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Review and discuss the draft multi-family development policy
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BACKGROUND:
Why create a multi-family development policy? First of all, the City is committed to providing for a diversity of housing types, whether it be single family or multi-family. Housing diversity also contributes to a community's vibrancy, and provides housing options for persons at various stages of their life. Secondly, multi-family development continues to be a highly requested land use given the population growth and overall increasing economic development that is occurring throughout the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, and Farmers Branch is no different. Many of the City's long-range planning policies, such as the East Side Plan, identify "high quality multi-family development" as a recommended land use. Since long-range planning documents address land use policies at a higher level or broader perspective, it is appropriate to consider adopting supplemental planning policies that further define certain types of land use development desired. If higher quality multi-family development is desired by a community, then what does that really mean?
Given the continued requests for multi-family development within Farmers Branch, combined with the City's desire for high-quality development, at the recommendation of staff, City Council directed staff to create a multi-family development policy at their September 17, 2019 meeting. The goal of this policy is to ensure that new multi-family development be of high quality and incorporate best practices that are appropriate to Farmers Branch as well as the specific site, while still providing some flexibility recognizing that not all sites and areas are created equally.
The use of this policy will provide staff, developers, the Planning & Zoning Commission (Commission), and City Council with better direction and defined expectations related to multi-family developments to ensure priorities identified by the City are addressed. This supp...
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