The Richardson City Council met Monday, February 2, 2026. There was one agenda item that I particularly wanted to witness. That was: "9. PRESENT AND DISCUSS THE CITY COUNCIL’S CURRENT DEVELOPMENT PRIORITIES." I'll get to it in a minute, but let's dispense with the other agenda items first, or at least the one I have something to say about.
"7. REVIEW AND DISCUSS THE RICHARDSON PUBLIC LIBRARY RENOVATION PROJECT." It turns out the basement of the library has a water seepage problem that is going to take $1,176,794 to fix. Given that the library had a chronic problem of a leaky foundation, it seems like maybe this expense should have been foreseen in the original budget. However, the budget has enough cushion to absorb this expense, so I won't make too big a deal about it. Still, to paraphrase Senator Everett Dirksen, a million here and a million there and pretty soon you're talking about real money.
Now, about those development priorities...
The "development priorities" weren't specific projects. It was more, "Which is more important, a strict enforcement of regulations, or promoting economic development opportunities?" I found this to be a false dilemma. We should have both: regulations that promote economic development and strict enforcement of those regulations. If the regulations don't promote economic development opportunities, then we should change the regulations, not relax enforcement. If the regulations are weak and lead to developers bringing bad projects to the city, then we should toughen the regulations.
Instead of the usual seven people talking as if they know everything, some of the council members seemed to express a desire to rely more on the professional experience of staff. Council doesn't have to accept staff's advice, but they definitely should ask staff to make formal recommendations. That's not part of the culture today.
At times, council members were wary about the size of the task they were taking on. Richardson's Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance was adopted in 1956, with only patches to it made since. A comprehensive update is a big job, but it's long overdue. Council member Joe Corcoran expressed a desire for the council to spend more time developing policy and less time reviewing, say, individual plans for drive through restaurants. Staff research showed that the council heard applications for 25 special permits since 2023 (e.g., childcare centers, private schools, drive-through restaurants, auto-related uses, etc.)
I've long championed a revision to zoning regulations to allow more uses by right, with strict zoning guardrails governing density and size to prevent unconstrained clustering of uses in certain locations (e.g., [cough, cough] chicken restaurants at Plano Rd and Belt Line Rd). Without explicit density and size limitations, council members lack an argument to reject a single applicant when similar businesses are operating right next door.
At the end of the night, the council gave the green light to city staff to begin a review of Richardson's comprehensive zoning ordinance. Hallelujah. It's decades overdue.
"Nineteen fifty-six.
Zoning patched until threadbare.
Maps unfold slowly."
—h/t ChatGPT
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