Opponents Vow To Fight Plano's Comprehensive Development Plan
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PLANO (CBS 11 NEWS) - The future of the City of Plano is up for a vote Monday night. City leaders will decide what form the city's growth will take in the years to come.
Projects like the new Legacy West development will bring more than 600 new apartments and 300,000 square feet of restaurants, retail and entertainment, but some in Plano say new development needs to be strictly controlled before the city changes for the worse.
Plano's Shops At Legacy is often cited as a model of mixed use development that brings together retail and residential space that attracts many looking for new homes. But opponents of the city's new comprehensive plan say they're not worried about the high quality projects.
"Instead what we're tending to see are projects that are just slapped together by builders that are promised as mixed use, and they end up being largely just dense apartments," said Jim Dillavou, who opposes the city's new comprehensive plan.
Dillavou has been fighting the city's Plano Tomorrow Plan for months. He points to apartment developments across Plano he says are growing out of control, and he believes the city's plan will encourage more of the same.
"We want a plan that provides vision that allows us to develop in new ways, to remain relevant as a city and to provide housing options and retail options that are good for our citizens," Jamee Jolly said.
Jolly heads the Plano Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber endorsed the city's plan. Jolly says as more corporations move to Plano, the city needs to be prepared to accommodate new employees, but Dillavou says they can live somewhere else.
"If they want a new home, they're moving to Frisco, Allen, McKinney because Plano just doesn't have any room left for new housing," Dillavou said.
"I don't think it is realistic. With traffic the way it is, and with the fast growth that we have in North Texas, people want the quality of life. They want to be able to have a short commute, possibly even walk to work. They don't want to spend their life sitting in a car on a freeway or a tollway," Jolly said.
Plano's Planning and Zoning Commission will take up the vote Monday night. If the plan passes, it will go to city council for final approval next month.
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