Nearly 1,850 apartments and a rewrite of who pays for pipes and roads are on the Nov. 16 planning agenda

Plano planners will weigh four apartment proposals totaling 1,848 units and a city-initiated change to its subdivision rules on infrastructure when the Planning & Zoning Commission meets Monday, Nov. 16, according to an agenda the city posted Monday afternoon.

Infrastructure rules

The policy item is a public hearing on Subdivision Ordinance Amendment 2026-001, filed by the City of Plano. The agenda says it would change Article III, which covers platting procedures, and Article VI, which covers participation and escrow policies, along with related sections, "regarding public infrastructure adequacy and developer participation in infrastructure costs."

It is listed for legislative consideration, which gives commissioners more discretion than they have on routine site plans.

The posted item does not include the proposed wording. A separate agenda for the commission's 5:30 p.m. preliminary meeting lists a closed-door session in which commissioners may get legal advice on subdivision ordinance amendments "regarding water and sewer capacity for development projects."

Apartment plans

The largest proposal is a preliminary site plan for Avina Lavon Farms Addition: 1,048 apartments on 10 lots, with two open space lots, on 52 acres on the west side of Jupiter Road about 960 feet south of Spring Creek Parkway.

The land is already zoned for the project's type of residential community, and the agenda lists it as an administrative item, meaning it must be approved if it meets city development rules.

Beacon Square, near Faith Lane and St. Cloud Lane inside the 190 Tollway/Plano Parkway overlay district, has three items on the consent agenda: a 396-unit building on 5.6 acres, a 48-unit building on 1.7 acres and an amenity center on 1.5 acres.

Commissioners will also discuss a preliminary site plan for 356 apartments plus shopping centers on 15.2 acres at Berkeley Square, on the north side of Park Boulevard west of Ohio Drive in the Preston Road overlay district. That item calls for legislative consideration of an alternative multifamily design standard.

Other items

A request to reinstate an earlier site plan for 10 assisted living and 99 independent living units on 3.8 acres on the north side of 14th Street east of Los Rios Boulevard.
A public hearing on a specific use permit for tattooing and permanent cosmetics in a 0.1-acre space near U.S. 75 and Enterprise Drive.
Site plans for a downtown restaurant on 15th Street west of K Avenue and a convenience store with fuel pumps and a restaurant on Spring Creek Parkway west of Des Moines Drive.

The regular meeting starts at 6 p.m. at 1520 K Ave. The city requires online registration to speak; it opens at 5 p.m. the Friday before the meeting and closes at 4 p.m. on the meeting day. Written comments on zoning cases can be sent through the city's zoning response page.

Sources

plano.legistar1.com

Plesa's first bills of 2027 would show homeowners how much of their school tax goes to the state

The House District 70 Democrat, who represents about 42% of Plano, filed five bills Monday, including a recapture disclosure measure and three on endometriosis care and research.

Demarcus FerrisNovember 9, 20262 min read

Consultant would spend 20 weeks sizing up the city's software and tech staffing for $165,000, and the old Dell computer lease runs six more months

Two items on Monday's consent agenda come from Technology Solutions: a Raftelis review meant to produce an applications roadmap, and a lease extension of up to $439,380 so new computers can roll out on a slower schedule.

Demarcus FerrisNovember 8, 20262 min read

Coverage for retired police and firefighters who develop cancer would cost Plano about $75,000 a year, nearly four times the first estimate

A Monday consent item raises Plano's state-mandated critical illness coverage for recently retired first responders by $55,000 after actual bills through October outran the original $20,000 estimate.

Demarcus FerrisNovember 7, 20261 min read

Clocks fell back again, and Texas' 'Texas Time' law still waits on a Senate vote in Washington

Texas adopted year-round daylight saving time in 2025, but only if Congress allows it. The U.S. House passed that bill in July; the Senate has not voted, and it dies if Congress adjourns in January without acting.

Dana KellerNovember 1, 20262 min read

Household incomes slipped in Dallas-Fort Worth last year even as the Texas median edged up to $82,625, census figures show

More than half of Texas renters were cost-burdened by housing, and the share of cost-burdened homeowners with a mortgage rose to about 32%, according to new Census Bureau data analyzed by The Texas Tribune.

Demarcus FerrisOctober 29, 20262 min read

Gilead to pay Texas $45 million to end Medicaid kickback suit over free nurses and billing help offered with 16 of its drugs

The drugmaker denies wrongdoing in the agreement, which settles a 2023 lawsuit in Harrison County. The attorney general's office says the programs steered prescriptions billed to Texas Medicaid.

Demarcus FerrisOctober 22, 20262 min read