projects on private property after the Knolls and Breckinridge Homeowners Association applied for a project on a median owned by the association.
“This would represent a little bit of a change to the scope of what Matching Fund Beautification has been in the past,” Rodgers said.
The details
A median at the main entry of the Knolls at Breckinridge neighborhood was damaged from a vehicle collision, Rodgers said, so the HOA applied for a reconstruction project and funding match through the beautification program.
The median, which is on a public street, is private property that the association has maintained along with the rest of its common area property in the neighborhood, Rodgers said.
Rodgers said that adding private properties to the beautification program would require a Chapter 380 agreement with the HOA to authorize the use of public funds for work on private property, along with other legal agreements. The city would also not be able to provide long-term maintenance on private property after the completion of the project as it does with the other beautification projects, he said.
“Adding that private property to the Matching Fund Beautification remit would represent kind of a policy change, a little bit of a philosophy change as well,” Rodgers said.
A closer look
According to a city analysis, HOAs own 281 individual parcels across Richardson, including rights-of-way, entry points, common areas, parks and pools. Roughly 25 of those parcels are medians that could be brought into the beautification program.
Rodgers said that the city should establish clear guidelines for expanding the program to include private property to prevent any project on private land from being eligible. He recommended that the policy be restricted to only projects on privately-owned medians located on public streets, so private streets in gated communities will not be eligible.
Following this policy change, City Manager Don Magner said the city could potentially expand the beautification program to include more projects on private property.
“We talk about this potentially being a philosophy change, but it’s really just dipping our toe into it,” council member Joe Corcoran said.
