City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you. I know, I know. Hey, how are you? Hey Mike, how are you? Look at you and Gary being here today. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Well, good evening, everybody. Welcome to the Arlington City Council Chamber. It is September 8th, 2026, 630 p.m. We're going to get started right away. I'm going to invite Matt Hart from Mission Arlington to come up and give us an invocation, please.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this evening. We thank you for this gathering of people that love this community and care very deeply about it. And so we pray, God, that that love and that care would always be translated to gratitude to you for what you've done and the way you have blessed this community and carried us through. Lord, we pray for those that will make decisions this evening. We pray for them for wisdom that would come from you and just from a sense of goodness and wanting what you would want for this city. Lord, we pray for the people of this community, God. We pray for peace. We pray for unity. We pray for protection and for blessedness, God. We pray and ask that, above all, that you would be honored, you would be pleased in who we are as a people and the way that we care for those that you care for, Lord. And so we pray as we care for those that need help, that we would keep our eyes open for our neighbors around us, that we would love you with heart, soul, mind, and strength and love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Lord, we pray and we ask all of these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen. Please join us in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Honor the Texas flag.

I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state, under God, one and indivisible.

Thank you. You may be seated. Ms. Garcia of Speaker Guidelines and General Decorum, please.

Thank you, Mayor. We ask that the citizens and other visitors in attendance assist in preserving the order and decorum of this meeting and to provide for attendance, ad, and participation in the meeting without fear of intimidation, threats, or hostility. Any person making personal, profane, hostile, slanderous, or threatening remarks, who uses vulgar or obscene language, who engages in any other actions that disturb or are calculated to disturb the meeting, or who becomes disruptive while addressing the mayor and the city council, or while attending the city council meeting may be removed from the council chambers. All speakers shall address the city council and not the audience or city staff and shall not call out individually named members of city staff or the public. For speakers tonight, when your name is called, please come to the microphone at the podium and state your name and city of residence for the record. Speakers may not use music, videos, or other forms of media, signs, or props. During the public hearings for zoning cases, the applicant will be asked to speak first and will be given five minutes to make a presentation. Speakers in support or opposition of the item will be given three minutes each to make their statements. The applicant will then be given three minutes for any rebuttal. For all other items on the agenda, speakers will be given three minutes to speak. If multiple speakers plan to provide the same or similar comments, those speakers may, if they so desire, designate one or more individuals to provide public comments on behalf of the group. A bell will signal the end of each speaker's time. In consideration of other speakers, please conclude your comments promptly when you hear the bell. We ask that you address your comments to the mayor and council.

Thank you, Ms. Garcia. Do we have any appointments to boards and commissions this evening?

Mayor, we have no appointments to boards and commissions.

Thank you. We'll move on down to 6.1, consideration of items from the executive session.

6.1, a resolution authorizing the city manager or his designee to execute all cash contract of sale with Convivium Investments LLC for the purchase of fee-simple property rights and land with the physical address being 505 West Abram Street, Arlington, Texas, Tarrant County, and authorizing acceptance of the conveyance of fee-simple property rights.

I want to recognize Council Member Pham. Do you have something you wanted to talk about on this? Or did you hit the wrong button? You hit the wrong button, perfect. Ms. Garcia, do you have any speakers on this item?

No, Mayor, we have no speakers on this item.

Thank you. I have a motion from Council Member Gonzales, a second from Council Member Pham. Please cast your vote. The motion passes. Consideration of minutes, please.

Mayor, we have the consideration of minutes for the August 25th, 2026 afternoon and evening meetings.

Thank you. Do you have any speakers on any of these items?

We have no speaker cards, Mayor.

Thank you. I have a motion from Council Member Ware, a second from Council Member Hunter. Please cast your vote. The motion passes. Consideration of consent agenda, please, Ms. Garcia.

The consent agenda this evening contains 18-minute orders, two ordinances, and five resolutions. The minute orders seek to authorize one through six annual requirements contracts for auto body and collision repair services, for light-emitting diode roadway fixtures and highway high-mass lighting, for soft body armor for the Arlington Police Department, for overhead door repair and related services, for the purchase of traffic pavement markings and devices for the Public Works Department, and for the purchase and delivery of athletic equipment and field supplies. Seven, seven-month requirements contract for traffic parts and Ethernet switches. Eight, annual contract for the fleet telematics global positioning system tracking and monitoring software. Nine, renewal of annual contract for testing services for the Arlington Fire Department. Ten, renewal of two-year contract for federal legislative consulting services. Eleven, renewal of two-year requirements contract for supplemental vehicle services. 12 and 13, construction contracts for the 2026 miscellaneous sidewalks and ADA ramps at various locations, and for demolition, abatement, and site preparation services for the Parks Administration Building. 14, professional services contract for merchant payment processing services. 15, sole source contract for the Polaris integrated library system automation software maintenance services, and implementation of the Vega LX patron engagement suite. 16 and 17 purchase of replacement bucket truck for the Public Works Department and of seven replacement vehicles for various city departments. 18 purchase and installation of fitness equipment for Dottie Lynn and Cliff Nelson Recreation Centers. The ordinances seek to authorize 19 amendments to the elections chapter, 20 amendments to the health and sanitation chapter. The resolution seek to authorize 21 development plan PD 07, 5R4, DP 19, shops at Viridian. 22, designation of employee responsible for truth and taxation tax rate calculations for fiscal year 2027. 23, airport fiscal year 2027 rental rate and fee adjustment. 24, first amendment to first amended and restated Chapter 380 performance agreement, Canales Furniture. 25, downtown redevelopment, Abram Main Acquisition LLC. Mayor, this concludes the consent agenda for this evening.

Thank you. I'm gonna pull 8.21 for separate consideration. Do we have any speakers on the remaining items?

Mayor, we only have speaker for 8.21.

For 8.21? Yes. Okay. Can I get a motion and a second for the remaining items of the consent agenda? Raul, Council Member Gonzalez, did you have something else?

I'm here. I'm going to pull 8.24.

8.24. Okay. We'll pull 8.24 for separate consideration. All right. Now can I get a motion and a second for the remaining items on the consent agenda? I have a motion from Council Member Galante, a second from Council Member Pham. Please cast your vote. The motion passes. I'm going to go back to 8.21. Ms. Garcia, do we have speakers on that one?

Yes, Mayor. We have the applicant, Vivi Medhorty, I believe.

Howard, do y'all want to just come? Both of y'all can just come on up if you want to.

As well as Howard Partez as the applicant.

So I'm gonna be candid you know when when you first brought this thing up here I called you and I said I think it's ugly and I was candid about that because Viridian is not ugly Viridian is a beautiful development out there that's done some great things I'm still not a huge fan and my concern is others aren't a huge fan as well. We're a big fan of Viridian, not a huge fan of this particular development. Why should we approve this particular development on here?

Well, I mean, the comparison has been made. I'm Howard Porteus, by the way, Arlington, Texas, my residence. The original plan in 2007 was a vision, and it was shown that's 20 years ago. We've all slept and grown a lot older since then. That vision went away. We've done several amendments. If you look at, there's nine other amendments. Projects within that area that was in that original vision that are built and they are not in compliance with that vision in any way shape or form They different components of it are but they're not in the same place. They're not otherwise I think it's still beautiful This particular project is on a corner. It's retail which is walkable retail because there's sidewalks and and every trails that connect to the north and back to the east and to the south. So it creates the walkability that everybody's wanted. It's on the right side of Collins from the standpoint you don't have to perifogger. Getting across columns is a big challenge. You know, the original feedback, I won't use the exact quotes, Mayor, but you generally put the gist there. You don't like it, and you said it needs work. And so Vibor, I think, rolled up his sleeves very well. He took a project that was very plain. You guys should have that in the packet, I believe, the old one. Do they have that, the old one in the packet? The old one, yeah. Renderings. So I asked him, I said, it doesn't have any color, it doesn't have any texture, it doesn't have articulation, it doesn't have enough trees, it doesn't have enough landscape. I think I pretty well covered it. It now has all of those components. It now has towers on the end. It was brought back to my attention the other day that we needed to create something that created a the spotlight, if you will, Mauricio. Was that him talking? No, he's right, because it was his conversation with him that brought that up. And so I brought it to VBOR. And the end that faces Collins now, I think, is super attractive. It's now got three towers. It has two on the ends, and then it has a singular in the middle. It now represents the shops at Viridian Village, which is what that area is called. The reality is it's a three-acre parcel. It's on the north side of Blue Lake. It's separated from the larger piece, which, as we all know, Moji is working on and bringing some stuff. It's not big enough to do a town center type concept. Retail requires a visibility. You can't tuck retail behind other buildings and make it work. We don't have enough spacing to create that type of thing. I'll give you a perfect example. I drive by it twice a day. It's called Champions Park. You get the back of the buildings when they're on the street, and you put some lipstick on it, but it's still the back of the buildings. The front of the building is facing the parking lot. That's not what brings in retail for sale. For sale is an attractive front that you look at from the street, and you go, I see that and I want to stop by. And we're even more thing because none of us can get it lowered below 50 miles an hour through that stretch. Man, help me if you can, Mayor. We've been trying for five years or six years to get it lowered. Every place else is 45 or everywhere. You're driving by pretty fast. You don't get a second chance to see it. I can't sell mixed use that the original concept.

Do we have any prospective tenants coming in there that's going to be decent tenants? And I'm not looking for a dollar store type of tenant either.

It will never be dollar store. The rents are too high for a dollar store to that kind of tenant to ever come there. The kind of tenants we have are high-end medicals, dermatologists, dentists, national sandwich shops, some of them. Some of them more experiential retail. None of them would be any low-grade retail. This would be one of the highest-end stores you will see in this area because the rents are probably one and a half times anything around there in Arlington. So most of the shopping centers I develop, I develop all over Texas. Most of my shopping centers are at entrance of master plan communities. This is a really nice-looking shopping center. It is not... in a town center setting because of the fact that you have these office complex in the back. If you had big box stores in the back, we would be talking a very different type of retail. But unfortunately, we already have an approved office complex in the back and this is the best kind of retail you can build which will work because I cannot face the office complex. I mean, I have talked with about that. It's just not going to work. So we have tried to do the best we can within a three acre site, standing by itself. And that's why, I mean, it's going to be a very high end retail, very good retail. There will be nothing that you can think of which will be low end on this site.

I think the other thing I can attest is we've tried, Mayor, for 20, I mean, I've been working on this project since 2007. Literally, coming up in January, it will be 20 years I've been working on this project. We have tried to sell. We've had Regent look at it. We've had Kroger. We've had all of these larger boxes. We're mid-block retail. So that means we don't have a primary intersection. If we were on Green Oaks... or we were on Trinity, but we're mid-block. We're somewhere in between there. There's 28,000 to 30,000 cars that go by there every day at 50 miles an hour, if you're lucky.

Council Member Garcia-Dumas.

Hi, Howard. Hey. Thank you for bringing this to us, and I really appreciate the conversations that you're having with us about this. I don't love, as I call them, the butts of the retail showing to the street as well. And you mentioned Champions Park, but there's also South Lake Town Square. We have examples of it working well. And I know that there's talk about walkability, and I know that that's not the only thing that creates walkability. My concern about this retail space is, one, in this rendering right here, it's not actually all those clouds behind there. It's apartments and office space and all that kind of stuff. And so that would give you a better idea of how this development would fit into existing ecosystem. Also, this is the second revision that we've seen of this, and I do enjoy the greater landscaping, but I know that landscaping in the heat of the summer of Texas, it goes away so fast, and it's so quick to let that go by the wayside. So if we rely on the landscaping being the thing that makes it really great, it's a harder sell for me. My number one concern about it and I know that my other council members have said this as well, is this has had six planned development revisions in its time. And when we first saw examples of this, it did look more like this, right? And so my concern is, at what point does a planned development just go beyond what the vision was. At what point do we make these changes and these modifications until we say, this is just not at all what was planned. This was not at all what the vision was. You have done an incredible job of Viridian. It is luxe. It is beautiful. It is a escapism in Arlington, Texas. And this does not match that. And my concern is, will the residents feel like this matches the sense of place that you've created over there? And so my main thing is it just does not fit the vision, the planned development vision. And it's just too far away from that for me.

and comment um it's called 20 it's called 15 years without being able to sell any of it was when you start to revisit a 20 year old pd and you go this isn't working we can't find someone to come in south lake is not a great example that's so organic and how that developed and now that's taken mr city manager how many years did that take to develop south lake And he knows well. So that is a very organic. And it's amazing. I go to Southlake all the time. But it was very organic. It didn't. And this is what will sell and work and deliver what we think the city. We aren't having negative feedback from the residents. They like the new revision. And we haven't published, we've sent SIPs out, but we haven't sent the final because I don't have the approval from y'all to do this. But the vision was a vision, and we've tried to hold it. We've limited ourselves. Everybody keeps coming back. We have apartments. We've always had apartments, three sets of them. We have three sets. We're actually less density than we originally showed. We've had to go to townhomes and some other things just because we had property that was sitting fallow without any development on it or interest in it going. So what we've tried to do is accomplish the best we can for the best part of the community. And the best for us is we believe we can be quality retail, which is what the demand has been. When we were talking about it at the VRA meeting, the homeowners meeting, they're excited that we're having retail come. That is more important to them than the vision that they haven't lived with, frankly.

Council Member Galante.

Thank you, Mayor. Mr. Fibonacci. Thank you for working on this project. So we had the first sketch and then a lot of changes on it, especially on the facade and the colors, a lot more vibrant. And the columns, I like the columns too. It looks like, it feels like Viridian, more Viridian now. You talk about the retail stores that you have been planning to put in there. Of course, there's retail stores across the street, right? So when you offer... I guess you have several of those in the state of Texas. You already have a clientele, correct?

Yes.

All right. But you also do a study on understanding what is going to fit in to the entire area, right? So there's a market over there. So you want to fit something that doesn't compete with other brands. That way you maximize your, what do you do different here on this location?

Most of the retail that is across the street is, I would call it mid-tier retail.

Mid-tier retail?

Mid-tier retail. Typically, those are service based at a rent level, which are acceptable, but not the premium quality. What we are looking for is some of the retail will come from local population. which is people who have been living in the community, want to open. And these are not people who have low net worth, these are very high net worth people who want to open a medical practice, who have been practicing for 15 years, 20 years. They want to open a store. They will be able to afford this rent. You have a national tenant who wants to open a store, they will be able to open it here. This kind of rent, which is 25% above what is across the street, will call for really high end tenants. So, experiential retails, you will not see a mom and pop sandwich shop over there. They cannot afford it. You will be able to see maybe a Jersey Mike, but not good national tenants. We're not going to see McDonald's here. We're going to see some good quality retail, right? So that's what I am striving for, for this kind of shopping center.

Thank you. I would like to see some lighting. You put up the towers, right? The towers look so good with some lights out there will really call the attention for anybody driving. Hopefully not 50 miles per hour.

We have done those lights actually on other shopping centers. We'll add them here.

I will add to this. This is a development plan. So this rendering is so far beyond what you would normally see for a development plan because of the questions that have been raised. So we haven't gotten to the point where the site plan and otherwise will have some of those lighting things that have to come into it. So there's another round of things that have to go through with this project. This is the first step. I would also add that this project has a unique corner in that it has the large portion of the primary Utilities that feed all of Iridian Encore Atmos the water. There's a there's a large water line that runs in that comes across There's also spectrum and AT&T are all in that corner that takes it up So you couldn't bring it out to the hard corner if you wanted to I mean, we've you know, there's other ways you could do it But I don't know how you would rent the other so well, I believe This may not be the original vision that was put in place in 2007 and 8. I do believe that it is in the best interest of Meridian and it serves the population well.

I don't love it. But you love me. I don't hate it. That's more important. Okay. Thanks, baby. Thank God Council Member Ware just hit his button so I can defer to him. Maybe he can enlighten me with some incredibly wonderful questions that I haven't been able to come up with on this. Because... You know, I want to defer to everything you've done out at Viridian and say you're going to make this great like the rest of the place. My instincts tell me no. But I'm on the fence right now. I've got to be honest. You know I'm as candid as they come and sometimes do a fault. But I'm really struggling. If I can add one comment to it. Yes.

Go ahead. I think this water is viable because we use non-potable water. To give you an example, in the first half of the year, we used 186 million gallons of water. Non-potable, none of it came from our city supply, which is challenged right now. And that's why we're able to water when other people can't. And so we're able to keep things alive because we're not subject to the same water restrictions. I'm saying this really carefully. Trace, not looking at me. We have an advantage in that regard. We're able to keep our landscaping in better shape than many places. Because if you look throughout the communities, the landscaping is struggling so bad. We're able to maintain our landscaping better than most.

Council Member Ware?

I'm a reluctant yes on this. I think we wasted our chances.

Well, Lord, you're

Well, I think we wasted our chances when sometime back, we put a business park back there. You're saying if that wasn't back there, this could have been nice, more of a mixed-use development and walkable and all those things we wanted. Howard's been pleading with me to believe that that wouldn't have happened. I'm not so sure, but... The proof right now to me is in the retailers you bring to this building.

Right.

If my daughter, granddaughters, all of their friends can spend their money in Arlington instead of going to South Lake, I'll come pat you back, buy you some coffee, and we'll all be happy. But the pressure's on... to bring those type of retailers into that area, and if we can't bring them there, we can't bring them anywhere.

I would caution that what you just caveated is that if there was a big box, that's a big if because we've been trying for 15 years to get a big box to come in there, and there has not been one contract, not one, not offered, not one anything. It's never happened.

I've been in retail, so I grasp what you're saying, mid-block and all of that. But the smaller retails, you can get them.

You're fine. Council Member Shelton?

Yeah, I'm like the mayor and Tom. I'm pretty much going to vote for this. But what raised the red flag for me with respect to retail, and I live in South Arlington, so I have some friends in Verde, and I'm not up there very often. But I know that they want retail up there. But what raised the flag for me is, and please explain, a dentist, you know, a doctor's office, I feel like people, that's not the retail that I think Tom and I are sort of expecting is that I guess when I go hang out with my friends up there, I want to go eat. I want to go do a little shopping. I want to walk around. I don't want to walk past the dentist. But, again, you know your business better than I do. I just don't know if that's what I envision up there. I never thought of that, and that's why I was leaning towards yes. But when I hear the dentist and the doctor, I'm thinking that's not, I think, at least my vision for what those stores would be. Do you have a comment on that, sir?

Yeah. So we keep the premium areas of the shopping center empty for restaurants and experiences that will bring community together. It's a big shopping center and you're talking about end caps, we have patios, we've got end caps with nice facade. These are the areas where the restaurants and people will come in who would want to assemble here. We have had discussions with restaurants, we just don't have any in our hand right now. Now, in between mid-blocks, you will find services-based businesses. And that we are talking about local people who want to open businesses, but they are not low net worth, they are high net worth. And when you talk about a dentist and a dermatologist, these guys are, they bring good people around into our business. They don't have low end kind of, I mean, if you really look at their offices, they are very beautiful from inside. So it's like a mixed use where you have restaurants at the ends and then you have services in the middle. That's a typical retail thing you will see. You will not see low end shops here, just to let you know.

Thank you. Okay. All right. I got nothing. Ms. Garcia, we don't have any other speakers on this?

We don't, Mayor.

Okay. I have a motion from Council Member Galante and a second from Council Member Hogg. Please cast your vote. Motion passes. Please don't make me regret this. Congratulations.

Hey, guys, I live there too. I live in Viridian. I'm building a second house. I love it. I cherish it. I take it very, very personally, so believe me. I'm not going to fail you, Mayor. Okay. Or any of the council members that just gave me the grace of doing this.

Thank you both for coming up and helping us out.

And we'll come back and if it's helpful, Jim, would it be helpful to come back and update as we get leases?

I'd love to get an update on leases and stuff like that.

We can do that. So we can just come back and make a time to come do a presentation once we start getting leases going. Sure. I thank you all for your time tonight. Thank you. Appreciate you. Thank you, everybody. Thank you.

I want to, before we go on, well, let me just do 8.24 first. Council Member Gonzalez, you asked that we pull that one.

Yes, please. Lindsay, do you mind coming up? It's the same question. It's regarding the financing. Just an explanation. It's a canala, so it's the same thing. So why is this being done with regard to the third-party financials? How does that change to taxable income?

My understanding is that this change is being made to accurately reflect total sales instead of taxable sales. Why they are not taxable, I'm not certain.

Yeah. Councilman Gonzalez. So again, as Lindsay mentioned, the proposed revision is to change the performance requirement from total taxable sales to total sales. The reason being is Canalis, a lot of their sales out of their store at mile lock and 20 go through a financing company. And when Canalis sells to the financing company, it's not taxed because it's a sale intended for resale. When the in-consumer buys from the financing company, it is taxed. But rather than having to add the financing company and get reports and whatnot to the agreement, we decided to look at just total sales of Canalys, which captures these sales that are then sold and captured from a tax perspective on down the chain. So the sales tax impact the city is the same. We're just focusing our agreement with Canalis and looking at the total sales that they make rather than taxable.

And so when the taxes are paid to the finance company?

They still are cited here in Arlington. Thank you. Yes, same impact. That's what I wanted.

Thank you. Sorry, Lindsay, to put you on the spot.

Ms. Garcia, do we have any other speakers on this item?

We do not have any other speakers, Mayor.

Thank you. I have a motion from Council Member Garcia-Dumont. Can I get a second? Council Member Pham has seconded. Please cast your vote. And the motion has passed. It's my understanding, Ms. Garcia, that we have subsequent to our vote on the remaining items on the consent agenda, we had one speaker sign up for 8.3. Is that correct?

Yes, Mayor. We have one speaker.

Although we have already voted, I'll allow that speaker, if he or she wishes to be heard, to come up and talk to us on 8.3. Do we know the name?

Jimmy Burke.

Come on up, Jeremy. They'll lower the podium for you.

Yes, sir. Thank you. Just get this lower.

Thank you, sir.

Mayor and council, once again, thank you for indulging me some general comments on an item regards to specificity. I just wanted to say, again, regardless of specifics, I support the idea big time of a soft armor for police and so forth. Because I think we might be able to get the balance of not too much cumbersome physically for the officer. And I think one specific way that I like the idea is I feel like it's reasonably likely, with a very high percentage, where more assurance on the police officer's end with that can logically follow just everybody wins on that almost always where we have a better chance for just a decent outcome with an encounter between police and citizens with the police officer having that assurance and probably way less likely for a situation to go sideways. So I thank you so much for indulging my brief comments on that, because I just wanted to say, regardless of specificities, I love the idea, and I appreciate it.

Thank you, sir. Appreciate you. Thank you. We're going to jump on down to 11.1. Ms. Stoppel?

Thank you, Mayor. Item 11.1, zoning case PD91-09R1, is a PD revision request to reduce the side yard building setback on the north side of the property by 4 feet 3 inches, creating a minimum building setback of 15 feet 9 inches, on approximately 2.3 acres of land addressed at 300 to 330 Lock and Green Trail, generally located north of West Division Street and east of Lock and Green Trail. The building on the subject property was initially constructed in 1986. applicant seeks to expand the existing building towards the north property line the building expansion is approximately 2 350 square feet in two floors on august 5th 2026 public notices were mailed out to the property owners within 200 feet of the subject property by planning and zoning commission meeting date on august 19th staff received 12 responses in opposition from nine addresses none of which were within 200 feet of the subject property. Since the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, staff has received no more letters. The Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved, recommended approval of this case with the stipulation that the applicant shall provide a landscape design and or a screening solution to mitigate the appearance of the retaining wall on the north side of the property the plan shall be prepared by a licensed professional and provided to staff for review and approval, and that the approved plan shall then be completed prior to the final inspection of the proposed addition. Additionally, the Planning and Zoning Commission strongly encouraged the applicant to hold monthly meetings with Lock and Green Village Phase 2 HOA Board of Directors through the end of the construction process. Staff emailed the applicant earlier this week, and he stated he has had multiple conversations with the HOA leadership. This evening, we have the applicant, Mr. Ben Armstrong, presenting the case for us.

Mr. Armstrong.

Counsel, thank you for the opportunity to be here tonight and for your consideration of this. My name is Ben Armstrong, and I'm a longtime resident of Arlington. We are Armstrong Forensic Laboratory. Facts is facts. Tell the truth and I don't know is a good answer were lessons that were taught to me by my father. We began at a storefront at 3008 West Division right across the street in 1980. We purchased the property in 1985 and built our building and moved in in 1986. And now we are seeking a change to the setback to complete our building extension at that same address 40 years later. Our permits began being granted in 2023 for landscaping, parking lot extension, retaining wall replacement, and an addition to the building. If I can. We are requesting a change in the setback on the north side from 20 feet to 15 feet 9 inches. We have been in the business more than 40 years and blessed to be a growing business. In the last seven years, we have gone from 24 associates to a high of 58 associates using four bathrooms. Because of that growth, we began this expansion project four years ago. We have endeavored to follow all of the steps and all of the process. Our first permit was approved three years ago by the city and included a proposed location for the building, and every subsequent permit used that same image. We have invested in and begun construction of our expansion, including the removal of the original pillars, piers, and part of the roof. based on those permits. An investigation by the city based on complaints regarding our retaining wall discovered the error and that it could not be administratively approved the setback. This resulted in a stop work order and we are continuing to follow the process and all the steps to seek a change in that setback requirement so we may complete our expansion construction. The setback is intended to ensure sufficient distance between the business and any residences nearby. So generally the residence is five feet and the business is 20 feet on a planned development. Directly to our north is a 15 foot permanent fire lane. And then an additional 28 feet to the nearest home to the north. So with our requested setback of over 15 feet, there would still be more than 58 feet of distance between us and a nearest residence. These pictures show where the current setback is, where the new setback we are requesting, along with the retaining wall and the permanent fire lane. Regarding the retaining wall We have had multiple discussions with the HOA board members regarding options. We have reached a mutual agreement that a live green wall would be preferable to an artificial one that had been suggested by staff. We're working on plans for a trellis and vines to be the most appealing option to the HOA members. We will continue to have more meetings with the HOA if we're allowed to continue more construction. We are currently researching the costs and contractors for this plan. We have been blessed. We were increased in size. We need the expansion building to provide workspace and bathrooms. We believed we had followed all of the requirements and all of the steps required of us by the city to complete it. We respectfully request that the allowance be granted for us to complete our current construction. Thank you very much for your consideration in this matter. I'll be glad to answer any questions you may have.

Mr. Armstrong, I'm going to tell you, I don't know about you agreeing to everything, but y'all have got to be the most patient, understanding business, one of the most patient, understanding businesses in the entire city. I think not only have you agreed that go through all the hoops that you've been going through, but when things happened and it didn't go the right way, y'all have handled it with class. I appreciate what y'all have done. Um, I appreciate that the fact that you've been here for 40 something years in Arlington and you're continuing to stay here. More importantly, I appreciate how y'all have handled this issue coming up here. And I, I, um, We need more businesses like you.

We accomplished the greatest success with mutual agreement.

Yeah. Yeah. Thank you for that. Council member Garcia Dumont.

Yeah. Mr. Armstrong, thank you so much for your conversations with the HOA and, uh, You know, when it was approved with the same image at the 15 feet, things happen. And you guys were so gracious about it. And you talked to the HOA. And you talked to the homeowners. And you did everything that you could. And this is just best case scenario for encountering something like this. So I know that you're going to move forward with the mutual agreement of the live green wall. I look forward to seeing that. I think it'll be great for them and also great for you guys as well. And congratulations on all your success. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Ms. Garcia, do we have any other speakers on this item?

Mayor, we have no other speakers. And for the record, we have two non-speakers in support.

Thank you, ma'am. I am going to close the public hearing. I have a motion. You signed up to speak and we haven't paid you any attention whatsoever? Lord, so far it worked really well. I told them that if you signed up to speak, not to allow it to come through. I don't even know your name, sir, but we're going to let you come up and talk anyway. Mr. Armstrong, you could have a seat. We'll let this gentleman come on up. Thank you. Thank goodness you waved us down and stopped us.

Well, it's real tough right now, and I'm going to let you guys know over the past three months what it's been like. But I think maybe my mother and I have been the most patient people during this whole process. It'd be best if I just try to read this as fast as I can and then answer any questions.

Yes, sir.

My name is Craig Smith, and I'm the son of the owner of the property next door located at 400 Lock and Green, one inch. I'm speaking on behalf of my mother, Patricia Smith. I just found out last week that this may be a legal issue as council members representing the people. This may also be a moral issue. The most tragic epiphany about this whole ordeal for us over the past three months is that it was never about the building wall set back in the first place. Line of sight perpendicular to a plane makes no difference to our point of view if the wall is four feet closer or not. It was always about the other wall, the ugly wall, the one that already exists, the retaining wall, not the back of the building, but like you mentioned, Ms. Garcia. That's what we get. To inquire about the setback distance seemed only prudent for anyone to do, and if there was a setback violation, I was always told the two parties seek concurrence, agreement, or compromise. You can have your four feet, all we want is a nice looking retaining wall. Instead, unbeknownst to us, the applicant in the city decided to take us to court. Zoning Board of Adjustment, Planning and Zoning, and now this court today. So for the past two months, we've been fighting in court, never wanting to fight in the first place, not to win, but we were just trying not to lose. Because if we lost, we would get what we already have, that disrespectful, ugly, I don't care wall forever. The two professional city staff reports on behalf of the applicant, the variance in the zoning cases totaling 80 pages, and their two professional city presentations on behalf of the applicant totaling 40 pages. And in those 120 pages, my mother's name as the affected neighbor is not mentioned once. And not one time in nearly three and a half months has anyone in the city ever inquired as to what my mother's concerns were. The two professional staff reports display six pages about the applicant, and they're the most amazing business I've ever seen. Let me just write one paragraph about my mom. My mother is Patricia Smith, a 25-year AISD special ed four through six school teacher. I tell people in the profession, they say she's a saint. She wanted a better life for her and her family than a teacher's salary could afford, so she got into real estate in the late 1970s, got a real estate license and her broker's license, bought and sold houses, and acquired 10 pieces of rental property, managing them all while teaching full-time, My mother knows real estate. My mother's concern about what's happening next door is that this could crater her home property value, and she has a point. She tells me a few weeks ago, she says, Craig, you know when you get older, she's 91, most of a person's net worth is in their home. You sell your home, and then you move into a nursing home. And then she just looks at me. What do you do if you can't sell your house? She's greatly concerned about her home equity and her ability to sell her home when the time comes. This is not taking my mother's livelihood. She's retired. This is potentially taking her future.

You're about done. I need you to wrap up in about three seconds.

I will send you these emails.

That would be great. I appreciate it.

And Mayor Ross, if I can say something, you let me down.

Well, no, no, no. I wish I could say that's the first person that's ever told me that.

No, no, I sent you an email asking lines of accountability, authority, and responsibility from the mayor office, from the mayor council office, and you ignored me. So I'll send it again. No, I won't send it again.

All right, send it again.

What's the point?

Thank you for your time. All right, any other speakers, Ms. Garcia?

We have no other speaker cards, Mayor.

All right. I'm going to close the public hearing. I have a motion from Council Member Hogg, a second from Council Member Galante. Please cast your vote. The motion passes. Congratulations, sir. We're going to move on down now to 11.2, Spencer Slider.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Spencer Slider, Chief Financial Officer. Before you tonight is the first reading of an ordinance accepting and approving an updated service and assessment plan for the Downtown Business Improvement District, which includes accepting and adopting the 2026 assessment role, setting an assessment rate, and levying the assessments on the assessed parcels. An updated service and assessment plan has been prepared and provided a current budget in specific scope of work for the upcoming FY27 program year, which includes continued efforts in the areas of downtown beautification, security, marketing and promotion, economic development efforts, and operation management services. The proposed budget for FY27 is $678,775.45. I and staff are available if you have any questions. Thank you, sir.

Ms. Garcia, do we have any speakers on this item?

We have no speakers, Mayor, but we do have one non-speaker in support.

Thank you. I'm going to go ahead and close the public hearing. I have a motion from Council Member Garcia-Dumas, a second from Council Member Hunter. Please cast your vote. The motion passes 11.3. Mr. Slider, go ahead.

11.3, before you tonight, Mayor and Council, is the first reading of an ordinance accepting and approving an updated service and assessment plan for the Anthem Public Improvement District. Accepting and adopting the 2026 assessment role, setting an assessment rate, and levying the assessments on the assessed parcels. The assessment for the first three years will be $0 per $100 of property valuation. For FY27 will be year two. The annual assessment rate in subsequent years will fluctuate based on assessed value within the PID boundary, but will not exceed $0.80 per $100 of valuation. I and staff are available if you have any questions or comments.

Thank you, sir. Ms. Garcia, any other speakers on this item?

No, Mayor. We have no speaker cards on this item.

Thank you. I'm going to close the public hearing. I have a motion from Council Member Galante, a second from Council Member Gonzalez. Please cast your vote. The motion passes. 11.4, Mr. Gary Packin.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council, Gary Packin, Director of Parks, Recreation, and Culture. This evening I bring to you for your consideration the first reading of an ordinance related to the Lamar Boulevard Public Improvement District. This action approves the updated service and assessment plan and adopts the assessment role for 2026. It also sets the annual assessment rate and levies the assessments on the benefiting properties. The district was created to support enhancements along Lamar Boulevard such as landscaping, lighting, pedestrian improvements, irrigation and other amenities that promote community vitality in your pack you'll find the details of the pit with that I'll open to any questions thank you sir miss Garcia do we have any speakers on this item we do mayor we have one speaker in opposition Jeff Cassell I believe mr. Cassell

Good evening, Mr. Mayor and Council. I'm Jeff Cassell. I'm at 422 East Lamar Boulevard, directly across the street from this location. And what I'm really concerned with is that this is year four in a 10-year plan. And I honestly have not seen much improvement or change in the last four years on this location. If the money is going to the right stuff, The only people I see really using this park is the apartment and the homeless. It's still that same scenario, although it has improved thanks to some of the city police going through there and doing some drive-bys and actually sitting in the parking lot occasionally. And so that's helped a lot. But from the aspect of is this really truly benefiting anyone other than the apartment, or apartments, I'm gonna say no. It's not helping the business owners that are across the street. It's not helping the shopping center that's across the street. And from the aspect of maintenance, honestly, I'm calling every time I see something hit car in the in the middle of the median or something like that i still i just see a few rocks moving so my real concern is we've got 73 000 supposedly budgeted for this 10-year thing that's going to be another six years of which i'm probably responsible for 15 to 20 000 of that over 10 years And I'm going to say it just like this. I think I'm pissing it in the wind. It's just not working in regards to changing the people that are using it. I know you guys have the ability to check who's coming in, who's going out, but 90% of the users are dog users who you have a park to walk their dog, and late at night the homeless go there. And so I still see it as being a program. Either this is just not big enough, which in my opinion is that, to truly bring someone else besides a apartment owner who has an animal, and I am a dog lover, almost became a vet, so trust me when I say this, I love dogs, but when it comes down to what is it, I don't think it's being used like River Legacy. It's not big enough, it's not getting promoted like it, there's no art there, there's nothing there that really is a driver for people to come out and say, let's stop at this park, And check this out. I just don't see that. And really, one of the things that I see in our budget for the $73,000, talking about advertising and promotional programs, administrative and legal costs, this is a municipal park that has now been put on private property owners in order to maintain it. And I don't see that being effectively done. Thank you for your time.

Thank you, sir. Any other speakers, Ms. Garcia?

We have no other speakers, Mayor, on this item.

Thank you. I'm going to close the public hearing. I have a motion from Council Member Galante, a second from Council Member Ware. Please cast your vote. The motion passes. 11.5, Ms. Carrie Parker-Berry.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Carrie Parker-Berry, Deputy Director of Special Events and Venues. I am before you for the first reading of the ordinance of the updated Arlington Tourism Public Improvement District Service and Assessment Plan and Role in Levy Assessments. Recently renewed, this is year one of a 12-year PID. The TPID boundaries solely include contentious hotel properties with 75 or more rooms within the city of Arlington. The FY27 assessment rule includes all hotels meeting the 75 plus room requirement, including hotels that are currently under development within the boundaries of the TPID. To date, 51 hotels are subject to the TPID assessment of 2%. Only hotel properties with 75 rooms will be responsible for paying the TPID assessment. Hotels with less than 75 rooms are excluded or otherwise exempted from paying the assessment. As required annually, an updated service and assessment plan has been prepared and provides a current budget and scope of work for the upcoming fiscal year of 27, which includes continued efforts to enhance district marketing, sales and business recruitment, and promotional activities for the improvement in the promotion of TPIT. More detailed information is available in your packet. I welcome any questions that you may have.

Thank you, ma'am. Ms. Garcia, any speakers on this item?

We have no speaker cards on this item, Mayor.

Thank you. I'm going to close the public hearing. I have a motion from Councilmember Garcia-Dumas and a second from Councilmember Galante. Please cast your vote. And the motion passes, thank you, ma'am. 11.6, Mr. Slider.

Good evening again, Mayor and Council, Spencer Slider, Chief Financial Officer. For your consideration tonight is the first reading of an ordinance adopting the FY 2027 operating budget. On August 4th, 2026, the city manager presented the proposed fiscal year 2027 operating budget to the council. Since that time, two town hall meetings and multiple city council work sessions have been conducted to facilitate additional discussions and gather public input. As a result, the proposed FY27 operating budget has been revised as follows. Increase revenue in the convention and event services fund hotel occupancy taxes by $195,000. Increase expenditures in the Convention and Event Services Fund by $195,000. These revisions will result in no change to the ending balances for the Convention and Event Services Fund, which remains at $38,819. Section 102.06 of the Texas Local Government Code requires a public hearing on the FY27 operating budget. Following the public hearing, the governing body must take action on the budget. Should you approve the budget tonight, the second final reading is scheduled for September 15th, 2026. Staff and I are available for questions.

Thank you, sir. Ms. Garcia, any speakers on this item?

Mayor, we have no speaker cards on this item.

Thank you. I am going to close the public hearing. I have a motion from Council Member Hogg and a second from Council Member Ware. Please cast your vote.

Council member. Thank you.

The motion passes 12.1 Mr Slider.

12.1, this is the first reading of the ordinance levying the taxes for the fiscal year 2027. Municipalities are required to levy taxes in accordance with an adopted budget. On August 11th, this council set the proposed tax rate at the no new revenue rate of 0.6363634 per $100 evaluation. Under state law, that is a ceiling, the highest rate this council may adopt, and it is the rate published in the city's truth and taxation notices and contained in the posted ordinance. However, the fiscal year 2027 budget is funded at a lower rate of 62.98 cents per $100 evaluation. I have provided council this- A substitute ordinance levying that rate. Because it is lower than the rate that was noticed, it may be adopted with no further notice, no additional hearing, and no tax rate election. The tax code requires that the tax rate be reflected in its two separate components in the ordinance for adoption. The maintenance and operations rate is 44.46 cents per $100 of evaluation. And the interest in sinking rate is 18.52 cents per $100 of evaluation for a combined rate of 62.98 cents per $100 evaluation. The interest in sinking rate is restricted by law to the retirement of the city's debt. The motion is in your packet, and if you wish to levy the tax rate included in the substitute ordinance, I would ask a member of council to make that motion and read it as written.

Thank you, sir. I'm going to recognize Council Member Hogg. Well, let me ask this. Ms. Garcia, do we have any other speakers on this item?

We do not, Mayor.

I'm going to close the public hearing now. I'll recognize Council Member Hogg.

Thank you, Mayor. And Mr. Schlatter, I see you and your whole team down there. I just have to thank you. I think we all thought. Budgets are worked on year round. We know how long y'all work on them year round, so we appreciate all the work on that. So with that, I move to approve the substitute ordinance that levies a tax rate of 62 and 98 hundredths of a cent per $100 valuation, which includes an interest in sinking fund rate of 18 and 52 hundredths of a cent per $100 valuation and a maintenance and operations rate of 44 and 46 hundredths of a cent per $100 in valuation.

Thank you, Council Member Hogg. I have a second from Council Member Gonzales. Please cast your vote. And the motion passes. We're going to move on down to 12.2, Ms. Thoppel. I surprise you going so quickly. I know, I'm pretty good like that. Don't need to thank me. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Mayor.

This item is related to the single stairwell building code amendments that was discussed with council previously, as well as the adoption of the National Electrical Code.

Thank you, Ms. Stoppel. Ms. Garcia, do we have any speakers on this item?

No, Mayor. We have no other speakers on this item.

Thank you. I have a motion from Council Member Gonzales, a second from Council Member Garcia-Dumas. Please cast your vote. The motion passes. 12.3, Mr. Brooks.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Keith Brooks, Director of Public Works. I'm here to present item 12.3, which is the first reading of an ordinance amending Article 2, Operation of Vehicles of the Traffic and Motor Vehicles Chapter of the Code of Ordinances, revising one-way street designations. Code, I'm sorry, Crow Leadership Academy changed their traffic management plan and coordinated with the city's traffic engineering team to determine the best flow of traffic for the school pickup and drop-off. Since Coke Drive is already established as a one-way roadway, the decision was to reverse the one-way direction to facilitate more efficient traffic movement during school start and dismissal times. So basically, Coke Drive Right now is one-way westbound. We're going to reverse that to where it's eastbound between Valley View Drive and East Mitchell Street. The times for that will be from 7.30 a.m. to 8.30 a.m. in the morning and then 3 o'clock p.m. to 4 o'clock p.m. in the afternoon. At this time, I'll answer any questions you might have.

Thank you, Mr. Brooks. Ms. Garcia, do we have any other speakers on this item?

We have no other speaker cards on this item, Mayor.

Thank you. I have a motion from Council Member Garcia-Dumont and a second from Council Member Shelton. Please cast your vote. The motion passes. Thank you, sir. 12.4, Mr. Whiteway.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Alex Whiteway, Director of Water Utilities. I'm here to read the first reading of an ordinance amending the water and sewer chapter of the Code of the City of Arlington, Texas, 1987, through the amendment of Article 3, Charges for Water and Sewer Service, Section 3.02, Water and Sewer Rates. I'm here for any questions.

Thank you, sir. Ms. Garcia, do we have any other speakers on this item?

We have no other speakers, Mayor.

Thank you. I have a motion from Council Member Ware and a second from Council Member Gonzalez. Please cast your vote. And the motion passes. Thank you, sir. Citizen participation, Ms. Garcia.

Thank you, Mayor. Citizen participation gives the public an opportunity to make comments or address concerns regarding matters related to city business or affairs that are in the scope of the authority of the city council, which are not posted on the evening agenda. However, please understand that the mayor and council are not permitted by law to respond to, discuss, or address the comment at this time, as these items are not included on the posted council agenda for this evening. The mayor and council may only ask clarifying questions and or direct staff to take appropriate action. Speakers who have preregistered will be given two minutes to make their comments, except that if 26 or more speakers have preregistered, each speaker would be given one minute to make their comments. And, Mayor, we actually have a total of three speakers tonight.

Thank you. First speaker, Ms. Garcia.

Jimmy Burke.

Come on up, Mr. Burke.

I could have a couple of seconds to get in a good position for my two minutes. That'd be great. I appreciate it.

I started your clock when you got called way back there already. Gotcha.

Thank you, Mayor and Council. Homeless of the American Dream, Part 9. Story goes, 126 years ago today, September 8th, 1900, Apparently, the great hurricane in Galveston that day became the hugest tragedy of natural disasters in American history. Several thousand people perished unfortunately. They were advised, just let it go. No sense in rebuilding on that island. But as we know, they did anyway. Learned a few things. People banded together to get through the stability and all that to re-stabilize. We unfortunately even knew after that that, especially because of Jim Crow laws, that not everybody got to benefit from their efforts. But they re-anchored and we moved forward together and hopefully we continue to fix things. A couple of thoughts here about homelessness as an example is remember, Homelessness itself is not really a thing. It's the absence of a real life symbolized by a lack of a residence. Hence, remember going back to my first times here, that's why I share these bigger ideas first is we don't focus on fixing homelessness to fix it. More than what we're leaving behind, what are we headed to? Hence, the ironic fix of everybody's concern about how to congregate, where the homeless community should congregate. Nobody should be homeless long enough for there to be a homeless community to congregate in the first place. Hence, it is always impossible until it's done. Arlington, let's be Arlington, Texas together, all hands on deck.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Burke. Next speaker, Ms. Garcia.

Jamesha Homer.

Jamesha.

My name is Jamicia Homer. I am a former resident of Arlington. I lived in Arlington for about 20 years. I worked here. My daughter graduated from here. She's now in college. Built homes here. Never had an issue with Arlington. I loved actually being in Arlington. I had an issue that happened a couple of years ago with a police officer that had to come out to my home. An investigation that should have been done properly was not actually done. Resolved or taken care of. I contacted the Arlington Internal Affairs to do an investigation to find out exactly what happened. Shortly after that, there was no follow-up or anything of that nature. I had to move out of my home because at that point I started receiving fear. I was in fear of my safety in the home, so I had to relocate. I contacted the internal affairs to find out exactly what happened. My personal opinion is I feel like there's some undercover racism. This was with a Caucasian officer. There was no follow-up that was done. I did submit something to the mayor as well as city council. I haven't heard anything back from anyone. I do have something, since my time is limited, that I would like to present to the council, and I will be seeking legal representation because this hasn't been looked into. I don't feel like there's an issue with the Arlington Police Department. I feel like this particular officer had an issue with me as an African-American female. And from there, my life has been turned upside down ever since. I did speak with Andy and presented her something to present to you. I haven't heard anything back. That's why I'm here today. I know you guys have bigger issues, but this is something that definitely needs to be looked into.

Thank you, ma'am. If you have something you'd like to leave for counsel, you can leave it right over here with this police officer and he can make sure we get it.

Larry McFarland.

Mr. McFarland.

Mayor and Council, thank you for having me today. I appreciate it. I am Larry McFarland, citizen of Arlington. And I have to admit, watching the vote on the tax rate and the budget, it's really sad. I'm very disappointed, but not surprised. Let me talk to you tonight about something I saw yesterday. City of Arlington ambulance rolled up to my house. You know, lights flashing and all that stuff, pretty exciting. So the vehicle stopped right in front of my house where my house number is on my mailbox. They stopped there for a second, and I thought, gosh, what's going on? So then they rolled up in front of my driveway so I couldn't get my car out. So I'm thinking, this is really weird. Maybe that's the new best practice in emergency management. You stop the people from getting away. If they're injured, you stop them. Great plan. But I don't know. I mean, it just kind of reminded me of when the city of Arlington let my house burn down, and then the big too-tall guy came out and claimed Man, we did a great job. So maybe that's the emergency management. They come in, and they stop you from doing stuff, and they claim victory. I don't know. Anyway, the two females, I continued to watch them. They parked in front of my driveway. They sonnered up my driveway, coming to my front door. I thought, oh, my gosh, they're going to get a gurney and take me out. They didn't. They walked to the neighbor's house. So I said, hey, are you looking for me? I said, hey, are you looking for Steve? And I got the response, yes. Is this your house? Just like that. I said, well, no, actually, my house is over here where I'm standing, and it includes the driveway you came up on without asking permission. But I said, is there something I can do to help you? And I said, is there anything?

And she said, this is not your house, and we're not here for you.

Kind of scared me. I mean, coming from a public servant that I'm supposed to trust, pretty sad. But, you know, I guess that's the way it is. You just can't get good help anymore, especially medical professionals.

Thank you, sir. Any other speakers, Ms. Garcia? You sort of scared me, to be honest with you.

No, Mayor. We have no other speakers.

There you are. Scared the britches off of me. Any other speakers, Ms. Garcia?

No, Mayor. Those were all the speaker cards.

Thank you. Council, do you all have any announcements this evening? Council Member Gonzalez? Yes, sir.

Yes, Mayor. I want to remind all city, county, state, and federal law enforcement officers, firefighters, paramedics, and their families. St. Maria Goretti is having their annual Blue Mass. It's September the 28th at 6 p.m., which is located at 1200 South Davis Drive. And then they'll have a reception after at the Holy Family Center with heavy hors d'oeuvres and refreshments will be served. So this is for all city, county, state, and federal law enforcement officers, firefighters, paramedics, and their families. And thank you for protecting us, and may God bless you and protect you all.

Thank you, sir. Any other announcements from Council? Seeing none, Ms. Garcia, you have announcements this evening, please.

Yes, Mayor, thank you. I'd like to remind our residents Arlington City Council evening meetings are rebroadcast on Sundays at 6 p.m. and on Wednesday and Saturday mornings at 6.30 a.m. The Council's afternoon work sessions are rebroadcast on Sundays at 1 p.m., Wednesdays at 1.30 p.m., and on Saturdays at 6 p.m. You can also watch the meetings online anytime at www.arlingtontx.gov.

Thank you all for coming out tonight. City Council meeting is hereby adjourned.