Diversity in Housing - Frisco is a community comprised of many different people from a wide variety of backgrounds, lifestyles, occupations and age groups. We need to be able to offer different housing options to this diverse group. Does that mean larger lots, smaller lots, bigger yards, smaller yards, affordable housing, etc.? There is no easy answer to that question except to say we need to offer a variety of product to meet the needs of all of our citizens.

Multi-family units have been a hot issue and while it is true that we were zoned for about 60,000 apartments in 2000, many of these will never be built for a variety of reasons. City Council has worked hard to reduce this number to close to under 20,000 at the end of 2006 and our goal is to be around 15,000, according to our master plan. We have somewhere in the neighborhood of 5,000 apartments currently and I ensure you that I am not in favor of additional apartments unless they are part of a unique, multi-use development. I have no desire to see any more stand alone apartment complexes built in Frisco. The city of Frisco has done an excellent job in putting limitations on unrestricted growth of apartment complexes and we will continue to do so.

Developers need to have the freedom to be creative to offer different size lots and houses within a particular development, while meeting requirements for open space. As a city, we have not always given the development community, and ultimately the citizens who buy these houses, the needed flexibility and options to vary the location of houses on a lot, the amount of coverage on a lot, etc. 'Cookie cutter' developments should be discouraged and unique looks to houses and neighborhoods should be encouraged.

When I was a Planning and Zoning Commissioner prior to being elected to the City Council, I fully supported ordinances that were passed in 2001 that have helped establish residential neighborhoods with more open space, create safer street designs and ensure that natural beauty such as trees and creeks are maintained throughout new developments.

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Last Updated: July 2007