Double Dose of Monday Meetings
In a crazy twist of fate, both Highland Park and University Park will have council meetings on Monday, with the HP Town Council convening at 4 p.m. and the UP City Council meeting at 5 p.m.
Dan and I are going to do a best of three rock-paper-scissors bout to see who will go to each meeting. Can I get the over/under on that?
In University Park, more Bush Center business is on the agenda, and the council will discuss special conditions within the zoning ordinance (Steve Mace tells me that on Monday, the council will still be tweaking the ordinance. Formal vote won’t occur until the 22nd). You can read the ordinance the council will discuss at the March 8 meeting here, but I’ve provided the Cliff Notes version of some notable considerations below if you are so inclined:
The P&Z Commission’s changes to the conceptual site plan are highlighted, with the parking lots being the first major issue: 25 percent of the spots for compact cars, the east lot (heading north on Bodeker, this lot is to the right) will have signs prohibiting right turns into the neighborhood and a limited curb radius, and the main overflow parking facility will be the SMU garage at Airline Road and SMU Boulevard.
Next big issue is mandatory parking studies to be paid for by the Bush Foundation. The first one will be required no later than six months after the Bush Presidential Center is issued a certificate of occupancy. The second is required after three years of occupancy. The studies will measure the center’s impact on traffic in and around the neighborhoods, and could help the city determine whether the foundation should work on traffic abatement.
Mace says that after the City Council separates the wheat from the chaff in the March 8 discussion, the final version of the ordinance will be on the March 22 meeting agenda.
