Council Meeting Preview – September 20, 2011
Today’s meeting is full of items. Here’s some insight into the life of a City Council Member… The back-up material for today’s meeting consists of 805 pages. We don’t actually receive this material until around 5pm on the Friday before the Tuesday council meeting. Somewhere in the midst of working full time, spending time with my family, changing diapers, completing household tasks, spending time at the annual Blues Fest, and enjoying the cooler weather, I have to make it through all of these pages in order to be prepared to vote my conscience by Tuesday afternoon. Hence, it is pushing 1am on Tuesday morning and I have finally completed my study of this material. All this because I love this great city!
Today’s meeting begins with a Work Session at 3pm, followed by a Regular Session at 6:30. There’s a lot on the agenda (click here to see it), so get yourself an addictive beverage to get you through the potentially long meeting tonight. Here’s what you might find interesting on tonight’s agenda…
MOBILE FOOD TRUCKS!
I’ve been an advocate of these for some time. Up until now, our city ordinances have not been accommodating to such a food truck culture like you might see in Austin or Portland. One of the primary reasons is that our current ordinance prohibits mobile food trucks from staying in any one place for longer than 15 minutes. The question before us today is whether to direct staff to work on ordinance that loosens such regulations or whether to stay with the status quo.
I have argued in the past, including in this article from last January, that beyond the obvious benefit to our appetites, these food carts bring about the possibility of community betterment. Just last Wednesday, I hosted over 50 citizens in my home to hear their thoughts on this subject. I look forward to hearing the thoughts of my fellow council members today on this issue.
WALK SAFELY FROM THE A-TRAIN
We will be reviewing a design plan for sidewalks, streetscape, crosswalks, and pedestrian signals to connect the A-Train on Hickory to the other side of Bell Ave. This is a needed project in order to ensure that Denton is an attractive destination to potential train riders.
REDISTRICTING PLANS FINALIZED
After hearing from concerned citizens, certain boundaries on the latest redistricting map have been tweaked in order to accommodate the concerns of Denia neighborhood residents and Southeast Denton residents. The latest change involved the return of most of the downtown square into District 1 – it had previously been given over to District 2 as part of the now-infamous “finger” that extended below University Drive. I expect the latest plans to pass. Once this is all finalized, make sure you know which district you are in!
BUDGET APPROVAL
After months of discussions, it appears the final version of the city budget is set for approval tonight. If you still haven’t taken a look at it, you can access it online here.
SEX OFFENDER ORDINANCE
I mentioned this was coming in the last council update – it’s a type of ordinance that is becoming increasingly popular among cities as a way to lower the number of sex offenders residing in their city limits. In our case, this ordinance proposes a 1500 foot radius around places where children typically gather (parks, schools, etc.) – within which sex offenders where the victim is a child cannot live. A vote on this is part of the consent agenda.
ZONING CHANGES
We will hear a series of five public hearings requesting some sort of zoning change. The most significant of which involves a tract of land on the corner of Eagle and Bernard, just South of the UNT campus. There developers are hoping to put four stories of student housing with parking underneath. Eagle Drive is beginning to be transformed into higher density student housing. This brings about the possibility of encouraging more mixed use projects (similar to what we are about to see on the new Fry Street apartments) in order to bring Eagle Drive into a more pedestrian-friendly area.
Hope to see some of you out tonight!