[Music] [Music] w w w [Music] [Music] w [Music] w [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] well good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the regular meeting of the Irving city council for for July 11th 2024 it's a pleasure to have each and every one of you with us this evening uh chenet do we have any organizational or service announcements well I'm trying to pause here a little bit because I don't have them yet we'll ask the uh staff in the back do we have any organizational uh I see them moving fastly looks like we have a citizen Comet that is not the color for organizational Service Announcement so I'm going to go with a no no okay well then the next item on our agenda is the invocation if you would please stand this evening the invocation will be given to us by Pastor Larry Pitman from the Irving Baptist Fellowship Heavenly Father we pray for your guidance and wisdom and understanding upon this Council and the work which they are doing not only tonight but each and every day as representatives of the people of iring please guide them as they consider impacts of the economics and the citizens concerns and matters at hand tonight and and really through their careers help us father as Citizens to understand the overall impact of our community and not our only service we also pray for our sister C through Texas which have been impacted by the recent hurricane please guide those who wish to rehabilitate these cities and keep those precious wonderful workers who are working so hard to reab rehabilitate these cities again guide us tonight as the matters come before the city council help us to use wisdom and may all of these things glorify you Heavenly Father amen amen thank you Pastor if You' please remain standing councilman Taylor Allegiance in the pledges I pledge ALG to of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all Alex one St God oneis thank you Kyle uh before we continue this meeting this evening I'd like to recognize Phil riddle uh if the former councilman for District 4 would come forward [Applause] there we go well I've had the privilege over the last nine years to serve with one of the finest gentlemen that I've ever had the opportunity to meet and to know he's a gentleman that has spent his whole life here in the City of Irving he was born here he contributed he spent over 30 how many years 32 and a half 32 and A2 years on our fire department he's been very active in his community as far as his church uh I love to have the opportunity to hear him sing I appreciate all that he has done for us as a community you know you don't often find or have the opportunity to have somebody of Phil's caliper to be on the city council someone who was born and raised and has seen this city grow and he has a unbelievable knowledge of what where things are because of his involvement on the police on the fire department get you in the right department but anyway um but Phil was always the one that was there when we had questions about how things came to be why we needed rways in certain places why there were rways in certain places where water lines were all those different things that that really make a difference when we make a decision on how we move forward as a city so uh he's one in a million we're so blessed to have had him as one of our people to work with us on this city council so Phil from me to you thank you and thank your family pat pat can I get you to stand and show the the family that's here I think there's some other family members please come on because anyone that does this job knows how challenging it is for the family and when we make these tough decisions and people aren't always happy with us it's tougher on the spouses than it is us so Pat thank you for your commitment thank you for letting us have this fine gentleman for the last nine years so in recognition of your outstanding leadership Phil riddle has presented the Irving city council service award for his years of selfless dedication to the residents of Irving Irving city councilman Place 4 2015 through 2024 congratulations Phil wow uh when I retired from the fire department in 2010 I had a guy come to me and said hey Phil would you run for city council I said absolutely not I said I don't want no part of that well that put a bee in my Bonnet and I felt like the Lord just kind of kept poking at me poking at me so I ran my first time 2012 lost a runoff but then got elected in 2015 so I want to say thanks to the residents of District 4 who trusted me in three elections and and put me in office and allowed me to represent them and uh try to make some headways for South Irving um I had some big Visions for what we could do uh the time didn't realize what we would run up against with a lot of the uh hesitation by developers to come down here and put things in um but I'm hoping that with some of the stuff we've done on ring Boulevard that we've kind of created a base for them to come in and look at and we can actually do something down here get some things in down here biggest thanks go to my wife she allowed me to do this and chase this dream it wasn't really a dream sometimes it was a nightmare but but she allowed me to do that and uh she was always there supporting me uh I tell her I say there's a there's a banquet or luncheon coming up and she'd say do I have to go but she would always go with me she'd always be there by my side and uh to make sure I wasn't there by myself so she's been my best cheerleader I mean for 45 years this September we celebrate 45 together it's been wonderful so thank you I I was going to say some things about this most recent election but I think there's been enough said uh I would just say let's clean up next year's election let's be nice and let's don't throw the dirt around okay so thank you thank you for believing in [Applause] me not finished with you yet [Music] Phil is this a good day or what for Phil riddle South Irving is the place to be and that's what I have been trying to tell people you can make money in South Irving business can flourish down here the people want business down here and we continue to reach out and try to get people to come and for riddle it's been a great place to live and to serve the city when my parents moved here in 1946 it was a small Burg of about 2500 people and now we're much larger than that probably approaching 250,000 so when I say I have grown up in Irving I can also say I've grown with and aged with Irving he started his service early participating in student government before graduating from Irving High School in 1967 after college and a stint in the Air Force riddle spent 32 years with the Irving fire department again serving the city retiring as a captain in 2010 but retiring just meant he had more time to devote to supporting the city he loves Phil riddle served three terms on the city council it's really been a fun nine years really has so I'm hoping that I've laid a base for whoever follows me to build on and that's the that's that's probably the main thing I would like to see happen among the issues important to him in his years as a council member honoring Veterans for us to be able to do something for the uh veterans who have served us who have carried the freedoms that we have on their shoulders uh for us to be able to pay them back is absolutely marvelous and I'm proud to see this Economic Development we are probably one of the closest cities to the biggest economic driver in the area and that's DFW Airport our city was founded based on Transportation with the railroad we have an enormous amount of highway miles in our city and did we mention South Irving I think this is absolutely great this is what we've been talking about and needing down here something that'll really give this area a shot in the arm the City of Irving celebrates Phil Riddle's Decades of service a little over 32 years as a firefighter and then nine on Council so that's over 40 years of of uh serving the citizens and and I love it here I've been here all my life and it's a great place to live [Applause] don't go too far because we can you never know what we're going to ask you to do next at this time we're going to have the special ceremony uh for our new uh elected officials and reelected officials so those that are going to be taking the oath of office if you want to gather down in front with your families and we'll have the judge come up and uh we'll go ahead with uh moving forward so L Luis kosa District 4 councilman Albert spant District Six and councilman Dennis Webb District 8 councilman Luis kosza please come forward and is there anyone that you'd like to stand with you sir I guess my beloved brother over there please come forward and at this time councilman please raise your right hand and repeat after me I lisis kosa I Lis kosa do solemnly swear do solemnly swear or affirm or affirm that I will Faithfully that I will Faithfully execute the duties execute the duties of the office of the office of City Council of city council District Four District Four City of Irving City of Irving Dallas County Dallas County of the State of Texas of the State of Texas and will and will to the best of my ability to the best of my ability preserve preserve protect protect and defend and defend the Constitution the Constitution and laws and laws of the United States of the United States and of this state and of this state so help me God so help me God congratulations [Applause] councilman councilman Albert sapanta please approach sir and councilman please raise your right hand please and repeat after me I Albert zapanta I Albert zapanta do solemnly swear solom me swear or affirm or affirm that I will Faithfully that I will Faithfully execute the duties execute the duties of the office of the office of City Council of city council District Six District Six City of Irving City of Irving Dallas County Dallas County of the State of Texas of the State of Texas and will and will to the best do the best of my ability of my ability preserve preserve protect protect and defend and defend the Constitution the Constitution and laws and laws of the United States United States and of this state and of this state so help me God so help me God congratulations [Applause] and councilman Denis web thank you please you raise your right hand and repeat after me I Dennis web I Dennis web do solemnly swear do solemnly swear or affirm or affirm that I will Faithfully that I will Faithfully execute the duties execute the duties of the office of the the office of City Council of city council at large at large District 8 District 8 City of Irving City of Irving Dallas County Dallas County of the State of Texas of the State of Texas and will and will to the best of my ability to the best of my ability preserve preserve and protect and protect defend defend the Constitution the constitution of the law and laws and laws of the United States and of the United States and of this state and of this state so help me God so help me God congratulations [Applause] councel okay thank you judge we appreciate that we're going to take about a half hour uh break here uh there's refreshments and things across the way to uh spend some time with the newly elected officials we'll come back at about A4 to 8 [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] n [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] what [Music] [Music] w [Music] [Music] d [Music] a [Music] [Music] la I [Music] n [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] he [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] n [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] okay well we appreciate uh everybody being with us uh this evening we want to congratulate those that have been elected and reelected and uh thank the judge for being down here with us uh the uh next item on our agenda is pro uh um is the citizens form Chen do we have people that have signed up for the citizens form uh yes we have one but she knows the rules so I'm just going to call her and you have 3 minutes with Miss Emma West what else who do we have ch oh him up Miss West can you please um pull down the microphone we can't hear you thank you [Music] one second yeah one second we're we're going to check it Miss West one moment please there we go thank you Emma West 3639 West North nor gate apartment 152 Urban Texas 75062 mayor stoer city council members and friends this is a followup request concerning the need to have sufficient Lighting on William D Hayes between Northgate and Country Club there are still only two lights for that area that covers approximately two blocks but on the same street William D Hayes between country Club in Walnut Hill for about the same amount uh same area there is still nine lights it is hard to understand why this happened and it is perplexing as to why the problem cannot get corrected this is a problem that the city council has been aware of for years it is disturbing that the actions of the city council says the citizens of the same area are not as important as other areas I say that because the problem has not been corrected and the city council is very much aware of the situation thanks for listening even though it seems you're doing nothing Miss West thank you again for coming down I know Orlando has been working with you we have provided all the information over to Encore and Encore is one that will be reviewing those lights and then installing them so we'll continue to follow up with Encore but we have provided all the information over to them when we are waiting for uh how long have you been telling me that thank you yeah I guess I would I'll step in and face the music a lot of times when a developer comes in they install street lights and so when that subdivision was built the street lights were installed by the developer and so then when we as a city request street lights to be installed we have to go through Encore we have to ask for them and they put them in their budgets as they have over the year or over the their period of time to be put in so for example you can go in several areas around the city and see where there's very little street lights and you can see where there's plenty for example in Valley Ranch we serve uh up in that area this the Valley Ranch homeowners Association has actually been putting in street lights every year because the developer did not do that at the homeowners association's cost the ones that we've been able to put in by the city we have to have to go through Encore they actually own them and they charge us back for the electricity that they're used on so what we've done is we've contacted Encore we've been on them just as long as you've been asking us it's on their agenda and as soon as they have the dollars to do it they will install them and start charging the city for the usage of them thank you for thank you for that answer but I would like to follow up at a with someone I did not know we were depending on Encore to pay for it and then it comes back to us yes yes Orlando will continue and Dan will continue to work with you thank you pardon me the staff members that you've been working with Dan and Orlando Sanchez they'll continue to reach out to you okay I have never talked to whoever that is okay the assistant city manager here and so but Dan Dan will continue to be your contract contact thank you the next item on the agenda is the public hearing on the hous and action plan Chen do we have people that have signed up to speak this evening we have one person and I believe that's Susan Motley okay and uh for the record councilman Taylor has filed an affidavit for this item and not and we'll beain abstaining from the discussion good evening good evening Council mayor Mr Hillman staff I am uh Susan Motley 2617 still Meadow Road 75060 I'm here to give input on the HUD grants proposed in the 2024 2025 annual action plan here's why you've asked for it not from me personally but from the public so I'm here to talk about that tonight in a moment I'll give my specific input on that plan but before I get there here's my main point say what you mean do what you say and do so now not later before I go further let me give you a little context uh I'm an Irving resident of 35 years 20 as a renter 15 as a homeowner I went to school in Irving ISD and was raised in a workingclass family with the same kind of low to moderate income levels HUD funding is meant to help in rentals in Irving uh they've my rentals in Irving have included a trailer two rental homes and at least three sets of Apartments I also rented as a single mom with four kids struggling to pay for housing food along with daycare and student loans that were as much or more than my housing while I was still a single mom I was able to buy a home for me and my kids I was thrilled I've asked officer Sanchez to share a photo of you of me with those kids at the time in front of that home to make a long story short I've spent a lot of time in Irving trying to find and keep affordable housing I'm not alone and and the struggle today is very real I thought long and hard about all those struggling as I reviewed this plan because that's who these HUD funds are for there's a lot in the plan um that I like that is until I reached page 37 caused me great confusion page 37 is where you talk about homeless and other special needs activities and it talks about the congregant one minute left non- congregant shelter that was in the home art plan that was approved that's why I'm here today I sat through your work session today in which you distanced yourself over and over again from that non- congregant shelter plan that was already approved more than a year ago it made good sense then and it makes good sense now and it's in your plan say what you mean do what you say do it now not later thank you do we have any others wishing to to speak okay that brings us to the next item on the agenda which is a consent agenda which is items 3 through 24 for the work session we're going to be pulling item seven for individual vote are there any others that the council wish to pull we'll wait for councilman Taylor to rejoin us I didn't entertain a motion for the consent agenda Mo approve second we have a motion a second would you please vote and it passes unanimously the next item on the agenda that we are pulling is a resolution adopting a position to support reduction of in sales tax and use tax revenue collected by the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Authority Dart chenet we have residents that have signed up for this one we do we have a few that have signed up or a couple that have signed up in opposition but they do not wish to speak that's Jus zubot and Benjamin NN and then we have about six or seven that have signed up to speak in opposition and I'm going to say a name and call another name if the other name can come to the front that would be much appreciated so Benedict Parks you're up first and then Jonathan Hoover if you could be on bat you have three minutes good evening my name is Benedict Parks I currently one second S I think Pat could you please come down and help we just want to make sure the microphone's on and that everybody can hear you and that the folks at home watching can hear you as well my apologies for interrupting should be on okay there you go thank you thank you just go ahead and speak as close as you can to that okay like that thank you awesome my name is Benedict Parks I currently reside at 643 Senda Irving Texas 75039 and I have lived in Irving my entire life I used public transit for roughly 3 years to attend college and it was invaluable in ensuring I could afford to obtain my degree a reduction in funding to Dart would make it more difficult for students in the future to use the same service that I enjoyed it is reasonable to ask Dart to do more for the Irving Community given the tax commitments made however if the goal is to see improved service cutting funding is the wrong approach a reduction in funding would be catastrophic to dart's ability to improve service and increased ridership Dart is now a market leader in pay for police officers and in the last year has increased their police presence on trains and at stations to protect Public Safety and promote increased ridership I have used Dart to go to work over the last two years and I have seen the improvements Dart has made and believe it is critical funding is maintained I strongly encourage the council to reject the proposed resolution to cut Dart funding by 25% thank you and my name is Jonathan Hoover I live at 153 Cowboys Parkway Irving Texas I'm here for said reason tonight which is red reduction in Dart funding I do not support Dart funding because or I do not support rejecting or reducing Dart funding I use Dart to go from work to Pharmacy and to anywhere else I need to go I would suggest doing more or asking Dart for more with the current funding as it would improve services for everyone that needs Dart as a home thank you next speaker is Maron Nas and Then followed by Manny Benes hello my name is V try Von and I live at 8221 ranchview Drive Apartment 3023 I'm here today because I believe that Irving should not cut funding to Dart I do not drive so I Rely exclusively on the dart to get to work do groceries and go get anywhere I need to go in Irving I ride the 229 frequently and use go link regularly cuts to the budget of Dart would severely negatively impact my livelihood my story is not unique uh elderly disabled people and children in particular re uh rely on access to safe and reliable public transit reducing access to our most vulnerable groups will have long-term negative impacts on Irving as a whole uh especially with no alternative options that are not prohibitively expensive or outright unavailable to the groups I mentioned above and the many others that are dependent on public transport with dart's recent expansions to the goalink service areas in Irving plus the numerous planned frequency increases to buses and the light rail I feel it would be irresponsible at best and life-altering at worst to uh should these cut budget cuts go through thank you Manny BZ followed by John Peter yamu Manny you're up Manny Manny Manny you're up my name is my name is Manuel vanav viidz and I reside at 2108 metal gland here in Irving mayor city manager and city council I'm here tonight to say that Dart has been providing service for Irving for 41 years when Dallas Transit s Irving if they wanted to join we in the City especially minorities got involved because we needed public transportation and there was an issue that was in opposition that D should not come to IR well anyway as you see now D has been providing service to Irving and I'm sure that the contribution that IR makes is over $100 million probably over 120 but yet Irving has its needs public transportation is something of the future and now I see item seven that you're proposing to reduce funding and this is ridiculous we're cannot we cannot go backwards we need to go forward into the future transportation and as you notice many or I would say uh more than three were in opposition to the reduction we better wake up you up there in the counil need to realize that you represent us you need to start talking to us you need to start talking those you representing your District of what our needs are and public transportation is one of them one of the most important things and if you go around and ask even people will talk to you public transportation and look the high cost of everything now here in South iring one minute left there's a need for public transportation and my point is I'm in opposition of any reduction to D so let's wake up and see what are the needs of the community so my point point is do not reduce the fun in the D thank you John Peter yachi followed by sh shy SAR ganam good evening my name is John Peter amuchi I am a two-time alumnist of the University of Dallas from a family of alumni and I have taught at the University of Dallas and I am periodically attending mass at day and I want to ask the council to consider is the coun the council's resolution here the council resolution before here indicates that there's a concern that Dart is not or the study of Irving is not getting what it's paying for out of Dart uh my question to the council and which I like the council to consider is how much does the council expect to get out of spending $103 million a year for a city of almost 300,000 people I did some uh back of the napkin numbers uh which I'm sure the city council can get better numbers on this but the similarity sized or actually it's much smaller 200,000 uh person city of Merton or burrow of Merton in London spend significantly more than Irving does in public transit and again for fewer people now they have a worldclass system there uh is Irving expecting to get a world class system or a decent system for $130 million is there a city of 300,000 people in the world that gets decent transit for $130 million a year uh and and even with the amount that Merton spends it's significantly less than the approximately what 1.5 billion or so that Irving residents spend every year on automobile transportation in automob in buying the automobile renting it uh tolls and other such things gasoline so so Dart is already with this amount of money that it is getting from Irving improving service to the city with as other people have mentioned the go zones The increased frequency the new bus route that's just started this June and the bus frequency improvements of the 229 to 230 which are frequently standing room only and one of which runs uh right just out here and what I use when I modern day when I'm riding the bus uh I use Dart weekly and I have seen other people have said the improvements that they have made with the security and the safety I know people who were UD students who were children of modern day families who have used art relied on it uh it has been very beneficial to their lives and the improvements that art is making to security and frequency tangibly improve their lives and I would encourage the council to vote against the resolution and work with dart to improve service across the city thank you Mr ganes followed by UD sair shabir good evening my name is sham I'd like to talk about the budget cuts on Dart please list your address my address is 12164 Gonzalez Drive Frisco Texas I oppose the dart cuts as I have friends who are residents of Irving and use Dart a lot as they have visual impairments there are also disabled residents who have no choice but to take Dart as getting privately owned wheelchair accessible transport costly Dart needs to get better for the people not worse thank you and our last speaker on this is Mr shabir good evening Council uh thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak today and thanks to the mayor and the city manager as well uh I am a resident of Irving I live at 810 Lake Caroline Parkway Apartment 303 and the zip code of 75039 um first I want to thank the council for say again your name yes my name is Ahad shabir thank you um first I'd like to thank the council for taking this option off the consent and agenda and allowing us the citizens of Irving to give input and allowing for productive discussion on this I would like I would like to strongly appreciate that because I think these cuts are very dangerous to the future of the city because I personally chose to live in Irving 10 months ago to because of the access to Dart I live about a six or seven minute walk from a rail station and I have a plethora of bus axes that I regularly enjoy um another thing that I wanted to point out is that um while there is some concern as previous speakers have addressed on the uh return on investment that Irving is getting from its sales tax payments the dart um that there are that there have just recently in June been significant expansions of the goaling Zone to cover um the Los cleus urban urban center and many other areas and there have been the addition of two new bus routes what's coming in the future is the tier one bus plan which will um entail The increased frequency of the 229 bus route which runs through uh MacArthur in the South and Valley Ranch to the north and eventually Belt Line to Carolton and all of these frequency increases both on the 229 and also that is planned for the light rail which will be planned to run every 50 minutes would be an absolute game Cher for me because it would make it much faster for me to access retail um close to the uh Valley Ranch Cypress uh Waters area and um but as communicated through Dart is that if this 75% sales tax go through across all its member cities then we're actually going to be taking a step back and we're going to start reducing frequencies on some of routes on some of dart's most important routes and I would just like to highlight that that is an incredibly huge mistake I think there is significant opportunity for Irving with its high performing routes in the area as well as connections to many vital Transportation hubs like the Dallas Fort Worth airport and um the Dallas Love Field Airport as well and um in addition I'd like to mentioned that also on the agenda there was um talks about adding a a station for the stadium I think it's around um spur 482 and again these things can't happen if we pull the rug under Dart so again strongly oppose this resolution and I would hope the council mayor and city manager would consider as such thank you okay now we turn it back to the council for discussion [Music] motions yeah can have three minutes okay I'm glad to see you here I get a weekly report from you how terrible the service is in South Irving so I appreciate you coming down and telling everybody else thank you um I I was late by one two minutes to sign up and I was at a dart citizens advisory committee meeting in Dallas um I'm here to speak against the reduction of please your name and address I'm up here oh I'm sorry name and address record it's K shk I sit there reminding myself to do that and then I forgot I'm K Sheed I live at 931 East Oakdale Road in Irving 75060 but I'm here to speak speak against a reduction in the sales tax monies to Dart we need to improve Dart and not um forc Dart to have to delete some of the services we have worked so hard for we had our first general election in 1984 I believe it was I was living in Chicago at the time I grew up here in iring graduated in 1963 from Irving High School um but I had told my parents I was not moving back to Irving until we got a public transportation system so they told me in 1984 we were getting one so I moved back and I'm proud to be here um Dart is a benefit to businesses and res residences by providing transport to and from work for medical appointments and other errands many people with Mobility or other health challenges are dependent on D they actually would have no way work and back without Dart a reduction in funds would mean routs being deleted schedules change to longer intervals between both Rail and bus equipment will decrease jobs will be lost because of no Transportation also at Dart um jobs will be lost too so what you're doing is adding to the unemployment list which reduces sales tax revenue which I know you all want so we don't want to do that the future plans for improvement of Necessities cannot be eliminated if we or cannot be implemented if we put this reduction of tax through some of the things that we've been needing and were planned for the future are benches and shelters trash receptacles and sign AG at all the well and bus stops we' been asking we've been asking for that for many years and we want to keep that going and progress we've waited a long time for some of the basic necessities and uh we' built from D from scratch we wanted to keep progressing as other people have said tonight and if we do have that reduction and tax money I think you owe it to all the residents in Irving to tell us what you're going to do with that extra 1/4 cent of sales tax thank you very much okay Brad yeah I wanted to discuss a few things I think we said a lot of work session so I'd definitely reference that but I did want to answer a few questions it it so happens we did ask the residents and it is our most Dart is our most expensive service more than police more than fire and it's our lowest rated service the residents responded with surveys that we do something and so we have listened and and we need to demand value $110 million Irving did not get that service and we've got to be good stewards of this money and frankly all the cities could do this on 75 cents the service that we're getting and have lots of room to spare what do we expect we expect value for what we contribute uh literally with that scent we could reduce property tax by half and still have 5 million for police 5 million for fire 5 million for for Park so a quarter would not go as a long of a way obviously but it could either go to some essential Services we're trying to do but I question then why not 300 million if we just need Dart we have to look at what we're getting for the value we we also expect decency in our bus stops for them not to be run down we expect when we were contributing more and more money not to have our routes cut and other cities increase routes that weren't contributing as much so we have the expectation that our residents do um the car service we're supposed to be so happy with I was trying to take that and only take you within one box then you have to get out and walk across the area I could not take that car service from here to my house in Irving you have to get out in different zones but the real issue is the dart board itself is controlled 87 so eight members of the city of Dallas are controlling what happens with money we were made to pay for the ver stop over by Verizon we are made to pay for the stop by the stadium site that we want so bad and yet you have Dallas getting redundant stations downtown paid for by Dart parking garage is a variety of other things we were buying right away and so the mayor and city manager have been working for four years to do all the very things you're asking all the cities not named Dallas I expect a resolution com coming out that we all want value we do want public transit but we want value for what we're contributing and so it's a demand that the citizens have told us to make through this recent survey we've had I think the mayor said it's probably the only survey of of service that's been maybe been completed at large and and our citizens have spoken and we expect for 110 million $110 Million worth of service we're we're not getting it and so the idea is we cannot reduce what we're going to contribute because that's got to be done by an election um I think if enough of the Cities Express this intent um you may see more service you may see better service because in my mind I I rode the bus downtown uh when I lived in Valley Ranch and we had better service we had more routes we had uh more routine and now to the point point where a lot of our residents who need public transit won't ride it and so I support this resolution uh there will be no reduction in sales tax at this minute it's an expression of our intent that we actually get value out of our $110 million and Rising With All We further expect and iring um that sales tax is only going to increase and so this agency I think is probably one of the only ones in the state that does not have a revenue cap each year that does not have money returned to the people who contribute it so uh I certainly support this and I will make a motion to approve this resolution second Kyle did you want anybody else want to speak okay we have motion second any further discussion I will Dennis yeah uh I'm going to Echo what Brad said I have been totally dissatisfied with dart service for a long time the bottom line is number one you're not going to have the city in Peril you're not going to have the you know the U the transit system shut down in Irving all that's not going to happen but the reality of it is is that when you have a dart board whereby a other another city controls your routes any routes we get the city of Dallas board members tells us yes or no that is unfair that is a monopoly and pretty much what we are experiencing is in Irving is a monopolized board of the Dallas uh board members deciding everything even though you got these cities like Irving and these other cities that are putting all this money in and we really don't have say so you said you know talk to Dart about in in improving efficiency well you know we had a talk with their new executive director probably what year and a half ago came in and promised there going to reduce you know cuz they had cut all these routes and then they said okay we're going to give you some more routes put some of the routes back I don't even think we've got we may have got a few more bottom line is you know we as a city council have a responsibility to be physically responsible with the money that you're giving Dart and dart need to play fair with all these cities unfortunately we have no leverage for the most part because we're outvoted every time time you can have you can take every member City in dart on the dart board and every member City can want to vote for something and the City of Dallas board members can outvote them every time that is not a fair system and so at some point we need to stand up the other cities and say enough is enough and uh so for that reason I'm going to support this resolution myself John thank you mayor I just wanted to make a quick uh comment uh sort of directly addressing a question seemed to get a lot of approbation uh from Miss sh the question was from her about what do we intend to do with this quarter Cent so as has been stated we are not this vote does not control the tax rate that Dart uh receives if the dart board which means Dallas decides to reduce their contribution by a quarter Cent before we can touch that money we got to go to you and tell you this is is what we want to use it for so the way the the sales tax structure is set up we can get two pennies first penny we just get to use second Penny you all get to tell us yes or no can we use it for that so if down the road this all ends up with dart saying yeah quarter Cent reduction we'll be back with proposals and you can tell us where to stick those proposals if they don't meet your standards I just want to make that clear thank you Al thank you mayor um yeah I do support this resolution but I support it for all the reasons that you've had put in front of you but I also want to say we support you and this is a way to ensure that as we go forward that we're able to give the get the value of the ability without losing routes cuz if we are in a situation because we've already lost some routes and had nothing to do with the difference on the financing the other part of it is there is not one light rail Urban transit system that is not subsidized period so no matter what if it's a penny or two pennies or whatever that is going into the coffers of Dart it's not so much that they're not trying to provide the service the problem is that at the end of the day we look at what we're actually getting as a return on the investment of a penny a year which is $110 million we're not saying we want it all we're saying 25% and by the way every other city is doing the same thing and joining our mayor has been part of that board trying to coales it and so guess what people are listening that are making those decisions so that the dart board hopefully will be able to do it and it's not about you losing your service we don't want that either I mean so please understand what we're trying to do and we're trying to get it done as judiciously as we can and so I will be supporting this mayor okay we have a motion in a second I'll just say one quick thing you know my concern on this has been my many years on the dartboard while we work well on many things we have our challenges and others prime example is during Co the routes were reduced in several cities ours was one of them as a return on that uh there were the goal links put in place and and but we have had several Dallas Representatives say that the goal link is the Cadillac for everyone and the member cities do not deserve a Cadillac service and so they're thinking that the the goalink needs to go the challenge is what are we going to do as far as setting up the appropriate routes that we used to have and to deal with those individuals who are one or two out there that need the service the challenge is in order to justify a route it has to have a certain amount of people on that route unfortunately in a lot of areas in our city you cannot get that number to work out so those individuals are somewhat left out of the process and that's what we're trying to figure out is how do we get to that point the challenge has been that we are doing the same thing we've done since day one we're buying new vehicles new buses instead of maybe buying big buses maybe we could buy some small ones I asked about that they said we're only buying two sizes but if we had smaller we could go into the neighborhoods without tearing up the streets and maybe get those individuals who are challenged now I'm not saying they're challenged enough that they have to have the par Transit service they just are they don't have vehicles some people just do not have vehicles and so it's just been a a real challenge for us or for me to continue to see the ridership decrease of which we were uh 10 years ago in 2013 we were at 71 million people that we were moving on Dart in 2020 three we were at 41 million a loss of 30 million people a year traveling on Dart so the challenge is why is the why are they not riding it it's because we need to look at transit in a different way buying the same bus buying the same rail car buying the same service over and over is what I consider Insanity when you do the same thing over and over and over again and expect a different result and until we really look at this from a different perspective of how do we provide this to individuals it's not going to change and if it doesn't change then those individuals that are right or challenged are not going to have a service it's almost to the point where you know everybody seems to think that if this would happen which will'll take as John has mentioned it's going to take a lot of effort to get done if it would get done the hope would be that we could take that extra 20 or $30 million and put in some type of a system ourself you can see what has happened in Arlington where they have put less money in than we do they have a on demand service you see it in other cities the gentleman from Frisco Frisco doesn't participate in the system also what needs to be understood here is is these 13 cities have been putting a full penny in for 40 years and because of the system we get quality points for air attainment and because we get quality points for air attainment the federal government sends US dollars for highways so what you have is 16 counties with over a hundred cities that get dollars for roads from the federal government because 13 of us are paying it on the back of a full Penny to Dart it's not fair that we should be doing this there it's not fair that those dollars are enjoyed by other cities and they're allowed to use their penny for police fire Parks economic development on the roads that are being built with federal dollars that we're making sure come to the region so there's a lot of inequities not only in the fact of service and things of that nature there's inequities in the dollars that our 13 cities are spending to make sure that the 16 County 8 million people have roads on their way to Oklahoma so they move out of our communities so there's more to this than just how it's faced on the face of it there needs to be some equity in how the cities are treated that have made this sacrifice for over 40 years and lost there a lot of what we've lost everyone in this room knows that there was a vote where Mr Jones wanted to pull out a dart because he said if the Cowboys are going to stay in Irving you've got to pull out a dart so when the election was lost was no surprise to me that the Cowboys left Mr Jones said they would they went to a city that didn't have their Penny tied up in Dart or public transit a lot of the economic development that we don't have that people concerned about and complain because we no longer have is because of this commitment of one penny to this service so if we're going to commit this one penny to service it better be damn good because we're losing a lot on the other end that's the reality of where we are so we have a motion we have a second would you please vote and it passes unanimous the next item on the agenda is our zoning cases and companion items which are items 25- 41 Chen if you would uh please uh have those that would like to speak stand and Chen Jennings will share swear you in for the zoning cases hi if you're going to speak on a zoning case please stand and raise your right hand do you solemnly swear or affirm that all the statements which you will make tonight to the city council of the City of Irving will be the truth and nothing but the truth thank you you may be seated our first Zing case is uh 224-235 a considering an alcohol distance variance from of 300t distance separating requirements between a religious facility and a place of business selling alcohol beverages 114 and 118 East Irving Boulevard Chen is the applicant with us or do we have people signed up yes sir we have um I will read the names of the people that support but do not wish to speak first it's j Karen th Jag Paul Sunda and sandep Singh and Mr Harry Singh is here he's the applicant and then we have three speakers okay Mr Singh would you like to approach please please state your name and address good evening everybody uh I'm harit Singh uh resident at 2600 Sherwood Lane cille Texas um so uh I moved to United States uh in 2007 I was a 20 year old I moved to iring in a South iring I was in the South Irving for 15 years uh in my 15 years um I I set up a businesses uh in a uh in the Irving uh in a Fort Worth or lington areas um so um last year in May uh 2023 U I bought the real estate in uh downtown uh Irving it's on uh uh 100 Main Street uh uh eight properties and uh before buying the properties um I came to the city to uh to see uh the properties that I'm buying uh what I'm trying to do is good to use because I have a a a restaurant and a bar in uh in a in a Irving in a North Irving and uh I always uh I was in Irving for 15 years so I want to do something in the South Irving so I bought these properties last year I came and I asked the city is this properties are good to sell alcohol and a serve alcohol uh on this property and they told me yes so I bought these properties the constructions work was going on Irving Boulevard so this year in a January we start developing these properties um we uh dwel a Rocking Crab that is on 100 East uh Irving Boulevard where used to be a um uh big state Fountain so uh we have a new restaurant coming over there called a Rocking Crab this is a second location the first location is in Dallas so I think uh it's going to be really good for the community and it's going to bring some like a really different kind of a Cuisine to a South iring right now there are no uh bar in this areas or just uh restaurants with serving beer and wine so uh this is the first one on the on the Main Street uh so the the reason I'm here today is um so I was good to uh sell alcohol in these properties so this year when we start developing so we will start developing 114 where we going to put I'm also have a uh convenience stores uh 71 so we're trying to build a store uh similar to 71 114 East Earth Boulevard uh which going to uh provide a really good service to the community a quick convenience store with the snacks uh snacks all kind of snacks uh in the future we're trying to build a kitchen as well but we're going to start with that and a beer and wine so um so this year I came and I submit an application for uh for a TABC permit so I got my application approved uh in uh May 30 2024 for alcohol and I have this paper that uh my application was get approved so I on top of that I was making all these Investments to build this business uh I almost uh uh I almost made like a 100,000 uh investments just to open the stores pre-ordering everything and everything was like uh ordered all the walk-in coolers uh shelves all the stuff that goes to the convenience stores the size of uh 7-Eleven so uh in in a June when I came and appli for a CEO I was told that I can't sell a beer and wine and it was like quite a surprise for me uh that I can't do it over here when uh for a for for a year more than a year I was told like I can't do that so um so I it was I I I came in came that day when I came to the city uh at 9:30 see it is a long story too I just don't want to go to like too much details what happened that day but when I was here I went to the planning and sing department and I fill out the application for a c and then when they told me I can't do a beer and wine I said like it is approved and I have a paper signed by the city uh by the City Secretary and um they make me wait 15 20 minutes the person was helping he go to his supervisor and by like doing this it was almost like 3 4 hours and I like they asked me like I have the paperwork that City approved you and I said yes I have a paperwork in my car and I'm going to go get the paper I went to the car bring these papers and hand over to them just to see that I was approved and I'm not lying so at that point uh they took the paper from me they they they s like they're going to show it to their supervisor they took the paper from me they took to the paper and they make me wait for like another 30 40 minutes and I after that they told me the same thing uh I can't sell a beer and wine uh and the reason is like they say there is a religious place in a uh 300 Square ft it's a really I I don't want to say like it's a small place but it's like just a shop and it's it's used for some religious classes or something and that's the I think nobody even noticed when I first time applied when I was inquiring about this like for some reason nobody noticed it and at this point I made so many uh so much investment it's very hard for me to you know get declined so I was like pleading to them like assign me but then the worst thing is like I was in the city office for 4 hours just you know going back and forth and then I told them they they they make the photocopy of these documents and put a watermark on the top that says aoid and giving me those documents I said I need my original documents because I didn't submit these documents you can't legally have these documents but they were not giving my documents back to me uh uh I did I did everything in my power to get those documents back I called 911 I came downstairs I asked for help on the front desk um but they were so resistant and like they won't give my documents and I was telling it's illegal it's it's like it's not right on any level you know that's my documents you can't keep those so um because I was like so upset you know and like they were not giving me and finally at around like 1:30 the director for Planning and Zoning that she came in and then she told me like they're going to write a vo on my document and then they can give the document back to me but she going to sign it and write a vo on the document I told her like that's not her Office document that is signed by some other office she can't do that you know because that's not your sign how you can write a void on a on official document so but like then we start talking again but you know it was like very surprise for me you know in like City like this Advan City and this stuff is happening that is like they have no right to keep my documents that that just I gave them to show them I didn't submit those but finally they give my documents back and I after a couple of days I want to really thank um City Secretary Shane jannings she reached to me about this and she told me like there is another step that I can bring my case to the council and I also want to thank uh uh Mr Philip Sanders uh he he helped me as well you know guiding me how I can do that because I never done this kind of stuff before you know going to the city council and everything so uh uh I I don't think so it's any bad idea for that strip because if we want to develop um uh Main Street uh in Irving we need to bring some businesses more restaurants my plan is to bring like more restaurants on those eight properties you know in the future but it's only possible if we have like you know like other Town doings like Oak Cliff uh Grape Wine on the Main Street if you have those those kind of environment you know welcoming businesses you know and we can like Ser provide some right now there is no like Bar and Restaurant in South Irving if you have to go you have to go to the other side of the Town either you go to the Dallas or you go to a a l cleaners or a North hering there is nothing like any good cuisines in a in a South Irving and the and the reason is quite obvious like you know there is so much restrictions you know to like do a business uh yeah that's uh my side of the story uh as I said like I I I was told for more than a year that I can do this and when everything is done I did all the investment and now they told me I can't do it it's not fair that's all I have thank you we have uh people individuals would like to speak I'm sorry K yes uh Deborah Howard good evening my name is Deborah Howard I reside at 132 East Scotland Drive Irving 75062 I moved my store Yogo so good onto Main Street in December of 2018 over the past several years the businesses on Main Street and in that area have faced many challenges not the least of which have been all the Demolition and construction but the good news is this construction along with the area getting designated as a recognized Heritage district has given us the new walkway with the art space and the green a new parking lot a gorgeous Heritage Park makeover and Irving Boulevard improvements new businesses have moved in creating new energy and in fact as many of you know the new restaurant taking the space for big state is opening any day now we're really excited about the changes in the opportunity in the energy furthermore the city has hired a dedicated Redevelopment courp coordinator she has so much energy and we are making good progress I'm here to ask all of us to be committed to building an area that will not only serve the local community but also will become a destination for people throughout the Metroplex let us take the opportunity to promote business and lifestyle choices that will build up our area I think we can encourage Improvement that will allow us to compete with other are such as Grapevine and Carolton and the Bishop Arts areas which have dedicated a lot of effort to their areas in fact I'm committed to being part of the solution so I am in fact reimagining and redesigning my space and will be reopening With A New Concept that I hope will support that effort I am speaking tonight because I believe in all the opportunities and riches in South Irving one minute remaining while I do not object to stores selling alcoholic beverage es I do not believe that having one at the heart of our neighborhood creates the vibe we are seeking and I'm requesting that the variance be denied we must take of every we must take advantage of every opportunity to build vitality and reinvigorate our downtown area thank you thank you Miss Howard last speaker on this item that signed up is Ron Zimmerman good evening Mr Mayor city manager and Council my name is Ron Zimmerman I reside at 1020 crossbend Irving Texas 75061 I own the property at 115 South Main Street my dad Al moved his to this location in 1970 and ever since then I have been working tirelessly to support the area in fact I met my late wife Marilla uh when a group of of uh when a group got together to fund a beautification project which included building the wall between at that time big state drug and Snow's florist you know and then the commemorative plaques were put in place I'm sure youall have all seen that I operated a store there for for 45 years making many friends and serving the local community now I lease it to uh a person who is equally committed to building up the Heritage District we believe that the city is right in focusing on building a place for communities to gather the City of Irving is proud of its Heritage we want the people of Irving and the people throughout the Metroplex to discover another destination place to travel to and enjoy the money and efforts spent to redo the parks and to redesign Irving Boulevard is creating new energy I do not believe a liquor store is in the right fit you know for the Heritage image additionally we have a enough liquor stores to support local demand I am opposed to granting the variants requested and further request that we stay focused on building a vibrant and economically rewarding area for local businesses that will support continued growth and revitalization my dad and I and all of South Irving appreciate the riches of the area let's keep it special thank you that was our our last speaker Kyle or Kyle you wanted to yeah if I can get to app come back down again and bring your TBC certification please no just put it on the screen you don't mind please I have a question now you're other one the one you got from the city the one you had that one right right there so you've told us that you're looking to only sell beer and wine but your certification allows you to Legal sell of all alcoholic beverages for off- premise consumption is that correct yes it's just so it's not going to be a beer and wine store it's going to be a liquor store no it's going to be just beer and wine no liquor okay yeah we as Council have and I've been here for nine years we've had a lot of talk about council's ability to be able to um be able to have some influence and control of kind of what goes into the Heritage you've had a number of studies a number of things done and we've worked really hard or have not worked as hard as our residents would like this is one of those instances where I think we have a chance to really decide if this is something that is right for that area with this variant I applaud you for the restaurant I really do somebody who's born and raised in this town has been a big state and what you're doing over there there is amazing this is just one of those things that you're looking to put in as a retail estem and I just cannot support in that part of town so I'm going to be voting no on this because I don't think that's the right place in the Heritage and I think someone who has come in and has bought a number of those buildings who's been here in the South part of town and realizes and you should have a good understanding of what this community has wanted the Heritage District to look like and I appreciate you stepping up and we have struggled over years to get people to invest down there and I hate to tell you no on my side because um I work down there I spend a lot of time down there um and so but this is just something for right this is just something I do not feel fits right for the type of retail that is needed down in the Heritage District your restaurant yes and I wish you nothing but success in that restaurant but this retail establishment does not fit for what we have talked about wanting down there in that area for a long time so with that I will be voting no on this but I will be in your restaurant I can promise you that so thank you hope you understand thank you John uh Dennis I don't have my Dennis next yeah yes Dennis you're next yeah u a couple of questions you know and I Echo what Kyle has just said uh really appreciate your investment in our city but when I looked at this case I couldn't wrap my mind around why there's a need for a convenient store and especially one that sells alcohol in that particular location my question to you is who is your clientele that you are looking at to help make this convenience store successful uh yes um so in the last uh year after the project completion there are three retails shop open in the Main Street and all three are uh uh VAP stores so I understand we want more restaurants coming in in that complex but every real estate is not suitable for a restaurant especially this 114 because the way the place is it's very narrow it don't have a grease straap it need a a lot of more investment to have that shop to be a restaurant uh the other thing is uh yes when we see a convenience store everybody think like we already have too many but that is not true when you go from here all the way uh if you coming from um the only uh convenience store on Irving Boulevard is on um where the QT is the QT and 7 L on the other side of a nursery and we've been driving all the way down to a city there is no convenience store right now there are so much walking traffic that comes from transits the people at the holiday when they're coming in everybody don't go to the restaurants they need to have grab some quick drinks some soda some snacks just like a 7el store so much traffic coming from the transits people coming from the bus so it has it going to serve those people uh we going to also have like a fountains uh soft serve ice creams so uh also when we have uh events in the park uh Heritage Park when we have a such a big gatherings we have a uh Fourth of July parades when are so much traffic coming in so it's kind like there is no convenience store right now on the Main Street there is nothing if you're walking around that area there is no convenience store so what I hear you saying is your traffic is mostly going to be people transitioning and walking around yes not only that uh also the clientele is go for all the all the businesses over there all the banks uh new fire station those people they need to grab uh quick drinks snacks those are also the customers you know people coming to to the uh fire station uh all the people uh coming to the main street just to hang out you know uh I think uh and there is no convenience around that area so then that leads me to my next question why do you why do you feel you need to sell alcohol to that group of people because my concern is so um so let me let me finish my statement my concern is you're talking about off- premise consumption so you're talking about people that are walking around come in by alcohol at that point they're walking uh they're getting off the transit like you said what are they going to do with that alcohol that they have are they going to drink it right then and there are they going to wait until they walk to somewhere to get it home or that's the that's the problem I'm having with this is that you know uh you're going to be providing alcohol to uh some clientele uh in an area that quite frankly is not going to be good for that area um could you not just open a convenience store without the sale of alcohol uh so uh the industry is very competitive uh I I run a convenience stor say uh even the alcohol sales are not that much on the on the convenience stores but to you know even to break even you need to have uh that uh that because all the convenience store mostly in Irving now have a beer and wine once you open a convenience store and you don't have a beer and wine so it has like it's like a have a there's a lot of studies on the convenient when you don't have something when other people have so people like you know like you miss those sales and with this competitive uh industry you know it's a more risk to open a store without uh uh beer and wine okay so I've always uh been supportive of businesses uh even those who sold alcohol but in this particular location there's no way at all that I could support it in this particular location if it was somewhere else people could drive up to it uh if if we were tucked away right here on this Main Street area I could support it but I I can't this one where it's located John thank you mayor um I'm going to pick up a little bit from where councilman web just left off um uh I think uh you're actually right on the money here with uh you found a dead spot you've got no competition it's too inconvenient to go to a different convenience store if you're near yours so at least for now and obviously this could change uh there's no competitive disadvantage to not having the alcohol since you're the only game in town no one's going to walk walk to Irving Heights to get to the next convenience story now that's not my real comment that I wanted to make um generally I actually do think a market style convenience store kind of concept in that location is a great idea um we one of the things that we've been working on a lot as council with downtown you know in order to attract businesses to downtown to make the the business plans make sense downtown we got to increase density and if we're going to increase density we got to increase the businesses to justify the density it's kind of a chicken and egg problem and how you wrap your around that is a big challenge so uh I mean I think this is great because if we were to you know build some high density housing right by the train tracks we've got it zoned for multif family right there um having a market type store right across the street would be the best thing possible so I actually think this is a tremendously good idea that being said zoning is forever and uh the thing that I that I have to remind myself all the time and that I that I keep bringing up uh when when these difficult cases come up is what's going to happen when you're so radically successful that you've outgrown your space and you got to move somewhere else we're going to get a liquor store I couldn't get the last part can you we're going to get a liquor store next because it's already zoned for it it's already got all the zoning NE necessary for someone to just come in and turn it into a liquor store so I like your project without the alcohol and without the alcohol variance because if we give the alcohol variance it doesn't go to your project it goes to the property and we can't tell what's going to happen in 20 years you know maybe there's a bigger space across the street that gets developed and you want to move in there because you're so successful now we have a property with the variance attached to it someone can just walk in and put a liquor store right there and we don't need that there um I I know in the document they they select for a liquor store but I I understand that's not that's not the point I'm making it's not about the project it's about the property do do you understand where I'm getting at yes so I you know I I can't tell you how to use your property um I hope that you will pursue uh you know this Market convenience store project whether or not this case passes um I mean if it does obviously you will but if even if it doesn't I would encourage you to pursue it because I think it's a great fit for the area it is it's the only one for a mile at least more than either direction multiple miles multiple miles yeah there is no convenience around that area there used to be one back in the day but that close yeah and and I think you're spoton that area has so much pedestrian traffic that you would get people in there all day long you'd do great so I would encourage you even if this case fails please don't give up on on the plan like uh yes but for me personally the number needs to work to to be a successful business you know uh understand you know and and right now the convenience to do like 18 to 20% on alcohol sales you know and when you lose that kind of sales from a business it's not a physical business it's going to be another failing business and if you put yourself in my issues when I was told like a year ago and I was told until like um May the 30th that I'm good to open that store I made all that Investments now I lose all that money basically so it's it's a big loss to me you know uh when I bought this property I was trying to help South Irving because I lived in a South Irving and I have a personal connection with the area so then the city came for me for that big State sign that I i' give it to a a city museum that sign was going for $20,000 but I just give it to City because I want that Heritage to stay in the city for $4,000 I take a hit of $155,000 on that and the way the city treated me that day you know staying on that office for 4 hours calling 911 you know going back and forth to just get my documents that have they have no right to keep these you know the way they treated me you know you you forget the words what people say to you but you never forget the feeling the day they that day how they treated me how they make me feel that was ridiculous I know decision is on your hand but that's my point like I I spent a lot of money on this and it's not my fault it's not like I it's like out of blue I just came in and say it's like give me the give me the permissions it's like I'm going to the city for a year you know the restaurant that I open that also come under 3 300 ft you know if we want to build the main street we want to bring all those businesses I think this is the right thing to do because I did everything but was right and I haven't been treated right H thank you Mr Mayor um I will not be supporting this U item uh and I'll tell you why we spent a lot of time and money and a lot of work to develop Irving Boulevard and to make it a major thoroughfare that we can really feel that we have the kind of not only businesses but be able to then develop it in the way that we have now made some decisions and unfortunately um what you're proposing to do there with your location doesn't fit it may fit somewhere else and just because there's no other either convenience store or liquor store CU that's what this really is also uh it just doesn't make sense for what we have invested in that whole Corridor so I will be opposing it tonight Brad I had a question for staff for Joselyn um so would he have a matter of right to do this with without there being the distance requirement from the church which is kind of one of those churches in the strip would he have been able to do this without this church being there yes so that's probably what he was being told a year ago is can I do retail sales here and the answer would be yes in the Heritage District in the in the cmcl beer and wine including beer and wine yeah it's it's the distance to the church that has triggered this question and can you get a picture of that can we put that back up there I think we had a picture of it yeah he's getting it put the PowerPoint up the PowerPoint yeah there be a slide that shows the frontages Fernando next one there there go so it's the church is the one on the left in green correct and the or am I getting It reversed correct in the green in the yellow would be your store the one on the right more to the right uh 104 not the cake shop the next shop the the next one over yeah next one over I mean I I have a I have an issue with him spending all the money bringing this to conclusion bringing something he would have as a matter of right to do when you have a a religious facility that's you know I've made my point clear when you have religious facilities in a strip mall is it not like it's a massive church over here that he's around so you know I don't I do think we want to encourage development I don't know of any other convenience store around there that doesn't sell beer and wine and so you know I don't see why he should be held up when the city kind of made promises to him and it's maybe not exactly perfect for what we want but it's also he really would have a matter of right to do this but for this church and so um I'll be supporting it okay any more questions of the applicant seeing none I'll return it back to the council any more discussion I'd entertain a motion motion for approval he second it so it doesn't matter this motion for approval Brad second it we can just vote whether you agree with it being there or not make sure is it it's a motion for approval for variance of the variance yes okay okay you V according vote no okay okay so we have a motion for approval would you please vote and it fails uh 8 to1 that takes us to our next uh zoning case which is zc 230027 considering a zoning change from PUD 2 planned unit development unit number two neighborhood commercial development plan DP number 12 to P2 to sp1 r a planned unit development number two for deed site plan restaurant with the attended accessory uses for the sale of alcoholic beverages for on premise consumption 5330 North MacArthur Boulevard Suite 108 good evening good evening uh my name is Roberto via uh I'm the owner of Familia Restaurant uh located at 5330 North Marto Boulevard 3 108 um I have a a a request for me uh the reason I'm here because I my business is uh my sales are slow um I have problems uh I didn't want to sell liquor at the beginning um I'm trying to sell liquor now because uh I have problems with um with sales they're low so um I mean I have customers that go to my place and they uh just find out that that they find out that I have no Lor some of them walk away so uh I really need the uh the permit of my restaurant um this a small restaurant but I I have a full service kitchen I a full dining room which is small but still it's a full service with a full menu um my plans is uh my estimate uh sales percentage is like 85 uh% uh food 15 uh liquor um my staff is already trained to sell the the liquor and uh I cannot recall anything else that I can say okay thank you very much any questions Brad um you have really great food at your restaurant and uh I will move for approval we have a motion a second would you please vote and it passes now 91 thank you sir thanks the next item is number 27 which is two 2024 66 zc considering his only change from state highway 183 overlay to SP2 CC generaliz sight plan Community commercial and hotel uses on State Highway 183 overlay to SP2 CC generaliz sight plan Community commercial for and Warehouse use uses 2350 Valley View Lane good evening Sharon mayor and Council manager and staff Sharon Barbosa crane 2608 Alan adale Irving representing the owner and applicant in zoning case 2466 located uh at 2350 Valley View Lane this is an approximately 1 acre site uh located on uh the west side of 161 and just north of 183 about 490 ft the existing zoning on this property uh is SP2 for cc and hotel uses the requested zoning is sp1 for cc and Warehouse uses the reason for the requested Warehouse use is to build not a distribution warehouse but the proposed use is a business office with with storage there is one variance in this case that is for four parking spaces the reason for that variance is it is in both the property is in both of the 183 and the 161 overlay and there's a contradiction in the uh calculation of the parking for this use in the two overlays and we've taken the most stringent requirement and using the most stringent requirement causes us to be for parking spaces short but it is not uh a deficient SE that would cause a problem for this use the surrounding area sees to the north SP2 for cc and Warehouse uses again the though it says warehouse and that is because there's not another category for the use we're requesting than warehouse this is not for distribution warehouses on the north side of this it's for the same use that we're requesting which is a business office with storage areas uh on the East is 161 on the south is SP2 for cc and hotel on the west is SP2 for cc and cellular antenna this property is part of a larger area that has SP2 for cc and hotel uses and that's this is the Northern Area and what we wish to do is to remove the hotel use and add the warehouse use for this business this use would be an a business with a storage area that's essentially for the business uh hence the need to add the warehouse as I've said although this is not a distribution warehouse it is the category that it falls under the site plan that you have provides uh for uh a building with 2800 square ft of office space and 7200 squ ft of storage space this is an S sp1 so what you see on your site plan is what you will get with the development the owner understands of what you brought up at your uh work session today and that is the limitations on the rest of the site that this will be subdivided from that the limitations on that site May prohibit the building of a hotel on that site even though it's zoned for hotel but you do notice that it's zon CC and hotel uses so there is an opportunity to develop it even if he cannot develop a hotel uh so and like I said that is understood and to the mayor's Point uh he is al already considering whether or not a hotel is a practical use for the r or that site and so this is about the one acre for the office and storage not about you know what he ultimately does with the rest of the property access is shared access on the south and you all brought that up as well it has been understood since the initial zoning of this property that what ever was developed in the two areas the two uh tracks if you will of this property would require a shared access it's a very common thing to have shared access this would be on text Dot this is not taken care of in a zoning casee but in the platting and uh Mr Dewey who is our engineer who cannot be with us this evening because he's ill uh is very experienced in doing these facilities with Texon has done many many of them too many to count a number of them here in Irving and so this is something that we're aware of and will be taken care of in the proper manner so these smaller U type businesses wherein you don't have a great distribution warehouse uh that is pretty much a destination for storage for many businesses but have the smaller U business focused warehouse storage for your own business like an electrical contractor a plumbing contractor medical services and so forth are becoming more and more popular you've seen several of them I even brought you one on the west side of the city here a while back which you approved and the reason they're becoming more popular is because they're more practical for use they're less costly they're more convenient they have a less intensive presence in the area they have a smaller footprint they have less traffic and a different type of traffic than the larger warehouses and it just saves money for the business owner while giving him the opportunity to have his storage close at hand and so as was mentioned to you uh by your staff today that the areas to the north have already been developed uh into several uh businesses such as this this being the same as those and this request not creating any difference in a impact then we believe that uh staff is correct in their recommendation for approval and PNC was correct in their recommendation for approval and we respectfully request that you all approve this soning case and I'm here to answer any questions that you might have thank you are there any questions of the app did we have anyone signed up to on that item no sir no one signed up on this item okay uh John uh I just wanted to make a comment um saying uh I appreciate the thorough treatment of this and I think it's the right location for the right project and reiterating what the mayor say um I would be against any future reduction in hotel variances or increase in variances but it sounds like that's not going to be something we need to worry about so with that being said I'd like to make a motion for approval okay motion second would you please vote Al's Al's gone so he just he just wouldn't have a vote on the side of be8 to Z yeah so we have one missing so it's 8 to 7 to one okay that takes us to item number 28 which is uh two 2024 d141 CP considering a comprehensive plan Amendment changing the future land use category from Main Street downtown to man manufacturing warehouses at uh 5:30 north Conor road is the applicant with us the evening on this one good evening hey good evening everyone my name is Marlon I'm here uh representing it's uh Church Hispanic Church elesia apost profetas Fon Road Marlin can you please provide your full name and your address please yes uh the proper address or where do where I live whichever you prefer I just need your name yes my name is marlong address F to nor Conor Road irban Texas all right uh so basically I think it's two parts I think probably next item it's also ours uh so right now we we have a piece of land that is not been used by the church uh currently you know we don't have no use for it uh we also been having issues with a lot of people going and us it like dumping a lot of trash couches uh one time there was even like a boat that old boat that was in there and you know we got a ticket for it and you know a lot of issues with that piece of that we're not been using so we do spend quite some money you know keeping up with that piece of land uh that we're not been using so right now our goals as a church is to be able to split that land so we'll keep the where the parking is and where the building is we'll be keeping that and we want to sell that piece of land uh so that that's our end goal so that will help help us as a church to continue doing what we do uh helping those in need uh helping our community uh keep blessing other people at the same time you know we have uh as a business that it's looking to buy as that land so same time you know they're they they're in need of that land so we'll be helping a small business here in our community uh that business will be helping other people you know as they grow uh helping employ other people so but uh in conclusion basically what we're trying to do is be able to split that piece of land where the grass is and be able to sell that hopefully that was clear okay are there any questions to the applicant do we have anyone signed up to speak not on this item but we do on the opion item number 29 okay okay are there any questions from the council discussion ideas motions mayor okay John you beat Mark uh just a comment um not really a question um I really would like to see this parcel developed I really would like to see it you know return to a used and useful you know property within the city I don't think manufacturing warehouse is The Right Use I think the heavier industrial uses that are in existence on Main Street letting them creep further west especially into an existing retail center it's not the direction that I would like to see that area taking um the comprehensive plan exists for us to be able to guide the city into the future so for that reason I can't support this change in the comprehensive plan Mark um yeah I agree with what commissioner block said and on that point I'll make a motion to deny we have a motion and a second for denial is there any discussion would you please vote and it is denied 9 to zero so we really don't need to do the item number 29 that's correct Marin that that is moot at this point so we'll go to item number 30 which is 2024 1112 SFP considering a special offense project plan to allow variances to not provide a solid wall or screening fence for mechanical equipment for a data center at 505 North Wildwood Drive is the applicant with us the evening on this one good evening we had a good discussion on this today are there any questions of the applicant I just move for approval second we have a motion and a second would you please vote and it passes unanimously thank you thank you mayor councel item number 31 is considering alcohol distance variance to the 300t distance separation required between a residential zone property and a place of business selling alcohol beverages on premise for on premise consumption 1421 and 1423 West Shady Grove Road is the applicant with us this evening good evening good evening my name is Elizabeth Hart and I'm the owner of Bas dairies and Cones our establishment will be located at 1421 West Shady Grove in South Irving I'm here today to discuss our application for a zoning change and alcohol variants for bous dairies and Cones LLC I would like to take you on a journey over the last 13 years and highlight for you how bous daquaries and Cones came to be created for the past 13 years I've been operating a business in South Irving named Bas cones a seasonal snow cone shop Bas cones has been well received by the residents of South Irving we operate in a 96 squ foot building serving only snow cones and packaged food as established by city codes and ordinances bous cones has brought joy and smiles to the residents of South Irving over the years we've built a loyal following many of our customers have expressed their desire for Bodacious cones to operate year round and to offer more than just our cool Sweet Treats we've been building our business and customer base while searching for a year-round location within South Irving remaining within South Irving is important to us this is where bodus began we are a small Independent Business that was born in South Irving my business partner is a product of Irving and a graduate of nemit high school and now we have found sorry and now we have found a location suitable for our new adventure Bodacious dairies and Cones to thrive as Bodacious daquaries and Cones it is necessary to obtain a zoning change in variance expanding our offerings to include alcohol will significantly enhance our ability to serve and positively contribute to the local community building on our experience in serving Artisan desert s in South irvan as bous cones bous dairies and Cones will expand its menu to include a variety of Southwest rustic Cuisine to pair wonderfully with our refreshing flavors and Frozen daquaries and smoothies planning and developing for bous dairies and Cones has taken time acquiring funding for construction and startup cost has been completed through a small business administration loan through pre-development meetings with the city we have been able to carefully plan the renovations and place M of our restaurant grade equipment to ensure efficiency safety and functionality our goal is to offer a wide range of food and desserts created by our culinary team to cater to those wide range of tastes and dietary preferences for those in South Irving we will also introduce promotions and specials to encourage customers to dine with us and to try our food offerings including fixed price menus and meal combos featuring our food and beverage options our staff will receive comprehensive training emphasizing the promotion of food sales and responsible alcohol consumption we will educate them on suggestive selling techniques to encourage customers to pair their drinks with food items from our menu additionally we will actively seek feedback from our customers to understand their preferences and refine our menu uh accordingly we are committed to creating a safe and enjoyable environment for our patrons while adhering to all alcohol related laws and regulations we are dedicated to working closely with the city and relevant authorities to ensure compliance with all zoning and licensing requirements the city of Irving's planning and zoning committee voted unanimously to support our application for the zoning change and alcohol variants we are confident that our application aligns with the city goals for responsible Economic Development and will have a positive impact on the south Irving Community thank you for your consideration I would be happy to answer any questions about our establishment does anyone have any questions mark and then Kyle yes ma'am I have a question for you um obviously the uh the percentage of your food sales versus alcohol sales is important for TAC and also for us uh do you have experience with h with selling food what what what makes you confident that you'd be able to meet that percentage um so as malicious cones we actually had a food truck that we would go to fairs and venues so we know that the products that we've created for that environment will actually transfer nicely over to the badas daquaries okay and what were your percentages there what that was just food okay yeah so looking just at our bous cones in Irving this a seasonal shop that's only actually open um four months five months out of the year last year the number of transactions that we had and I emphasized that it's transactions it's not individual items was $5,000 800 I worked in a 96t building um the average price point was $936 I believe that we are going to be able to make actually a 6040 60 being the food and 40 being the alcohol um with everything that we've had we have a very large following within South Irving four bous cones and all of our treats Kyle yeah how big is your what's the square footage of your space uh we actually have acquired a space that's 1,200 squ F feet okay that's all I want to know thanks other questions did we have anyone signed up no one sign up for this item okay if there's another questions of the app uh Al thank you mayor am I and looking at the overhead uh it looks like you're adjacent to U it looks like around 40 uh either apartments or uh whatever the living quarters are is that correct that is correct um hence the request for the variance because it's going to be onsite um consumption as a restaurant okay and then I guess the other part of uh I love your uh public relations branding looks great question is beyond what we're seeing and what you're talking about you're wanting to go with a full restaurant I'm trying to understand what you're going to serve beyond that and and alcohol um Beyond can you go back to the slide so the um restaurant will actually serve coffee and tea smoothies all of our snow cones um we consider ourselves an artisan snow cone ours have chocolate covered espresso beans real fruit ice cream inside and then additionally we're going to be adding um items that we've actually been very successful with our food truck with Bodacious cones um nachos lote um sausages and hot dogs great thank you any other questions lights comments Dennis I have no comments but I like to make a motion okay i' like to make a motion for approval second we have a motion and a second for approval would you please vote and it passes 5 to four the next item on the agenda is a companion with this one uh 2024 d116 zc considering his Z change from CN to Neighborhood commercial to sp1 retail Raab detailed site plan restaurant with the attended assess for uses for the sale of alcoholic beverages for on premise consumption 1421 and 1423 West Shady Grove Road we just recently saw the above presentation uh is there any other questions Dennis no question but I'd like to make the same motion uh for approval on this item too second we have a motion and second any discussion hearing none would you please vote and it fails five to four four four five against can I ask that so the the work that we've done with the city in regards to all of the planning putting in the grease Interceptor and all of those items that are required for a restaurant and now it's not approved I would assume that's go ahead and Phil of alcohol but that's right next store is actually a convenience store that sells wine and beer so I'm not understanding because my my conversations with Planning and Zoning as well as with permits is we are actually already permitted to do to go what I wanted was actually to have people enjoy our snow cones as well as our Dairies inhouse and that was the only change this site is already actually approved for to go but I want people of South Irving to enjoy a spot that where they can sit with their families and have in uh enjoyment of games and watching television and sports events in a very familyfriendly environment the restaurant can still operate and get a certificate of occupancy and operate as a restaurant we just we would not be able to approve the certification to TABC for the sale of alcohol based on the vote that right I got it and and yet 10 ft down they're selling alcohol to go Dennis yeah uh so is that is that correct as far as 10 ft away there is a business that's selling alcohol for off- premise consumption so the trigger for this alcohol distance variance was the distance to residential exactly that applies only to the on premises consumption so the retail store that's selling beer and wine through the convenience store does not is not triggered by that residential protection so she could actually sell alcoholic daquaries as long as they take them and go take them to go yes because it's retail as long it's sealed per TC that's retail it's on premisis consumption that so the only difference here is whether you sit down in the seat or you go out the door correct wow unbelievable okay that's where we are guys un that's where we are and nothing can be changed unbelievable I have no other course of action because I I don't I don't want to do a daer shop to go that's I I knew going in that I could do that and what I want was actually people to sit down and enjoy the nachos the elote the snow cones that I have all of the Artisan products that I create to have inh housee in a restaurant there and to renovate that building of $45,000 I'm sorry that's the vote that I got a question I I I personally would like to hear some council members who voted against this explain why I think I think she deserves an explanation other than the fact that you got the power to push no okay point of order mayor that's really not a proper comment to be questioning us we talked about this at work session and talked about our I apologize I did not know that I could go to work session I was actually present for the work session for the zoning and planning but the only information that I received was that I needed to come here at 7 o'clock with a with a PowerPoint presentation if I wanted to actually do that I didn't realize that I would have actually been able to go to that work session well we've voted I've I've spoken my piece of what I'm going to say and I talked about my reasoning earlier I think John talked about his reasoning and so we've said it it's it's a very small area for on premises consumption with a lack of parking spaces and so we don't now hold on we don't typically allow someone to keep speaking after we've voted I understand you have to respect the vote and you know I've said my pce okay we need to move on to the next zoning case the next zoning case is 20241 163 zc considering a zoning change from CC Community commercial with stipulations to SP2 General ice sight plan Community commercial with variances to allow automatic ice and water vending facilities as a primary use on the CC zoning District at 3551 North Beltline Road uh did we have anyone sign up on this other than the applicant uh I think we had a good presentation is there I was going to move for approval second we have a motion in a second would you please vote [Music] we have one not voted and it's not me I've been caught before and it passes unanimously the next item is uh 20241 194 zc considering it's only change from R6 single family residential 6 to SP2 R six generalized site plan single family residential 6 for variance to the minimum rear yard setback at 19 at 9:15 uh Street good evening thank you for being here hi Gavin grubs 9915 hadrien Street Irving Texas 75062 uh good evening mayor council I we've seen a little bit of each other as our journey started last year with our original uh hope and request of build an Adu which did not come to fruition so we needed to shift to the next best option which was building onto our current house uh so although the the goal poost have been moved the goal remains the same and that is to move our mother in with us so that we can uh take care of her now and forever so the challenge that comes with this option in building onto our house is the there is a 20 foot minimum rear property setback and this request today is requesting a variance to that setback of 7 feet still leaving 13 feet to the rear property line but the that additional 7 feet will allow us to build essentially what we wanted to originally build Dimension wise square footage wise and being able to com uh comfortably accommodate a bedroom a bathroom and then a small shared uh living space SL kitchenet so uh I appreciate your consideration and uh support for this thanks um I don't believe we have do we have anybody else signed up to speak no there speakers for this item okay thank you for being here uh Abdul you have the first and then Brad I would like to put the motion to approve okay we have a motion to approve Brad um I'll second it but I was going to ask I'm comfortable with the variants because I know you've been through a lot here here and are you going to still be able to save that tree yes we will be able to still it's it's it's going to be in the same spot it's the same section of our backyard dimensionally about the same it's just uh we need to get a little bit of that space back it was going to be different if it were to be an Adu I think it was 5T from property lines and now it's 20 ft so while it will be connected to the house to be able to still kind of have that same square footage we did a little extra into that variant so that's what well I I know the notes is no hard hardship but I think that to me that is a hardship to have to cut down a beautiful tree so I'm supportive and and thank you for all your work with us in investment I I appreciate you guys too we have a motion in a second uh I also want to take the opportunity to thank you uh for your persistence and your patience uh in coming forward to you and your family thank you so much for working with our staff to make sure that we can do something for you so we we really do appreciate it and uh we have a motion in a second with that we'll go ahead and vote and it passes unanimously go go enjoy your [Laughter] life the next item is uh 2024 222 CP considering a comprehensive plan Amendment change to the Future land use category from business office to manufacturing warehouse at 5915 High Point Drive and 1420 Greenway Drive we have the applicants representative with us Mr gears too old to come down the stairs too fast Herbert gears um 4526 wildbrier I just moved last week ah over into uh District three Council Kabir um you know I love coming here cuz have a lot of friends who work here spend a lot of time here and the greatest thing is that my pictures on the wall over there more than I have in my house so I really feel comfortable uh we share a common bond in in uh you know striving to make good decisions and trying to think about the future and and of course we all share an unconditional love of all others and that's what makes us great leaders why we get these opport unities to serve got a great project here um we've got some conditions you know that have uh changed you know our future in many ways with regards to development and yet we still have the capabilities to maintain the advantages we've always had we got a great project here you know I I'm going to try to get through this as quickly as possible because I know we got a got a big night but what we're looking at here is a picture of what we want to build you know you heard Sharon describe the phenomenon of the flex office uh business storage uh Market that has has has risen uh largely due to some changes that we that we went through with the with the co situation uh but what we're doing here is is is that product it's not a distribution warehouse um like you would think of you know having a being inundated with large trucks um this is where we are interesting to see how large that that airport is in in physical space and and you can see with our proximity to it the reason why um we're surrounded by similar uses that we're proposing as you know the covid pandemic started in 2020 and it really ignited a transformation in the Way businesses rely on technology to sustain their operability they were forced into a into a new normal for a period of time and there were a lot of a lot of lessons learned the whole experience you know revealed business efficiencies you all know this that are available when the office Workforce works from home and those lessons are not going unlearned and we're seeing the effects of that in the office Market we got a new more efficient business model you know that's emerg it requires significantly less physical office space um this is what has created some some tremendous challenges and yet opportunities as as well and we think that you know where we're looking at a lemon situation here we're turning it into lemonade vacancy rates have continued to rise since 2020 just set new records in the first quarter of 20 24 with almost 20% Nationwide almost 30% in Los kenas um you can do a little research and find that uh Moody's Analytics who studies all these Dynamics for many reasons uh the way they look at our futures is one of those but they say there's more office space currently sitting empty than at any point since 1979 that's 45 years uncertainty remains over exactly when office vacancy rates will truly Peak so their assessment is they haven't even peaked um and of course we're seeing we're seeing this the average vacancy rate by the way of the of the non-owner occupied Office Buildings in the immediate vicinity of this property average 40% so there's about a million square feet or so of office space in this in this um uh area it's actually called area 16 because it's part of the Los cenus Association and it's 40% vacant the current owner and the future owner of this property are they're requesting a zoning change that'll allow an obsolete office building to be replaced by two multi-tenant Flex Office business storage buildings they're exactly a Shar and described to you they're just larger and they're and they're multi- tenants so they have two or three tenants instead of just the one the one tenant that you saw earlier um this is a first rendition of the of the you could call it site plan concept plan because we're asking for straight zoning we're not really required to have the detail site plan that that comes later uh in the process but this is where we are and where we think we're going to land so we're looking at two buildings and you can see we've really gone far to enhance the Landscaping including adding over 200 additional trees to to several nice trees that are there already Sharon mentioned this as well believe the city ordinance consider our proposed buildings to be light industrial Warehouse shes it's ml 28 however we are not and I'll stress it uh as much as as we need to designing our buildings to accommodate a warehouse distribution center that's not the business that we're creating here um the philosophy for Alliance industrial is develop aesthetically pleasing uh buildings sort of blend into the area it's a shallow bay product is what it's called it's meant to attract tenants that focus on servicing the local community so historically these businesses they they they can use box trucks but not semi trucks uh potential tenants include businesses and Sharon mentioned some of these too but there's a terminology for Last Mile Goods distribution Furniture companies pliance companies food delivery and partial delivery um Alliance does have some product uh history in Irving they built the uh Freeport Commerce Center uh phase one over on uh Freeport Parkway and this kind of an example of of the size of building this's a little bit larger uh but it's a small it's considered a smaller building uh like ours tracks smaller tenants with no truck traffic we got two tenants over filling up that building Terminix uh you probably know them as a pest control company they do have a fleet of service trucks that are small uh and then bar s Foods they're a food distributor and so they have freezer box trucks okay this property is in area 16 in the Las cenus in Las cenus okay so it's it's governed by a set of very uh finite deed restrictions so the allowable uses on this property they were planned when Los colinus was laid down you know uh 1978 or so so so all of every area uh was given a set of deed restrictions that guided the the development opportunity that they felt like was most suitable you know to sustain a long future for very successful uh Los kinus project in this declaration there's only about eight uses that are allowed it's somewhat strict uh and the first two that are allowed are office and warehouses and and the reason for that is is probably the proximity of of of the property to the airport but as well what that illustrates is that that these are compatible uses they would not have deed restricted land that included incompatible uses within the same area so since this since this land was master planned and at that time the largest master plan community in the country this was the design that Ben Carpenter envisioned for this piece of property uh this mixed use that could include up to eight uses primarily office and Warehouse so and that's what we're doing here and not only are we doing that we're actually doing it within the same structure so so we feel like you know that it's that it's a a compelling Testament to the fact that this project makes sense for this area there's about 11 properties on the west there's one one or two on the south that have this Zoning for light industri or Warehouse uses we've got about 30 on the East and some on the North that is Zed for commercial office uses so this is an illustration of that everything in the yellow shade uh and even that little green empty spot there that's the use that we're asking for exists now and then you'll see our building in the red and then there's one down um with use were're requesting to the South and then and then uh you've got all the blue which is currently commercial office so you see you got a pretty good balance there youve got a lot more office than you've got uh industrial Light industrial uses where house uses those types of uses so we think we fit in fine uh we definitely think that our use is is compatible certainly with regards to how how this was originally planned you know for lenus I've been heard you know I've heard about some talk about you know a line here or there and all that um if we had to have a line I would I would say be on high point if you wanted to typ take that type of approach I I don't know that's the best I think we're going to have to consider these on a caseby Case basis but this office building is going away the problem with these buildings are they're old they're they're 40 and 50 years old and they they require so much expense to do tenant buildout so they can't take a tenant because they can't afford they can't get the buildout financed because there's so much over Supply so much less demand the the rates uh aren't stable enough to get financed to get it done so so that building is doomed it it's going to be it's going to be demolished um that's what we're told because because it's just a cost to pay taxes uh and and try to you have to make it look good with the Los Association concerned on the outside um the inside's deteriorating badly repurposing this property as we're asking for will increase the property tax revenues generated for the City by 57% and add estimated 300 new jobs um we we think that's that's a good benefit you know for the city uh we think it makes sense to to repurpose this property uh we have a very uncertain future and we have a tremendous supply of um office space in Los kinus this particular area from from the time it was first planned uh was set up for these compatible uses and I believe that we're fortunate that we have such a great uh company has come in here and and wants to continue to invest in our community so I I hope you I hope you'll see all the reasons to be able to support this and I'm happy to answer any questions did we do we have anybody else signed up to speak to no I'll sign up for this item okay questions of GE uh John um so I yeah I guess I had a question kind of about the uh the deed restrictions you were talking about so I understand that the deed restrictions talk about uh you what what uh Mr Carpenter envisioned as uh some fitting uses for this for this section of the lenus association um speaking frankly I mean my concern is uh particularly looking towards the future I think I think you're quite right when you state uh the future is very uncertain and I think we don't know what's going to happen with office space I think we need to be careful in our approach to what we do about vacant office space about rezoning rebuilding and what I don't want is in several you know however long it takes because I think there is going to be a rebound that's what I'm kind of seeing with uh a lot of you know a lot of companies want to get back to the office and a lot of leadership at at companies see that as the end goal um not all and I and I'm not saying it's going to be back to pre-co I'm not I don't think that's happening but what I want to avoid is cannibalizing our vacant office space to the point that if and I think when it rebounds they go somewhere else so um that's kind of my concern but the other concern that I have is this is an area that already has quite a bit of industrial use and that's going to have um heavier impact on uh on some of the infrastructure in the area particularly roads so um it seems to you brought up the the deed restrictions as like look this well actually maybe I misunderstood that now I'm thinking through never mind I've answered my question uh I guess that was just commentary sorry hell thank you mayor uh here the development that's just Due West it was it looks like I'm looking at the photo it looks like it's nothing's been built yet can you talk to us what that is you know uh that's an old photo actually that building has been completed for about a year now um and you know it's the the industrial that's in the area it's it's not industrial industrial it's light industrial okay and and that's just the terminology that our ordinances allow you know for that those type of uses to be there there's no heavy manufacturing or big concrete batch plants or any kind of heavy industrial use like that at all so so that's what makes it compatible you know and in this case you've got the office and the business store forage in the same structure um it's really proven it's worked over the years in this area quite well we haven't had any issues you know there are no residents around that get bothered by business traffic or anything like that the offices haven't complained you know about what's happening around them and you see you've got uh you know offices that are surrounded by some of these light industrial uses you know these two over here and you know you've you've got it's come down here as far so I mean you know the compatibility has really not been an issue and it's a matter of of course we could all speculate about the future and all that um there's a high likelihood that this is property if it's forced to stay limited to this office use only that it's going to be just deteriorating and vacant you know okay he he's gonna want to speak if when after I'm done okay he's U uh he's the buyer of the property the developer for Alliance industrial Levi Herman let me let me ask the question shoot what now that that building is complete I think that's what you said that's due West so what is it what is it yes um what's the name of that company what's the use go ahead yeah say your name and address yeah Levi Hermes here uh 710 Claybrook Drive Dallas Texas 75231 uh de development director with uh Alliance industrial the buyer of the property um it's the asset just adjacent to the West uh Lincoln property company developed that finished it about a year ago it's a company called pinpoint merchandising so they put the brands on the yeti cups and do the stitchings on the polos and things of that nature so they do some that light Fabrication in the warehouse and they ship it out to their customers as well so very much a light industrial use okay and then what I was whispering to Herb just a second ago was uh Mr Block uh in response to your question or comment about uh the trend of returning back to office you know four years post pandemic um I'm a real estate guy so I love that that Trend and that theme right and and I agree with that to an extent the but the only way that businesses are attracting their employees back to the office is with class a amenitized um amenity Rich environments um you know like what Mr agal is contemplating for the Exxon Mobile campus or uh just to the north and copel you know what you see in Cypress Waters um you even look at the data uh from all the uh brokerage houses that published the occupancy and vacancy uh data there's a 10% spread just in Los kenas between the 30% vacancy for class B office which is what we're talking about here you know old functionally obsolete versus the class A office that's only 20% vacant so it it it's apples and oranges and I agree with you that there is a trend to return to office but not to 50-year-old no amenity and what should be a warehouse area in my opinion thanks Al yeah well I was trying to really understand um taking down a I think it's if I'm not correct 11 maybe 12 story building herb uh it's 10 story Class B some considered a Class C but it's uh and then we're you all are contemplating replacing that with class a uh office uh business storage but you called it Flex office Flex office what does that actually mean to me um it means it that you have space that's fle the space is flexible in the building so a portion of the building will be office and the other another portion will be business storage so you'll have uh as Sharon described you know small businesses or even like the one across the street you know they've got their offices in there and these businesses are figuring out that they can put their all their operation in one place so they're doing the work to create what they're creating and then and then shipping it out you know with trucks um that's happening right across the street and all in the area actually well the interesting part and I and I appreciate your comment uh Cypress Waters going to take a long time for us to do a Cypress Waters change in in this area and part in in the whole LCA so uh we'll wait to see if that actually happens okay thank you John I have a question for Joselyn um our packet uh talks about and Mr gears alluded to the line could you please speak to that and kind of the the Providence where it is uh how we came to that so the whole area used to be what was called business district future land use and that allowed both industrial and office so as zoning cases came through over time they were deemed to be consistent with the future land use so last year we went through and divided it between the office office in the warehouse and so that's what made us start thinking about differentiating the two and not particularly saying that a zoning case would be consistent with the future land use because it wouldn't be anymore so that kind of brought the more of the evaluation of what the zoning is today and kind of what the difference is and kind of that created the the line so it was more of a I guess an organic line it wasn't a intentionally defined line between what was industrial and what was Office does that answer your question it does but it produces more uh so so is is this um organic line uh or this organically developed line is this then in what way are we supposed to treat this in terms of how we're interpreting whether whether this whether we think this is or is not like how should that enter into our deliberation about is this consistent with uh a future vision of this area of the city and we're talking just about the CP we're not talking about the the zoning of course right right right um so we part of our future land use update for next year is going to look at this area and we were going to look at the zoning to kind of like what we did with free Port last year and kind of tear apart you know what's warehouse now and what's office now and lock that in so in order for your deliberation it would be more just what's appropriate because warehouses and offices function differently with the the trucking activity and the you know the the cars and the the employees of the office um so it's a matter of of them operating together so that's kind of what y'all's consideration would be is you know if you approve one is that an appropriate place for the activity of you know that use if it's an industrial use or whatever it might be okay I have a question for Mr gears in terms of um in terms of traffic MH and impact on the street particularly with uh heavier traffic uh partially I'm asking specifically about this project but also generally in your experience and I guess Joselyn can jump in if she needs to on this one uh ml 20a what kind of traffic does that generally bring to an area we're not anticipating any any abnormally amount abnormal amount of traffic that's any different from the uses that surround us and and you know uh we're not I'm not asking about the surrounding I'm talk I'm talking about the change in traffic because right now an office is not bringing any heavy traffic well hardly any I mean well this one's not because it's empty yeah this one's not bringing any um but even if it were to be demolished and built built up again with class A mhm you know and it were you know it had only 20% vacancy like other class A in in Los cenus um compared to that use M what's the difference in traffic I think you'd have more traffic with a with a I think you'd have more traffic with a Class A full office building because you're going to have we're going to have about 330 employees or so uh total among these buildings I think you're going to have more you know in that office building so so the streets over there aren't bad you know we've been around driving around um there hasn't been an issue with uh traffic interference you know with regards to the industrial uses that are around in the office uses that are around um we haven't had any issues or anybody coming forward and saying hey you know what's what's going on here you know uh with all this traffic or anything like that um and I I do have a question because I think you you asked an interesting question so so this organic line is not in our future land use plan today so the land use today is business office because it used to be business district so that all changed so there there today is no Warehouse future land use in this area because that hadn't been re basically reallocated yet so that is we're looking at that this year to reflect what's on the ground well and to add some clarification to my uh what I was trying to get to the bottom of uh we had for a long time kind of this unspoken policy of like we're not doing Warehouse east of 161 West Side of 161 yeah like one when you're south of 114 um and so that's kind of that's a clear line and it was also sort of an unspoken policy so I was just curious is this an organically developed line that we're just kind of acknowledging or is it an intentional kind of we're not we're not too keen on letting this P where it is now so that's that's what I was trying to get to the bottom of yeah and on on your traffic I don't think anybody from traffic is here I understand an office in terms of quantity has more traffic um just industrial has a different type of traffic in a different where on the roads as well how would you characterize that difference or I guess Dan may be the one that needs to answer that yeah I don't know if he's still here or not but I'm not the or you a comment think based on the traffic pattern of of an office building versus a warehouse and I'm not sure the exact size of that warehouse or or the building you're building but the traffic uh should be a little bit less volume like Josh was saying is going to be larger trucks like the trucks he was talking about but the trative volume should be actually be less yeah and and of course we won't have 18 meler trucks because we're not that type of a of a facility um and you know you mentioned the the um organic line concept oh this is not mine ours it's the same map though um you know if you think about it organically we've we've got the uses we're proposing directly south of us so to me it seems if you know these properties way over here you know there's no organic line that you know makes that work um if we had to I'd say the organic line is on high point you know the the fact the office building just to the north of us was just um foreclosed on um so you've got some struggling got some struggling things here but you know if you wanted to say hey there's an organic line you know everything north of of Greenway is going to be office everything uh east of high Point's going to be office um that might better suit the short and the long-term future of the viability of this particular piece of property which which is threatened you know at this time and you know there's nothing wrong with the product that we're suggesting it's nothing dirty about it or uh unseemly or unsightly or anything like that you know it's a highquality um uh $43 Million worth of tax base uh that's very aesthetically pleasing very environmentally friendly and and the traffic that will be coming to and from this site is not 18-wheeler site or anything like that so you know we think you know that it's that it's really a great project you know we're excited about the opportunity we think it's compatible with what's in the neighborhood we think it's consistent with how this properly was was deemed to develop in fact restricted only to develop this way uh through those deed restrictions you know how tough those things are you know they're more strict than than our than our zoning ordinances so anyway met LCA and we have met with LCA twice and they're uh welcoming this Pro project with open arms they think it's great um and uh you know they' made a little bit a few imp improvements but uh it's coming along well with them they're very happy about this project and I would hope that you would be happy about it too there's really no there's really no gamble here you know we've got I think 17 million square feet of office space in Las kenas and you know probably about I don't know four or five million of that's vacant right now I've been been told by Brokers that we have a 40 to 50 year supply of vacant office space so the so and and and it's true that businesses are want to return you know to the office environment uh and there is going to be a percentage that are going to uh continue the lessons they learn because it makes sense financially for them to do it and that 20% adds 20% onto your vacancy rate even though it's a small number you know so so we've got a serious issue right now with with an extremely over supply of office space and this in this space is at the bottom end of that of that big pile because it's Class B and it's so old and it's deteriorating so you know I don't like that okay and you know when we did the the land plan you know even even in 2017 or even now you know no one no one knew the future included a worldwide pandemic and what effects that would had so I know you know we all like to make comprehensive plans and we're changing the we we're having to because this was changed last year ask for this change in the L in the future land use map which we don't really know the future but you know we we we use these tools to sort of guide us um that just happened last year so uh I'm just asking for your consideration we think we've got a a good case here and I think you've given us a fair hearing got a couple more questions let me uh her yeah because the request is to go from business office to manufacturing warehouse and that development that's due West is exactly that and that's warehouse and light manufacturing at the end of the day I will tell you that there's going to be more traffic and if you do the same thing what you're talking about they're you're changing the character of what is there right now call it old doesn't matter and so at the end of the day I guess my question is what is it that you're really going to put in and what's going to be the impact as to not just traffic but is there going to be you call it Flex office light manufacturing I mean what is it it's not manufacturing it's well I'm looking right at it I understand that's the category that we're forced into because we have storage you know so we're forced to come into that category's pictured up there is what we're going to build okay sorry about that what's pictured up there is what is what we're going to build so so it's it's going to be the nicest of all of these properties actually out there it's even going to be it's Class A office space so it's even going to be nicer than the old office buildings that are still going to be there and you know when this building comes down it's about 240,000 or so square feet of office space that you're going to now help the surrounding Office Buildings by getting that out of there because now you've got that much less inventory so so hopefully that'll leave some room for you know for them to solve their problems you know that are averaging 40% vacancy rate so this is an upgrade you know to this area it there's nothing there's nothing uh there's nothing heavy or dirty or or obnoxious uh at all about this it's it's going to you see it's beautiful and and and it will probably be the most beautiful building out there until a new one is built Mark right so um this this area it's in District 5 and it's an area that is commercial um for office and yeah so there's this line the line where did it come from so it it came from development on 161 that unfortunately became Warehouse which never should have been that Corridor should have been preserved really for for better development but it is what it is then the question is are we going to allow that to then continue to encroach upon areas of the city that we have designated for office uh this building is older it I guess it makes sense for it to come down economically but it should be replaced with class A office it not it should not be growing into ml20 or ml 20a involving more industrial and Warehouse types uses so we need to hold that line and not allow a further encroach so um with that being the case U councilman yes um what's up on 161 those are distribution warehouse facilities this is not that at all I understand yes absolutely not that at all I get I got what you said what what it was so I make a motion to deny I have a motion to deny do have a I'll second okay have a second further discussion okay all those in favor of denial please please vote and it fails 7-2 pass 7-2 no the motion was for denial and a motion passed 7 to2 oh I'm sorry I'm sorry motion to deny it passed yes am I sorry I didn't say it right okay so there's no need to do the second that's correct mayor item number 36 is M item number 37 is uh 2024-25 zc considering a zoning change po professional office to co commercial office 2 220 excuse me it's getting late 2200 West Irving Boulevard move for approval second we have a motion in a second any discussion vote and it passed unanimously thank you item number thanks for being item number 38 is an ordinance 2024 203 zc and 2024 232 DVP considering zoning change to amend HUD six planned Urban Development number six and add truck service and repair indoor as an allowed use for under use under Flex work use within portion of PUD 6 track C and approving development plans number five PUD 6 for ML 208 light industrial 28 plus truck service and repair indoors 3100 East John Carpenter Freeway we had a good discussion on this today as there any questions pal now I'd like to make a comment you know I had said earlier about not uh fact keeping it inside the Pud six but you know at the end of the day this is a a group and uh I think a family that's been here for a while they have been very solid as far as their history and and I think we talked about keeping uh their if it's going to be truck repair under roof I think then you know I can kind of look at it in a more positive light Brad yeah I was looking at this there requesting um uh only one exception basically for Motor Freight Terminals and looking at the surrounding property I don't know what else a whole lot else you're going to get right now although I think hopefully the future use the the land skyrockets and and someday you sell it but I think it is a good family and just looking at it there's no Amendment to the Future land use map required um and so I can support it so it's also a pretty small parcel so do we have a motion motion for approve motion to approve we have a second second second all those in favor all those please vote and it passes 8 to1 the next item on our agenda is ordinance number 2024 20 oh I was gonna I was going to just read it and then I'll ask answer that 2024 224 CP considering a comprehensive plan amend of Change the Future land use category from urban center to open space to Manufacturing warehouse at 1301 and 1351 East John Carpenter Freeway we have uh councilman block and sapon that have filed uh affidavits for this item and will beain Ex abstaining I'll get it out from the discussion and the vote I am Jonathan Sanford 200 Ginko Circle Irving Texas 75063 I come as the applicant I'm the president of the University of Dallas it's a great pleasure to be here with you the University of Dallas is very proud to be in the City of Irving we have a a tremendously beneficial relationship with the City of Irving and the City of Irving ought to be very proud of the University of Dallas many of the students of the University of Dallas are not necessarily drawn initially from the City of Irving more and more are but but a tremendous number of our graduates start businesses here have medical practices serve as attorneys and raise their families we also have a track record of producing a lot of teachers for the Irving ISD Catholic schools Protestant schools public Charters the University of Dallas has an outstanding National reputation we have one of the very highest med school placement rates in the nation were one of only seven colleges or universities to have received the highest rating for the quality of our education and we have a thriving College of Business we're convinced that a data center on the tract of land that we're considering is of Great Value to the City of Irving certainly to the University of Dallas and to a lesser known but very important Community the cian monastery which is adjacent to our vacant land so why is this project of benefit to the University of Dallas we have data science and AI becoming more and more a focus of the work we're doing in our College of Business we have an outstanding computer science program placing our graduates with Google Microsoft the educational benefits of a data center are significant both for training our current students internships and job placements research opportunities and the like the University of Dallas wants to see the City of Irving Thrive even more than it already does and we're also convinced that a thriving University of Dallas is of benefit to that end of the univers of the City of Irving the the tax benefits are significant I'll let my colleagues talk about those for this kind of project you know that data centers are popping up all over the place but in the City of Irving there are no data centers that are directly connected to a university and that's one of the unique features of this particular project I want to say something about the way in which we have been particularly Keen to make sure that we're good neighbors to that that small and less well-known group The cian Monastery these cians um if you've heard of them at all you probably heard a little bit about their backstory their original Monastery was seized by a corrupt regime in Hungary in the 1950s and through a remarkable set of circumstances of eventually found themselves in Irving Texas when Bishop Gorman was helping to get the University of Dallas off the ground and they've been part of the university in a variety of ways you probably know they run a preparatory school that Preparatory School is interested in a data center as well you may not know that they were the world champion robotics team in 2023 and a close runner up this past year they're very Tech heavy very heavy in math and science I have been in regular conversation with the cians over the years exploring how best to use that tract of land that AB buts theirs their concern has to do with height and volume of individuals why are they concerned about that well they value their privacy and if you want to consider longevity you know they've been here since the 1950s but the cians take a fourth vow it's a vow of stability they a few years ago actually built a a um Mausoleum below their church and um disinterred their dead brothers so that they could be there on that plot of land that vow of stability means they're going to be there forever so the concerns have to do with height and busyness right around that tract of land they're very attracted to this idea of a data center certainly because of those educational benefits but this would be relatively low aesthetically pleasing and we will be working with them hand and glove as we consider the particular look and feel of this particular data center I am tremendously impressed in the way in which the City of Irving has been attracting businesses we are thriving with International as well as local businesses we see the data center project connected to not just any University but the only University in the City of Irving to be facilitating further growth uh growth Innovation and educational opportunities so I thank you for your consideration and the opportunity to speak and yield the rest of my time to my colleagues president Sanders before you leave thank thank you for your working with the city and working with us on this development we very very much value the relationship that we have with the University of Dallas we very much are excited about having the university within our community we don't always have the opportunity to thank you and to thank the school for all that it does for our community the the reputation that you have is is is stellar and it's it's a real asset to us and as we've moved forward on these discussions you have been extremely open to working with us and I am excited that you have had the relationship that you have with sersan so that we can make sure that we can provide them the security and the and the uh uh ability to be within themselves and be happy about where they live and where they will be forever so thank I wanted to personally thank you for the time that you have spent and the work that you have done to bring this project forward so thank you well thank you thank you mayor and um that the thanks is is truly Mutual you and and city manager Hillman and others have been tremendously helpful and we've been exploring this in unity with you so thank you for that and we look forward to the Partnerships that she'll have with this facility to to even provide even better and more qualified individuals to be in our community yeah thank you thank you Mr Mayor and Council my name is Bill dalstrom 2323 Ross Avenue and I'm not going to add very much I would like to thank Joselyn and and Ken Bloom for their assistance and helping us move this forward uh they've done a tremendous job with this and I and um again Dr Sanford thank you for your comments but I think it's also important I'd like to also identify Walt monford with KDC who is going to be our uh we're teaming up with KDC on this project and I'm sure you're all familiar with KDC and their high quality reputation I've been able to work with them on a couple projects but just here in Irving they've done the Wells Fargo office Hub the Pioneer natural resources headquarters floor Corporation Headquarters City Corp I mean very high quality uh developments here in the city Ben Gibbs with the University is also here again just want to thank you for this opportunity to talk to you about this very significant project as Dr Sanford said for the city and the university I wanted to address just a couple issues that had come up during the work session specifically uh taking the property out of P6 and why that's important I I think to reiterate what what the um City staff said in their presentation in their written materials this property is really physically separated from the rest of PUD 6 by Tom bran of Drive which is a six Lane divided minor arterial as shown on the city's thare plan it's also got 114 on the south side it's got flood plan on the North side so it really doesn't relate as much to P6 as the rest of the land in P6 so it it is physically separated and and does provide U it does again stand out as an island of its own and right across the highway is the University as as you all can see uh the flood plan I know that had become an issue and U Mr mford is probably going to be a lot more eloquent in addressing this issue since it's what he does but obviously we will not be bu building in a flood plane um any Reclamation for me to do any development we do or anybody if to P6 will have to conform to city and state regulations as to detention and drainage so at that I'd like to turn this over to Mr mford with KDC and allow him to make a further presentation thank you very much thank you yes we're very familiar with Steve anenberg and his uh yes thank you work in the City of Irving going way back to I remember probably the first project we worked on was the Nokia buildings and yeah no I prior to that my name is Walt mount for I'm I live at 5132 Horseshoe Trail in Dallas and that is one of the first things I want to tell you Steve would be here he had a family emergency that took him out of the country uh a couple days ago unfortunately but yes my my first project with KDC was the actually the associates building which which was which was on Royal I think in Los cleus Boulevard where we migrated them from from the Corp but yes there the Nokia building and the list goes on and on we I think we've got 5 million square fet of developed square footage in in Irving and we're hopeful that you're proud of some of the things that we've done and uh we'd like to maintain a high quality we think this is a this is a great fit for this site we think it works well I'm here to take any questions you might have about about the development specifically uh and so thanks so much okay well and and I appreciate the the role that the the university has played in supporting the Flood Control District that we have in this this area so they're very much aware of of the boundaries and things of that nature and very have been very active and played a major role in the certification of the levies as well as looking at the how we could reclaim land if there was something that could be done so I have uh full faith that you are very much aware uh from your past experience and serving in those roles if there's something we need to do within the flood plane that you're more than capable of addressing those issues and and aware of it um are there any questions with the applicant I just want make a statement I I have one question so the uh uh looking ahead I can certainly en Vision Tom branth being expanded is that something that you've taken into account as far as like considering an expansion of Tom braniff road going up from 114 to um K well we cross we've site planned in with the with the rideways that exist right now so if the if the city has planned for additional lanes and has that within the rideways that's what that's what we're presuming all right thank you Kyle yeah I just want to make a statement real quick um we've had several items come to us regarding PUD six I think this is a really good project I really do but to be consistent all the projects have come to us have been good projects but I've always wanted to maintain and hold the Integrity of put six so I'll be voting no on this and I don't want you think it's not because I think it's a good project it's just because of all the other knows that I've done with P six regarding my philosophy on where we should be with P six my family is involving with UD goes back to my grandmother who used to host exchange students that came from Thailand who were getting their master's degrees and phds from University of Dallas but I have voted a no on a number of different items that have come to us regarding P six so for that exact reason to be consistent and fair to everybody I'll be voting no on this so that's my statement okay I'd entertain a motion mayor we do have some other people that signed up to speak in opposition of this case oh okay Rick Gibbs I apologize I was here at the commission meeting and I was kind of shocked at what I saw this is a flood plane in May a lot of people on the Dallas side were flooded sir can you provide your name oh my name is Rick Gibbs 2807 Allen Street at Dallas Texas I'm from the dallis side we're the people that get flooded you're going to elevate this and push the water 3 to 6 Ines I heard them say something about a 500y year FEMA well when I walked there two weeks ago I was walking through uh 3 and 6 in of water in that whole 33 Acres of land so you're going to push maybe half of that to 2third of that over onto Luna Vista Golf Course uh uh Macho storage area Texas U um National Guard all these entities there's many more that's already already getting flooded the streets are getting flooded and still I went by there this afternoon the river is still at the flood stage it's not into this pressure relief valve area of 33 Acres that they want to build on but a few weeks ago it was um the I am a data center designer I have been featured in the Dallas Morning News I have been featured in the computer World magazine I have worked with Texas Instruments designing the largest data center in the world I have worked with City Bank I have worked with MCI WorldCom I have worked with McAfee all their data centers none of these people would put a data center in a flood plane next to a flood plane or raise an area flood their neighbors they just will not do that so um I am very much as a data center designer against this thank you very much thank you next speaker Garrett Boon followed by Mike Austin and that'll be it thank you thank you my name is Garrett Boon I live at 2417 loving Avenue in Dallas sorry but I've been working the el4 for the last 8 years I know it very well I know what what causes to flood and what doesn't cause it to flood my concern about this I mean Rick already said it this is a flood plane there's water there you can't build this data center on on the grade you're going to have to raise it and the question is you're going to raise it 2 feet 5et or 10 feet and I this area also even if it is a very important safety valve for flooding around there even this this area if there was an ex remem weather event this area would fill up with storm water and would slow it down before it's released in the triny river to mitigate the flooding of the properties that that uh that Rick talked about the most important thing is there's a man named Jerry Cotter Jerry Cotter was is retired from the core of engineers but he um spent four years studying the Watershed of the of the Elm Fork or the the Western Watershed of the triny river and he came to the conclusion that the tables the flood tables are totally out they're not realistic anymore a 500e flood plane might be a 100-year flood plane a 5,000 year flood plane might be a thousand your flood plane and there's two reasons one is because climate is increasingly unpredictable and there are extreme events that can that can bring things on you've never seen before the other is the whole Watershed of the Trinity River is being covered over in development rampant development and even though it's supposed to be done under the offices of the State of Texas storm water perit is not happening these cities are so hellbent to expand to get Revenue they're ignoring it either they don't know about it they don't have the people to do it or they're just flat ignoring it so the water the storm water levels coming down to Dallas and Irving are going to be increasing every year and that's going to change the characteristics site I I love University of Dallas I love this project I wish I thought this site would work but I highly recommend that someone contact Jerry cter he's retired now but I think he maybe going to be doing some Consulting and to ask him about this the issue of the storm water and what he thinks about it I think it would be a very prudent thing to do thank you very much last speaker Mike Austin the officer right there please the microphone if you would please state your name and please state your name and address my name is Michael Austin I'm from uh 6122 Ridge Crest Road Dallas Texas 75231 can I get a speaker over there no can I move this over here what do you you could I just don't want on this what do you want to do I was told I could show a demonstration well you can go ahead and do it and then tell us what you did this water represents uh this water represents uh water in the river and it also represents uh the flood plan so I'm going to fill up this one container it's just thought of this coming over here so I haven't really practiced this so forgive me try to fill it up as much as I can to the top and this represents the jobs the tax dollars that they're bringing in love the idea but what um let's see what Mr rck s you mentioned about the dart the dark V you spoken about the economical development sir and you so spoke about equality and or inequality Tyler u k Taylor you voted no tonight on item 25 about the alcohol you mentioned that it was in the wrong location matter of fact I think everybody did so here's the river at the regular height here's your building sir pouring it in everything's looking good now one minute remaining got a minute left remind me river is that high everything's looking good the flood plane rain's come I'm BR you I got a little bit a little bit on the table but what do we do with the rest of the water G to come to Dallas love the idea I love the idea in irvan wonderful you guys took a lot of thought about that dark boat I was for those kids I was like yeah I'm I'm clapping I'm excited I was forign but then you said everybody did their home work up here we thought about it and Dallas is pretty much crapping on us we've got to send a message completely agree you guys did your homework on that I ask you to do your homework on this this sugar in here represents the tax dollars and the jobs we all want thank you Mr Austin but it really is salt and it leaves a better taste thank you that was our last speaker well first of all one of the things you need to understand is at one point about 70% of the City of Irving was underwater that's why we have all the flood districts that we have within the City of Irving whether it's in Valley Ranch whether it's in Los kleis whether it's in the Dallas County area and other places the way that we have operated over the years is we do work with the Corp of Engineers and there are the permits that would need to be done and and before uh anything would be built in the the flood plane there would have to be a approval by the core of engineers uh they would have to have the permit which probably will take anywhere from 12 to 24 months to get through the the federal government now that's basically what we do as a as a city when comes to those type of things and and as I mentioned earlier the University of Dallas has been very active as a member in that Flood Control District and they are very aware of the requirements by the federal government they uh were very active in if you also notice that area the levy has been raised and rebuilt over the last few years to uh take care of this exact problem that you're talking about there were times in the in the past where it wasn't at the level that it should have been and it wasn't maintained at that level uh and there was challenging with the certification of it so that was something that dollars were uh uh allocated by raising the tax rate in that facil in that district and uh they worked with Albert hen Associates is the engineering company they've uh they've been very active I I'm very much aware of the flood control district and Valley Ranch I served on that board for many years I also lived there I've been there for 34 years uh and the engineers and the uh cooperation that they have with the core of engineers is extremely important for them to make sure that the levy is certified on a regular basis to meet the standards for the 500y year plus certain amount of freeboard so many feet that they have allocated for that as well so uh well I understand your your thoughts and your concerns I know that this is not something that they're going to move forward with without having the those type of things in place I I would refer back to the I'm I'm probably speaking out of turning speaking for you so I would probably be better to have you come up and and and let them know if I am saying or doing anything wrong uh no I don't think you were at all you know there's there's a there's a kind of a Litany of of checks on checks and balances on this thing where we've got to go through FEMA the first thing is that we have to do a hydrological study which is an analysis which we've recently completed and essentially it's it's it's keeping the the tract virtually the way it is right now it's a 33 acre tract right and and 21 of it are are essentially out of the 500e flood plane and so that leaves 12 that's that's wet there's really nothing we can do about the 12 that that's wet but ultimately all of this all of this analysis needs to get run through FEMA and go through that two-year process and that's exactly what we're going to do I mean we there that's not a mystery for us or it's certainly not something that uh we're uh we're we're Sid stepping at all and we've done we've got the preliminary analysis that's really one of the key things and I'll just digress by saying we we've worked extensively with Encore to to substantiate and confirm the power that's deliverable to the site obviously there's a lot of fiber in the infrastructure that's that's adjacent to the site so so the due diligence has been been significant and and poignant and and we're going to continue on the hydrological side as well and and our engineering uh people here on staff will not certify anything unless they have the certification from the core of engineers that you have met the standards we've had people come in to us and say hey we've taken this out of the flood plane it's it looks good everything's wonderful but they never went to FEMA and got it approved so it's not something that our Engineers would approve unless they had the FEMA approval prior to that regardless of how it looked so I just wanted to make people feel better about the fact that the city is going to make sure that there is the FEMA has the approval on it the core of engineers has the approval on it and that it has been certified before we would even consider moving forward and and working with you over the years know that you would not bring it forward to us until you had that done as well and and you mentioned half Associates we're working with kimley horn who's another kind of equally credible uh hydrological firm that does this type of work so yeah they were just the ones that worked on the district I believe uh for the most recent certification so it's always been an interest of mine and so I pretty much know what's going on with the districts and this in the City of Irving because everyone always worries about flood insurance because we have areas in the city that are not managed by a flood District but because of the drainage through that we have homes that flood so we've we've spent in the last few years hundreds of thousands if not or hundreds of close to hundreds of millions of dollars taking homes out of the flood plane within the City of Irving as well so that those residents will be able to not pay that extra money for flood insurance so we're very much aware of the water situations and how it affects the residents and the businesses within the city of Irving yeah absolutely thank you so much Brad yeah I think I would sound typically with Kyle on PUD six but I always had kind of wondered about this piece just really because of ction and kind of the space that they have and I know what their goals have been and I think they have some approval rights on what happens any anyway and so a high intense use would not be appropriate for for that property it wouldn't be befitting kind of their legacy and um the the uses that they have going on um and this being a lower intense use um occasionally it's nice to have somebody who wants the data centers and neighbor so you know I think that's that's appreciated I'd only say be careful with with uh Tom bran of Speedway over there it's people come flying down there um so who knows if there will be a redesign Mark but I think I think that'd be helpful at some point so and Bill I didn't recognize you with the the goatee but um welcome back so thank you okay no further questions I'd entertain a motion Mark yeah I think it's a a great project and I think it is a unique location at that site even though it's in P PUD six and right the the stions have that right of uh of disapproval for anything that might come in there and so we can't reasonably expect there to be a retail or something very commercial at that site so I think the this this uh data center fits what the needs for the site and I would make a motion to approve a motion to have a second second uh would you please vote it's going to be a little different here because we're short so it passes uh 6 to1 that takes us to the let me just say thank you I do recognize the the complexity of PUD six and the challenge there this is a a unique site and I really appreciate the support thanks very much okay that takes us to uh item number 40 which is Orin ordinance 2024 20205 zc considering a zoning change from PUD 6 master plan development number six track G transit or devel mixed use office to SP2 M l2a generalized site plan light industrial 20a for data center uses and excluding certain uses at 1301 and 1351 East John Carpenter Freeway again councilman BL and councilman zapon will be uh abstaining from this uh we've heard the presentation do we have speakers on this one as well no additional speakers no speakers on this and we've heard the presentation uh I'd entertain a motion motion oh sure Dennis go I'm sorry yeah I got a comment first um and I I will vote to support this but also want to make this statement because for ever since we started talking about PUD six and the vision of PUD six and um and um how we want certain things in put six um I noticed the applicant is requesting to remove if I'm correct this property from PUD six uh and I know if I vote against it that'll be going against what I just said that I'm going to support it so I won't do that but I do want to make this statement uh that if we so we've gone down this road and we're going down this road of removing properties out of put six and so I think we need to make sure that we we we realize we're setting a precedent we're setting a precedent for future developers who come and say I want to remove this out of P six and we need to keep that in mind so we've let the we let the horse you know out of the stable and at the end of the day uh because we had a case six months ago who wanted to remove their case their parcel out of P six and we said no well y'all said no um so I just want to you know keep make sure we keep that in mind I will support it you know um but I just want to make sure and I just want to make that statement because I guarantee you we will have some other developers coming with the same request to remove something out of PUD six and we need to think back back to this night when we're making decisions okay motion as as I said in in the work session all the parcels and all all Parcels of property are different and so you can look you have to look at the Char characteristics of each one and make an evaluation just B based on that you can't say that all of PUD six everything throughout is exactly the same it's not so so I'll make a motion to approve have a motion SEC motion and a second would you please vote and it passes 6 to1 thank you thank everybody for staying with us we have one more left uh 2024 211 zc considering a zoning change from SP2 generalized sight plan to community commercial SP2 with generalized site plan Community commercial with a parking variance to reduce minimum parking requirements for retail tail Center and indoor for amusement uses at 1080 and 1100 West LBG LBJ Freeway U make sure that Al and uh John are back with us and they are do we have the applicant with us yes good evening good evening good good evening uh Mr Mayor city council and uh city manager thank you for inviting me to speak in in behalf of this particular case um I Al also want to say my name is Karim Kazar I also go by Abdul Karim Kosar um I live in 3126 Spring Creek Trail Prosper Texas in the border of uh seleno and prosper um I want to say thank you city of iring for allowing us to present and speak on behalf of our case we also I appreciate all the support and help from the City of Irving Planning and Zoning in commissions inspections and permits mayor and council members as well as our citizens who may support or oppose this case um with the letter of authorization in file from the alpha shopping center landlord we have presented our parking variance case to the City of Irving pnz unfortunately pnz did not appr was because I only had 5 minutes to present and I was not able to go through the entire presentation that I wanted to present right now so I appreciate the uh opportunity so put the page down just make sure that I can get my technology right in here why it's not moving the arrow to the right sorry it's not moving there I need to go more up use the wheel oh okay oh wheel wheel is better than the wheel is better than moving the mouse thank you so much I appreciate it um obviously I did my introduction the agenda as follows the purpose uh shopping center legal description variance request justification and exibits which is are consistent of pictures and videos I must say that uh my whole Focus during the commissioner pnz meeting was to present the case as a shopping center but I got lot of questions about this particular establishment that we have within that shopping center so I'm prepared to talk about that in this presentation um from the shopping center owner Mr Sor Management corporation Mr Sor is the owner of that um the tenant is suite number 100 on the 1100 West LBJ Freeway and uh I am the presenter with a letter of authorization from the landlord to speak in behalf of the shopping center because my um establishment that is in there has brought up these questions U again this is the picture of the shopping center that that we are talking about and our establishment is right around this corner purpose as requested we have prepared the letter of justification outlining our uh requirements to obtain pnz approval and necessary permits to allow us to begin development in the subject shopping center for the uh Alpha shopping center which I explained under pnz direction we have provided comprehensive charts of Shopping Center Parking showing the physical parking spaces for for the subject shopping center as well as the ratio and allocated parking spaces this is a legal description I don't need to go through that but everybody knows there where the shopping center is located and my apology is that I didn't know I needed to be there to present during a working session that I had inquired about it but they said that I would only get 3 minutes and 3 minutes was not going to be enough for me to present um variance request as it is is a total required part in space ratio for shopping center per City guidelines which was established by Planning and Zoning while back is 132 um total alloc so what our requirements is 132 total allocated parking space for the shopping suit is8 with physical spaces available is 111 if we multiply if we subtract 132 from 111 all we are really talking about is 21 spaces in the deserted shopping center that there's ample parking is available um these are ratios there are only four establishments there uh there's obviously our indoor amusement place which we have been after permits and there's most of them been um from our side the delays uh because of the persons that we had in charge did not really follow the city process so I took over to follow the city process um our establishment 6900 Square ft with allocated parking space of 42 however we only going to be using 4,000 of that square feet the rest of them is just empty office spaces so that's one thing that I did not get a chance to mention in um uh pnz commissioner meeting the restaurant that's there it has 46 allocated spaces there's a nail salon which has eight spaces and there's another restaurant that's being established and being constructed has 22 spaces justifications based on our review of chart and the usage of the parking spaces by the occupied suits and businesses multiple observation and multiple observation of the shopping center and traffics and facts Gathering we believe that there are ample parking spaces available which we strongly believe will can justify the approval of of the shopping center variance case which we're talking about only 20 21 parking spaces justification number one not all suits at the shopping center are using the physical parking spaces and their allocated parking spaces are not fully utilized during different times of the operation we have not observed that any suits and businesses Al located within the shopping center has ever utilized the full parking spaces during the years of operation that is B based on the observation of landlord observation and the facts submitted in this case the these next couple of points I added because I was asked about um our shopping center our establishment in that shopping center the ISL Entertainment Group LLC Su 100 pck operation hours Falls outside of the other establishments operating hours thus they have plenty of spaces for the potential members who are visiting our facil four number four while the requirements for again I added this after the commissioner's meeting while the requirements for indoor amusement is 69 parking spaces we are only using 4,000 square ft of internal Amusement facility this was not discussed the the pnz presentation as the focus was on the entire shopping center but we were asked about about our suite number 100 that is located in shopping center where the variance focus is hence the next couple of points explains the particulars establishments in question the ISL Entertainment Group Su 100 is internal am uh indoor amusement will will have a benefit for the area as it will a employ workers B allow citizens to have a place nearby to spend time for recreation and enjoyment which is there is nothing around that area currently C we will provide additional Safety and Security to the shopping center which I don't believe it is right now um well allocated D we will help to keep shopping center to have more attractive view with signage and lightnings that is under my supervision and Direction as a general manager for that facility e we will provide valid and Oran organized parking coordination F we will we will provide more superclass view to the shopping center and G the facility will not be Zone to will not Zone to serve alcohol hence alcohol is not served okay um one additional item I want to add is that we believe this facility will bring tax tax saving tax dollars to the city we employ workers we believe that we I am uh tremendous support of our First Responders we believe that we you know this First Responders will have a place to go we will to we will arrange for tournaments of a charity tournament Etc as well in that facility which there's nothing in that area currently this is the uh picture of the facility that we have as you can see we will not we will only you see the tables right here and the area right here that is the only area going to be using we are not using the rest of this area which is I believe pnz was focusing on 6900 Square ft we only be using about 4,000 of this square fet area so that means we are theoretically retain the guidelines of the requirements of the parking space these are the pictures that taken these are exhibit one pictures that taken during the um time that I have visited and my colleagues have visited in multiple times uh this is kind of showing the front of the shopping center this is in the side of the shop shopping center this is the back shopping center so when I meant deserted this is what I meant by deserted so 21 allocated additional spaces that I'm looking for and desperately need after about six seven months spending time um with the landlord with the rest of the team is not really much that I'm asking for now i' like to ex uh thank you so much for listening to me I'd like to now show you the some of the videos that we have collected and I want to say thank you Mr Fernando for helping me organize these videos and bringing them to to light the first video is introduct introductory videos of the place not now what is this there you go are are you doing it for me okay thank you I'll let you do it good afternoon this is now uh 610 p.m. on Jun June 11th 2024 uh we are referencing uh again variance uh applications for parking variance parking application for the uh City of Irving for the shopping center located at 1100 West LBJ Freeway aing Texas 75063 VAR application number 224 d211 zc as you can see at 6:11 p.m. still there's ample parking considering uh just one restaurant and Nail Spot there's only two cars in there um the Indian restaurant only uh six cars in there and this is my car right here I'm going to the back again as as you can see the front has ample parking sprace I am going to the back to take a video of the back of the building again to demonstrate if uh there's anybody parked there so um again in this peak hours there are ample parking space none of the establishment in here are utilizing the allocated parking space that they have for them again this is Wednesday June 11th uh 6:10 p.m. and and uh we will continue one more recording at 8:00 p.m. 8 around 8:30 p.m. here uh and subsequent recording again on the on Saturday and or Sunday again look uh parking is completely empty none of the establishment are using any of the front parking of the back parking so we have a lot of overflow of the parking available and there's opening to Target shopping center we can stop and we can go to the next one in the interest of time you do have about eight minutes left on your 20 minutes thank you so much yeah I I managed that these videos will good afternoon this very short video is in reference to pnz um parking variance application or shopping center located at 1100 West LBJ Freeway Irving Texas 75063 we can stop that one the purpose of this video is to show you how empty it's the same thing uh yes that that that is the correct one please yes is June 23rd 2024 the time is 104 p.m. [Music] this is the back back of the shopping center you can stop that please Mr Fernando we can go to the next one can we go to the one on the uh 20 22nd at uh 8:49 p.m. [Music] please this is Saturday business is supposed to be a busiest time is Saturday June 22nd 2024 the time is 8:49 p.m. yeah we we can stop that one sorry yeah okay can can we go to the 23rd at uh at 9 9:18 p.m. please June 23rd 2024 9:18 p.m. again this is the shopping center it's supposed to be in the busiest time of the day on Saturday this is the front of the shopping center okay we we can stop that please in the interest of time we can go to uh 9:20 p.m. please that's the last one I would like to demonstrate June 23rd [Music] 2024 9:20 [Laughter] p.m. now he's driving to the back of the shopping center again at that 9:20 p.m. which as I mentioned in my presentation it's a peaked operating time for us and all Thea lishments are closed at this time so there's again ample parking space available as you will see this is the back of the shopping center I believe that's that's enough I think I uh presented you know videos not unless the councils they would like to see anything else from that perspective the last comment from my side um we again something that was missed by the know pnz commissioner meeting was we are talking about 4,000 square fet of that space which is well within range of the parking availability and parking guidelines of the city and the additional spaces we are not utilizing at all because there a couple of off officer spaces that there are in there so most of the population will be in the 4,000 square ft that we have mentioned thank you so much for your time I really appreciate your listening and I know you're tired after hard day at work but thank you so much and one more thing I want to mention I used to live the first place I lived in my life when I came to the um United States was Washington then Durant Oklahoma I went to Southeastern Oklahoma State Unity but my first job was in okones radus and I was living in apartments in 183 so I'm trying to come back home thank you so much Al did you Al did you have a question yeah if there's no other comments I'd have a motion mayor I got a question uh Dennis has some questions what is your hours of operation hours we we are planning to be 7 by 247 247 24/7 sorry 247 yes sir okay so uh you showed the pictures of the videos of the front of the shopping center how do you guarantee that your patrons are not going to use up all of those parking spaces in front of the shopping center because of you're open 24 hours okay and then some of them business don't open till 9:30 to 10 I find it hard to believe that your patrons who show up and whatever time they show up is not going to get those first spaces in front of the building and regardless of how how long they stay there they may be there till whatever 11: 12:00 and so the people coming in to these normal businesses don't have nowhere to park they got to go all way to the back of the building to park because your Patron's got all the parking space how do you guarantee that's not going to happen great question I think I believe I answered that we going to have organization we're going to have organized activities in there we're going to have a valet parking where we're going to be preventing some of the parking spaces that occupied by those businesses during those hours again our Peak operational hours are our Peak operational hours where the people is going to be in there after their work about 8 9:00 at night where nail salon is closed restaurant is about to close so the front will be available however we will also have the valet parking that's that was in our intention to put the Val parking in there to prevent something like that that you're mentioning so do you know kind of what percentage of your building your 4,000 foot would be occupied say from 5:00 a.m. to 10 a.m. from 5:00 a.m. to 10: p.m. I would say probably 10. 10:00 a.m. 5 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 a.m. Pro probably I would say about we will not be completely full at all time probably be about 50 to 60% of the capacity based done my observation of the similar establishments that there are in other areas of the city for example Texas cart has has almost a similar operations to to what we have and when you go over there during the but they're bigger right they have 25 tables where it say us we going to have 15 tables or probably nine tables full at any one time so they are bigger however but I I have observed it again I didn't bring a video of that but their their pick operation hours you know again is from 9:00 p.m. to you know 2: a.m. right so there's other other times that they're not that busy during the normal business hours okay so you say 50 to 60% of the capacity during that 5:00 a.m. to 10: a.m. correct what did they equate to in people I'm sorry what that equate to in people oh if I 50 to 60% I would say about probably about 30 to 40 people 30 to 40 people 30 to 40 people so we're talking 25 vehicles 25 to you know maybe maybe maximum let's say 30 35 Vehicles probably my my concern is you know people are creatures of habit and I'm one of those I'm not going to park on the back of that building and walk all the way around to the front but I can pull in there at 5:00 in the morning there's a spot there and I plan to be there till 9:00 or 10:00 I just can see that the other businesses are not are going to have a parking issue because your patrons are going to use all those parking spaces uh at the time that they're coming to their business and the customers that's going to be coming to those businesses are going to be forced to have to go all the way to the back of that building and that's a long way to that back and then walk around uh to the front so that's that's that's my concern that I understand your concern 100% as I mentioned we going to have an organized activ where we going to have the valet we going to make sure that even on those operational hours that those OP those places operate we will have the valy to direct the people to the bag or the valet will take him to the bag the valet is complimentary now they can pay the tips because we have seen it in other locations they can pay the tip to the valet if they want to if they don't want to we we paying the valet person so any other questions we'll go back to Al you want to make a motion yes I U one comment sure the whole rear end of that whole parking if you look at it it's also residential that's on the the other side of it and that's within about 50 ft so at this time I would uh move that for denial for 202 24-21 zc considering zoning change from SP2 c-c generalized site plan Community commercial to sp-2 c-c generalized site plan second C can can I make a comment residential there is nothing it's all the back end the area is for the our shopping center is not residential C yes it is okay yes it is okay we have a motion in a second would you please vote for [Music] denial all right thank you so much okay the next item is resolution selecting mayor proem and deputy mayor proem who are the victims item 42 I move to appoint Dennis web as mayor Pro Tim and John blotch as Deputy Mayor protim we have a motion in a second would you please vote can I vote yeah you can vote you can vote for yourself yeah V too late man item 43 I move to make the following appointments to the Irving Hospital Authority board appoint Blair Robinson and reappoint Mark P Andrew Susie fan and John P West to terms expiring June 30th 2026 second we have a motion of a second would you please vote and it passed unanimously under the mayor's report I did want to just uh thank again the staff uh Chris and his team the parks team and all of the uh different uh organizations within the Departments within the City of Irving for their commitment to the Stars and Stripes Fourth of July and we would like to show the video because I know a couple people have wanted to have it shown so we'll go ahead and show it and the residents that want to speed through all of this so they can see it they'll be able to Sparks and Stripes lighting up an unforgettable night a masterful show of 525 drones and the first public show of its kind with pyrot Technics it kicked off an eventful two-day celebration and Irving of America's Independence I love the 4th of July me too around 6,500 revelers of all ages packed Ley event Plaza for the fireworks and drone show on July 3rd then thousands more gathered in the Heritage district for the annual parade on July 4th featuring more than 50 entries our Parks crew they knock it out every time but they can't do it without the support of our Police Department our fire department our streets scws even our code enforcement our Solid Waste teams are out here it's an all handson deck approach because in Irving if we're going to do it we're going to do it right after the parade attendees enjoyed live music and the city provided slices from 36 watermelons plus 1,000 mini pies with 12 lucky participants competing in a pieing contest I think counil Taylor was just in the water not too long ago there was also a dunking booth that featured some highly acclaimed guests but it was Wednesday night's aerial entertainment grabbing Buzz across the country a video of this drone eagle with 18 pyrot Technics has more than 80 million views on social media this is a dream for us it just really shows the greatness of this city the diversity of this city and events like this are just really what makes it great for people to live in urvan because there's nothing more American than a selfie in front of firworks Irving Sparks and Stripes two-day event allowed residents to celebrate freedom and have an absolute blast [Music] all right and again congratulations to the team all right it's 11:21 and we are adjourned and this old guy's got to find a restroom I'm going