Here are four new updates that have come from Plano City Council and Plano’s planning and zoning commission.
1. Plano commission approves preliminary site plan for 242-unit independent living facility
A new Watermere facility passed another step in development after Plano’s planning and zoning commission approved its preliminary site plan at a meeting Aug. 17. The independent living facility from Integrated Senior Lifestyles is planned to have 242 units within a 5-story building, according to city documents, with one and two-bedroom options. Aging-in-place seniors are contributing to Plano’s housing shortage, according to a city housing study conducted in 2023, due to a lack of senior housing options in the city.
2. City of Plano’s tax rate proposed to remain the same for FY 2026-27
Plano City Council proposed a tax rate of $0.4376 per $100 valuation for FY 2026-27, the same rate as the previous fiscal year, at a meeting Sept. 14. Plano Director of Budget and Performance Management Karen Rhodes-Whitley said the city proposed a “no-new revenue” property tax rate from 2019 to 2022. Legislative uncertainties led to a tax-rate increase for the first time since 2009 last year, per previous reporting. Rhodes-Whitley said when property values go up, the no-new revenue rate goes down. When property values go down, the no-new revenue rate goes up.
3. Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone for Legacy area expands by nearly 1.8k acres
Plano City Council approved the expansion of a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, or TIRZ, in its Legacy area at a meeting Aug. 24. Director of Special Project Peter Braster said the initial boundary for Plano’s TIRZ 5 was created to focus on redevelopment at the former Electronic Data Systems campus. Braster said the city focused the expansion on the business area of the Legacy district, but excluded Legacy West and Granite Park. Local governments use a TIRZ to assist economic development in a specific area, per city documents.
4. No parking area near downtown Plano now in effect
Plano residents will now see city enforcement of a no parking zone along a section of 10th street in downtown Plano. The city placed no parking signs Sept. 1 along a section of 10th street near Iron Avenue, and is located near the DART Silver Line. The section was recommended to be a no parking zone to remove visibility obstructions for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians near Cotton Belt Trail per city documents, and violators may be fined.