[00:00:02] >> I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WASN'T ME CALLING. WELL, WE HAVE A QUORUM. GOOD MORNING. [Call to Order] TODAY IS WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15TH, 2025. I GET USED TO SAYING 2025 TIMES 9:31 AM. THEN NOW CALL THIS MEETING OF THE DALLAS CITY COUNCIL TO ORDER. OUR INVICATION THIS MORNING IS GOING TO BE GIVEN BY OUR GOOD FRIEND AND A VERY DEDICATED MEMBER OF OUR LOCAL FAITH COMMUNITY WHO ALSO HAPPENS TO BE A CHAPLAIN WITH THE DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT. HE IS RABBI ANDREW PALEY OF TEMPLE SHALOM. PLEASE. RABBI TAKE IT AWAY. >> YES MAYOR. GOOD MORNING. WELCOME, EVERYONE. HOLY ONE OF BLESSING, GOD OF MANY NAMES. AS WE GATHER THIS MORNING TO DO THE WORK OF SERVING OUR COMMUNITY. LET US PAUSE FOR A MOMENT TO REFLECT ON THE REMARKABLE CITY THAT WE CALL HOME. DALLAS IS A CITY OF RESILIENCE, OF INNOVATION, AND OPPORTUNITY. IT IS A PLACE WE HOLD HIGH WITH HOPES WHERE OUR NEIGHBORHOODS THRIVE WITH DIVERSITY, WHERE CREATIVITY FUELS PROGRESS AND WHERE THE SPIRIT OF GENEROSITY AND COMPASSION IS WOVEN INTO THE FABRIC OF DAILY LIFE. WE'RE SO FORTUNATE TO LIVE IN A CITY WHERE WE HOPE PEOPLE WILL LOOK OUT FOR ONE ANOTHER, WHERE PUBLIC SERVANTS STRIVE TO BUILD A BETTER TOMORROW AND WHERE THE VIBRANCY OF ART, CULTURE, AND COMMERCE ENRICHES US ALL. THESE QUALITIES MAKE DALLAS A PLACE OF PROMISE AND POSSIBILITY, A CITY THAT INSPIRES DREAMS AND HELPS THEM COME TO LIFE. BUT EVEN AS WE CELEBRATE THESE STRENGTHS, WE'RE REMINDED OF THE ONGOING CHALLENGES IN OUR WORLD. AS WILDFIRES DEVASTATE COMMUNITIES IN CALIFORNIA, WE'RE CALLED ON TO REFLECT ON HOW WE CAN ASSURE THE SAFETY AND WELL BEING OF OUR OWN COMMUNITY. THIS MORNING, HELP THESE BRAVE SERVANTS COMMIT TO BEING A CITY WHERE EVERY PERSON FEELS VALUED, EVERY VOICE IS HEARD AND NO ONE IS LEFT BEHIND. WELL, GOD BLESS THESE LEADERS WITH WISDOM AND COURAGE AND HUMILITY. MAY THEIR DELIBERATIONS THIS DAY REFLECT THE HEART OF DALLAS, A CITY THAT WELCOMES INNOVATION, BRIDGES, DIVIDES, AND WORKS TIRELESSLY TO UPLIFT ITS PEOPLE. LET THEIR DECISIONS BE SHAPED BY A SPIRIT OF SERVICE, GUIDED BY A COMMITMENT TO JUSTICE AND INSPIRED BY THE SHARED VISION OF A CITY WHERE EVERYONE CAN THRIVE. MAY WE ALL REMEMBER THAT THE STRENGTH OF OUR CITY LIES NOT ONLY IN ITS BUILDINGS AND INFRASTRUCTURE, BUT IN THE RELATIONSHIPS THAT WE NURTURE, THE TRUST THAT WE BUILD, AND THE HOPE WE CULTIVATE TOGETHER. MY THIS MEETING BE A REFLECTION OF THOSE VALUES AND AN AFFIRMATION OF OUR SHARED RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE DALLAS AN EVEN GREATER PLACE TO LIVE FOR GENERATIONS TO COME. AMEN. >> IF EVERYONE WOULD PLEASE RISE FOR OUR PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO FIRST THE UNITED STATES FLAG, AND THEN THE TEXAS FLAG. >> >> THANK YOU VERY MUCH. YOU MAY BE SEATED. MEMBERS, I DON'T HAVE ANY ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM ANY OF YOU OR FROM THE MAYOR'S OFFICE TODAY, WHICH IS GREAT BECAUSE WE DO HAVE A LOT OF WORK THAT WE NEED TO DO, AND WE'RE UNDER INTERESTING TIME LIMIT THIS MORNING. WE NEED TO GET OUR MORNING SESSION GOING QUICKLY BECAUSE WE NEED TO BE IN EXECUTIVE SESSION BY ONE O'CLOCK TODAY TO CONDUCT SOME OF OUR BUSINESS. I'M GOING TO ASK YOU GUYS TO BE MINDFUL OF THAT WHEN WE WERE DEALING WITH OPEN MICROPHONE SPEAKERS AND OTHER THINGS THIS MORNING. WITH THAT, MADAM SECRETARY, LET'S GO TO THE OPEN MICROPHONE SPEAKERS. [Open Microphone Speakers] >> THANK YOU, MR. MAYOR. GOOD MORNING. THE DALLAS CITY COUNCIL WILL NOW HEAR IT FIRST FIVE REGISTERED SPEAKERS. I'LL RECITE THE SPEAKER GUIDELINES. SPEAKERS MUST OBSERVE THE SAME RULES OF PROPRIETY DECORUM AND GOOD CONDUCT APPLICABLE TO MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL. ANY SPEAKER MAKING PERSONAL, PERTINENT, PROFANE OR SLANDEROUS REMARKS, OR WHO BECOMES BOISTEROUS WHILE ADDRESSING THE CITY COUNCIL WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE ROOM FOR THOSE INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE IN PERSON. FOR THOSE VIRTUAL SPEAKERS, YOU WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE SESSION. INDIVIDUALS WILL BE GIVEN THREE MINUTES TO SPEAK. YOU NOTICE THE TIME ON THE MONITOR AT THE PODIUM. FOR THOSE IN PERSON SPEAKERS, WHEN YOUR TIME IS UP, PLEASE STOP. FOR THOSE VIRTUAL SPEAKERS, I WILL ANNOUNCE WHEN YOUR TIME HAS EXPIRED. [00:05:02] ALSO SPEAKERS, PLEASE BE MINDFUL THAT DURING YOUR PUBLIC COMMENTS, YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO REFER TO A CITY COUNCIL MEMBER BY NAME AND ADDRESS YOUR COMMENTS TO MAYOR JOHNSON ONLY. YOUR FIRST SPEAKER, ROBERT CICCARELLI. ROBERT CICCARELLI IT IS NOT PRESENT. LINDA NEWLAND. >> GOOD DAY, MAYOR LINDA NEWLAND, DISTRICT 7. IN DISTRICT 3 PRAYER LAST WEEK, HE SAID, "WE DON'T ALWAYS GET IT RIGHT." SPEAKER 1'S TOPIC WAS FLED AND STATED HE'D BEEN COMING HERE FOR 25 YEARS. SPEAKER 2'S TOPIC WAS FLORIDATION. AND SHE SAID HE'D BEEN COMING HERE AROUND 11 YEARS. SPEAKERS 3 TOPIC WAS FLORIDATION. NO YEARS WERE MENTIONED, BUT SPEAKER ASKED MAYOR TO ASK COUNSEL TO LISTEN TO SPEAKERS. SPEAKERS 4 TOPIC WAS AIR QUALITY. HE STATED THIS WAS HIS FIFTH SPEECH ON THE TOPIC. SPEAKER 5 TOPIC WAS GLORIOUS THANKS TO THE COUNCIL. HE STATED HE'S LIVED IN DALLAS FOR 20 YEARS AND FEELS SAFE WALKING IN DALLAS. MAYOR JOKINGLY STATED TO SUSPEND THE RULES TO HAVE HIM COME BACK EVERY WEEK. THERE WAS LOTS OF CLAPPING WHEN NO WORD FROM ANYONE ON THE HORSESHOE THAT CLAPPING WAS NOT ALLOWED. NEXT, MAYOR. LOOK WHAT I FOUND ON FIRST PAGE DALLAS MORNING NEWSPAPER, DATED DECEMBER 6TH, 2025. IT'S A PICTURE OF YOU WITH WORDS IN BOLD. CITY HALL MUST LISTEN. I MUST ADMIT IT FIRST, I THOUGHT THE NEWSPAPER WAS SAYING CITY HALL NEEDS TO LISTEN. BUT THEN I READ THE ARTICLE. MAYOR, IT'S YOU THAT SAYS CITY HALL MUST LISTEN. DISTRICT 3 FIRST PRAYER OF THE YEAR WAS SPOT ON. Y'ALL DON'T ALWAYS GET IT RIGHT. MAYOR, YOU WERE SPOT ON WHEN YOU SAID CITY HALL MUST LISTEN. SPEAKERS 2 AND 3 WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN HERE HAD THE ISSUES BEEN TAKEN CARE OF YEARS AGO. SPEAKER 5, I'M NOT SURE ABOUT. I'VE GOT LOTS OF THEORIES, BUT NOTHING SOLID TO GO ON. HOWEVER, MAYOR, IF YOU WANT GLORIOUS THANKS, YOU NEED TO LISTEN. WORDS ARE JUST WORDS WITHOUT ACTION. GIVE THIS DALLAS CITIZENS THE REASON Y'ALL ARE NOT STOPPING FLUORIDATION. REMEMBER THE POSTERS ON THE ELEVATOR SAY, "WE'RE TRANSPARENT AND HONEST." ALL NEED TO TELL US STOP FLORIDATION, PLEASE. >> THANK YOU. SYLVIA LAGOS. >> GOOD MORNING. MY NAME IS SYLVIA LAGOS, AND I RESIDE AT 131 NORTH MONTCLAIR, DALLAS, TEXAS 75208. I WANT TO THANK YOU ALL MEMBERS, MAYOR, MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL. I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK AND EXPRESS MY SINCERE APPRECIATION FOR SOMEONE THAT I CONSIDER A FRIEND. LAURA'S LEAVING CITY HALL TODAY. I'M SORRY, I DIDN'T THINK I WAS GOING TO GET EMOTIONAL. I WANT TO PUBLICLY THANK HER. I WANT TO THANK HER FOR ALL THE HARDWORK AND THE COMMITMENT THAT SHE HAS DEDICATED TO DALLAS CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 6, ESPECIALLY WEST DALLAS. I LOVE WEST DALLAS BECAUSE I WAS BORN AND RAISED IN WEST DALLAS, SO IT HAS A BIG PLACE IN MY HEART, [00:10:01] AND I KNOW IT DOES TO LAURA AS WELL BECAUSE SHE WAS BORN AND RAISED IN WEST DALLAS AS WELL AS HER FAMILY. LAURA IS LEAVING A JOB TODAY AT CITY HALL TO EMBARK ON A NEW JOURNEY, A NEW JOURNEY THAT IS GOING TO TAKE HER PLACES. I WANTED TO THANK HER PUBLICLY FOR HER HARDWORK AND COMMITMENTS. I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS AND A COMMITMENT TO THE DALLAS CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 6 CONSTITUENTS. SHE WILL BE SORELY MISSED, BUT SHE WILL NOT BE FAR. LAURA IS A HARD WORKER AND COMMITTED TO THE CAUSE OF EXCELLENCE AND JUSTICE. SHE'S AN AMAZING YOUNG LADY THAT I'VE GOTTEN TO KNOW THROUGHOUT THE YEARS. I MET HER WHEN DALLAS CITY COUNCILMAN OMAR NARVAEZ WAS RUNNING. LAURA AND I WERE OUT KNOCKING ON DOORS, AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I CAN TRULY REMEMBER IS THAT WE KNOCKED ON SOMEONE'S DOOR AND THEY ASKED US TO COME IN AND HAVE TACOS. WE WENT IN, HAD TACOS, HAD A GREAT TIME. LAURA SAID, I LIKE THIS. I SAID ME TOO. ONE DAY, YOU SHOULD RUN AND GUESS WHAT? I EXPECT TO SEE HER ONE DAY SITTING BESIDE YOU ALL AT THE HORSESHOE. BECAUSE I KNOW THAT LAURA WILL REPRESENT THE CITIZENS OF DISTRICT 6 TO THE BEST OF HER ABILITY. SHE IS COMMITTED, AND I KNOW SHE WILL DO A GREAT JOB. THANK YOU, LAURA. OMAR WILL MISS YOU. BUT IT'LL BE OKAY, OMAR. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. APPRECIATE IT. >> THANK YOU. SHARON HOWARD. >> CAN YOU GUYS HEAR ME? ARE YOU ABLE TO HEAR ME? >> YES, WE CAN HEAR YOU AND SEE YOU. YOU MAY CONFINE. >> ALL RIGHT. GOOD MORNING, COUNCILS AND MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY. MY NAME IS SHARON HOWARD. I LIVE AT 4116 PUME COURT, DALLAS, TEXAS 75212. I'M JOINING THE MEETING THIS MORNING TO SAY A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU TO MISS LAURA CADENA, CHIEF OF STAFF FOR D6 COUNCILMAN OMAR NARVAEZ. LAURA, A FEW OF THE MANY WORDS I WOULD USE TO DESCRIBE YOU ARE DEDICATED. YOU HAVE SERVED D6 IN THE CITY OF DALLAS ADMIRBLY FOR THE LAST 7.5 YEARS. YOU ARE CARING AND COMPASSIONATE. YOU LOOK OUT FOR OTHERS AND ALWAYS WILLING TO STEP UP AND HELP NO MATTER THE SITUATION. YOU'RE KNOWLEDGEABLE. ALWAYS ABLE TO PROVIDE ANSWERS AND POINT PEOPLE IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION TO RESOLVE ISSUES. LET'S FACE IT, LAURA. YOU ARE AN EXCEPTIONAL INDIVIDUAL AND YOU HAVE SERVED THE PEOPLE OF D6 AND THE CITY OF DALLAS SO VERY WELL. THERE HAS NOT BEEN A TIME WHEN I REACHED OUT TO YOU WITH AN ISSUE THAT YOU WEREN'T ABLE TO HELP ME GET RESOLUTION, OR POINT ME IN THE DIRECTION TO GET MY ANSWER. WE ALL KNOW THAT OUR WONDERFUL D6 COUNCILMAN WOULD NOT BE THE AMAZING COUNCIL PERSON HE IS TODAY, IF NOT FOR YOU. YOU MAKE HIM LOOK GOOD EVERY DAY BY SOLVING THE DAY TO DAY ISSUES FOR THE COMMUNITIES YOU SERVE. LAURA, YOU TAKE PRIDE IN SERVING YOUR COMMUNITY AND THE CITY OF DALLAS, AND FOR THAT, I THANK YOU FOR ALL THE LONG HOURS, LATE NIGHTS AND HARDWORK YOU HAVE PUT IN THE LAST 7.5 YEARS. LAURA CADENA, YOU HAVE SET THE BAR HIGH. TAKE PRIDE IN ALL THAT YOU HAVE ACCOMPLISHED TO MAKE D6 AND THE CITY OF DALLAS A BETTER PLACE FOR US ALL. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU HAVE DONE, AND YOU ARE SO VERY APPRECIATED. I KNOW WHATEVER IS IN YOUR FUTURE AND THE NEXT ROAD YOU TAKE, YOU WILL BE JUST AS SUCCESSFUL BECAUSE YOU ARE THE OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUAL YOU ARE. THANK YOU, LAURA FOR YOUR SERVICE FOR THE CITY OF DALLAS. >> THANK YOU. WES KEYES. >> MAYOR AND ESTEEMED COUNCIL MEMBERS, MY NAME IS REVEREND WES KEYES, AND I RESIDE AT 202 NORTH CLINTON AVENUE, DALLAS, TEXAS, 75208, AND DISTRICT 1. I AM HERE AS THE CEO OF BROTHER BILL'S HELPING HAND, WANTING TO ECHO THE SENTIMENTS OF THE LAST TWO SPEAKERS AND HONORING THE SERVICE OF MS. LAURA CADENA, WHO IS LEAVING DISTRICT 6, AND THE WORK SHE HAS DONE WITH COUNCIL OMAR NARVAEZ. LAURA HAS BEEN A STEADFAST ADVOCATE FOR WEST DALLAS AND DISTRICT 6 IN BODY COMMITMENT TO THIS COMMUNITY THAT HAS TOUCHED COUNTLESS LIVES. LAURA AND I ACTUALLY FIRST MET OVER TWO DECADES AGO WHILE WE WERE IN SEMINARY AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY. SHE'S ACTUALLY MY OLDEST DALLAS FRIEND, AND I VALUE HER FRIENDSHIP, OUR SHARED EXPERIENCES. WE'VE GONE TO MEXICO TOGETHER. [00:15:01] WE ALL OF STUFF TOGETHER. AS THE CEO, BROTHER BILL'S HELPING HAND, I HAVE WITNESSED HER FIRSTHAND THE PROFOUND IMPACT OF HER WORK AND UNWAVERING SUPPORT, AND TIRELESS EFFORTS SHE HAS ON OUR COMMUNITY. ON BEHALF OF ALL BROTHER BILL STAFF AND MYSELF, WE SAY, THANK YOU, LAURA. HER CHANGE HAS BEEN MARKED BY SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENTS, BUT AS MS. HOWARD JUST SAID AND I WANT TO ECHO, LAURA ANSWERS HER PHONE. SHE RETURNS TEXTS. SHE LISTENS. SHE CARES AND SHE ACTS. THE PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS. LAURA HAS A PERSONAL WARMTH AND GENUINE CARE FOR OTHERS, ENDEARED TO OUR COLLEAGUES AND COMMUNITY ALIKE. THE ENTIRE BROTHER BILL'S FAMILY KNOWS LAURA AND LOVES HER, AND WE ARE GOING TO MISS HER. SHE EMBARKS ON THIS NEW JOURNEY. WE EXTEND OUR DEEPEST GRATITUDE FOR HER UNWAVERING DEDICATION AND WISH HER ALL THE BEST IN HER FUTURE ENDEAVORS. HER IMPACT ON DISTRICT 6 IN WEST DALLAS, WE FELT FOR GENERATIONS TO COME. LAURA, WE LOVE YOU, AND WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE AND FRIENDSHIP. THANK YOU. >> THANK YOU. J DOMINI DANIEL. >> GOOD MORNING, DISTINGUISHED COUNCIL MEMBERS. MY NAME IS DAMANY DANIEL, AND I'M A PROUD RESIDENT OF DISTRICT 6 UNDER THE HONORABLE OMAR NARVAEZ, AND I'VE HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF SERVING AS THE DISTRICT'S ARTS COMMISSIONER FOR, ACCORDING TO LINKEDIN, THREE YEARS. THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT TODAY. I'VE HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF STANDING BEFORE YOU FOR SEVERAL YEARS, SUPPORTING, ADMONISHING, CHALLENGING, AND LOBBYING FOR THE THINGS THAT I'M MOST PASSIONATE ABOUT IN THE PURSUIT OF MAKING THIS CITY THE BEST POSSIBLE PLACE TO LIVE FOR ME, MY FAMILY, AND THE RESIDENTS AT THIS CITY. TODAY I WANT TO CELEBRATE. IT'S WITHOUT HYPERBOLE THAT I CAN SAY THAT LAURA CADENA TAUGHT ME WHAT LOCAL LEADERSHIP LOOKS LIKE AND MADE ME CARE ABOUT LOCAL POLITICS. FOUR YEARS AGO, MY INTEREST IN HOW THINGS WORK AT THIS LEVEL WAS NASCENT AT BEST. I KNEW ABOUT THE HORSESHOE AND THAT IT WAS IMPORTANT, AND I KNEW THE NAMES OF THE PEOPLE WHO REPRESENTED THE CITY, BUT I DON'T KNOW THAT I CARED ABOUT OR FULLY BELIEVED THAT THERE WAS A PLACE FOR ME TO SEE THE IMPACT MADE AT THE LOCALIST OF LEVELS. THEN I MET LAURA. FROM THE FIRST MOMENT WE CONNECTED, SHE'S BEEN A CHAMPION, NOT JUST FOR THE CITY, BUT FOR MY NEIGHBORHOOD, FOR MY BLOCK, AND FOR MY FAMILY. WHETHER IT'S MIDDLE-OF-THE-NIGHT CALLS ABOUT DRAG RACING IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE OR MIDDLE-OF-THE-DAY INTRODUCTIONS TO LOCAL BUSINESSES, LAURA HAS BEEN THERE. WHEN AN EPIDEMIC OF CRACK HOUSES AND DISPLACED AND ADDICTED INDIVIDUALS ACTIVELY THREATENED THE SAFETY OF MY STREET, LAURA WORKED TIRELESSLY WITH CODE, DPD, DFR, THE CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, AND COMMUNITY PROSECUTION TO GET THAT PLACE SHUT DOWN, AND I CAN STAND HERE AND SAY THAT ALMOST A YEAR LATER, IT'S STILL SHUT DOWN AFTER SEVERAL ATTEMPTS PRIOR TO THAT TO GET IT SHUT DOWN. MY NEIGHBORHOOD IS BETTER BECAUSE OF LAURA, AND THAT'S NO EXAGGERATION. MY KIDS CAN WALK OUTSIDE AT NIGHT TO TAKE OUT THE TRASH WITHOUT FEAR OF HARASSMENT BECAUSE OF LAURA. MY MOTHER, SISTERS, FRIENDS, AND NEIGHBORS LIVE IN A BETTER COMMUNITY BECAUSE OF LAURA. I'VE RUN, WELL, WALKED QUICKLY, 5KS, ALONGSIDE LAURA AND COMFORTED SCARED CITIZENS ALONGSIDE LAURA. I'VE EXPLORED NEW ARTISTIC VENTURES ALONGSIDE LAURA. I'VE DEBATED AND ARGUED ALONGSIDE LAURA, AND WELCOMED LAURA INSIDE MY AND HEATHER'S HOME AS A GUEST ON HOLIDAYS. LAURA CADENA IS FAMILY, AND I'M HONORED TO KNOW HER AND CELEBRATE HER TODAY. THERE'S A WELL-KNOWN HISTORY OF LAURA'S FAMILY'S DEDICATION TO THE CITY, AND THE WAYS THAT THEY HAVE SHOWN UP TO ADVOCATE FOR THE COMMUNITY OVER SEVERAL DECADES IS THE STUFF OF SIXTH-FLOOR LEGEND, AND THAT'S CONTINUED. YOU, MY FRIEND, ARE WHAT LOCAL LEADERSHIP LOOKS LIKE. YOU ARE WHAT NON-PARTISAN, LET'S JUST GET THE JOB DONE, BELIEF IN MAKING THE CITY BETTER ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE WHEN IT'S LIVED OUT DAILY. LAURA CADENA, YOU ARE DALLAS, AND I'M HONORED TO STAND WITH YOU NOW AND ALWAYS, AND CAN'T WAIT TO SEE HOW YOU CONTINUE TO SERVE THE CITY IN WHATEVER WAYS YOU CHOOSE TO IN THE FUTURE. THANK YOU, MY FRIEND. >> THANK YOU. THIS CONCLUDES YOUR FIRST FIVE REGISTERED SPEAKERS. THE REMAINING SPEAKERS WILL HAVE A OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS THE CITY COUNCIL AT THE CONCLUSION OF THEIR CITY BUSINESS. MR. MAYOR. >> LET'S MOVE ON TO OUR VOTING AGENDA. [1. 25-139A Approval of Minutes of the December 4, 2024 City Council Meeting] >> AGENDA ITEM 1 IS APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE DECEMBER 4TH, 2024 CITY COUNCIL MEETING. >> MOVE. >> [OVERLAPPING] SECOND. >> I HEARD A MOTION AND A SECOND. IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION? SEEING NONE, ALL IN FAVOR SAY AYE. >> AYE. >> ANY OPPOSED? THE AYES HAVE IT. NEXT ITEM. [2. 25-140A Consideration of appointments to boards and commissions and the evaluation and duties of board and commission members (List of nominees is available in the City Secretary's Office)] >> AGENDA ITEM 2 IS CONSIDERATION OF APPOINTMENTS TO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS. THIS MORNING, YOU ONLY HAVE INDIVIDUAL APPOINTMENTS. YOUR NOMINEES FOR INDIVIDUAL APPOINTMENT TO THE COMMUNITY POLICE OVERSIGHT BOARD, TIMOTHY JACKSON IS BEING NOMINATED BY DEPUTY MAYOR PRO TEM BAZALDUA. TO THE MARTIN LUTHER KING JR COMMUNITY CENTER BOARD, [00:20:02] CRISTIAN DIAZ IS BEING NOMINATED BY COUNCIL MEMBER RESENDEZ, AND KARSTEN FRANCIS IS BEING NOMINATED BY COUNCIL MEMBER RIDLEY. TO THE PERMIT AND LICENSE APPEAL BOARD, FREDIA THOMAS IS BEING NOMINATED BY COUNCIL MEMBER RESENDEZ. TO THE SOUTH DALLAS/FAIR PARK OPPORTUNITY FUND BOARD, SIENNA ENCARNACION IS BEING NOMINATED BY COUNCIL MEMBER RESENDEZ. THESE ARE YOUR NOMINEES, MR. MAYOR. >> IS THERE A MOTION? >> MOVED. >> SECOND. >> I HEARD A MOTION AND A SECOND. IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION? SEEING NONE, ALL IN FAVOR SAY AYE. >> AYE. >> ANY OPPOSED? THE AYES HAVE IT. NOMINEES ARE ALL APPROVED. CONGRATULATIONS. NEXT ITEM. >> MR. MAYOR, YOUR BRIEFINGS CONTINUE. >> WONDERFUL. WE'LL NOW TURN IT OVER TO WHOEVER IS HANDLING OUR SENATE BILL 929 UPDATE. [A. 25-190A Senate Bill 929 Update] I BELIEVE WE HAVE EMILY, ANDREEA COMING UP. MEMBERS, JUST TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT OF A HEADS UP, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION TWICE TODAY. WE'RE GOING TO GO IN RIGHT AFTER THIS BRIEFING BEFORE WE TAKE ANY QUESTIONS ON IT. AS SOON AS THEY'RE FINISHED, WE'RE GOING INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION, COMING BACK, DEALING WITH ANY QUESTIONS YOU HAVE ABOUT THE BRIEFING AFTER EXECUTIVE SESSION, AND THEN WE'LL TAKE UP AGENDA ITEMS, I BELIEVE, B, C, AND D BEFORE WE GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION AGAIN TO DEAL WITH ITEM 5 ON TODAY'S AGENDA, WHICH WE NEED TO BE IN BY ONE O'CLOCK TODAY TO KEEP THE TRAINS MOVING ON SCHEDULE. JUST GIVE YOU GUYS A HEADS UP OF WHAT'S HAPPENING. WITH THAT, EMILY, ANDREEA, THANK YOU. >> GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE. MY NAME IS EMILY LIU, DIRECTOR OF PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT. JUST GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT CONTEXT ABOUT THIS SUBJECT, IS REGARDING AMENDMENT TO THE DALLAS DEVELOPMENT CODE TO ALIGN SENATE BILL 929. STAFF, I DID GIVE A BRIEF PRESENTATION ON NOVEMBER 12 AT THE QUALITY OF LIFE, ARTS, AND CULTURE COMMITTEE. THIS IS A BRIEFING. AS I SPEAK, I THINK EVERYBODY SHOULD GET A HARD COPY OF THE REDLINE VERSION OF THIS. THE PRESENTATION IS A LITTLE HIGH LEVEL, BUT THE DETAILS IS IN THE HANDOUT. I WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE THE PRESENTER TODAY, DR. ANDREEA UDREA, AND SHE WILL MAKE THE PRESENTATION THIS SUBJECT IS NOT JUST FOR PLANNING AND ZONING. IT IS ALSO A LEGAL ISSUE. OUR CITY ATTORNEY IS STAND BY IN CASE YOU HAVE ANY QUESTION LOOK LIKE WE'RE NOT GETTING THE QUESTION RIGHT AWAY. BUT WITH THAT I'M GOING TO TURN OVER TO ANDREEA. >> GOOD MORNING, HONORABLE MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS. THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME TO DO THE BRIEFING ON THIS. MY NAME IS ANDREEA UDREA. I'M THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR ZONING, FOR PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT. WE DO HAVE A POWERPOINT READY. CAN THAT BE SHARED? DO YOU HAVE THE POWERPOINT? IT'S IN THE AGENDA. JUST A FEW MINUTES. >> WE'RE JUST GOING TO STAND AT EASE FOR JUST A COUPLE MINUTES WHILE THEY DEAL WITH THE TECHNICAL ISSUE. WE'RE TOLD 2-3 MINUTES. THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE, EVERYONE. >> THANK YOU SO MUCH. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. NOT THIS ONE. [00:25:01] >> THERE WE GO. >> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND ALL OUR APOLOGIES. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A SLIDE ABOUT THE PURPOSE OF THE PRESENTATION, A LITTLE BIT OF BACKGROUND, INFORMATION ON NON-CONFORMING USES AND THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE SENATE BILL 929, THE PROPOSED CODE AMENDMENT, JUST A HIGHLIGHT OF THE NEXT STEPS, AND IN CASE THERE ARE QUESTIONS AFTER THE EXECUTIVE SESSION WE HAVE APPENDIX TO ANSWER THOSE. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THE PURPOSE OF THIS PRESENTATION IS TO MAKE CITY COUNCIL AWARE OF THE NEW REQUIREMENTS OF THE TEXAS SENATE BILL 929 RELATED TO NON-CONFORMING LAND USES, THE NOTIFICATION PROCESS FOR RE-ZONING REQUESTS, THE PROCESS FOR AMORTIZATION, A COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENT, AND THE POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF THOSE NEW REQUIREMENTS. THEN TO PRESENT THE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER 51A AND 51 OF THE DALLAS DEVELOPMENT CODE TO BRING THE CITY INTO COMPLIANCE WITH THIS SENATE BILL. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. I WILL EXPLAIN A LITTLE BIT WHAT IS A NON-CONFORMING USE, AND I WILL MAKE A LITTLE BIT OF A SIDE NOTE TO SAY THAT IN PLANAR JARGON, I KNOW WE DOUBLE DOWN BUT WE USUALLY REFER TO THEM AS LEGAL NON-CONFORMING USES BECAUSE THAT'S A VERY IMPORTANT DISTINCTION. A NON-CONFORMING USE IS A LAND USE THAT WAS LEGAL WHEN IT STARTED, BUT IT'S NOW PROHIBITED OR ALLOWED ONLY BY A SPECIFIC USE PERMIT DUE TO CHANGES IN ZONING REGULATIONS. THIS SITUATION OCCURS WHEN ONE OF THE FOLLOWING THINGS HAPPENED TOGETHER. THE USE WAS LAWFULLY ESTABLISHED IN COMPLIANCE WITH ALL APPLICABLE ZONING REGULATIONS, BUILDING CODES, AND OTHER RELEVANT LAWS WHEN IT BEGAN OPERATION, AND THIS IS AN IMPORTANT DISTINCTION, THE ZONING CHANGED AFTER IT WAS LAWFULLY ESTABLISHED THE ZONING REGULATION PROHIBITS OR REQUIRES AN SUP FOR THE USE. THIS COULD BE DONE EITHER BY A RE-ZONING OF THE AREA OR AN AMENDMENT TO THE DEVELOPMENT CODE, AND PROHIBITS OR REQUIRES AN SUP FOR THAT PARTICULAR USE. WE HAVE A LITTLE NOTE BECAUSE WE'RE TALKING ONLY ABOUT NON-CONFORMITY TO USES, NOT TO STRUCTURES. THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. WHEN DOES THIS LEGAL NON-CONFORMING USE RIGHTS CEASE? ONE OF THE FOLLOWING. THE USE CEASES THE OPERATION FOR A CONSECUTIVE SIX-MONTH PERIOD, BUT THERE IS AN APPEAL PROCESS AND BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT CAN REINSTATE THE RIGHTS IF THE USE WAS NOT INTENTIONALLY ABANDONED AND THAT'S WHAT BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT DETERMINES. IF IT BECOMES A CONFORMING USE, OF COURSE. IT IS INTENTIONALLY DESTROYED BY THE OWNERS OR THE OWNER'S AGENT. THEN THE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT HAS THE POWER AND AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH A COMPLIANCE DATE. SENATE BILL 929 ONLY CHANGES THIS NUMBER 4 ITEM. SIMPLY BECOMING NON-CONFORMING DOES NOT REQUIRE A PAYOUT OR A BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT COMPLIANCE PROCEEDINGS. WE WILL, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, GO THROUGH THE CURRENT COMPLIANCE HEARING PROCESS WITH THE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT. THE WAY WE DO IT NOW OR THE WAY THE CODE HAS A PROCESS FOR IT TO HAPPEN NOW. WE HAVE TO HAVE A REQUEST TO ESTABLISH A COMPLIANCE DATE THAT MAY BE INITIATED BY CITY COUNCIL OR BY ANY PERSON WHO RESIDES OR OWNS REAL PROPERTY IN THE CITY. THEN THE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT IS GOING TO HOLD A TWO-PART HEARING. THE FIRST HEARING, VERY IMPORTANT, IS WHEN THE BOARD DECIDES IF THE CONTINUED OPERATION OF THE NON-CONFORMING USE WILL HAVE AN ADVERSE IMPACT ON THE NEARBY PROPERTIES. IF THEY DECIDE THAT, THEN THEY WILL MOVE TO STEP 2, AND THE BOARD HOLDS A SECOND HEARING TO DETERMINE AN AMORTIZATION PERIOD WHERE THE OWNER'S ACTUAL INVESTMENT IN THE USE BEFORE THE TIME THE USE BECAME NON-CONFORMING CAN BE AMORTIZED WITHIN A PERIOD THAT IS DEFINED. THERE ARE OTHER FACTORS THAT ARE CONSIDERED AS STATED IN THE CODE, [00:30:04] BUT BEFORE THE TIME THE USE BECOME NON-CONFORMING IS VERY IMPORTANT TO MENTION. THE NON-CONFORMING USE MUST CEASE OPERATION BY THE COMPLIANCE DATE DETERMINED BY THE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE NEW SB 929? IT JUST INVOLVES CHANGES TO THE COMPLIANCE HEARING PROCESS. SB 929 IS SILENT AS WHO MAY INITIATE A REQUEST TO ESTABLISH A COMPLIANCE DATE. WHAT DOES IT SAY? THE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT STILL HOLDS FIRST STEP, A HEARING TO DETERMINE IF CONTINUED OPERATION OF THE NON-CONFORMING USE WILL HAVE AN ADVERSE EFFECT ON NEARBY PROPERTIES. IF THAT IS THE CASE AND THAT'S WHAT THE BDA DETERMINES, THERE IS NO SECOND HEARING, AND THEN THE OWNER OR THE LESSEE OF THE NON-CONFORMING USE HAS AN OPTION TO EITHER RECEIVE A PAYMENT FROM THE CITY OR CONTINUE TO OPERATE THE NON-CONFORMING USE UNTIL THE OWNER RECEIVES THE PAYMENT AMOUNT CALCULATED AS WE PUT IN THE BULLET POINT. COSTS DIRECTLY ATTRIBUTABLE TO CEASING THE OPERATION OF THE NON-CONFORMING USE, INCLUDING EXPENSES RELATED TO DEMOLITION, RELOCATION, TERMINATION OF THE LEASE, DISCHARGE OF MORTGAGE, AND LOSS IN THE MARKET VALUE OF THE PROPERTY. THE OWNER OR LESSEE MAY APPEAL THE AMOUNT CALCULATED ABOVE TO THE BOARD, IS NOT THE BOARD WHO CALCULATES THE AMOUNT. THE NON-CONFORMING USE MUST CEASE OPERATION ONCE PAYMENT IS RECEIVED OR THE BUSINESS HAS RECOVERED THE AMOUNT THROUGH THE CONTINUED BUSINESS ACTIVITY. >> IN ADDITION, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. SB 929 INCLUDES NOTICE REQUIREMENTS FOR ZONING CHANGES, AND YOU CAN SEE THE TEXT AND THE BILL IS VERY SPECIFIC. IT HAS TO BE A 14 POINT TYPE FONT BULLETED OR BOLDED, AND THAT NOTIFICATION OR THAT SENTENCE READS AS THE CITY OF DALLAS IS HOLDING A HEARING THAT WILL DETERMINE WHETHER YOU MAY LOSE THE RIGHT TO CONTINUE USING YOUR PROPERTY FOR ITS CURRENT USE. PLEASE READ CAREFULLY. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THIS IS JUST TO SHOW HOW WE INCLUDED THAT IN OUR NOTIFICATION WHERE IT IS APPLICABLE. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF SB 929. IF A NON-CONFORMING USE THAT GOES THROUGH THE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT PROCESS TO ESTABLISH AN ADVERSE EFFECT, CHOOSES THE PAYOUT OPTION, THE AMOUNT CAN BE SIGNIFICANT AND THE CITY WOULD BE OBLIGATED TO PAY. THEN WE HAVE A STATEMENT, AFTER RECEIVING THE COMPENSATION, THE PROPERTY OWNER RETAINS OWNERSHIP AND THE ABILITY TO OPERATE AS THE LOW BY THE ZONING REGULATIONS AND OTHER REGULATIONS. THIS IS JUST AN FYI INFORMATION. AS A RESULT, SB 929 HAS SIGNIFICANTLY LIMITED THE MUNICIPALITY'S AUTHORITY TO TERMINATE NON-CONFORMING USES, AND THEN ANOTHER FYI STATEMENT, ALL THE OTHER POLICE POWERS RELATED TO ENFORCEMENT AND CODE COMPLIANCE WILL REMAIN, AND WILL BE ENFORCEABLE. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. NOW THAT WE EXPLAINED THAT THE PROPOSED CODE AMENDMENT IS BASICALLY TO COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS ON SB 929, CITY PLAN COMMISSION MADE A RECOMMENDATION TO CITY COUNCIL TO IMPLEMENT OR CODIFY THE ADDITIONAL NOTICE REQUIREMENT FOR CBC AND CITY COUNCIL HEARINGS FOR REZONING CASES OR CODE AMENDMENTS THAT MAY RESULT IN THE CREATION OF A NON-CONFORMING USE. THEN THE PROPOSED CODE AMENDMENTS INCLUDES CHANGES TO THE REQUIREMENTS FOR BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT HEARINGS TO ESTABLISH COMPLIANCE. AS DIRECTOR LIU WAS SAYING, WE CIRCULATED THOSE PROPOSAL AND THE UNDERLINED VERSION TO YOU. ACTIONS TO DATE. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THIS SENATE BILL PASSED AND BECAME EFFECTIVE IN 2023. ON NOVEMBER 14TH, 2023, THE ZONING ORDINANCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE, WHICH IS A SUBCOMMITTEE OF CITY PLAN COMMISSION, TOOK ACTION AND RECOMMENDED TO MOVE IT FORWARD. ON AUGUST 22ND, 2024, CITY PLAN COMMISSION RECOMMENDED APPROVAL OF THE PROPOSAL. AS I SAID, YOU HAVE THE PROPOSED DRAFT. ON NOVEMBER 14TH, STAFF MADE A PRESENTATION TO THE QUALITY OF LIFE, ARTS, AND CULTURE COMMITTEE OF CITY COUNCIL, WHICH RECOMMENDED THIS BRIEFING IN FRONT OF FULL COUNCIL. THE BRIEFING WAS DONE BY MEMO. THE MEMO WAS PUBLISHED ON NOVEMBER 7TH. [00:35:01] AFTER THE QLAC BRIEFING, WE ALSO CIRCULATED A MEMO ON DECEMBER 6TH WITH ANSWERS BASED ON THE DISCUSSION THAT WE HAD AT THE COMMITTEE. AS I SAID, WE CIRCULATED ALL OF THOSE TO YOU RIGHT NOW. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THE NEXT STEPS, STAFF WILL PLACE THE PROPOSED CODE AMENDMENTS, NOT ON JANUARY 2ND, IT IS NOT PLACED ON CITY COUNCIL AGENDA YET. WE WERE THINKING OF FEBRUARY 12TH, AND THIS CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION. THANK YOU SO MUCH AND ALL OUR APOLOGIES THAT IT TOOK A LITTLE BIT TO LOAD THE PRESENTATION. >> DO WE HAVE ANY MORE INFORMATION THAT'S GOING TO BE PRESENTED? >> NOT AT THIS POINT. >> THEN I'M GOING TO READ THE STATUTORY LANGUAGE. WE'RE GOING TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION AND THEN COME BACK. IT'S 10:07 AM. [CLOSED SESSION (Part 1 of 2)] ON JANUARY 15TH, 2025, CITY COUNCIL MEETING WILL NOT GO INTO CLOSED SESSION UNDER SECTION 551.071 OF THE TEXAS OPEN MEETINGS ACT ON THE FOLLOWING MATTERS DESCRIBED ON TODAY'S AGENDA, SEEKING THE ADVICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY REGARDING ITEM A, ITEM 3 AND ITEM 4, AND UNDER SECTION 551.072 OF THE TEXAS OPEN MEETINGS ACT ON THE FOLLOWING MATTER DESCRIBING TODAY'S AGENDA. ITEM NUMBER 4. WITH THAT, WE ARE NOW IN EXECUTIVE SESSION, AND WE WILL PLAN TO RETURN AS SOON AS WE CAN. LET'S JUST SHOOT FOR 10:30, BUT WE'LL BE BACK WHEN WE'RE BACK. THANK YOU. I'M TOLD WE HAVE A QUORUM, SO THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HAS COMPLETED ITS CLOSED SESSION UNDER SECTION 551.071 AND 551.072 OF THE TEXAS OPEN MEETINGS ACT. AT 11:34 AM ON JANUARY 15TH, 2024, WE'VE RETURNED TO OPEN SESSION. IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS, MEMBERS, ON A BRIEFING ITEM A, LET ME KNOW NOW. IF YOU COULD JUST RING IN, OTHERWISE, I WON'T CONVENE THE PANEL AGAIN. DO WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ON BRIEFING ITEM A? GOING ONCE, GOING TWICE. WE DON'T HAVE ANY. CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE, I'M GOING TO TURN IT OVER TO YOU TO PICK UP WITH B, [B. 25-191A Planning & Development Department Updates] AND WE NEED TO KNOCK OUT B, C AND D BEFORE WE GO BACK INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION. >> THANK YOU, MAYOR. ABOUT SIX MONTHS AGO, THE PLANNING AND URBAN DESIGN DEPARTMENT AND THE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT OFFICIALLY MERGED INTO A SINGLE UNIFIED DEPARTMENT PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT. SINCE THE MERGER, PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT TAKES PRIDE IN SEVERAL SIGNIFICANT MILESTONES, INCLUDING THE REORGANIZATION OF THE DEPARTMENT, THE ADOPTION OF FORWARDDALLAS 2.0, STREAMLINING PERMAN REVIEW PROCESS, IMPLEMENTING INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS AND ENHANCING SERVICE FIRST CULTURE. DURING THIS PRESENTATION, THEY WILL ALSO TALK ABOUT THE GOALS FOR THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR. >> WELL, GOOD MORNING, MAYOR AND COUNCIL. I'M ROBIN BENTLEY WITH THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE. AS YOU ALL KNOW, PERMITTING HAS BEEN ONE OF OUR TOP PRIORITIES OVER THE PAST SIX MONTHS. THE TEAM IS HERE TODAY TO TALK YOU THROUGH SOME OF THE PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE, OUTCOME IMPROVEMENTS THAT THEY'VE SEEN. BUT I THINK PROBABLY THE BIGGEST AND MOST IMPACTFUL CHANGE IN THE DEPARTMENT HAS BEEN THE CULTURE AND THE ATTITUDE. THAT IS ALL DUE TO THESE FINE FOLKS AND SOME OF OUR OTHER LEADERS OVER ON THE SIDE THERE WHO MAY BE JOINING US AS WE GO ALONG. I'LL TURN IT OVER TO EMILY TO GET STARTED. >> GOOD MORNING, AGAIN, EVERYONE. AGAIN, MY NAME IS EMILY LIU, DIRECTOR OF PLANNING DEVELOPMENT. SITTING WITH ME TODAY, OUR DEPUTY DIRECTOR, DR. ANDREEA UDREA. I KNOW I PRONOUNCE IT DIFFERENTLY. ALSO ON THE WAY, JUST A FEW STEPS AWAY. DEPUTY DIRECTOR SAM ESKANDER, AND VERNON YOUNG, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR COMING HERE AND JOIN ME. I'D REALLY LIKE TO THANK EVERYBODY FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT THE PROGRESS FOR OUR NEW DEPARTMENT. ON YOUR DESK, YOU SHOULD HAVE A REPORT. THIS REPORT IS AN ANNUAL REPORT FOR FISCAL YEAR. WHEN WE DO THE PRESENTATION, WE HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE UPDATED. CALENDAR YEAR IS MORE UPDATED THAN FISCAL YEAR. JUST LET YOU KNOW WHEN WE PRESENT, WE HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE UPDATED INFORMATION. I REALLY LIKE TO USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO THANK OUR COMMUNICATION TEAM, [00:40:03] REALLY PUT TOGETHER A VERY GOOD ANNUAL REPORT. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THE PURPOSE OF TODAY'S MEETING. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. >> I JUST WANTED TO TELL YOU I FORWARDED YOU THE INVITATION FROM MY TEAM. THERE IS A CELEBRATION FOR LAURA IN COUNCILMEMBER NARVAS CITY COUNCIL OFFICER AT NEWTON, IF YOU WANT TO STOP BY. TODAY IS THE LAST DAY. [INAUDIBLE] >> I TRY TO GET OUT [INAUDIBLE]. >> COULD SOME OF THE FOLKS ONLINE MUTE, PLEASE, WE CAN HEAR YOUR CONVERSATION? >> MAY I HAVE THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE? HERE WE GO. THE PURPOSE OF TODAY'S PRESENTATION IS ACTUALLY THREE FOLD. FIRST OF ALL, TO UPDATE THE COUNCIL ON OUR FISCAL YEAR, AS I SAID, IS EXPANDING TO THE CALENDAR YEAR, TALKING ABOUT ACCOMPLISHMENT AND OUTLINE OUR GOAL FOR THE NEXT YEAR. I WANT TO EXTEND MY GRATITUDE TO OUR INTERIM CITY MANAGER TOLBERT, FOR HER CLEAR VISION AND TREMENDOUS LEADERSHIP, AND ALSO FOR OUR ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER ROBIN BENTLEY, FOR HER GUIDANCE AND SUPPORT, AS YOU CAN SEE, SHE'S SITTING HERE WITH US TODAY. SECOND, WE WOULD LIKE TO REVIEW OUR IMPROVEMENTS IN PERMIT PROCESSING TIME. AT THIS TIME, I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE A SPECIAL THANKS TO DEPUTY DIRECTOR, SAM ESKANDER, AND ALSO ASSISTANT DIRECTOR LINDA VALLEST, SHE IS NOT HERE AT THIS MOMENT WORKING IN THE OFFICE. THEIR TEAMS, THEY ARE LASER FOCUSED. THEY ARE LASER FOCUSED TO ADDRESS THIS PERMITTING ISSUE, AND I'M GLAD YOU'RE GOING TO SEE SOME IMPROVEMENTS IN THAT AREA. THIRD, WE'RE GOING TO DISCUSS ADDITIONAL PROCESS IMPROVEMENT COMPLETED OR CURRENTLY UNDERWAY. NEXT STEP, PLEASE. ABOUT 6.5 MONTHS AGO, THE PLANNING AND URBAN DESIGN DEPARTMENT I WAS ADDRESSED A LITTLE BIT EARLIER, AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICE, THOSE TWO DEPARTMENT MERGE INTO ONE. INTO ONE SINGLE UNIFIED DEPARTMENT CALLED PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT. THE DATE JUNE 26. CAN YOU GO TO THE PREVIOUS SLIDE? I'M SORRY, A LITTLE BIT FASTER THAN ME. JUNE 26, 2024 MARKED THE BEGINNING OF AN EXCITING NEW CHAPTER FOR PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT AND ALSO FOR THE CITY OF DALLAS. THE MERGER WAS A SUCCESS. IT CREATED NEW DEPUTY DIRECTOR LED FUNCTIONS, PLANNING IS ANDREEA, Z ZONING UNDER ANDREEA, AND PERMITTING UNDER SAM, AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, TEAM EXCELLENCE UNDER VERNON. THESE ALREADY CREATED SOME THIS BENEFITS AS WE CAN SEE, INCLUDING IMPROVED EFFICIENCY, ENHANCED COLLABORATION, AND STRONGER COMMUNICATION WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT. ALSO, WE HAVE A BETTER RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR CUSTOMERS. WE WON'T BE HERE TODAY OR WORK IN OUR OFFICE WITHOUT OUR CUSTOMER. THAT IS A CULTURE CHANGE. WE WANT TO MAKE SURE WE UNDERSTAND EVERYBODY WORKING THE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT KNOWS THAT OUR CUSTOMER IS OUR FOCUS. NEXT SIDE, PLEASE. WITH THE COLLECTIVE EFFORTS OF OUR NEW LEADERSHIP TEAM AND STAFF, WE ARE PROUD TO HAVE DEVELOPED A NEW VISION STATEMENT THAT REFLECTS OUR VISION, VALUES, AND GOALS FOR THE FUTURE. TOGETHER, WE'RE PLANNING AND BUILDING A BETTER DALLAS FOR ALL. THAT JUST TELLS YOU HOW MUCH IMPACTFUL WORK WE'RE DOING EVERY SINGLE DAY, WE'RE PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE, WE'RE REVIEWING ALL THE DEVELOPMENTS. WE'RE MAKING IMPACT TO THIS COMMUNITY THAT WE SERVE. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. TO GIVE YOU A SENSE OF THE WORK AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS WE'VE ACHIEVED, I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE SOME NUMBERS WITH YOU. THIS SNAPSHOT ILLUSTRATE THE VOLUME OF OUR WORK AND SHOWS THE DEDICATION OF OUR TEAM. I'M JUST GOING TO PICK A FEW. FOR EXAMPLE, THE FIRST ONE, THE TOTAL PERMIT ISSUED BY OUR DEPARTMENT FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2024 IS NEARLY 50,000. THIS INCLUDING BIG PROJECT, MULTI MILLION SQUARE FEET, OR AS SMALL AS A FENCE, A POOL. ALL OF THEM COMBINED 48,134. THAT'S TREMENDOUS. THE OTHER THING, THE NUMBER OF INSPECTIONS THAT WE HAD. ABOUT A QUARTER MILLING, BASICALLY, 232,424 FOR THE FISCAL YEAR, [00:45:01] INCLUDED BUILDING PERMIT, ELECTRIC, PLUMBING, ALL THE RELATED PERMITTING THAT WE INSPECTED IN THE OFFICE. THE ON-TIME INSPECTIONS 97, ALTHOUGH I REALLY LIKE TO BE 100, WE HAVE SOME CHALLENGES. I JUST WANT TO TAKE A MOMENT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WE HAVE SOME CHALLENGES WITH PLUMBING INSPECTIONS. I'M CALLING ON ALL OF YOU. IF YOU KNOW A PLUMBING INSPECTOR THAT LOOKING FOR A JOB OR WANT TO SWITCH A JOB, PLEASE DO GIVE ME A CALL. WE ARE VERY SHORT STAFF IN THAT AREA. BUT I WANT YOU TO KNOW THEY WORK VERY HARD. ALL THESE NUMBERS. WE ARE FORTUNATE TO SIT HERE TO GIVE YOU A PRESENTATION, BUT THESE NUMBERS ONLY A SNAPSHOT, ALL THE WORK WE DO. ALL THE MEN AND WOMEN IN OUR OFFICE WORK DAY IN AND THEY WORK VERY HARD. I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE ON CHRISTMAS EVE. I VISITED ONE OF THE DISTRICT OFFICES IN NORTHEAST. EVERY SINGLE INSPECTORS THERE WORKING THAT DAY. IT WAS A POURING RAIN. I WAS FORTUNATE TO HAVE IT RIGHT ALONG, BUT THEY'RE WORKING SO HARD. THEY KNOW WE NEED EVEN CHRISTMAS EVE, THEIR CUSTOMER WAITING FOR THEM TO GO AND DO THE PLUMBING INSPECTION, ELECTRIC INSPECTION. ALL THESE DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS STILL. THEY DO NOT STOP BEFORE CHRISTMAS EVE. THEY WORK VERY HARD. I JUST WANT USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE ALL THE STAFF IN THE OFFICE ON THE ROAD, GAVE THEM A SHOUT OUT FOR THE WORK THEY'RE DOING. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. AT THIS TIME, I WOULD LIKE TO TURN OVER TO DEPUTY DIRECTOR SAM. HE WILL PROVIDE A IN DEPTH LOOK AT ONE OF THE DEPARTMENT MOST SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THAT IS PROCESS IMPROVEMENT IN THE PERMITTING FIELD AND ESPECIALLY COMMERCIAL PERMITTING. WAS THAT? SAM, WOULD YOU LIKE TO TAKE OVER? >> THANK YOU. GOOD MORNING. MY NAME IS SAM ESKANDER. I'M THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR AND CHIEF BUILDING OFFICIAL IN PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT. TODAY, I'M EXCITED TO SHARE THE PROGRESS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS WE'VE ACHIEVED IN REDUCING COMMERCIAL PERMIT ISSUANCE TIMES. OVER THE PAST YEAR, WE'VE UNDERTAKEN SEVERAL KEY INITIATIVES AND AIMED AT STREAMLINING PROCESSES AND IMPROVING EFFICIENCY WITHIN THE PERMITTING DIVISION. FIRST, WE COLLABORATED WITH THE TOYOTA PRODUCTION SYSTEM SUPPORT CENTER TO APPLY LEAN SIX SIGMA METHODOLOGIES. THIS PARTNERSHIP ALLOWED US TO ANALYZE OUR PROCESSES IN DEPTH AND IDENTIFY AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT, PARTICULARLY IN ENGINEERING AND IN ZONING. WE TOOK A PROACTIVE APPROACH BY CLOSING OUT SALE PERMITS THAT WERE CAUSING BACKLOGS AND CONSUMING RESOURCES. >> OUR NEW PREDEVELOPMENT PROCESS IMPLEMENTED THROUGH THE PREDEVELOPMENT STRIKE TEAM HAS PROVIDED DEVELOPERS WITH CLEARER PROCEDURES AND FASTER FEEDBACK. ADDITIONALLY, WE'VE ENHANCED THE Q-TEAM PROGRAM, AND WE'VE INTRODUCED VIRTUAL INSPECTIONS. THESE COMBINED EFFORTS ARE HELPING US CREATE A MORE PREDICTABLE, TRANSPARENT AND CUSTOMER FOCUSED PERMITTING PROCESS. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. IN 2024, WE MADE SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS IN IMPROVING THE COMMERCIAL PERMITTING PROCESS. WITH THE HELP OF DBI, ONE OF OUR KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS WAS THE LAUNCH OF THE COMMERCIAL PERMITTING DASHBOARD, WHICH PROVIDES GREATER TRANSPARENCY INTO PERMITTING TIMELINES AND PERFORMANCE METRICS. THIS TOOL HELPS US TRACK PROGRESS, IDENTIFY BOTTLENECKS, AND COMMUNICATE DATA CLEARLY TO CUSTOMERS AND STAKEHOLDERS. WHAT YOU SEE HERE ON THE SCREEN FROM THE DASHBOARD IS SHOWING A SIGNIFICANT MILESTONE THAT WE'RE PROUD TO SHARE FOR COMMERCIAL NEW CONSTRUCTION PERMITS. IN 2023, THE MEDIAN TIME TO ISSUE A PERMIT WAS 276 DAYS. IN 2024, THE NUMBER DROPPED TO 189 DAYS, A SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT OF 87 DAYS OR APPROXIMATELY 32%. THIS REDUCTION REFLECTS OUR COLLECTIVE EFFORTS TO MAKE THE PERMITTING PROCESS MORE EFFICIENT AND RESPONSIVE TO THE NEEDS OF OUR CUSTOMERS AND STAKEHOLDERS. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. IN 2023, THE MEDIAN TIME TO ISSUE A COMMERCIAL REMODEL PERMIT WAS 21 DAYS. BY 2024, WE REDUCED THIS TO 12 DAYS, AND THIS REPRESENTS A DECREASE OF NINE DAYS OR APPROXIMATELY 43%. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. IN 2023, THE MEDIAN TIME TO ISSUE A COMMERCIAL ADDITION PERMIT WAS 111 DAYS. BY 2024, WE REDUCED THIS TIME TO 54 DAYS, [00:50:02] AND THIS REPRESENTS A DECREASE OF 57 DAYS OR APPROXIMATELY 51%. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. WHEN WE LOOK AT RESIDENTIAL PERMIT ISSUANCE TIMES, THE PROGRESS OVER THE LAST THREE YEARS IS REMARKABLE. IN 2022, THE MEDIAN TIME TO ISSUE A RESIDENTIAL PERMIT WAS 68 DAYS, AND BY 2023, WE REDUCED THIS TO 14 DAYS, REPRESENTING A DECREASE OF 54 DAYS OR APPROXIMATELY 79%. THEN IN 2024, WE IMPROVED EVEN FURTHER WITH THE MEDIAN DROPPING TO JUST EIGHT DAYS, WHICH IS A REDUCTION OF SIX DAYS OR ABOUT 43% FROM 2023. THE OVERALL FROM 2022-2024, WE ACHIEVED A TOTAL REDUCTION OF 60 DAYS, WHICH IS APPROXIMATELY 57% REDUCTION YEAR OVER YEAR OR APPROXIMATELY 88% TOTAL. ALL OF THESE IMPROVEMENTS HIGHLIGHT THE COLLECTIVE EFFORTS OF OUR TEAM TO STREAMLINE PROCESSES, IDENTIFY, AND ADDRESS BOTTLENECKS, AND ENHANCE EFFICIENCY. REDUCING PERMITTING TIMES IS NOT JUST ABOUT NUMBERS, IT'S ABOUT CREATING A MORE RESPONSIVE AND PREDICTABLE PROCESS FOR OUR CUSTOMERS AND STAKEHOLDERS AND WE'RE PROUD OF THESE ACHIEVEMENTS AND ARE COMMITTED TO CONTINUING THIS TRAJECTORY IN THE COMING YEAR. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. OUR COLLABORATION WITH TOYOTA'S PRODUCTION SYSTEM SUPPORT CENTER HAS BEEN PIVOTAL. THROUGH LEAN SIX SIGMA ANALYSIS, WE IDENTIFIED THAT ENGINEERING AND ZONING REVIEWS HAVE THE LONGEST REVIEW TIMES. WE CHOSE TO FOCUS INITIALLY ON ZONING DUE TO THE SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON OVERALL PERMITTING. BASELINE DATA SHOWED THAT THE AVERAGE ZONING REVIEWS TAKES APPROXIMATELY 191 DAYS, INCLUDING MULTIPLE CYCLES WITH CUSTOMERS. THIS DATA HAS BEEN INVALUABLE IN GUIDING OUR EFFORTS TO STREAMLINE AND REDUCE BOTTLENECKS IN THE PERMITTING PROCESS. AS PART OF OUR NEXT STEPS TO ADDRESS THE EXTENDED ZONING REVIEW TIMES, WE ARE IMPLEMENTING TARGETED PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS. THIS INCLUDES STREAMLINING COMMUNICATION WITH APPLICANTS TO ENSURE THEY UNDERSTAND THE REQUIREMENTS EARLY IN THE PROCESS THEREBY REDUCING THE NUMBER OF RESUBMISSIONS. ADDITIONALLY, WE'RE ENHANCING TRAINING FOR STAFF TO IMPROVE CONSISTENCY AND EFFICIENCY AND REVIEWS AS WELL AS MILESTONE TRACKING, WHICH WILL HELP US MONITOR PROGRESS AT EACH STAGE OF THE REVIEW PROCESS. AGAIN, IDENTIFYING BOTTLENECKS, TO TAKE PROACTIVE MEASURES TO KEEP PROJECTS MOVING FORWARD. THESE STEPS ARE DESIGNED TO SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE REVIEW CYCLES AND IMPROVE OVERALL PERMITTING TIMELINES. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. ONE MAJOR CHALLENGE WE ARE ADDRESSING IS THE BACKLOG OF STALE PERMIT APPLICATIONS. IN SEPTEMBER OF 2024, WE IDENTIFIED APPROXIMATELY 11,000 APPLICATIONS THAT HAD BEEN INACTIVE FOR MORE THAN 180 DAYS. SINCE THEN, WE'VE REVIEWED AND CLOSED APPROXIMATELY 8,300 OF THESE APPLICATIONS WITH APPROXIMATELY 2,700 STILL UNDER REVIEW. HOWEVER, NEW STALE APPLICATIONS CONTINUE TO EMERGE WEEKLY THAT WE AIM TO CONTINUE REVIEWING AND CLOSING OUT. THIS ONGOING EFFORT IS CRITICAL TO CLEARING OUR BACKLOG AND ENSURING ACTIVE APPLICATIONS RECEIVE TIMELY ATTENTION. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. OUR PREDEVELOPMENT STRIKE TEAM HAS MADE SIGNIFICANT STRIDES IN IMPROVING THE PREDEVELOPMENT PROCESS. THIS WAS THE FIRST CITYWIDE STRIKE TEAM REVIEW PROCESS. WE HAVE ASSIGNED DEDICATED CASE MANAGERS TO GUIDE PROJECTS. WE HAVE STANDARDIZED DOCUMENT REQUIREMENTS FOR GREATER CLARITY, AND WE'VE INTRODUCED CONCEPT CONSULTATIONS FOR EARLY STAGE PROJECTS. ADDITIONALLY, WE'VE IMPLEMENTED FORMAL MEETING SUMMARIES TO ENSURE DEVELOPERS LEAVE MEETINGS WITH CLEAR ACTION ITEMS AND TIMELINES. THESE IMPROVEMENTS PROVIDE PREDICTABLE PROCEDURES, AND THIS WHOLE PROCESS WAS VETTED BY A TEAM OF DIRECTORS, ENSURING A SMOOTHER PRE DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCE FOR OUR CUSTOMERS AND OUR STAKEHOLDERS. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. IN AUGUST OF 2024, WE INTRODUCED MAJOR ENHANCEMENTS TO THE Q-TEAM PROCESS TO MAKE IT MORE EFFICIENT AND ACCESSIBLE FOR OUR CUSTOMERS. ONE SIGNIFICANT CHANGE WAS THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE Q-TEAM AND THE SECOND Q-TEAM, ELIMINATING REDUNDANCY AND CREATING A UNIFIED STREAMLINED PROCESS. WE ALSO REMOVED THE MINIMUM SQUARE FOOTAGE REQUIREMENT, BROADENING ELIGIBILITY, AND ALLOWING MORE PROJECTS TO BENEFIT FROM EXPEDITED REVIEWS. IN ADDITION, ENGINEERING APPROVALS WERE SIMPLIFIED AND WE IMPLEMENTED STRICTER CONTROLS FOR INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS. THESE MEASURES HAVE HELPED REDUCE DELAYS AND IMPROVE THE OVERALL QUALITY OF SERVICE. [00:55:04] THE IMPACT OF THESE CHANGES IS EVIDENT IN THE DATA. AS SHOWN IN THE CHART, THERE IS A SHARP SPIKE IN Q-TEAM SUBMITTAL STARTING IN AUGUST OF 2024, DEMONSTRATING INCREASED PARTICIPATION AND CONFIDENCE IN THE PROGRAM. THESE ENHANCEMENTS HAVE MADE THE Q-TEAM PROCESS MORE ACCESSIBLE, RESPONSIVE, AND EFFECTIVE FOR WIDER RANGE OF PROJECTS. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. IN SEPTEMBER OF 2024, WE LAUNCHED VIRTUAL PLUMBING INSPECTIONS, WHICH HAVE BEEN A GAME CHANGER FOR EFFICIENCY. THESE INSPECTIONS SAVE SIGNIFICANT DRIVE TIME, ALLOWING INSPECTORS TO CONDUCT MORE EVALUATIONS IN LESS TIME. SINCE THE LAUNCH, WE'VE COMPLETED OVER 100 VIRTUAL INSPECTIONS. LOOKING AHEAD, WE ARE EXPLORING ADDITIONAL VIRTUAL INSPECTION OPTIONS AND INCORPORATING AI TECHNOLOGY TO FURTHER ENHANCE OUR CAPABILITIES. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THIS CONCLUDES THE PERMITTING PORTION OF THE PRESENTATION, AND I'M PLEASED TO HAND IT OVER TO DEPUTY DIRECTOR VERNON YOUNG, WHO WILL SHARE MORE ABOUT OUR WORK TO ENHANCE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AND TEAM EXCELLENCE. >> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT, SAM. DEPUTY DIRECTOR VERNON YOUNG, PLANNING DEVELOPMENT. I WANT TO GO AHEAD AND GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE. LET'S TALK ABOUT THE CUSTOMER SERVICE HIGHLIGHTS. I LOVE THE FACT THAT THERE'S A GREATER FOCUS ON THE CUSTOMERS IN FRONT OF US. OUR WALK-IN CUSTOMERS WERE 25,000 ROUGH ALMOST 26,000 AND OUR PERMIT CENTER, OUR KEY SERVICES ARE, OF COURSE, THE COS AND THE CONTRACTOR REGISTRATIONS WITH TRADE PERMITS AND SUCH. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. I WANT TO FOCUS ON THE CALL CENTER AND THE GREAT WORK THAT NANCY [INAUDIBLE], THE INTERIM MANAGER THERE HAS DONE WITH THE CALL CENTER, WE AVERAGE 400 DAILY CALLS, ROUGHLY 99,000 CALLS FOR THE FY 24. CALL ABANDONMENT RATE WAS REDUCED FROM 21% TO 4%, EVEN THOUGH WE INCREASED TREMENDOUSLY IN THE NUMBER OF CALLS, CREATING BETTER ACCOUNTABILITY. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. WHAT HAS HELPED IN OUR PERMITTING FOR COMMERCIAL HAS BEEN THE PAPERLESS SUBMITTALS. IT HELPED REDUCE TIMELINES AND CREATED GREATER ACCOUNTABILITY AND IT ALLOWS US TO TRACK COMMUNICATION FROM THE DEVELOPER TO THE STAFF, AND WE HAVE THAT. I REALLY LOVE THAT WHEN QUESTIONS COME UP WITH WHERE ARE WE? WE'VE CONTINUED THE TRANSITION TO FULLY DIGITAL AND IT'S REALLY HELPED OUR NUMBERS. WE WANT TO CONTINUE TO TRANSITION IN OTHER AREAS OF TRADE PERMITS AND SUCH. WE'RE FOCUSING ON DIGITIZING EXISTING PAPER FILES WHERE WE CAN ACCESS THOSE RECORDS AND MAKE THEM AVAILABLE TO OUR COUNTERPARTS. NEXT SLIDE. DALLASNOW. THIS IS WHERE WE MOVE FORWARD AND TRANSITION FROM OUR LEGACY SYSTEM AND GO TO OUR NEW SYSTEM. DALLASNOW IS OUR NEW PERMITTING SOFTWARE SYSTEM REPLACEMENT. WE CONTINUE TO BE ON TIME AND WE'RE RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER FROM LAUNCHING THAT. I'M VERY EXCITED ABOUT THAT. THAT TEAM HAS DONE AN INCREDIBLE JOB. WE'RE FULLY ENGAGED IN THE SOFTWARE TESTING AND ON THE BACK END OF IT, LOOKING AT THE INTEGRATIONS THAT GO INTO THERE WITH THE OTHER SYSTEMS THAT WE HAVE IN PLACE. THE MOST INCREDIBLE PART IS THAT WE'RE INCLUDING SECTIONS THAT HISTORICALLY WERE NOT ELECTRONICALLY TRACKED, AND THAT'S THE ZONING PART, THE PLATTING AND THE BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT. THIS CREATES GREATER TRANSPARENCY AND THE CONNECTIVITY TO THE PROCESSES THAT WE HADN'T SEEN BEFORE. I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THAT. WITH THAT, I'M GOING TO TURN IT OVER TO MY COLLEAGUE, ANDREEA UDREA, TO TALK ABOUT THE ZONING PIECE. >> THANK YOU SO MUCH, VERNON. MY NAME IS ANDREEA UDREA DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR ZONING WITH PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT. IF WE CAN MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE AND THE NEXT ONE. THANK YOU. I'M GOING TO GO JUST VERY BRIEFLY OVER VERY BIG ITEMS THAT WE HAVE IN OUR DIVISION OR IN MY TEAM. FIRST, I'M GOING TO STOP ON THE CODE REFORM. NO SECRET TO ANYBODY HERE THAT WE ARE EMBARKING ON THE CODE REFORM FOR OUR DEVELOPMENT CODE WITH THE CITY OF DALLAS. IT WAS A CONTRACT THAT WAS APPROVED BY COUNCIL. WE INITIATED THE IMPLEMENTATION IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE ADOPTION OF FORWARDDALLAS THAT HAPPENED THIS PAST SEPTEMBER. WE COMPLETED SOME TASKS TO JUST BE READY TO PICK UP WITH THE CODE REFORM. WE DID WORK WITH OUR CONSULTANT TO REVIEW THE EXISTING DEVELOPMENT CODE AND PLANS. THEY DID THE CONSULTANT DATA FIRST ROUND OF STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEWS. THEY DID AN ANALYSIS OF THE DEVELOPMENT PATTERN AND THEY HAVE READY AND THEY ARE IN REVIEW WITH US A DRAFT CODE ANALYSIS. THEY ARE LOOKING AT AN OUTLINE OF A COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT CODE REFORM DRAFT BASED [01:00:02] ON FORWARDDALLAS RECOMMENDATIONS AND PRIORITIES. THE NEXT STEPS IS TO BASICALLY BE VERY TRANSPARENT AND BRING IT TO THE PUBLIC. WE PLAN TO LAUNCH A PROJECT WEBSITE WITH ALL THE INFORMATION AND PUT IN FRONT OF THE PUBLIC FOR DEBATE AND DISCUSSION THE CODE REFORM. BUT RIGHT NOW WE ARE WORKING TO FINALIZE THE BRAND. WE NEED THE PROJECT BRAND FIRST AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO LAUNCH THE WEBSITE, WHICH SHOULD HAPPEN PRETTY QUICK. WE ARE CREATING AN ENGAGEMENT FRAMEWORK. WE ARE PLANNING TO RELEASE AND PRESENT THE DIAGNOSIS OF THE CURRENT CODE AND PREPARE THE FIRST DRAFT OF THE PROPOSAL CHANGE. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. WITH THIS, I'M GOING TO SWITCH A LITTLE BIT TO THE REZONING SIDE, AS YOU PROBABLY KNOW, OUR ZONING DIVISION ENCOMPASSES DIFFERENT TEAMS FROM THE CODE AMENDMENTS TEAM TO ZONING REVIEW FOR PERMITTING. I WANTED TO PUT THIS SLIDE ON JUST AS A FEEL GOOD, INTERESTING INFORMATION THAT MAYBE YOU WOULD FIND INTERESTING CONSIDERING THE FACT THAT WE HAD A LOT OF CONVERSATIONS HERE AROUND HOUSING AND HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES. JUST AGAIN, AS A FEEL GOOD ITEM, THIS IS A CHART THAT SHOWS THE NUMBER OF ZONING CASES THAT HAVE A HOUSING COMPONENT AND ALMOST ALL OF THEM HAVE A HOUSING INCREASE REQUEST PER DISTRICT IN THE LAST FISCAL YEAR. YOU WILL SEE TO THE LEFT. WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT A LOT OF CASES BECAUSE A LOT OF ZONING CASES COMING FROM THE COUNCIL BUT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT AROUND LESS THAN 200 ZONING CASES PER YEAR. BUT IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO KNOW THAT 50 OF THOSE HAVE A HOUSING COMPONENT AND THIS IS THE DISTRIBUTION PER COUNCIL DISTRICT. YOU WILL SEE DISTRICT 14, 8, 7, 6, 1 ARE LEADING WITH A LOT OF ZONING CASES WITH A HOUSING COMPONENT. THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. JUST WHAT WE PLAN TO DO NEXT, WHERE OUR DIVISION IS THE ONE AND I THINK I SAID THIS FEW TIMES IN FRONT OF YOU THAT COMBINES PROBABLY EQUALLY A PART OF PERMITTING SIDE, ZONING AND REZONING AND CODE AMENDMENTS. WE HAVE TWO AND OUR BIG GOAL IS ZONING STREAMLINING, MEANING STREAMLINING OF THE PROCESSES, CONSISTENCY OF INTERPRETATION. WE HAVE A LOT OF INTERNAL ALIGNMENT TO DO WITH MY WONDERFUL TEAM THAT I'M VERY PROUD OF, AND I WANT TO GIVE THEM A SHOUT OUT BECAUSE THEY DID A LOT OF PROGRESS IN THE PAST SIX MONTHS SINCE WE MERGED. FEW THINGS. WE WANT TO MAINTAIN THE QUALITY OF REVIEW, WHICH IS VERY CRUCIAL. I WAS TASKED WITH THAT BY CITY PLAN COMMISSION AND BY YOU COUNCIL MEMBERS SINCE THE DAY I STARTED WITH THE CITY, BUT WE WANT TO INCREASE THE SPEED A LITTLE BIT OR MORE. WE WANT TO OFFER A DOUBLE NOTICING OPTION FOR QUALIFYING REZONING CASES. THE PROCESS TAKES A LITTLE BIT, AND WE WANT TO SEE HOW WE CAN TWEAK THAT TO GET IT FASTER IN FRONT OF YOU. >> WE HOPE TO BE ABLE TO OFFER TO THE PUBLIC AN OPTION FOR SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED PROCESSING TIME FOR REZONING CASES. BUT THAT WILL BE A PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CITY PLAN COMMISSION AND Y'ALL. WE WANT TO OFFER DIGITAL SUBMISSION OPTION IN PREPARATION FOR DALLASNOW AS VERNON WAS SAYING, THE ZONING PROCESS IS FULLY ON PAPER, AS YOU KNOW AND YOU HEAR US. WE DO HAVE OPTIONS FOR DIGITAL, BUT THE PROCESS ITSELF IS STILL MAINLY PAPER. WE ARE NOW IN PREPARATION PHASES FOR LAUNCHING DALLASNOW, AND THIS IS WHAT WE ARE WORKING TOWARDS. ANOTHER BIG SHIFT THAT WE'RE DOING, IT WAS SOMETHING THAT WE'RE DOING ALREADY, BUT I THINK NOW WE'RE MORE INTENTIONAL WITH IT, IS WE WANTED TO CONTINUE THE FOCUS ON THE PRE-APPLICATION PART OF THE PROCESS. WE WANT THE APPLICANTS BEFORE THEY SUBMIT TO US, WE WANT THEM TO HAVE CONSISTENCY AND ADVICE FROM US AND BE VERY WELL INFORMED ABOUT CAN YOU USE THE ZONING TOOLS, AND HOW CAN YOU USE THE ZONING TOOLS OR REQUEST SOME OF THE ZONING CHANGES TO GET YOU WHERE YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE. WE ARE HAVING A HUGE FOCUS ON INTAKE AND PRE-SCREEN JUST AGAIN IN THE SAME APPROACH TO MAKE SURE THAT ONCE IT IS ACCEPTED BY US, IS READY AND GOOD TO GO. OBVIOUSLY, WE WANT TO ENSURE PREDICTABILITY. I THINK ONE OF THE BIGGEST THING THAT WE HEAR FROM OUR CUSTOMERS AND FROM THE COMMUNITY IS THAT THEY WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE IS PREDICTABILITY BUILT WITHIN THE PROCESS. WE PROVIDE ALREADY AND WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO DO THAT, FORMALLY AND BY SIMPLY WORKING TOGETHER, CROSS TRAINING APPROACH TO ALL THE ZONING REVIEWS. AS I SAID, ZONING REVIEWS, YOU MAY HEAR CUSTOMERS SAYING, OH, I AM WITH ZONING. WELL, THERE ARE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF ZONING REVIEWS, AND NOW THEY ARE ALL UNDER THE SAME TEAM, WHICH IS US. [01:05:01] WE'RE WORKING TOGETHER TO BREACH THOSE GAPS OR TO BREACH THOSE TEAMS. ALSO, WE'RE WORKING TO OFFER A TRUE CONCIERGE APPROACH. WE ARE DOING IT A LITTLE BIT AD HOC FOR SELECTIVE, VERY COMPLEX PROJECTS. WE WANT TO CONTINUE TO DO THAT AND TO FORMALIZE IT A LITTLE BIT. MEANING TO HAVE A CASE MANAGER OR COORDINATOR THAT GUIDES THE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION AND THROUGHOUT THE PRE-APPLICATION REZONING AND PERMITTING PROCESS. AGAIN, WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO OFFER SOME CONSULTING TYPE COMING FROM THE CITY. THIS BOTH TWO LAST BULLET POINTS IS JUST IN AN EFFORT TO BREAK THE SILOS, NO MATTER HOW MUCH, OBVIOUSLY, YOU HAVE TO HAVE A SILO PROCESS, BUT WE WANT TO BREAK THEM OR BREACH THEM. WHAT I TELL MY TEAM AND THE WAY WE PRESENT IT IS LIKE ALL HANDS ON DECK. WE WANT TO BE SURE THAT WE HAVE VERY GOOD INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AND COORDINATION WHEN WE REVIEW AND MAKE ZONING DETERMINATIONS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENTS THREE SLIDES, BUT I TALK A LOT. I'LL HAND IT TO MY COLLEAGUE FOR THE PLANNING SIDE. >> NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE AND NEXT SLIDE. I'M VERY PROUD TO HELP PRESENT THE ACCOMPLISHMENT UNDER PLANNING ON BEHALF OF DEPUTY DIRECTOR, ANDREA GILLIS. OF COURSE, EVERYBODY JUST ONE THING COMES UP. WE'LL TALK ABOUT THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PLANNING. IT IS FORWARDDALLAS. IT'S AWARD WINNING COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, FIRST CITYWIDE FUTURE LAND USE MAP. THAT WAS ADOPTED BY CITY COUNCIL ON SEPTEMBER 25TH, 2024. I'D LIKE TO USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO THANK EVERYBODY, ESPECIALLY DEPUTY DIRECTOR ANDREA GILLIS FOR HER LEADERSHIP, AND FOR HER TEAM, FOR THE COMMUNITY, ALL THE ALLIES, PEOPLE WHO ARE SUPPORTING THIS, CPC, AND OF COURSE, YOU COUNCIL MEMBERS. IT'S AMAZING, AND THERE ARE A LOT OF ACCOMPLISHMENT AS PART OF THAT. THIS YEAR WE'RE SWITCHING TO IMPLEMENTATION OF THAT FORWARDDALLAS PLAN, INCLUDING LOOKING FOCUS ON THE AUTHORIZED HEARING AND ALL ZONING REVIEWS IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AREA. RESIDENTIAL, THE POSSIBILITY, LOOKING AT RESIDENTIAL DESIGN STANDARDS, ESPECIALLY IN THE INFILL SITUATION, AND ALSO MIXED USE ALONG AGING COMMERCIAL CORRIDORS AS WELL AS TOD, TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT. I'M CALLING IT AWARD WINNING BECAUSE IT WON AWARD LAST MONTH FROM THE GREATER DALLAS PLANNING COUNCIL, VERY PROUD OF THE TEAM, GREAT WORK. THEY WILL CONTINUE TO DO VERY HIGH QUALITY WORK THIS YEAR FOR SURE. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THE TEAM DOES MORE THAN JUST FORWARDDALLAS OR LONG RANGE PLANNING. THERE'S AUTHORIZED HEARING. THEY HAVE COMPLETED TWO CASES LAST YEAR THAT WAS ADOPTED BY CITY COUNCIL. THERE IS ONE CASE, EVERYBODY KNOW IS A FLORAL FARM, THERE'S ON TRACK FOR CITY COUNCIL CONSIDERATION ON FEBRUARY 12TH NEXT MONTH, AND ALSO THERE ARE FOUR CASES IN THE PROCESS. URBAN DESIGN. ANOTHER AWARD WINNING TEAM. I HAVE A TOUR ASSISTANT DIRECTOR HERE. THEY ALSO RECEIVE THE GREATER DALLAS PLANNING COUNCIL AWARD. GREAT WORK, THEY PROVIDE A LARGER SUPPORT, ESPECIALLY DESIGN, INCLUDING THE CONVENTION CENTER, AND ALSO MULTI TRANSPORTATION PROJECT, THE PROJECT HAVE HUGE IMPACT FOR THE STATE OF DALLAS, AS WELL AS 12 OTHER PROJECTS THE TEAM REVIEWED. OUR CONSERVATION DISTRICT, A VERY PRODUCTIVE YEAR FOR THE STAFF THERE. THEY HAVE ONE NEW CONSERVATION DISTRICT ADOPTED, ONE IN THE PROCESS. YOU'RE GOING TO SEE THAT SOMETIME PROBABLY FEBRUARY, THAT IS A LAKEWOOD EXPANSION. ALSO THERE'S ANOTHER ONE IN THE PRE APPLICATION STAGE AND FOUR IN THE QUEUE. THERE'S A LOT OF WORK LAID OUT FOR THEM FOR THAT TEAM. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THOSE ARE THE TEAM OF PLANNING, BUT I DO WANT TO LOOK AT THE GOALS FOR THIS NEW YEAR OR MAYBE EVEN BEYOND. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. THERE ARE A LOT OF THINGS WE ARE WORKING ON RIGHT NOW AS WE SPEAK. LAST YEAR, FORWARDDALLAS AND COMMERCIAL PERMITTING STREAMLINING, THOSE ARE VERY IMPRESSIVE WORK. THEY CONTINUE TO DO THOSE WORK THIS YEAR, [01:10:03] BUT THIS YEAR, I THINK THE MAJOR FOCUS IS ZONING, INNOVATION. THOSE ARE THE TWO MESSAGE I WOULD LIKE TO GET ACROSS. FIRST OF ALL, STREAMLINE THE REZONING PROCESS. THERE'S A LOT OF DIFFERENT WAY WE CAN STREAMLINE. SOME OF THOSE THROUGH ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES. SOME OF THOSE NEED SOME REVISION IN THE ZONING CODE BECAUSE THE PROCEDURE SOMETIME ARE CODIFIED, SO WORKING ON THAT. ALSO FOR SAM'S TEAM TO CONTINUE TO IMPROVE THE PERMITTING PROCESS. WE NEED TO LOOK AT BEST PRACTICES ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND WE WOULD LIKE TO EXCEED THOSE BENCHMARK. THAT'S SOMETHING SAM AND THE TEAM WILL CONTINUE TO WORK ON. ALSO EXPAND VIRTUAL INSPECTION CAPABILITY. THIS DAY AND YEAR, ESPECIALLY WHERE SO SHORT STAFFED. I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW SHORT. WE SHOULD HAVE 18 PLANNING INSPECTORS, RIGHT NOW ONLY HAVE FIVE. WE'RE DOING A LOT OF TRYING TO MITIGATE THAT, BUT IT'S SOMETHING WE'RE REALLY LOOKING AT DIFFERENT WAYS TO MAKE AGAIN. ONE OF THEM IS USING VIRTUAL INSPECTIONS. ALSO, THERE ARE A LOT OF FORWARDDALLAS RELATED IMPLEMENTATION, ALREADY MENTIONED THAT EARLIER. ALSO THIS YEAR, VERY IMPORTANT PROJECT THAT WE'RE GOING TO WORK CLOSELY WITH YOU AND THE COMMUNITY IS DALLAS DEVELOPMENT CODE REFORM. THIS IS SOMETHING WE ARE GOING TO BE LATER FOCUS THIS YEAR. I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT WE WORK VERY HARD ON THIS ONE, WE DID NOT EVEN WASTE A DAY. THE DAY AFTER FORWARDDALLAS WAS ADOPTED BY CITY COUNCIL, WE GET TOGETHER WITH A CONSULTANT AND TRY TO GET THIS PROJECT MOVING. I THINK LATER THIS MONTH, ALREADY NEXT MONTH, YOU'RE GOING TO START TO SEE A LOT OF INFORMATION. WE'RE GOING TO LOOK AT THE EXISTING CODE, DOING SOME DIAGNOSIS, ENGAGING WITH THE COMMUNITY, AND ALSO USE INNOVATION TECHNOLOGY TO ENHANCE EFFICIENCY, VERY IMPORTANT, BUT ACCURACY AND TRANSPARENCY ARE EQUALLY IMPORTANT SO WE'RE DOING THAT. ROBIN ALREADY MENTIONED ABOUT THE CULTURE SHIFT IS VERY IMPORTANT. ALSO CONTINUE TO WORK WITH OUR CUSTOMERS, WITH DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY. WE DID A LISTENING SESSION, WE HAVE ONGOING COMMUNICATION WITH THEM. THOSE ARE THE ONE THAT WE'RE DOING, BUT THERE'S A LOT MORE HAS NOT MADE ON THIS LIST YET. BUT THAT BASICALLY CONCLUDE OUR PRESENTATION. I WILL BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE. >> COUNCIL MEMBER, SCHULTZ. >> THANK YOU, MR. MAYOR. FIRST OF ALL, I CANNOT SAY ENOUGH IN COMMENDATION TO ALL OF YOU AND YOUR STAFF. IT'S A TRANSFORMATIVE EXPERIENCE FOR EVERYBODY, I THINK ALSO BOTH FOR THE PEOPLE THAT ARE APPLYING, AS WELL AS FOR THE STAFF AND THE CULTURE THAT YOU'VE CREATED AND THE LEADERSHIP, ROBIN THAT YOU'VE HAD OVER ALL OF THIS, EMILY. ALL OF YOU, YOU'VE INSPIRED YOUR STAFF. I HAVE TWO QUICK QUESTIONS. ONE IS, IS THE HIRING CHALLENGE THAT YOU'VE MENTIONED SEVERAL TIMES SIMILAR TO WHAT WE'RE FACING WITH OUR POLICE DEPARTMENT WHERE IT'S ACROSS THE BOARD, ACROSS THE NATION, OR DO WE HAVE UNIQUE ISSUES THAT WE NEED TO ADDRESS AS A COUNCIL IN ORDER FOR YOU TO BE ABLE TO FILL THOSE EMPTY POSITIONS? >> I WILL START FIRST. IT'S A CHALLENGE FOR THIS REGION. WE ARE SHORT OF PLANNING INSPECTORS CREW. I JUST MET WITH CITY FORWARD. THEY HAVE THE SAME ISSUE ISSUE. WE'RE WORKING WITH OUR THIRD PARTY AND THEY ARE PRIVATE SECTOR. THEY STILL HAVE THAT ISSUE. HOWEVER, I'M ALSO WORKING WITH OUR HR DIRECTOR, NINA. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALWAYS THERE TO SUPPORT ME. WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT WHAT WE CAN ADDRESS THAT. SALARY IS DEFINITELY A BIG BARRIER FOR US. WE HAVE TO COMPETE WITH PRIVATE SECTOR FOR THOSE LIMITED PLANNING INSPECTORS. THAT'S WHY WE HAVE BEEN VERY CREATIVE, VIRTUAL INSPECTION, ALL OF THAT. BUT WE ARE TRYING TO ADDRESS THAT. BUT IT'S A ORIGINAL, IF NOT A NATIONAL ISSUE AT THIS POINT. >> I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE. THOSE WHO ENJOY CASTING BLAME ON OUR CITY REALIZE THAT WE AS A COUNCIL CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN TERMS OF SALARIES AND WHAT WE PAY, BUT THE REST OF IT ARE THINGS OUT OF OUR CONTROL. THANK YOU. THE SECOND QUESTION IS AND I GUESS THIS IS TO YOU, DR. UDREA, WHEN YOU COME TO US WITH THE DEVELOPMENT CODE CHANGES, HOW WILL YOU BE DOING WORKSHOPS ONE ON ONE WITH US OR SMALL GROUP LUNCHEON LEARNS OR OPPORTUNITIES? BECAUSE I KNOW THE DEVELOPMENT CODE AND THIS MAY BE ALSO FOR OUR ATTORNEY, IT'S EXTRAORDINARILY COMPLICATED. THOSE CHANGES, HOW WILL YOU BE EDUCATING US SO THAT [01:15:03] IT ENDS UP BEING A REALLY POSITIVE EXPERIENCE, I THINK FOR EVERYBODY? >> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE QUESTION. IT'S A VERY GOOD QUESTION. WE DID HAVE A BULLET POINT IN THERE TO SAY WE'RE WORKING TO CREATE AN ENGAGEMENT FRAMEWORK, AND THIS WILL BE PART OF OUR DISCUSSIONS. WE WILL DISCUSS INTERNALLY ON THE WAY WE WOULD APPROACH IT, BUT I WOULD SAY YES TO ALL. I WOULD PREFER TO PROBABLY KEEP CLOSE TO YOU AND GIVE YOU BRIEFINGS ON MEMOS FROM TIME TO TIME. THAT'S WHY I SAY IT'S CRUCIAL THAT WE HAVE A WEBSITE, AND THAT IS BASICALLY OUR MAIN COMMUNICATION TOOL. WE WANT TO PUT EVERYTHING ON THE WEBSITE. WE WANT TO DO EVERYTHING THAT YOU JUST SAID, INCLUDING MEETINGS WITH YOU ONE ON ONE ON TOPICS. WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO AGAIN, CREATE AN ENGAGEMENT FRAMEWORK AND THEN AN APPROACH ON HOW WE'RE GOING TO DO IT. ARE WE GOING TO DO IT FACED? ARE WE GOING TO DO IT ALL IN ONE? THERE WILL BE A CONVERSATION THAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN WITH OUR STAKEHOLDERS AND WITH THE DECISION MAKERS, WHICH ARE YOU. >> THEN, SAM, IN TERMS OF WORKING THROUGH PERMITTING AND THE CHALLENGES WITHIN THAT, I KNOW YOU MENTIONED SO MANY INCREDIBLE THINGS THAT YOU'RE DOING TO MAKE IT. WHAT ARE THE OUTSTANDING CHALLENGES THAT YOU'RE STILL HEARING FROM THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY IN THIS PROCESS? WHAT ARE THE THINGS THAT WE CAN ANTICIPATE? >> FROM A PERMITTING STANDPOINT, I BELIEVE IT'S COMMUNICATION AND TRAINING. WE JUST NEED TO SPEND A LITTLE BIT MORE TIME TRAINING, BRINGING EVERYBODY UP TO SPEED. I BELIEVE THAT BY COMBINING THESE TWO DEPARTMENTS TOGETHER, THE PLANNING URBAN DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICES HAS REALLY HELPED CLOSE A GAP AND CLOSE THAT GAP AND COMMUNICATION SO THAT WE'RE ALL UNDER ONE UMBRELLA. WE'RE ALL SPEAKING TOGETHER. EACH TEAM IS TOGETHER, AND I THINK THAT HAS HELPED TREMENDOUSLY, AND I'M HOPING TO HEAR SOME BETTER NEWS FROM THE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE. WE HAVE ANOTHER ONE COMING UP ON FRIDAY WITH DAK. I'M HOPING TO HEAR BACK FROM THEM AND TO GET SOME POSITIVE FEEDBACK AND SEE ANY OTHER AREAS WHERE WE NEED TO IMPROVE. BUT I THINK COMMUNICATION WAS PROBABLY ONE OF THE BIG THINGS. >> GREAT. THANK YOU, MR. MAYOR. >> CHAIRMAN WEST. >> THANK YOU, MAYOR. I'VE SAID THIS BEFORE AND I'LL SAY IT AGAIN, THE PERMITTING OFFICE IS THE HEART IN THE ENGINE FOR THE CITY OF DALLAS FOR PROPERTY TAXES, WHICH WE NEED TO PAY OUR POLICE, OUR FIRE, OUR PENSIONS, OUR MAINTAIN, OUR PARKS AND OUR LIBRARIES FOR TENS OF THOUSANDS OF CONSTRUCTION JOBS IN THE CITY OF DALLAS AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST FOR THE CREATION OF NEW HOUSING IN THE CITY, WHICH WE SO DESPERATELY NEED. THE PERMITTING OFFICE IN THE ZONING DEPARTMENT SHOULD BE THE MAJOR LEAGUES OF BASEBALL FOR THE CITY. I FEEL LIKE PART OF THAT MAJOR LEAGUE TEAM IS SITTING UP HERE TODAY, AND I WOULD NOT HAVE SAID THAT A FEW YEARS AGO. I WANT TO COMMEND YOU GUYS AND SECOND EVERYTHING MS. SCHULTZ SAID. SECONDLY, I WANT TO THANK OUR INDUSTRY PARTNERS, TREK, WHO'S OUT THERE TODAY AND OTHERS WHO HAVE WEIGHED IN OVER TIME TO HELP WITH THIS PROCESS AND TO CHAIR ATKINS FOR MAKING SURE PERMITTING AND ZONING STAYS A FOCUS OF HIS COMMITTEE AND FOR MY COLLEAGUES WHO'VE MADE GREAT COMMENTS AND WHO HAVE HELD ALL THE DEPARTMENTS ACCOUNTABLE. A FEW THINGS. SLIDE 8, WE DON'T HAVE TO GO THERE ON THIS ONE, BUT LOTS OF GREAT IMPROVEMENTS AND METRICS THAT YOU'RE FOLLOWING. I LOVE SEEING THAT, SAM. I THINK YOUR PRESENTATION WAS ON POINT. I REMEMBER A FEW YEARS AGO WHEN WE WERE TALKING ABOUT GETTING PROPER CHAIRS AND PHONES THAT WORKED FOR PEOPLE IN THE DEPARTMENT, AND WE'VE COME A LONG WAY FROM THOSE DAYS WHERE WE'RE ACTUALLY FOCUSING ON SYSTEM WIDE IMPROVEMENTS. >> SLIDE 12. THIS I DO HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT. SAM, YOU HAD SAID THAT YOU WERE GOING TO FOCUS ON STREAMLINING COMMUNICATIONS WITH APPLICANTS TO AVOID PROBLEMATIC SUBMISSIONS. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO DO THAT? >> THANK YOU FOR THE QUESTION. YES, THROUGH THE TOYOTA PRODUCTION SYSTEM SUPPORT CENTER IN THE LEAN SIX SIGMA ANALYSIS, WE'VE IDENTIFIED APPROXIMATELY 35 DIFFERENT PAIN POINTS OR BOTTLENECKS IN OUR PROCESSES, AND THEY'VE PROVIDED SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS FOR THOSE. WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO IS WE'RE GOING TO GO BACK, WE'RE GOING TO ANALYZE THOSE SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS, COORDINATE WITH THE TEAM, TRY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE TO ADDRESS THESE PAIN POINTS AND SEE HOW WE CAN BETTER COMMUNICATE THE PROCESS TO THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY AND ALSO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF RESUBMISSIONS. >> I THINK THAT PIECE THAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT RIGHT NOW, THE PRESUBMISSION PROCESS IS SO KEY AND I WOULD JUST ASK, [01:20:04] I THINK HE JUST STEPPED OUT, BUT MY HOPE IS THAT YOU WILL BRING THAT AS A FOCUS TO THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE IN THE FUTURE SO THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY SEE THE PROGRESS ON THAT. SLIDE 16, YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO THERE. IT'S ON THE AI USAGE. YOU KNOW I LOVE THAT AND I KNOW CHAIR MENDELSOHN SHARES THAT PASSION FOR SEEING MORE AI USAGE WHERE WE CAN BUILD DEFICIENCIES. LET'S SEE. THEN I'LL GO TO ANDREA FOR A MOMENT ON SLIDE 25 ON YOUR GOALS IN THE FUTURE. YOU INHERITED A PROCESS THAT HAS BEEN SLOW LONG BEFORE YOUR TIME, BRINGING ZONING APPLICATIONS FROM START TO FINISH, IS THERE ANYTHING WE CAN DO AS A COUNCIL TO MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER AND TO SPEED THIS PROCESS UP? >> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE QUESTION. I WOULD SAY, PLEASE DO SUPPORT US TO GET TO DALLAS NOW. I SEE THAT AS A HUGE GAME-CHANGER. I WANT THAT TO BE A SUCCESS FOR OUR PROCESS, AND I WANT TO BE VERY CAREFUL THAT WHEN WE LAUNCH THAT, IT IS THOUGHTFULLY DONE, AND IT'S GOING TO WORK, AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO IMPROVE THE PROCESS AND ASSIST AFTER WE START THE USAGE OF DALLAS NOW. I KNOW IT TAKES A LONGER TIME BECAUSE AS I SAID, IT'S PAPER-BASED, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO RESPECT THE WORK THAT WE PUT IN DALLAS NOW FOR THREE YEARS AND FOCUS ON THAT TO BE A SUCCESS AND IF THERE ARE OTHER TWEAKS AND CHANGES, I WOULD LIKE TO ASSESS AND HOP ONTO THOSE AFTER THAT IS IMPLEMENTED. THAT IS MY MESSAGE TO YOU AND TO OUR COMMUNITY AND OUR CLIENTS. WE'RE CUSTOMERS. PLEASE DO ALLOW US. I KNOW I ASKED A LOT OF PATIENCE OF EVERYBODY BECAUSE WE'VE BEEN THROUGH BACKLOGS, WE'VE BEEN THROUGH SHORT STAFFING. WE'RE ALMOST THERE, AND I THINK WE'RE GOING TO START TALKING ABOUT REAL GAME-CHANGER SYSTEMIC IMPROVEMENTS, BUT WE NEED TO GO THROUGH THIS FIRST HURDLE FIRST. >> I APPRECIATE THAT. THANK YOU. I'LL END ON EMILY AND I GUESS ROBIN IF YOU WANT TO CHIME IN. I WANT TO COMMEND YOU AGAIN. I ALREADY SAID MY KUDOS ON FOUR DALLAS 2.0. WE'VE GOT THE BATTLE WOUNDS FROM THAT, ALL OF US BUT IT WAS REALLY A HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT FOR YOUR TEAM. VERY FEW SLIDES MAKE IT ONTO MY WALL BECAUSE I GOT ENOUGH ON MY WHITEBOARD, BUT I'M GOING TO PROBABLY PUT SLIDE 30 UP THERE JUST SO I CAN REMEMBER THAT, YOUR DEPARTMENTAL GOALS. IF YOU HAD TWO OR THREE TOP GOALS SYSTEM-WIDE FOR THE DEPARTMENTS, DO YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE SAYING THOSE NOW? >> SURE. I'LL START. DEFINITELY ZONING. ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT THIS YEAR IS HUGE. ZONING REFORM. OUR ZONING HAS BEEN SO OUTDATED THAT'S WHY WE HAVE SO MANY PDS BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO GET AROUND IT. WE'VE GOT TO FIX THAT. AS I SAID, WHEN I FIRST CAME TO DALLAS, THAT IS YOUR BIGGEST PERIOD FOR DEVELOPMENT IS THE ZONING CODE IS SO OUTDATED AND PART OF THAT IS EXTRA PARKING IS RIGHT NOW BEING DISCUSSED AS CPC TOMORROW IS GOING TO COME TO YOU IN PROBABLY A COUPLE OF MONTHS. PARKING ACTUALLY CAME OUT AS A BIG BARRIER. GENERALLY SPEAKING, THE ZONING CODE IS A BIG BARRIER. THAT'S OUR NUMBER ONE PRIORITY FOR THIS YEAR. ALSO, I WOULD SAY THE ZONING PROCESS WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO WORK ON THAT. THIS YEAR IT'S ALL ABOUT ALL ASPECT ZONING. ZONING TEXT, ZONING MAP, ZONING PROCESS, ZONING REVIEW ALL OF THAT UNDER ONE ZONING. THE SECOND ONE PRIORITY THIS YEAR IS INNOVATION. THAT'S WHY NEXT YEAR WHEN WE START SITTING HERE, I THINK ANDREA AND VERNA WILL BE THE SIGNING STAR TALKING ABOUT ALL THE IMPROVEMENT THEY'VE BEEN DOING ON 2025. THOSE ARE REALLY THE TOP TWO. THE THIRD ONE IS SOFT SKILL TYPE OF CULTURE AND CUSTOMER SERVICE. THOSE MY THREE BIG BUCKET FOR THIS YEAR. EVERYTHING ZONING, INNOVATION, AND CULTURE. >> I LOVE THAT AND I LOVE THAT YOU MENTIONED PARKING REFORM AS WELL. I HAD HEARD STAFF A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO SAY THAT 60-70% OF THE TIME SPENT AT THE PERMIT OFFICE IS FIGURING OUT THE PARKING FOR ANY GIVEN PROJECT. IF WE CAN FIX THAT AND STREAMLINE THAT, THAT WILL SOLVE SO MANY PROBLEMS. >> THAT IS NUMBER ONE. WE'LL LOOK MUCH BETTER WITH OUR PARKING, I CAN JUST TELL YOU RIGHT NOW. SOME OF THESE DID NOT EVEN MAKE THE LIST. IT'S ONE THAT CITY COUNCIL HAVE AN ORDINANCE, I KNOW. COUNCILMAN WHITLEY AND COUNCILMAN WEST THAT IS ABOUT A BUILDING CODE. [01:25:04] ZONING IS JUST ONE PIECE OF THE PUZZLE. IT'S ONE BARRIER. THERE'S OTHER BARRIER. FINANCING, WE ALL KNOW THAT. THE BUILDING CODE TURNED OUT TO BE ANOTHER BARRIER SO I'M SO GLAD YOU ARE TAKING LEADERSHIP ON THAT. WE HAVE A VERY PRODUCTIVE FIRST MEETING YESTERDAY, WE'RE HOPING TO GIVE YOU SOMETHING IN THE SPRING, LATE SPRING TO CONSIDER. >> THANK YOU. I'LL JUST END ON THIS. YOU MENTIONED VERY BIG SYSTEM-WIDE GOALS, AND I APPRECIATE THAT ON A LITTLE MORE HYPER-LOCAL GOAL FOR ME. I THINK SOME OF THE OLDER NEIGHBORHOODS WILL APPRECIATE SPEEDING UP THE CONSERVATION DISTRICT PROCESS. WE HAVE THE FIRST ONE AND THE ONLY ONE PASSED IN THE LAST 13 YEARS, AND I'VE GOT ANOTHER ONE TEED UP AFTER LAKEWOOD, AND THERE'S MORE THAT WANT TO COME, BUT THERE'S NOT ENOUGH STAFF OR TIME TO DO THEM RIGHT NOW. I WOULD APPRECIATE A FOCUS ON THAT OR EVEN A THIRD PARTY TO HELP US. WITH THAT BEING SAID, THANK YOU, MAYOR. >> THANK YOU VERY MUCH. COUNCILMAN WILLIS. >> THANK YOU SO MUCH. I THINK YOUR VERY PRESENCE HERE TODAY, WHAT YOU'RE EXUDING SHOWS THAT THERE'S A NEW DAY. WHEN IT COMES TO PERMITTING IN THE CITY OF DALLAS, THE STREAMLINING OF THE DEPARTMENTS, AND THE MERGER OF THE DEPARTMENTS, CLEARLY, WE'RE SEEING SOME RESULTS FROM THAT. WOW, 48,000 PERMITS ISSUED LAST YEAR, I NOTICED THAT ONE OF THE AREAS THAT YOU'VE CALLED OUT THAT YOU WANT TO WORK ON IS ZONING, AND WHEN WE'VE DIALED INTO THIS, WE SEE THAT ABOUT HALF OF THE TIME IS ON THE STAFF SIDE AND ABOUT HALF OF THE TIME IS ON THE APPLICANTS SIDE. WHEN WE LOOK AT SAY A SIX-MONTH PROCESS, IT'S ROUGHLY BREAKING OUT TO 50/50, THREE MONTHS, THREE MONTHS. WHAT I LEARNED AT COUNCIL IS THAT SO OFTEN IT GETS TO A CERTAIN POINT WHERE IT COMES BEFORE COUNCIL AND THEN IT GOES BACK FOR MORE NEIGHBORHOOD ENGAGEMENT. RIGHT NOW, WHAT WE HAVE IS THE POSTCARDS, THE NOTIFICATION WHERE THAT'S WHERE YOU GET YOUR SAY. WE ALL OPERATE A LITTLE DIFFERENTLY WITH OUR NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPS. BUT I'M WONDERING AND THIS WOULD BE SOMETHING FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, I WOULD THINK TO CONSIDER, SHOULD WE HAVE GUIDELINES OR STRUCTURE AROUND HOW A NEIGHBORHOOD ENGAGEMENT PROCESS WOULD WORK, WHAT THE TIME WOULD BE WHEN YOU START THAT PROCESS BECAUSE WE KNOW WE WANT TO HEAR WHAT NEIGHBORS THINK. IT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO HAVE THEM REPRESENTED, AND IT'S MUCH BETTER IF WE REPRESENT THAT EARLIER IN THE PROCESS RATHER THAN LATER IN THE PROCESS. KNOWING THAT'S ONE OF THE HITCHES THAT WE SEEM TO FIND IN THIS LENGTH OF TIME, I WOULD SAY THAT THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING I WOULD ASK THE CHAIR OF ECO DEV TO CONSIDER PUTTING ON THE AGENDA. YOU MENTIONED THE SALARY INCREASES AROUND PLUMBING. I KNOW WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS BEFORE, BUT SINCE WE CAN RECOUP THIS, I KNOW OUR DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY IS JUST ANXIOUS TO HELP US GROW OUR TAX BASE. ANYTHING WE CAN DO TO HELP THEM HELP US DO THAT, I THINK IS VERY IMPORTANT. THEN FINALLY, THERE WAS ONE THING ON PAGE 15. THIS JUST SEEMED COUNTER-INTUITIVE TO ME ABOUT ONE WAY TO ENHANCE THE SERVICE WAS TO COMBINE MULTIPLE Q TEAMS INTO ONE BECAUSE IT SEEMED LIKE HAVING MORE Q TEAMS WOULD HELP US SERVE MORE PEOPLE. WE'RE LIMITED IN TIME, BUT CAN YOU JUST IN A NUTSHELL, TELL ME WHY THAT CONSOLIDATION HELPS US DO MORE? >> YES. THANK YOU FOR THE QUESTION. OUR REGULAR Q TEAM ONLY ACCEPTED PROJECTS THAT WERE 10,000 SQUARE FEET OR LARGER. OUR SECOND Q TEAM TOOK IN PROJECTS THAT WERE LESS, BUT THERE WAS ALSO A BARRIER THAT DID NOT ALLOW OTHER PROJECTS TO BE SUBMITTED. THERE WAS SOME CONFUSION WITH, DO I GO THIS PATH OR DO I GO THAT PATH? BY MERGING THEM, YOU HAVE ONE PATH, EVERYONE KNOWS WHERE TO GO, AND THEN WE REMOVED THOSE BARRIERS TO OPEN IT UP FOR ANYBODY AND EVERYBODY THAT WANTS TO GO TO THE Q TEAM THAT COULD GO. >> WELL, THAT SOUNDS GOOD. I LOVE REMOVING THOSE BARRIERS. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH. THANK YOU. >> CHAIRMAN ARNOLD. >> THANK YOU, MAYOR. JUST A COUPLE OF THINGS I'M LISTENING AND I WANT TO JUST TIME IN JUST SO THAT I'M ABLE TO GET THAT ON THE RECORD. JUST A COUPLE OF THINGS AROUND THE PROGRAMMING THAT YOU HAVE AROUND ZONING. IT STILL REMAINS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU DEVELOP A RELATIONSHIP WITH COMMUNICATIONS THAT COME SO THAT YOU'RE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE TO THE CONSTITUENTS AND TO THE DEVELOPERS AND ALL THOSE ENGAGED IN THIS PROCESS OF GROWING DALLAS SO THEY WILL UNDERSTAND IN A TIMELY FASHION WHAT CHANGES WILL COME ABOUT. I THINK THAT'S VERY KEY. THE NEXT POINT, JUST TO BREAK IT DOWN, AS IT RELATES TO PERMITTING, I APPRECIATE THE EFFORTS THAT WE ARE PUTTING FORTH IN MAKING THIS A SITUATION WHERE WE HAVE A WIN-WIN FROM BOTH SIDES. BUT AS I STAND HERE REPRESENTING THE SOUTHERN SECTOR DISTRICT 4, I THINK WE MUST STRENGTHEN OUR MANPOWER AS IT RELATES TO MONITORING PERMITS, [01:30:05] ILLEGAL PERMITS, I WOULD SAY THAT, BECAUSE OUR COMMUNITY IS PLAGUED WITH THOSE INDIVIDUALS WHO THEY BYPASS THE SYSTEM. THEY GO OUT AND BEGIN TO BUILD A HOME OR ADD ONTO THE HOME, AND SOMETIMES THE COMMUNITY DON'T REALIZE THEY JUST KNOW SOMETHING IS GOING ON, BUT THEY DON'T REALIZE THAT THERE'S A PROCESS IN PLACE. A LOT OF TIMES WE GET WHAT WE CALL BOOTLEG DEVELOPERS AND BUILDERS AND SO IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE EXPEDITE THAT MANPOWER TO GET OUT IN THE COMMUNITY. WELL, WE HAVE TO ALSO EDUCATE OUR COMMUNITY ON IS THE DANGERS WITH ALLOWING THESE BOOTLEG JOBS. BECAUSE IF THERE'S EVER AN EMERGENCY WHERE WE NEED OUR FIRST RESPONDERS TO COME OUT, THEY MAY PULL UP DECAT INFORMATION WITH THREE BEDROOMS AND THEN YOU LOOK UP, THEIR FIVE BEDROOMS AND SOMEONE HAS BEEN HIT HELD HOSTAGE. THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY'RE GOING INTO. THERE'S MORE TO IT THAT WE NEED TO BEGIN TO EXPLAIN TO THE COMMUNITY, SO THEY WILL BEGIN TO REPORT THESE OPERATIONS. IT'S GOING TO COME BACK TO US IN TERMS OF COMMUNICATING THAT AND STRENGTHENING EVEN THE PENALTIES WHEN FOLKS ARE CITED FOR THAT. ON THE PARKING ISSUE, AS WE EMBRACE THIS WHOLE NOTION OF STREAMLINING PARKING, WE ARE RECEIVING SOME COMMUNICATIONS. >> EXCUSE ME WE'RE GOING TO TAKE A ONE-MINUTE RECESS. >> THAT'S NO PROBLEM. >> CHAIRMAN ARNOLD. >> THANK YOU. JUST TO BACK IT UP JUST A LITTLE BIT ON THE STREAMLINING OF PARKING. WE ARE GETTING SOME EMAILS AND SOME CONVERSATIONS AROUND THIS WHOLE NOTION OF EMBRACING THE RESTRICTIONS OR LIMITATIONS OF THE OPPRESSION OF PARKING OPTIONS. I KNOW THAT SEEMS TO BE POPULAR WITH SOME OF THE NEW DEVELOPMENTS THAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT. ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH WHAT I'M SPEAKING ABOUT MISS ANDREA, WITH THE NEW PARKING EMPHASIS ON STREAMLINING PARKING? >> WELL, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE QUESTION. I WOULD SAY THAT SURE, I WOULD BE HAPPY TO. HOWEVER, THE PROCESS IS ALREADY WITH THE CITY PLAN COMMISSION AND IT'S IN PUBLIC HEARINGS. I WOULD SAY THAT IS IN EVERY CONVERSATION THAT'S HAPPENING, IT'S HAPPENING IN A PUBLIC HEARING, SO I WOULD NOT WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE PARKING REFORM IN HERE, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THAT IT'S COMING TO CPC. >> BUT YOU DO ACKNOWLEDGE THE FACT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT IT AS A CITY. >> I'M HAPPY WE ARE BECAUSE WE ARE THE PROCESS. YES. >> I'M JUST GOING TO SPEAK THE TRUTH ON IT. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT IT AS A CITY BECAUSE IF WE WEREN'T TALKING ABOUT IT, WE WOULDN'T BE GETTING THE CONVERSATIONS FROM THE CONSTITUENT. THANK YOU. WHAT WE'RE SIMPLY SAYING IS THAT EVERY COMMUNITY IS DIFFERENT. WE ARE GETTING THE QUESTIONS AROUND WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO CREATE ONE SIZE FIT ALL FOR OUR COMMUNITIES? BECAUSE WE WANT MOBILITY AND MOBILITY OPTIONS, BUT WE ARE STILL A CAR-CENTRIC CITY. THERE ARE FOLKS WHO STILL WANT THEIR CARS, THEY STILL WOULD LIKE TO BE ABLE. WHAT HAPPENS OFTENTIME WE SEE IS WHEN WE PUT IN THOSE STRICT RESTRICTIONS, REAL TIGHT RESTRICTIONS ON PARKING, ESPECIALLY WITH NEW DEVELOPMENT SUCH AS MULTIFAMILY, YOU PUSH YOU FORCE MANY OF THOSE CARS ON THE STREETS WHICH CREATE A WHOLE NEW PROBLEM IN TERMS OF TRANSPORTATION AND ACCESS. I'M SPEAKING ON THE RECORD FOR THOSE WHO HAVE COME TO ME, AS WE THINK ABOUT THE NEW HORIZONS, BUT YOU HAVE TO HAVE A BALANCE. YOU CAN'T THROW EVERYTHING OUT. THAT'S WHAT I'M GETTING FROM MY CONSTITUENTS. ON THE CONSERVATION DISTRICT, COUNCIL MEMBER WEST IS ABSOLUTELY CORRECT. WE DO NEED TO SPEED THAT UP. WE DO HAVE COMMUNITIES IN THE SOUTHERN SECTOR, AND I REPRESENT ONE WHO IS TRYING TO GET THROUGH THE CONSERVATION DISTRICT PEAKS. I'M GOING TO ENCOURAGE ALL COMMUNITIES WHO ARE AFRAID OF THIS FORWARD DALLAS, THAT THEY MOVE QUICKLY AND BECOME MORE EDUCATED ON CONSERVATION DISTRICTS SO THAT THEY CAN PROTECT THEIR COMMUNITIES. WE CANNOT TAKE THE EXCUSE THAT WE DON'T HAVE THE PERSONNEL. WE CREATED THIS SITUATION, SO WE NEED TO BE PREPARED TO HANDLE THE SITUATION. FOR ALL COMMUNITIES WHO ARE LISTENING, I'M GOING TO ENCOURAGE THEM TO MOVE FORWARD TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE CONSERVATION DISTRICT PROCESS WORKS, AND I'M GOING TO DO EVERYTHING I CAN IN THE SOUTHERN SECTOR WHICH I REPRESENT SO THEY UNDERSTAND WHAT FORWARD DALLAS MEANS FOR THEM AND HOW THEY CAN PROTECT THEIR DISTRICT. COUNCIL MEMBERS, THAT'S PRETTY MUCH MY FOUR SENSE. MAYOR, I'M DONE ON THAT. THANK YOU. >> THANK YOU VERY MUCH. NO OTHER ONE ELSE. LET'S DO THE NEXT BRIEFING. MADAM SECRETARY. [C. 25-193A Thanks-Giving Square Update] >> THANK YOU. [01:35:03] >> CITY MANAGER. >> THANK YOU, MAYOR. TODAY, KAO OGDEN, PRESIDENT AND CEO FOR THE THANKSGIVING FOUNDATION WILL SHARE A NEW VISION FOR ONE OF THE CITY'S MOST IONIC ASSETS. THE THANKSGIVING DISTRICT IS A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO REVITALIZE DOWNTOWN BY PROMOTING GRATITUDE, INCLUSIVITY, WALKABILITY, AND COMMUNITY CONNECTION. THIS PROJECT TARGETS TO IMPROVE INFRASTRUCTURE, BOOST TOURISM, ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF LIFE DOWNTOWN, AND CREATE A PLACE FOR EVERYONE IN OUR CITY TO ENJOY. MR. OGDEN, TURN OVER TO YOU. >> PRESS THE MIC, PLEASE. THERE WE GO. >> THANK YOU. MY NAME IS KYLE OGDEN, AND I'M PRESENT CEO OF THE THANKS-GIVING FOUNDATION. FIRST OF ALL, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE. THANK YOU FOR ENTERTAINING THIS CONVERSATION TODAY. I WANT TO INTRODUCE A COUPLE OF MEMBERS OF MY BOARD REAL QUICK. I GOT DAVID STEWART, I GOT JOANNA SINGLETON, AND WE GOT CHRIS SLAUGHTER HERE WITH ME. I'VE BEEN ASKED TO GO QUICKLY AND I'M GOING TO TRY TO DO THAT, WHICH I THINK MEANS I'VE GOT TO SKIP A GOOD NUMBER OF THE SLIDES. MY PRESENTATION IS GEARED TOWARDS A LITTLE BIT OF EDUCATION HOW THANKS-GIVING FOUNDATION CAME TO BE. I'M GOING TO MOVE THAT QUICKLY BECAUSE I WANT TO GET TO THE DISTRICT AND TELL YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON THERE. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. NEXT SLIDE. I'M GOING TO MOVE THROUGH SEVERAL OF THESE SLIDES. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. KEEP GOING. NEXT SLIDE. BACK UP ONE. THE THANKS-GIVING FOUNDATION HAS BEEN AROUND SINCE 1964. WHAT WAS GOING ON IN DALLAS IN 1964? WELL, IT WAS A DIFFICULT TIME. THE CITY WAS ENDURING SOME DIFFICULT REPUTATIONAL THINGS, AND SO THE GOOD CITY MEMBERS OF DALLAS DECIDED THEY WANTED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT AND THEY BROUGHT TOGETHER A PROCESS CALLED GOALS FOR DALLAS, WHICH, AS WE ALL KNOW, GENERATED LOTS OF IMPORTANT PROJECTS FOR THE CITY OF DALLAS, INCLUDING DFW AIRPORT AND THE ARTS DISTRICT AND OTHERS. ALONGSIDE THAT, COMING TO LIFE WAS THANKS-GIVING SQUARE. THANKS-GIVING SQUARE, OUR ROLE IN ALL THAT WAS TO ELEVATE AND INSPIRE THE PEOPLE OF DALLAS AROUND OUR COMMON GRATITUDE. A BIG PROJECT CAME TO LIFE AND THIS BEAUTIFUL BUILDING WAS BUILT WITH THE HELP OF PHILLIP JOHNSON, AND IT BECAME AN IMPORTANT DOWNTOWN AMENITY. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. ACCORDING TO PLACER LABS, WE HAD OVER 205,000 VISITS TO THANKS-GIVING SQUARE IN THE PERIOD BETWEEN OCTOBER OF '23 AND SEPTEMBER OF '24, JUST TO GIVE YOU A FEEL FOR THE POPULARITY AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS IMPORTANT SPACE. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THE CURRENT VERSION OF THANKS-GIVING SQUARE CONTINUES TO LIVE INTO THAT IDEA AS A CULTURAL BACKBONE TO THE CITY OF DALLAS. THE BIG IDEA IS TO ESTABLISH THANKS-GIVING SQUARE AT THE CENTER OF A MOVEMENT, DEFINE A NEW CULTURAL IDEAL FOR DALLAS, AND GIVE EACH OF US A NOBLE ROLE IN PURSUING IT. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. IT TURNS OUT YOU NEED AN IMPORTANT PLACE LIKE THANKS-GIVING SQUARE. AS YOU SEE HERE, WE'RE LOOKING AT JULY 8TH, 2016, WHEN OUR CITY CAME TOGETHER TO MOURN THE DEATH OF THE OFFICERS. YOU ALSO NEED A PLACE LIKE THIS IN TIMES OF CELEBRATION AND COMMEMORATION. AS IT TURNS OUT, THANKS-GIVING SQUARE IS A PERFECT PLACE FOR THESE TYPES OF THINGS BECAUSE OF OUR LACK OF IDEOLOGY, NO POLITICAL AND NO RELIGIOUS IDEOLOGY. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. WE PARTICIPATE IN A NUMBER OF PROGRAMS. I'M GOING TO BREEZE THROUGH THESE QUICKLY. THIS IS SERVING UP GRATITUDE DURING COVID. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. BREAKING BREAD AND BUILDING BRIDGES, PUTTING OUR POLICE DEPARTMENT TOGETHER WITH THE COMMUNITY THEY SERVE AFTER GEORGE FLOYD'S MURDER. [01:40:03] NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THIS IS A NEW PROGRAM THAT WE ARE INSTITUTING NOW CELEBRATE VIRTUE, WHERE WE'RE WORKING WITH THE DISD TO FIRST PILOT AND THEN LAUNCH SOME CONVERSATIONS AROUND VIRTUE IN OUR COMMUNITY. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THEN WE ARE ABOUT TO ANNOUNCE AN ANNUAL DALLAS KINDNESS WEEK AROUND WORLD KINDNESS DAY IN NOVEMBER OF EACH YEAR, AND WE THINK WILL BE AN IMPORTANT ADDITION TO THE COMMUNITY AS WELL. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THAT'S A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHO WE ARE. I WANT TO TALK ABOUT WHO WE'RE GOING TO BE IN THE FUTURE. AS WE APPROACH 50 YEARS, SINCE WE OPENED IN 1977, OUR BOARD HAS CHALLENGED US TO STEP INTO THE ROLES, CULTURAL BACKBONE OF THE CITY. WE PLAN TO HOME THIS WORK AT A NEWLY EXPANDED THANKS-GIVING DISTRICT THAT WE HAVE IMAGINED WITH THE HELP OF GENSLER. THE DESIGN CHALLENGE I'VE GIVEN GENSLER IS TO CREATE A PLACE THEMED ON WELCOMING, BELONGING, AND GRATITUDE. I'VE INSISTED THAT IT HAS TO BE DIFFERENT. IT HAS TO FEEL DIFFERENT AND EVOKE A DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE THAN ANY OTHER PLACE. WHEN YOU STEP OFF THE CURB INTO THE THANKS-GIVING DISTRICT, I WANT THE SUN TO COME OUT FROM BEHIND THE CLOUDS, I WANT THE BIRDS TO START SINGING. I WANT YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE TO DROP 10 POINTS, AND I WANT SOMEBODY TO RUN ACROSS THE STREET AND HUG YOU. THIS IS THE DESIGN CHALLENGE I'VE GIVEN TO GENSLER. HOW WILL WE DO THIS? NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO YOUR HOSTS, WELCOMING, BELONGING, AND GRATEFUL. WE'RE WORKING WITH LOCAL ARTIST BRAD OLDHAM TO CREATE THREE 30-FOOT SCULPTURES THAT WILL GREET OUR GUESTS AT EACH OF OUR THREE CORNERS. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. WE'LL BREAK THROUGH THE WALLS THAT SURROUND THE SQUARE AND SPILL OUT INTO THE ADJACENT AREAS ON PACIFIC AVENUE AND ERVAY STREET. THIS FIRST RENDERING IS AT THE CORNER OF PACIFIC AND ERVAY, AND DEMONSTRATES THE MORE OPEN FEEL OF A TRUE EUROPEAN STYLE SQUARE. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THIS VIEW IS FROM ABOVE ERVAY AT BRYAN AND LOOKS ACROSS THE SQUARE AT A NEW ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENT ON PACIFIC THAT HELPS DEFINE THE SQUARE. THIS SHADE STRUCTURE, OR AS I LIKE TO CALL IT, STOA, ANCHORS THE AREA OUTSIDE THE CURRENT WALLS OF THE SQUARE. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. NOW WE'RE ABOVE ERVAY AND PACIFIC, AND HERE YOU GET A MUCH BETTER LOOK AT THE STOA. I WANT TO POINT OUT THE TWO NEW GATHERING SPACES CARVED INTO THE SQUARE, AND I WANT YOU TO NOTICE THAT THE NEW LONGER RAMP TO THE CHAPEL, ALLOWING US TO CREATE AN ADA COMPLIANT ENTRANCE. THE SQUARE WAS BUILT BEFORE ADA AND AS OF TODAY DOESN'T CONFORM. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THIS IS THE NEW PACIFIC AVENUE, AND YOU SEE THE AUTOMOBILE SHARE SPACE WITH PEDESTRIANS IN A NO WAKE ZONE. SINCE THIS IS A LIGHTLY TRAVEL BLOCK, WE CAN CONVERT TO A PEDESTRIAN FIRST SENSIBILITY WITHOUT ANY SIGNIFICANT DISRUPTION OF FLOW. WE WILL TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A SIGNIFICANT STEP FORWARD IN THE CITY'S WALKABILITY PRIORITY. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. HERE WE'VE TAKEN A COUPLE OF STEPS TO THE RIGHT AND STANDING UNDER THE STOA, WE STRADDLE PACIFIC AVENUE ON THE LEFT AND THE GRAND PROMENADE ON THE RIGHT. NOTICE THE GENEROUS SPACES IN COMFORTABLE PROPORTIONS. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. NOW WE'RE ACTUALLY DOWN IN THE SQUARE AND LOOKING OUT AT THE POP UP SHOPS UNDER THE STOA. WE PREFER THE POP UPS, IT'S A MORE ELEGANT EXECUTION THAN FOOD TRUCKS. THESE COULD CONCEIVABLY ALTERNATE BETWEEN FOOD SERVICE VENDORS AND MARKETS FOR LOCALLY MADE GOODS. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. NOW WE'RE UP TOP AGAIN AND GETTING CLOSE LOOK AT THE POP UPS IN ONE OF THE TWO NEW OVERLOOKS. NOTICE THAT THE HEIGHT OF THE WALL HAS NOT BEEN COMPLETELY REMOVED, BUT RATHER HAS BEEN CUT TO TABLE HEIGHT. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THIS IS A RENDERING OF THE SECOND OVERLOOK. NOTICE IN THIS INSTANCE THAT THE WALL HAS BEEN CUT TO ANKLE HEIGHT. THIS LOCATION OFFERS AN EXTRAORDINARY VIEW OF THE ICONIC PHILLIP JOHNSON CHAPEL. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. LOOKING DOWN FROM THE RAMP, WE SEE A NEW AMPHITHEATER IN THE FOREGROUND AND A NEW PRE-MEETING SPACE, AN ADA COMPLIANT ENTRANCE INTO THE HALL OF THANKS-GIVING IN THE REAR. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. LOOKING TO THE WEST, [01:45:01] YOU SEE A MUCH MORE OPEN CONNECTION TO THE BELL TOWER AREA AND A NEW STRUCTURE IN THE DISTANCE. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THIS IS A NEW RESTAURANT AND EVENT SPACE PLANNED FOR THE WESTERN TIP OF THE PROPERTY. AS CONCEIVED, YOU SEE A BEAUTIFUL GLASS STRUCTURE WITH A WALK UP LIVING ROOF. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. I ADDED THIS SLIDE TO GIVE US ALL CONTEXT AS TO HOW THANKS-GIVING DISTRICT CAN BECOME THE DOWNTOWN HUB, A LAUNCHING POINT FOR VISITOR EXPLORATION WITH RIBBONS LEADING TO CLYDE WARREN PARK, AT&T DISCOVERY DISTRICT, THE ARCH DISTRICT, WEST END, FARMERS MARKET, AND OF COURSE, THE NEW CONVENTION CENTER. WE HAVE THE CENTRAL DALLAS DARK STATION AT OUR CORNER AND AN EIGHT-STORY PARKING GARAGE ACROSS THE STREET, MAKING US THE IDEAL CENTRAL HUB. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. AS THE DOWNTOWN HUB, WE CAN ALSO SERVE AS A HUB FOR THE CONNECTION TO FAIR PARK. WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING WITH NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS TO SEE HOW WE CAN INTEGRATE WITH THEIR WORK THAT THEY HAVE BEGUN ON THIS PROJECT. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. IN SPEAKING OF THE COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS, IN FEBRUARY, THE REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE APPROVED $10 MILLION OF PROJECT FUNDING CONTINGENT ON A 241 MATCH FROM PHILANTHROPY AND OTHER SOURCES. FURTHERMORE, THEY'VE RECENTLY AGREED TO ADVANCE $500,000 TO BEGIN ENGINEERING ON THE PROJECT. THIS GIVES OUR FUND RAISING A SIGNIFICANT BOOST. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. I'VE PULLED TOGETHER THIS SUMMARY SLIDE THAT STANDS AS A CASE FOR SUPPORT, THIS MAY BE THE MOST IMPORTANT SLIDE IN THE DECK. PLEASE STUDY THIS AS YOU HAVE TIME AND KNOW THAT THERE ARE BIG ECONOMIC, CULTURAL, AND QUALITY OF LIFE BENEFITS THAT WILL ACCOMPANY THIS PROJECT. WE'RE GOING TO INCREASE PROPERTY TAXES, SALES TAX, AND HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX. WE'RE GOING TO ALIGN WITH THE DOWNTOWN DALLAS 360 PLAN. WE'RE GOING TO MAKE DALLAS MORE WALKABLE AND MORE CONNECTED. WE'RE GOING TO IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR DOWNTOWN RESIDENTS AND WORKERS. WE'RE GOING TO HELP ATTRACT NEW BUSINESSES TO DOWNTOWN. THIS PROJECT WILL RENEW SOME DATED DOWNTOWN INFRASTRUCTURE. WE'RE GOING TO POSITIVELY IMPACT THE CULTURE, AND WE'RE GOING TO IMPROVE THE IMAGE OF DALLAS. THIS BRINGS ME TO MY ASK OF THIS BODY, WHICH IS FOR A LOUD, ENTHUSIASTIC AND PUBLIC ENDORSEMENT OF OUR PROJECT TO CREATE THE THANKS-GIVING DISTRICT AT THE THANKS-GIVING SQUARE. YOUR ENDORSEMENT WILL BE INVALUABLE TO US AS WE GO TO THE COMMUNITY TO RAISE FUNDS. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. I'VE ADDED THIS ONE LAST SLIDE FOR YOU TO READ THROUGH AS YOU HAVE TIME. THIS IS FROM THE HRNA STUDY AND TALKS ABOUT THE FINANCIAL IMPACT ON PROPERTY VALUES AND TOURISM THAT PARKS MAKE. THIS IS A STUDY THAT ASSERTS THAT THERE IS AN AVERAGE OF A 07:1 RETURN FOR CIVIC INVESTMENT IN PARKS, BUT OF COURSE, YOU ALREADY KNOW AND APPRECIATE THIS. YOU'RE AN INVESTOR IN CLYDE WARREN PARK, AND WE EXPECT THAT THE THANKS-GIVING DISTRICT WILL GENERATE SIMILAR ECONOMIC BENEFITS FOR THE CITY OF DALLAS. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION AND CAN I ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS. >> WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO ACTUALLY COMPILE QUESTIONS THAT MEMBERS MIGHT HAVE AND GET THEM TO YOU AND GET ANSWERS MAYBE IN A WRITTEN FORM OR HAVE A SUBSEQUENT BRIEFING THAT CAN FILL IN ANY GAPS IN THIS ONE AND GET QUESTIONS ANSWERED AT THAT TIME BECAUSE WE DO HAVE BUSINESS THAT WE HAVE TO CONDUCT ON A SCHEDULE TODAY. I WANT TO APOLOGIZE FOR THAT, BUT CERTAINLY YOU UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF WHAT WE'RE ABOUT TO BE WORKING ON HERE FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS. >> I DO IN DEED. I DO APPRECIATE YOUR TIME AND ATTENTION. I WOULD WELCOME ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY IF THERE ARE MORE QUESTIONS OR TO GIVE YOU THE MORE RELAXED VERSION OF THIS PRESENTATION. >> IF NOT, THE FULL COUNCIL, CERTAINLY THE QUALITY OF LIFE COMMITTEE, I'M SURE COULD ACCOMMODATE YOU, BUT I'LL LET THAT BE DECIDED BY THE CHAIR AT A LATER TIME. WITH THAT, YOU ARE FREE TO GO AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS PRESENTATION. AGAIN, SORRY, I HAD TO BE A LITTLE BIT RUSH. MEMBERS, I'M GOING TO READ YOU THIS LANGUAGE, AND THEN WE ARE GOING TO GO AND HAVE A QUICK LUNCH AND THEN BEGIN OUR WORK, BUT WE ARE GOING TO OFFICIALLY BE IN EXECUTIVE SESSION UPON THE READING OF THIS. IT IS 12:49 PM ON JANUARY 15TH, 2025. [CLOSED SESSION (Part 2 of 2)] THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING WILL NOW GO INTO CLOSED SESSION UNDER SECTION 551.074 OF THE TEXAS OPEN MEETINGS ACT ON THE FOLLOWING MATTER DESCRIBED ON TODAY'S AGENDA. ITEM NUMBER 5. WITH THAT, [01:50:03] WE ARE NOW IN EXECUTIVE SESSION AND WE'LL PLAN TO RECONVENE, AND LET'S JUST CALL IT THREE O'CLOCK. THANK YOU. WONDERFUL. THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HAS COMPLETED ITS CLOSED SESSION UNDER SECTION 551.074 OF THE TEXAS OPEN MEETINGS ACT, AND AT 7:40 PM ON JANUARY 15TH, 2025, WE RETURN TO OPEN SESSION. MADAM SECRETARY, IS THERE ANY FURTHER BUSINESS FOR THE DALLAS CITY COUNCIL TODAY? >> MR. MAYOR, NO FURTHER BUSINESS. >> CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE, ANYTHING ELSE? WE GOT THROUGH ALL OF OUR BRIEFINGS? >> YES, SIR. >> WELL, SEEING THAT THERE'S NO FURTHER BUSINESS, THE TIME IS NOW 7:40 PM, THIS MEETING OF THE DALLAS CITY COUNCIL IS ADJOURNED. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. * This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.