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O-1105-5-92ORDINANCE NO. 1105-5-92 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ALLEN, COLLIN COUNTY, TEXAS, ADOPTING THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN WHICH SETS FORTH GOALS AND POLICY STATEMENTS ON LAND USE, TRANSPORTATION, HOUSING, PARKS, COMMUNITY FACILITIES, URBAN DESIGN, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ENVIRONMENT, HUMAN AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND GOVERNMENT SERVICES. WHEREAS, the Planning and Zoning Commission and the governing body of the City of Allen recognize the need for an update to the 1985 Comprehensive Plan to guide the growth and development of the community; and, WHEREAS, a citizen's survey was completed and the results were used by the Comprehensive Plan Survey Review Committee as a major resource tool in developing an update to the Comprehensive Plan and many of the highlights are summarized in the appendix of that document; and, WHEREAS, the Plan is the culmination of an inordinate amount of effort on the part of the Review Committee and the City Staff; and, WHEREAS, the Review Committee took action to recommend the enclosed plan to the City Council; and, WHEREAS, the Planning & Zoning Commission and the governing body of the City of Allen held a joint public hearing on April 14, 1992, and subsequently recommended that the interests of the City were best served by adopting the recommended update to the Comprehensive Plan; and, WHEREAS, the proposed Comprehensive Plan has received favorable recommendation of the Planning and Zoning Commission; and, WHEREAS, the City Council, after due investigation and consideration, finds and declares that the adoption of the revised Comprehensive Plan is in the best interests of the City of Allen; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ALLEN, TEXAS: SECTION 1: That the attached Comprehensive Plan, dated May 21, 1992, is hereby adopted. SECTION 2: That the City Council directs that all Boards, Commissions and the City Staff utilize the information contained within the plan and disseminate that information to all interested parties. DULY PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ALLEN, TEXAS, ON THE ? 1ST,! DAV, OF MAY, 1992. M APPROVED AS TO FORM: APPROVED: AV J6e Farmer, MAYOR ATTEST: A. Don r, CITY ATTORNEY Juft Morr' n, CITY SECRETARY AFFIDAVIT AND PROOF OF PUBLICATION THE STATE OF TEXAS COUNTY OF COLLIN BEFORE ME, the undersigned authority, on this day personally appeared DEBBIE TACKETT, who having been by me duly sworn, on oath deposes and says: That she is the General Manager of THE ALLEN AMERICAN, a newspaper published in COLLIN COUNTY, TEXAS, not less frequently than once a week, having a general circulation in said county, and having been published regularly and continously for more than twelve (12) months prior to publishing of which the attached is a true and written copy, and which was published in THE ALLEN AMERICAN on Wednesday May 27, 1992 & Sunday May 31, 1992 and which was issued on May 27, 1992 by City of Allen of COLLIN COUNTY, TEXAS. A printed copy of said publication is attached hereto. T- - - SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this �o day ofA. D. 19 ala ;` ~* V.A. TODD MY COMMISSION F04PIES Decobw S. 1992 Publisher's fee $ 22.50 �a ARY PUBLIC in and for COLLIN COUNTY, TEXAS CITY OF ALLEN" — 711 PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given that the Allen City Council adopted the following ordinance at , their regular meeting held on Thursday, May 21, 1992 (Title only): Ordinance No. 1105-5-92: An Ordinance of the City of Allen, Collin County, Texas, Adopting the Comprehensive Plan Which Sets Forth Goals and Policy Statements on E Land Use, Transportatiorf, Housing, Parks, Community Facilities, Urban Design, Eco- nomic Development, Environment, Human and Human Services, and Government a Services. A copy of this ordinance may be read or purchased in the office of the City Secret- ary, City of Allen, One Butler Circle, Allen, , Texas 75002. /s/Judy Morrison City Secretary r .V •� CITY OF ALLEN PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given that the Allen City Council adopted the following ordinance at their regular meeting held on Thursday, May 21, 1992 (Title only): Ordinance No. 1105-5-92: An Ordinance of the City of Allen, Collin County, Texas, Adopting the Comprehensive Plan Which Sets Forth Goals and Policy Statements on Land Use, Transportation, Housing, Parks, Community Facilities, Urban Design, Eco- nomic Development, Environment, Human and Human Services, and Government Services. A copy of this ordinance may be read or purchased in the office of the City Secret- ary, City,of Allen, One Butler Circle, Allen, Texas 75002. /s/Judy Morrison City Secretary �S. I NEW .......... ... till" NIL *10 #1 1,04 1 P4 k I THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN CITY OF ALLEN, TEXAS Prepared by the Department of Community Development City of Allen, Texas Adopted May 21, 1992 CITY OF ALLEN CITY COUNCIL Joe Farmer, Mayor Kevin Lilly, Mayor Pro Tem Sharon Hamner Mickey Christakos David Bishop Mike Nichols Steve Terrell PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION John Garcia, Chairman Kenneth Fulk Noel Crume Harold Biggs Douglas Gallagher Jeffery Kelley PROJECT STAFF Jon McCarty, City Manager Bill Petty, Director of Community Development Tom Keener, Development Coordinator Sally Leeper, Secretary F The 1992 Comprehensive Plan Update is Dedicated to the Men and Women from Allen Who Served With Distinction in Desert Storm TABLE OF CONTENTS Page EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...................................i INTRODUCTION AND HISTORY ............................. 1.1 BACKGROUND FOR THE PLAN ............................. 2.1 Population ........................................ 2.1 Employment ....................................... 2.6 Existing and Committed Land Use ......................... 2.9 Land Use Fiscal Impact Analysis .......................... 2.15 LANDUSE...........................................3.1 Review of Baseline Data ............................... 3.1 Goals and Policies ................................... 3.1 Land Use Plan ..................................... 3.3 TRANSPORTATION ...................................... 4.1 Goals and Policies ................................... 4.1 Thoroughfares ...................................... 4.2 Other Modes ....................................... 4.10 HOUSING............................................5.1 Goals and Policies ................................... 5.1 Housing Supply ...................................... 5.2 Housing Quality ..................................... 5.6 PARKS AND RECREATION ................................ 6.1 Inventory of Existing Facilities ........................... 6.1 Recreation Interests .................................. 6.5 Goals and Policies ................................... 6.7 Parks and Open Space Plan .............................. 6.8 COMMUNITY FACILITIES ................................. 7.1 Goals and Policies ................................... 7.1 Plan and Program ................................... 7.4 URBAN DESIGN ........................................ 8.1 Current City Efforts .................................. 8.1 Goals and Policies ................................... 8.3 Urban Design Plan ................................... 8.3 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ............................... 9.1 Goals and Policies ................................... 9.1 Economic Development Program .......................... 9.2 ENVIRONMENT ........................................10.1 Goals and Policies ...................................10.1 Environmental Program ................................ 10.2 HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES ........................... 11.1 Goals and Policies ................................... 11.1 Health Facilities .....................................11.2 Health Inspection .................................... 11.2 Substance Abuse Prevention ............................. 11.3 Child Care ........................................11.3 Human Services .....................................11.3 Educational Facilities ................................. 11.4 GOVERNMENT SERVICES ................................. 12.1 Existing Services .................................... 12.1 Goals and Policies ................................... 12.2 Government Services Observations and Recommendations ....................... 12.3 The Public Utilities ................................... 12.6 IMPLEMENTATION GUIDELINES ............................ 13.1 Implementation Groups ................................ 13.1 Goals and Responsibilities .............................. 13.2 Implementation Tools ................................. 13.2 Review and Update of the Comprehensive Plan ................. 13.3 Continuing Planning .................................. 13.4 APPENDIX A MAJOR FINDINGS OF THE COMMUNITY SURVEY Report Summary ................................... A.i Report Findings .................................... A.1 INDEX TO PLATES Plate page 1 Regional Growth Considerations ...................... 2.3 2 Development Areas .............................. 2.14 3 Development Strategy ............................. 3.7 4 Neighborhood Planning Areas ........................ 3.12 5 Major Thoroughfare Plan .......................... 4.7 6 Housing Program .................. 5.7 7 Parks and Open Space Plan ......................... 6.11 8 Community Facilities Plan .......................... 7.2 8a Community Facilities (Schools) ....................... 7.3 INDEX TO TABLES Table Page 1 Population Trends, U.S. 75 Corridor ................... 2.2 2 Residential Building Permits ......................... 2.2 3 Demographic Profile - 1990 ......................... 2.5 4 Population Projections ............................ 2.6 5 Projected Employment - NCTCOG .................... 2.7 6 NCTCOG Year 2000 Employment Projection .............. 2.7 7 Commercial/Industrial Building Permits .................. 2.8 8 1991 Occupancy Rate for Retail, Office, and Industrial Space .............................. 2.9 9 Land Areas in Planned Developments ................... 2.10 10 Residential Development, Planned Districts ............... 2.11 11 Land Use 1977-1991 ............................. 2.12 12 Range of Housing by Size of Unit ..................... 2.13 13 Taxable Value, City - FY 1990-91 ..................... 2.17 14 Revenues - FY 1990-91 (Estimate) ..................... 2.18 15 Comparison of Revenues and Operating Costs .............. 2.18 16 Taxable Value, AISD - FY 1990-91 .................... 2.19 17 Comparison of Revenues and Operating Costs .............. 2.20 18 Matrix of Commercial/Industrial Land Use Categories ......... 3.10 19 Summary of Land Use Allocations ..................... 3.14 20 Summary of Dwelling Units, Population & Employment ....... 3.15 21 Relationship of Zoning Districts to Land Use Plan Categories................................ 3.17 22 Land Use Allocation ............................. 3.18 23 Estimated Fiscal Impact of Comprehensive Plan at Build Out................................... 3.18 24 Land Use/Traffic Parameters ........................ 4.3 25 Recommended Thoroughfare Design Standards .............. 4.8 26 Thoroughfare Plan Traffic on Streets Crossing U.S. 75 ..................... 4.9 27 Trends in Housing Types ........................... 5.2 28 Housing Size ................................... 5.3 29 Projected Housing................................ 5.3 30 Projected Age Distribution - 2000 ...................... 5.4 31 Projected Household Income - 2000 ..................... 5.5 32 Existing Park and Recreation Facilities ................... 6.2 33 Areas to be Dedicated or Purchased ..................... 6.3 34 Existing Greenbelt/Linear Parks ....................... 6.3 35 Most Frequently Used Community Facilities ................ 6.6 36 Park Land Requirements Based on Policy for Land Acquisition .................... 6.9 37 Park Standards and Land Requirements ................... 6.15 38 Park Lands Provided in the Park Plan .................... 6.16 39 Existing Community Facilities ........................ 7.6 40 Proposed Community Facilities ........................ 7.7 41 City Government ................................. 12.1 42 Government Services .............................. 12.4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Introduction Planning is an ongoing process, which involves citizens, elected and appointed officials, city staff, and private developers. Planning facilitates the orderly growth of the city and provides a means to measure growth and analyze zoning cases. The Allen Comprehensive Plan was prepared in 1985, and an update was recommended every five years. Under the direction of the Allen City Council, the update has been completed. It incorporates the findings of the 1990 Comprehensive Plan Survey for citizen input. This summary document highlights the major recommendations for the city. Further information can be obtained in the full survey document available for review at City Hall. Looking Toward the Future Allen is located in the fast-growing corridor between the proposed extension of the Dallas Tollway and U.S. 75 north of Dallas. The much -publicized relocations of Electronic Data Systems Corporation (EDS), J.C. Penney, and numerous other high technology companies in the Campbell/U.S. 75 area are projected to increase the considerable development already occurring in Allen. The past decade has been one of significant growth for Allen. From a small town of 8,314 in 1980, Allen's population in May 1991 was estimated to be 19,379. Projections made by the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) indicate a year 2000 population of 30,000. Because of the rapid growth expected, Allen's plan addresses the full development of the city, a process that could take many years and could result in a population of as many as 130,000 to 140,000 persons. The 1990 Comprehensive Plan Survey indicated that Allen's population is young, upwardly mobile, family-oriented, new to the community and moderately affluent. As Allen grows, the population characteristics should broaden, with a greater percentage of middle age to older persons, increasing income levels, more single -person households and an increasing number of persons with roots in Allen (five years or more). The Comprehensive Plan Land Use Major recommendations for the future use of land in Allen include: ■ Development of Allen as a high-quality residential community with traditional residential neighborhoods. These neighborhoods should have a mix of housing densities with the higher densities located along major thoroughfares or in close proximity to commercial centers. ■ Construction of a major "city center" at the southeast quadrant of U.S. 75 and F.M. 2170, which will provide an identity for Allen with a unique architectural character and serve as a center for major city activities. ■ Development of the U.S. 75 corridor for high intensity offices, light industry, retail and services. ■ Future development of the S.H. 121 corridor from Custer Road to U.S. 75 for high and low intensity offices, retail, services, and selected high quality industry, similar to proposed development along U.S. 75, but with a higher level character of development and environment. ■ Development of three major light industrial areas: one east of U.S. 75 and along Bethany, a second that is between Stacy and S.H. 121., and a third that is between U.S. 75 and S.H. 5 and south of Stacy. ■ Development of a high-quality parks and open space system, including preservation of floodplains and wooded areas as a greenbelt system, and development of community, neighborhood and special use parks, oriented to the greenbelt system. All development should be managed by the city in accordance with the city's ability to accommodate traffic at Level 'of Service C on the thoroughfare system and provide essential public facilities at a reasonable cost. Transportation The major efforts of the city will need to be directed at development of a thoroughfare system which will, when linked with the regional system, effectively and efficiently carry the anticipated traffic. The present highway and street network will serve as the framework for the Allen thoroughfare system. U.S. 75, eventually improved to three lanes in each direction and one-way frontage roads, will continue to be the major north -south artery. S.H. 121, improved to freeway standards, will provide good access to the Dallas -Fort Worth International Airport. Stacy Road is designated as a subregional arterial that will loop through Collin County and will provide excellent access to the expanded McKinney Airport and I.H. 30 in Greenville. The major east -west arterials within Allen would continue to be McDermott Drive, Chaparral Road, Bethany, and Rowlett/Exchange. North/south arterials would be S.H. 5, Allen Heights Drive, Alma Drive, Custer Road, and a proposed north/south movement on the city's east side that would link Chaparral and Stacy Roads. Bethany east of U.S. 75, Custer Rd., and the new north/south arterial would be integral links in the Collin County thoroughfare system. Using the land use plan data, computer models were used to estimate the ultimate traffic demand and to assign the resulting traffic to the thoroughfare system. Thoroughfare cross sections were assigned based upon estimated future volumes. Projections by the COG indicate that Bethany Drive between U.S. 75 and S.H. 5 will be below the Level of Service C. A secondary thoroughfare plan should be completed as soon as possible. The city will need to address other modes of the transportation system as well. A bicycle and pedestrian plan should be completed and implemented. Provision for bicycle and pedestrian facilities, both in the linear park system and in neighborhoods, should be sought. Although Allen is not part of ii the DART system, the city should plan for mass transportation which should be integrated with road, cycle, and pedestrian systems. Housin The overriding goal of the city is to develop as a high-quality residential community. This concept of quality includes a balance of types of housing units, good neighborhoods, services and sufficient tax base. The plan includes city policies on mix of housing types and densities, as well as location. The plan contains a policy of 68/32 split between single-family and non -single family units. A balance of housing sizes would be continued also with an emphasis on larger homes. Parks and Recreation The Parks and Recreation Department faces many challenges as it seeks to develop the city's park system. High on the list of priorities is the need to identify and acquire park lands—especially large sites for community and special parks—before development precludes their acquisition. The three stream valleys, Rowlett Creek, Watters Creek, and Cottonwood Creek, are the framework of the parks and open space system. Major parks will be clustered along the stream valleys and linked by trails utilizing the greenbelt system. East -west linkages should be provided to channel users to the major parks and greenbelts. Bicycle and pedestrian routes should be integrated with the park system. The plan provides for five community parks. Two of the new parks should be located along Rowlett Creek, one along Watters Creek and one along Cottonwood Creek. Ford Park is presently located along Cottonwood Creek. Each park should total 75 acres in size and should serve the active recreation needs of the community. Each residential neighborhood is planned to have a neighborhood park. Some would be located adjacent to a school location. At full development, Allen should have some 15 to 20 neighborhood parks, each of 10 to 15 acres in size. The plan also includes special use parks for an athletic complex and indoor recreation center. Additional study should be given to the location of these facilities. Community Facilities The level of growth projected for Allen will require considerable investment in community facilities if the high quality of services available in Allen today is to continue. Good service area planning and reservation of future sites will yield dividends as the city expands. The city owns 29.8 acres at U.S. 75 and McDermott Dr. and plans to construct a municipal center on the site. The center should be properly linked to the roads, mass transit, pedestrian, and cycle paths. Allen presently has two fire stations: Central Station located on Main Street and Station No. 2 on Exchange Parkway. These two stations provide good coverage on either side of the railroad, but iii response time south of Bethany is not optimal. At least four additional stations will be required for service to future development areas. Future arrangements for school facilities are also provided to assist planning efforts. Urban Design An appreciation for and attention to the urban design of the community will make it a more desirable community and better place to live. The city's efforts on urban design should be concentrated in the following areas: (1) preservation of creek corridors in their natural state as the city's open space system, (2) enhanced landscape requirements, (3) continuation of development of major thoroughfares as boulevards with landscaped medians, (4) regulation, through design standards, of the quality of new development, (5) high quality design and location of public buildings, parks, and public areas, (6) emphasis on establishing an identity for Allen through the city center proposed for F.M. 2170 and U.S. 75, and (7) landscape planting throughout the city. Economic Development Recent years have seen the growth of economic development as a legitimate function of city government in partnership with the private sector. Economic development for jobs, for needed goods and services for residents, and for tax base to sustain the community have become so visible and important that communities can no longer afford to leave them to chance. Major recommendations of the plan include a continued role for the city, working with the Chamber of Commerce and the Allen Independent School District; a high level of communication with existing business and industry; provision of accurate technical data; provision of a highly trained work force; a high quality of life; provision of well -located lands for business and industrial development; and the participation of community leaders in the business development process. Environment The beauty of the Cottonwood Creek and Rowlett Creek Valleys, the bluffs along Watters Creek, and the wooded areas are priceless resources that should be preserved for future generations. The streams, their floodplain and valleys are the principal natural environmental resource. It is essential that the implementation of the Floodplain ordinance continue. Also important is to create a man-made environment which will be of high quality and character. Most of the wooded areas are found along the creeks. Several substantial woodlots still remain. Some of these should be acquired; others can be protected through the development process. Private lakes should be kept in place whenever feasible. Energy conservation should be encouraged in public facilities and private developments. A storm water drainage plan that reduces sedimentation and a solid waste plan that encourages recycling and waste reduction should be activated as soon as possible. Health and Human Services The city's role in three areas—health facilities and services, human services and educational services—will vary greatly. In a city such as Allen, it is unlikely that the city will be or want to be the tv chief provider of services; yet each of these areas will play an important part in making Allen a high quality community that meets the needs of its residents. Major recommendations include: (1) working with Allen Community Outreach to provide necessary human services information, (2) continued support for adult education and retraining programs, and (3) support for higher educational facilities in the Allen area. Government Services Today Allen is providing a level of services and facilities to the city that far exceeds those provided in 1985—expanded library, police and courts, economic development, health inspections, and paramedic program. Both facilities and service needs will continue to increase dramatically in the growth decades ahead and probably will not level out until well into the 21st century. This governmental services section does not recommend restructuring of city government in Allen. Such a plan is hardly necessary. The city has successfully provided services with modest financial resources and will continue to do so, altering the governmental structure to meet the needs of its residents, as such needs become evident. The city should consider traffic engineering assistance, a secondary thoroughfare plan, in-house water and sewer construction capabilities, a managerial accounting system, an integrated database of information, integrated technological library resources, utilize survey technology for ascertaining operational and strategic feedback, proactive in marketing its services, a personnel function, and enhanced employee training programs. The 1990 survey indicated satisfaction with all of the utilities except cable television. Service interruptions and lack of program variety seem to be the source of the dissatisfaction. v INTRODUCTION AND HISTORY Allen, Texas is located in Collin County, which is in north central Texas. It is approximately 20 miles north of Interstate 635 and U.S. 75. Allen is completely surrounded by incorporated cities. To the north lies the City of McKinney, to the south, the City of Plano; to the east, the Town of Lucas; and to the west, the City of Plano. Important transportation routes serving the city include U.S. 75, which bisects the city in a north/south direction in the center of the city and provides an important link to adjacent cities. F.M. 2170 runs in an east/west direction in the center of the city. S.H. 5, which formerly was the main north/south thoroughfare, lies roughly parallel to U.S. 75. The city is also served by the Southern Pacific Railroad, which runs in a north/south direction between U.S. 75 and S.H. 5. Prior to the arrival of the European and American immigrants into the Allen area, Caddo and Comanche Indian tribes inhabited the region. The Wichita confederacy of the Caddo tribe occupied much of the Red River and upper Trinity River Valleys. Caddo Indians were primarily agricultural and supplemented their livelihoods with hunting and fishing. They had a well-developed sign language, and highly cultivated cultural and political systems. Early explorers were greeted with the gracious hospitality of the Caddo. In contrast, the Comanches were a fierce nomadic people who rode from the plains into the area, and were feared by both the Caddo and early settlers alike. The Indian tribes migrated westward as the early settlers entered the area and were eventually removed to the Indian territory to the north of the Red River. One of the last known conflicts between the early settlers and the Indians took place in 1844 along Rowlett Creek near the current railroad crossing when members of the Muncey, Jameson, and Rice families were killed during a raid. An historic marker is erected along S.H. 5 near Rowlett Creek to commemorate this event. Immigrants of European descent began arriving into the Allen area in the early 1840's. The principal means of access were the Texas Road and the Central National Road that were constructed by the Republic of Texas. The Texas Road followed what is currently Preston Road in western Collin County and the Central National Road originated in downtown Dallas and traveled through southeastern Collin Co. to Fort Gibson near Paris. A stage line ran from Bonham to McKinney and went south to Allen and Plano. It forded Rowlett Creek where S.H. 5 now crosses. Six to eight foot timbers were stuck into the ground every hundred yards so that the immigrants would know they were on the right path. The posts were peeled to the white bark to enhance their visibility. Land grants were given by the Republic of Texas as an inducement for settlers to come to the frontier, and one of those grants was the Peter's Colony which covered much of north central Texas including parts of Allen. It was in the Peter's Colony that the infamous Hedgecoxe wars took place. The dispute centered around a compromise law that was enacted by the State legislature which gave the Peter's Colony owner, the Texas Emigration and Land Company, certain rights for the disposition of property in the Colony. The Attorney General for the state of Texas, Ebenezer Allen, for whom the city of Allen is named, delivered an opinion which upheld the law. On July 25, 1852, a contingent of armed men raided the offices of the Peter's Colony land agent, Henry Hedgecoxe, near McKinney and stole the files, books, and maps and forced him to leave the colony. 1.1 The conflict was resolved when the legislature in special session amended its earlier law. By this act, colonists were able to secure their claims with the land office, and settlement of the area proceeded. The county's first grist mill was opened in Allen by the Wetsel family. Some of the early settlers were W.N. Bush, W.O. Matthews, J.M. Gibson, Geo. Mountcastle, James Spradling, G.W. Ford, and W.P. Yeary. The tremendous growth that took place in the 1840's and 1850's came to a grinding halt with the onset of the War between the States. Collin County overwhelmingly voted against secession, but once the state elected to secede by popular vote, the citizens were loyal to the Confederacy. Soldiers from the area began preparing for the war with practice drills at home. As the war continued, it was not uncommon for Confederate soldiers to bring their horses back for rest and grazing, help harvest the crops, and return to the battlefield after the harvest. Captain William Quantrill, who ran renegade and commando type operations into Kansas, Kentucky, and Missouri from camps in Collin and Grayson Counties is known to have traveled through Allen. William N. Bush of Allen enlisted as a private in the Confederate army and was later promoted to Captain. His horse was shot from under him in Springfield, Missouri, and he was wounded at Pleasant Hill, Louisiana. He later served as county commissioner and sheriff of Collin County. There was never military action in Allen, but letters of correspondence between soldiers and their loved ones demonstrate the sacrifices and support that local citizens gave to the troops. After the soldiers returned home, there would be two events that would drastically alter the future of Allen -the railroad and telegraph. The Houston and Texas Central Railroad was constructed through Allen in 1872. The railroad facilitated the transport of people and agricultural products as well. The railroad needed water approximately every seven miles and Allen, as well as the towns of Plano, Richardson, and McKinney, were included in its regular stops. Its economic impact can be seen in the drastic increase in Collin County agricultural output from 1870-1900. Corn, cattle, and cotton were among the chief products. The introduction of the railroad meant the concomitant construction of the telegraph which enhanced the exchange of communication and information with the rest of the country. The first train robbery in Texas took place in Allen in 1878 when Sam Bass and his associates pillaged the train and its crew. Allen was a short ride from their hideouts in the Elm Trinity brush lands. A member of the Bass gang,Tom Spotswood, stopped at Tom Newman's saloon and asked when the southbound train arrived in Allen, and they hid till the train arrived that evening. Bass opened the express car and shouted "Throw up your hands and give us your money." The express car attendant, James Thomas, resisted at first but Bass and his accomplices separated the express car from the rest of the train and threatened to set it on fire with Thomas inside. Thomas then surrendered and the gang stole approximately $1500 of silver coins. Towns along the Central route were frightened and excited about this event, which was a prelude to a series of train robberies by the Bass gang. Churches and schools flourished in this period. They were simple structures that were often built of logs. Services were often conducted by circuit rider ministers that rode on horseback to many local congregations. In the hot summer, services were held outside. Several denominations often used the same building. The Baptist church was organized in 1878 and the Christian church was established in 1886. The Cottonwood School opened in 1865 with Mr. Owen Matthews as the instructor, the Bethany School opened in 1877 with G.F. Matthews as the instructor, and the Mustang School opened in 1851. The school was 1.2 named for the wild mustangs that roamed in the area. These horses were probably descendants of renegade horses that belonged to early Spanish explorers. George Mountcastle opened a store in 1876 and W.P. Yeary established a barber shop in the same year. In 1908, the Texas Traction Company (Interurban) built an electric railway through Allen, which further enhanced passenger transportation to surrounding communities. The original station is still standing and an historic marker has been erected to commemorate the important contribution of this railway to Allen's history. Families and young adults would often have an evening outing by taking a round trip to Sherman or Dallas from the Allen station. Glimpses of the gilded age began to appear in Allen with the construction of the Baccus and Green houses (now located at the corner of Main and Bonham). A bank was opened, and the Allen Telephone Exchange began operation around the turn of the century. It was privately operated by local families until it was sold to Southwestern Bell in 1956. The exchange was located in the second floor of the existing Woodman's Hall, and because it offered an excellent view of the downtown area, local citizens would ring the operator to ascertain if a spouse or friend could be seen from the window. If so, the caller might ask the operator to relay a message to them. Prosperity came to a temporary end in 1915 when the town suffered from a devastating fire that destroyed most of the business district between the interurban tracts and the Railroad. Allen remained an agricultural community during the world wars and depression era. Two diesel - operated cotton gins were constructed and operated until they closed in the 1950's. Allen lost five citizens in the world wars who gave the supreme sacrifice of their lives - John Floyd in World War I and Joseph Holley, Marcel Cain, Rudd Mann, and Charles Jeans in World War Il. The interurban closed in 1948 and the importance of agriculture to the economic base of Allen began to diminish after the second world war. The population declined to 400 in 1950. A lumber yard was opened after the second world war. The town was officially incorporated in 1953 with Virgil Watson as the first Mayor. Similar in importance to the construction of the railroad almost a century before was the completion of U.S. 75 through Allen in 1960. Citizens could work at nearby companies because of the access and convenience of the highway. The relocation of high technology companies to the North Dallas and Richardson areas in the 1960's drastically increased employment opportunities for Allen's citizens, and the population rose to 1,940 and 8,324 in 1980. In the 1980's, InteCom and DLM relocated to Allen and became Allen's largest employers. A Comprehensive Plan for Allen was prepared in 1970. A major update was prepared in 1977-78, with a partial update in 1981. A new comprehensive plan was enacted in 1985, and this document is an update to that plan. To assist city staff in the preparation of this update, -a survey was administered to residents that were selected by a random sample. The findings have been incorporated into this plan. The future of Allen lies in its rich history. 1.3 BACKGROUND FOR THE PLAN The purpose of this chapter is to address the broad questions of growth and development, including population, economics and land use, identifying and analyzing the present level of development, past trends and probable future trends. Population The Dallas -Fort Worth area, of which Allen is a part, is recognized throughout the nation as one of the major growth areas of the United States. Between 1980 and 1990, the area grew 32.5 percent - among the leaders in areas of comparable size. More importantly, the Dallas -Fort Worth area is known for its role as a center for the high-tech industries of the future, its concentration of service and financial industries, and headquarters for international and national companies. Allen is located in the fast-growing corridor along U.S. 75 north of Dallas. Extending north from I.H. 635, the corridor generally consists of Richardson, Plano, Allen, McKinney, and Frisco, which lie between the extension of the Dallas Tollway and U.S. 75, north to beyond S.H. 121 (See Plate 1). The Electronic Data Systems Corporation and J.C. Penney Corporation are located on the west side of this corridor along the future location of the toll road. Telecommunications and related high technology companies were constructed along U.S. 75 during the 1980's, and the wave of development continues. Collin County's population grew from 144,576 in 1980 to 264,036 in 1990, which constitutes an average annual growth rate of 8.26%. Allen grew at an even faster rate of 12.02%. City of Allen Over the 1970-1980 decade, Allen experienced the first stages of its growth, from 1,940 to 8,314 persons—an increase of over 300 percent (See Table 1). Yet, all this is only the beginning. Allen's population was estimated by the 1990 Census to be 19,198—an annual compound growth rate of 8.73 percent during the 1980's and an average annual growth rate of 13.09 percent. This growth took place despite the severe recession that the Texas economy experienced during the 1980's. A review of housing building permit information confirms this finding. The Department of Community Development has issued an average of 364 single family dwelling permits per year since 1982, which represents an average single family population growth of 1,128 per year. Although the growth rate was moderately lower in the late 1980's, a steady increase was noted each year (Table 2). Data on population characteristics are available both from the 1990 U.S. Census and the 1990 Citizen's Survey (See Table 3). While the two sources represent different data, together they provide valuable information on Allen and its residents. Based on these data, the residents of Allen can be characterized as follows: 2.1 TABLE 1 POPULATION TRENDS - U.S. 75 CORRIDOR City of Allen, Texas 1980-1990 Townhouse/ Duplex Units 1970 1980 1990 NO. AGR CGR Allen 1,940 8,314 19,198 9,995 13.09 8.73% Plano 17,872 72,331 128,713 56,382 7.79% 5.93% McKinney 15,193 16,256 21,283 5,027 3.09% 2.73% Frisco 1,845 3,499 6,141 2,642 7.55% 5.79% Subtotal 36,850 100,400 175,335 74,935 7.46% 5.73% Remainder of Collin County 30,070 44,176 89,590 45,414 10.28% 7.33 Total Collin County 66,920 144,576 264,925 120,349 8.32% 6.24% Source: U.S. Census and Current Population Trends, North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), 1990 TABLE 2 RESIDENTIAL BUILDING PERMITS City of Allen, Texas Single- Family Units Townhouse/ Duplex Units Multi- Family Units Total Percent of Change 1982 170 44 0 214 1983 337 6 32 375 7, 1984 532 8 244 784 109% 1985 562 14 202 778 -.8% 1986 590 2 0 592 -24% 1987 284 0 0 284 -52% 1988 204 0 0 204 -28% 1989 274 0 0 274 34% 1990 319 0 0 319 16% 1991 429 0 0 429 34% TOTAL 3,703.00 76.00 480.00 4,259.00 Average/Year IL- 370 7.6 48 425.9 11 Source: City of Allen, Department of Community Development 2.2 ENT ExTEslsiorl of HoRTt+ II 1t � PLATE 1 I . Allen is populated predominantly by young, white, good income earning, family households. ■ A high percent of the population is between the ages of 25 and 44 (44.3 %) (Census) ■ 93.2 percent of the population is white, 3.2 percent is black (Census), and 3 percent is Hispanic (1990 Survey). ■ 86 percent of the households earned $30,000 or over in 1990 (Survey) compared to 77 percent in 1980 (Census) ■ 85.6 percent of the population was categorized as being part of a family (Census) 2. Most persons in Allen are relatively new residents. ■ 37 percent had lived in Allen three years or less and 56 percent had lived in Allen five years or less (Survey) ■ 22 percent had lived in Allen ten years or more (Survey) 3. Most residents of Allen have the potential to move up economically in the future. ■ The combination of youth, good earnings and education are indicators of potential upward mobility. ■ 56 percent of the male heads of household and 36 percent of the female heads of household are college graduates and 18 percent of the men 13 per cent of the women have done post graduate work or'have post graduate degrees (Survey). ■ Median home price is $85,100 (Census). ■ 74 percent of the male heads of household and 37 percent of the female heads of household are employed in professional or management positions (1984 Survey). 4. The population of Allen contains both traditional family units and more contemporary, two income earning families. ■ 60 percent of the households have two wage earners (Survey) While the majority of residents can be described as above, that is not to say that there are not other groups (although small in number) with special needs. These include the aging (60 and over), 3.9 percent in 1990; minorities, 6.8 percent in 1990; those earning below the poverty level, 4.0 percent in 1990(est.); and other groups such as the handicapped, for which no data is available. 2.4 TABLE 3 DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE - 1990 City of Allen, Texas 1990 CENSUS Population 19,198 Total Housing Units 6,173 Population/Household 3.1 Ethnicity White 93.2% Hispanic Origin (of any race) 4.4% Black 3.2% Other 3.6% Age 0-17 35.7% 18-24 7% 25-44 44.3% 45-64 10.3% 65 & Over 2.7% Households by Type Total Households 5,896 Family households (families) 5,048 Married -couple families 4,466 Other family, male householder 154 Other family, female householder 428 Nonfamily households 848 Householder 65 and Over and Living 134 Alone Householder 16-64 and Living Alone 714 Household Income (Per City of Allen Survey, 1990) Under $25,000 8% $25,001-30,000 7% $30,001-35,000 7% $35,001-40,000 10% $40,001-45,000 10% $45,001-50,000 11% $50,001-75,000 37% Over $75,000 11% Median Income $45-50,000 Median Home Price $85,100 2.5 Population Growth Projections While all agree that growth is inevitable, the question of the timing of growth is much more difficult. Timing is influenced by a myriad of factors, which are difficult, if not impossible to accurately predict. Chief among these factors are national and regional economics, availability of money, interest rates, and the decision of property owners to develop their lands. Projections for population have been made for the city of Allen by the Department of Community Development and the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) (See Table 4). City staff estimates are slightly higher than those by the NCTCOG, especially in the last half of the 1990's. A moderate but steady growth rate is expected throughout the 1990's. Each projection estimates that the population will increase by at least another 10,000 during the next decade. These projections could change if a major corporate relocation occurs or if a serious national emergency takes place. These projections appear reasonable for planning purposes. They also have the advantage of being a point of coordination with regional numbers which will be used in transportation planning. Therefore, they should be used by the city for short-range planning, recognizing that continued monitoring and updating is needed. Employment The number of jobs located in Allen has increased markedly since 1980 with the addition of two major industries, Developmental Learning Materials (DLM) and InteCom. A telephone survey completed in 1985 indicated that employment in Allen had reached 3,151. The Texas Employment Commission (TEC) estimates that of the 7,377 work force that live in Allen, 7,081 (96%) people were employed full time in May 1991 and 296 (4%) were unemployed. This unemployment rate compares favorably to the Texas estimate of 6.3% and to the national average of 6.6%. This finding is indicative of projected economic stability. The TEC measures the work force that lives in Allen but not necessarily works in Allen. For example, this figure includes those who live here but may work elsewhere and does not include those who work here but may live elsewhere. Updated information regarding employment in Allen will not be available until the 1990 Census is released in 1992. Employment projections by the NCTCOG for Allen, as part of the overall region, show the projected relationship between population and employment. The forecasting model used by NCTCOG projects employment for the region and then allocates employment to the individual cities, based on development assumptions. Residential growth normally precedes commercial/industrial growth and thus jobs. However, as can be seen in Allen, the addition of several large industries, such as Intecom and 2.6 TABLE 4 POPULATION PROJECTIONS City of Allen, Texas Source 1970 1980 1990 1995 -Est. 2000 -Est. U.S. Census 1,940 8,314 19,198 NCTCOG 23,585 28,810 City Staff 23,899 31,638 These projections appear reasonable for planning purposes. They also have the advantage of being a point of coordination with regional numbers which will be used in transportation planning. Therefore, they should be used by the city for short-range planning, recognizing that continued monitoring and updating is needed. Employment The number of jobs located in Allen has increased markedly since 1980 with the addition of two major industries, Developmental Learning Materials (DLM) and InteCom. A telephone survey completed in 1985 indicated that employment in Allen had reached 3,151. The Texas Employment Commission (TEC) estimates that of the 7,377 work force that live in Allen, 7,081 (96%) people were employed full time in May 1991 and 296 (4%) were unemployed. This unemployment rate compares favorably to the Texas estimate of 6.3% and to the national average of 6.6%. This finding is indicative of projected economic stability. The TEC measures the work force that lives in Allen but not necessarily works in Allen. For example, this figure includes those who live here but may work elsewhere and does not include those who work here but may live elsewhere. Updated information regarding employment in Allen will not be available until the 1990 Census is released in 1992. Employment projections by the NCTCOG for Allen, as part of the overall region, show the projected relationship between population and employment. The forecasting model used by NCTCOG projects employment for the region and then allocates employment to the individual cities, based on development assumptions. Residential growth normally precedes commercial/industrial growth and thus jobs. However, as can be seen in Allen, the addition of several large industries, such as Intecom and 2.6 DLM, can greatly shift the population to employment relationship. The regional ratio of population to employment was 1.9:1 in 1980 and is projected at 1.8:1 in 2000. Allen, as a developing city, is projected to have residential growth greater than employment growth during this period and thus a higher ratio. Early development of planned developments (PDs), such as Bray Central I, could alter these forecast ratios. Given the tremendous growth in the West Plano and Central/Campbell corridor during the 1980's, the estimate by the NCTCOG appears to be understated (See Table 5). TABLE 5 PROJECTED EMPLOYMENT - NCTCOG City of Allen, Texas 2,350 Retail Population/ Service 1,030 Employment 5,030 Employment Ratio Allen 1980 627 13.3:1 1985 3,272 4.7:1 1990 4,288 6.8:1 Low 2000 5,030 7.7:1 Mid 2000 7,672 5.9:1 High 2000 1 10,555 4.9:1 TABLE 6 NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENT YEAR 2000 EMPLOYMENT PROJECTION City of Allen, Texas Basic 2,350 Retail 1,650 Service 1,030 TOTAL 5,030 The present commercial and industrial growth started in the 1978 to 1980 period. Since that time, commercial/industrial development has averaged 11 permits per year, with an average annual value of $5,357,072. This activity slowed considerably in the last half of the 1980's when the recession took its toll. An average of 23 finishout permits were issued annually during the decade, with an annual value of $436,214. The frequency of finishout permits was higher in the last half of the 1980's when the previously constructed commercial/industrial space began to absorb tenants. As the population continues to grow, the need for additional commercial/industrial space will increase. 2.7 TABLE 7 COMMERCIAL/INDUSTRIAL BUILDING PERMITS City of Allen, Texas YEAR COMMERCIAL/INDUS. UNITS VALUE FINISH -OUTS UNITS VALUE TOTAL UNITS VALUE 1980 13 4,404,450 9 145,755 22.00 4,550,205.00 1981 12 8,295,700 10 56,625 22.00 8,352,325.00 1982 4 251,750 13 324,285 17.00 576,035.00 1983 22 17,888,700 7 256,864 29.00 18,145,564.00 1984 22 7,244,300 16 532,306 38.00 7,776,606.00 1985 20 11,337,000 37 697,140 57.00 12,034,140.00 1986 7 4,930,000 22 230,967 29.00 5,160,967.00 1987 3 446,988 25 202,373 28.00 649,361.00 1988 2 315,000 51 988,529 53.00 1,303,529.00 1989 7 2,127,900 28 394,835 35.00 2,522,735.00 1990 7 1,686,000 33 968,679 40.00 2,654,679.00 1991 5 3,361,000 21 367,149 26 3,728,149.00 TOTAL 124.00 62,288,788 272 5,165,507 396 67,454,295.00 AVG. PER YR 10.3 5,190,732.33 22.67 430,558.92 33 5,621,191.25 The city now has 2,201,446 square feet of retail, office, and industrial space available (Table 8). Of that amount, 31 percent is vacant. Most of that vacancy is at the Belz Mall (410,250 s.f.), which has been the largest single commercial project in Allen. Excluding the mall, the vacancy rates are listed in Table 8, and they are comparable or less than those of area cities. It should be noted that the occupancy rate for the industrial and office -warehouse is 95%, which suggests an immediate need for this type of space. The vacancy rate for the commercial space is indicative of a moderate performance in this industry. 2.8 TABLE 8 1991 OCCUPANCY RATE FOR RETAIL, OFFICE, AND INDUSTRIAL SPACE City of Allen, Texas TYPE OF SPACE SQ. FT. OCCUPIED % OCCUPIED SQ. FT. VACANT % VACANT TOTAL SQ. FT. Retail 586,221 49.6% 595,341' 50.4% 1,181,562 Office 185,895 82.9% 38,432 17.1% 224,327 Industrial/ Warehouse 752,207 94.6% 43,350 5.4% 795,557 TOTAL 1,524,323 69.2% 1 677,123 30.8% 2,201,446 Existing and Committed Land Use Existing and committed land use includes present land in use, land zoned but undeveloped, and land zoned in Planned Developments (PDs). Over the last ten years, development has increased and zoning and master planning have also. Yet, the city and Extra Territorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) are only 19.0 percent developed and the undeveloped land not zoned is over one fourth of the total. Planned development districts now make up over 38 percent of the land area (See Plate 2 and Table 9). Planned developments (PDs) have become a major zoning tool to shape the future of Allen. 'Includes 410,250 square feet at Belz Mall 2.9 TABLE 9 LAND AREAS IN PLANNED DEVELOPMENTS City of Allen, Texas LAND USE LAND AREA (1000 A) PERCENT Single -Family 3.2 50% Multi -Family .3 5% Commercial 1.3 20% Office .6 9% Industrial .5 8% Community Facilities .3 5% Other .2 3% TOTAL 6.40 100.00 Residential development planned in PDs can be broken down as follows (See Table 10 for additional details): 2.10 UNITS EST. POPULATION Single -Family 13,532 41,949 Multi -Family 5,697 14,242 TOTAL 19,229 56,191 2.10 TABLE 10 RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT PLANNED DISTRICTS City of Allen, Texas PD NO. TOTAL UNITS ESTIMATED UNITS HIGH DENSITY POPULATION' 1 663 0 2,055 2 700 0 2170 7 213 0 550 10 100 100 250 11 834 185 2474 13 1,582 200 4784 16 239 205 617 18 313 0 970 19 192 192 480 20 2,012 673 5833 21 28 0 87 22 1,504 254 4510 23 2,791 648 8263 25 102 0 316 26 1,229 255 3657 28 590 304 1647 31 1,133 335 3312 33 275 200 733 34 288 224 758 35 203 203 508 39 1,971 793 5324 41 543 200 1563 42 479 178 1378 43 200 200 500 44 265 198 703 46 150 150 375 47 15 0 47 48 48 1 0 1 149 TOTAL 18,562 5,697 54,123 Land in use has increased by 98 percent since 1977. Increases have occurred in each land use type, with the greatest percent increase occurring in commercial followed by residential. As the city has become more developed, the land in use has decreased from 25 acres per 100 persons to 16 persons per acre, thereby reflecting a higher density (See Table 11). 'Based on 3.1 persons/unit for single-family residential and 2.5 persons/unit for multi -family residential Source: City of Allen, June, 1991 2.11 The city has been seeking a balanced housing stock by requiring percentages of housing sizes in major new developments. Presently, nearly one-fourth of the housing units are 1200-1400 square feet and almost one-half are 1600 square feet or less. (See Table 12). TABLE 11 LAND USE 1977-1991' City of Allen, Texas and ETJ ACRES 1991 19772 1991' Acres/ 100 Population` Residential (Low, Medium, High) 500 1,878 9.63 Commercial 18 140 0.72 Industrial/Railroad 61 128 0.66 Public/Semi Public and Parks 171 302 1.55 Streets and Alleys 796 606 3.11 TOTAL 1,546.00 3,054.00 15.67 'Comparisons should be considered approximate because of differences in the two land use surveys. 'Wyse & Associates, 1977 (Estimated population, 6200). 'Hunter & Associates, April, 1991. 4Estimated 19,524 persons in city, June, 1991. 2.12 TABLE 12 RANGE OF HOUSING BY SIZE OF UNIT City of Allen, Texas No. of Units Percent 1985 Plan Target Under 1200 Sq. Ft. 345 5.2 15% 1201-1400 Sq. Ft. 1503 22.5 25% 1401-1600 Sq. Ft. 1222 18.3 15% 1601-1800 Sq. Ft. 1143 17.1 15% 1801-2000 Sq. Ft. 885 13.3 20% 2001 Sq. Ft. & Over 1576 23.6 10% 6,674.00 100.00 100.00 Source: City of Allen, Department of Community Development, December 31, 1991. Build Out Population Based on Present Trends The future city, when completely developed, will be a product of present land use, committed land use and development of the remaining vacant land. Assuming the policies for development of vacant land are a continuation of those contained in approved PDs and previous zoning, a future population of around 130,000 to 140,000 persons can be estimated. 2.13 DEVELOPMENT AREAS ® MAJOR LAND USE — 1991 MCKINNEY ® ZONED OTHER THAN PD -- ®p ZONED PD (PD NUMBER) � 0 UNDEVELOPED LAND OUTSIDE THE CITY r� ® BOUNDARY AGREEMENT AREA I ryy FRISCO s 5 PLANOfr �� `4 r Ju M -D� 4 � s 1p JE f � ��-= � {�) Irr Y y �r t o azeo SCALE 1' = 5280' FAIRVIEW B�4 u PLANO CRy of Alen Comprehensive Plan PLATE 2 --yam- � •° `� PARKER HUNTER ASSOCIATES. INC. I Q+CMEQtS/pL4NUtS/SWWYaRS .a.. X" Land Use Fiscal Impact Analysis Theory/ Methodology Research has been completed in developing methods of assessing the direct costs of new development. Chief among these is the "proportional valuations method." The purpose of this analysis is to define for Allen the relative revenues and costs for the principal types of land use in the city. Using this, the city can make decisions as to the balance between different land uses for the future city. In this analysis, current development—its revenues and the costs of providing services, was assumed to be a reasonable measure of the relative balance of revenues and costs for the future. Changes in the revenue structure or changes in services provided will surely occur and these will alter the future balance. Therefore, over the long run, the city should develop a process for measuring fiscal impact and utilize it in reviewing new developments. For the broad general purposes of the Comprehensive Plan, an analysis of current conditions should suffice. Where divisions of operating costs or revenues are not normally available in the accounting of the city, the assumption is that the proportion of assessed valuation carried by that particular land use type is representative of the proportion of operational costs assigned to that land use. For Allen, only operating costs were considered. The developer pays for most capital costs of new development and although there are ongoing shares of development that the city must pay for, these are considered above and beyond the scope of this analysis. In the final sections those limitations inherent to this analysis are described. City of Allen/Allen Independent School District The city of Allen and the Allen Independent School District are the two principal jurisdictions providing services to city residents and property owners. While parts of other school districts are located within the city of Allen, the Allen Independent School District was the only district used in this analysis. The following summarizes the findings of both units of government. Land Use Revenue Generation Per Dollar of Operating Expenditures City of Allen AISD Single Family Residential .70:1 .50:1 Multi -Family Residential .78:1 .20:1 Commercial 1.79:1 - Industrial .72:1 - TOTAL .91:1 .59:1 Clearly, commercial uses and to a lesser extent industrial uses provide the greatest revenues per dollar of services that existed in 1990. This is due to the sales tax and to the fact that these uses do not produce students. Neither single family nor multifamily residential currently pays for itself with either entity. Although industrial uses did not pay for themselves with the City of Allen in 1990, they do provide employment and generate a surplus with the school district because they do not require school services. 2.15 The vacant lands of all uses do not require services but the income they generate helps subsidize the deficits created by the other uses. These ratios could frequently change as the economy develops. Future residential construction may reduce the marginal cost of services below the current average costs. The residential real estate market could exceed that of some commercial, where historically it has been the reverse. Also, vacant lands may be developed which would alter the distribution of costs and revenues. Consequently, the ratios should not be used for future revenue and expenditure projections, but they do indicate the current ability to pay. City of Allen Revenues and costs for the city of Allen were taken from data for the 1990-1991 fiscal year. Total taxable valuation for that fiscal year was approximately 888,482,359 (See Table 13). Of that amount, residential development was approximately 50.0 percent, commercial and industrial 17.0 percent, and the remainder was in other uses which included vacant lots or tracts, tangible personal property such as art work and furniture, and agricultural improvements. To estimate the relative proportion of taxable property requiring services, vacant lots and tracts, agricultural improvements and tangible personal property were deleted because the services they require were considered too small to have a significant impact upon the operating budget. Therefore, taxable value of uses requiring services approached approximately 611.7 million, of which 72.0% was in residential uses. Total revenues for the city in 1990-91 were estimated to be 5.5 million dollars. The major user sources of taxes were found to be the general property taxes, the sales tax, and the franchise tax. These were then used as the basis for revenue generation for the city. Intergovernmental grants were not included due to their annual variability. Permits, traffic fines, and other fees were also not included because they cover user costs, and they were removed from both revenues and operating expenditures. The breakdown can be seen by percentage in Table 14. Operational costs (excluding capital bond, water and sewer, and user fee costs) for the city were calculated to be approximately 6.0 million dollars and allocated to each of the land uses based upon valuation (See Table 15). Total costs exceed revenues. This is because of the revenues generated by uses not requiring services (such as vacant lots or tracts), and revenues generated from revenue, such as interest on investments. The sales tax and ad valorem tax generated by commercial uses, together with ad valorem tax on vacant lands, create sufficient revenue to offset the deficits created by the other uses. 2.16 TABLE 13 TAXABLE VALUE - FY 1990-91 City of Allen, Texas Taxable Value ($000,000) Percent Taxable Value W/O Other' ($000,000) Percent Single -Family Res- idential 440.7 50% 440.7 72% Multi -Family Residential 20.4 02% 20.4 03% Vacant Tracts, Agri- culture 276.8 31% Commercial' 112.9 13% 112.9 19% Industrial' 37.6 04% 37.6 06% Personal Property .07 0% 888.47 0% 611.60 100% 'Agriculture, Vacant Tracts, & Personal Property, categories C, D, & E from CAD. 'Includes commercial, office, utilities, and a pro rata portion of business tangible property ($38,200,000). Prorated based upon P. 10 Central Appraisal District (CAD). 'Includes a pro rata portion of business tangible property ($14,600,000). 2.17 TABLE 14' REVENUES - FY 1990-91 (Estimate $000) City of Allen, Texas FY 1990-91 (Estimate) Ad Valorem Tax' Franchise Tax Sales Tax Total Percent Residential SF MF 3,034 140 ($000) Rev/Costs 3,034 140 55% 3% Commercial 777 405 854 2,036 37% Industrial 259 180 .78:1 259 5% TOTAL 4,210 405 854 5,469 100% TABLE 15 COMPARISON OF REVENUES AND OPERATING COSTS FY 1990-91 (Estimate) City of Allen, Texas Revenues Cost Ratio ($000) ($000) Rev/Costs Residential SF 3,034 4,320 .70:1 MF 140 180 .78:1 Commercial 2,036 1,140 1.79:1 Industrial 259 360 .72:1 TOTAL 5,469 6,000 .91:1 Allen Independent School District Taxable value within the school district for the 1990-1991 fiscal year totaled approximately $1,023,741,311 (See Table 16). Of that, $612,500 was within the categories labeled as requiring service, with approximately 76 percent in residential, 18% in commercial, and 6% in industrial. Based upon 1.54 cents per hundred tax levy for operations, these land uses produced a revenue of $9,150,000 to the school district in ad valorem taxes. A large revenue source to the school district is, of course, the state contribution which is based on a complex formula applied to the school district each year. This amount was deleted from the study. The operating budget for the school year 1990-1991 'Does not include grants, fines, and other fees. 'Tax Rate of .6882 2.18 was 16.9 million dollars. When those items addressing fees, grants for specific purposes, and programs were removed, the overall budget was approximately 16 million dollars. A comparison of the revenues and operating costs generated for the school district is shown in Table 17. Commercial and industrial uses which generate no students provide 24% of the revenue. The remainder is provided by residential development. Yet, because a large share of the operating budget is from the state, the amount contributed from each household relative to dollar of operating cost is marginal. TABLE 16 TAXABLE VALUE - FY 1990-91 Allen Independent School District Taxable Value Taxable Value W/O Other' ($000,000) Percent ($000,000) Percent Single -Family Res- 445.0 43.4 445.0 73.0 idential % % Multi -Family 20.4 2.0 20.4 3.0 Residential % % Vacant Tracts, Agri- 411.2 40.2 0.0 culture % % Commercial' 108.7 10.6 108.7 18.0 Industrial' 38.4 3.8 38.4 6.0 Personal Property .09 0.0 1,023.79 100% 612.50 100% 'Agriculture, Vacant Tracts, & Personal Property, categories C, D, & E from CAD. 'Includes commercial, office, utilities, and a pro rata portion of business tangible property ($37,800,000). Prorated based upon P. 10 CAD. 'Includes a pro rata portion of business tangible property ($15,400,000). 2.19 TABLE 17 COMPARISON OF REVENUES AND OPERATING COSTS FY 1990-91 (Estimate) Allen Independent School District Revenues Cost' Ratio ($000) ($000) Rev/Costs Residential SF 6,853 14,630 .5:1 MF 314 1,370 .2:1 Commercial 1,674 0 - Industrial 591 0 - TOTAL 1 9,432 16,000 .59:1 Limitations A number of limitations need to be mentioned regarding the preceding analysis and its application to day-to-day development in the City of Allen. These are: 1. Both industrial and multi -family uses represent a small proportion of total uses and assignment of operational costs based on assessed value is difficult in each case. 2. The individual industrial projects which are a part of the overall land uses are quite large (Intecom and DLM) and the cost of services required for each may not be typical. 3. Incremental costs of expanding a community service (such as the need for a ladder company for the fire department to serve higher and more expensive development) have not been considered. When applied to future individual projects, incremental costs will need to be considered. 4. Capital costs were not included. They also should be included in individual project analysis. 5. The city and school district boundaries are not coterminous. However, because of the large portion of the total area of each which is in both jurisdictions and the similarity in number of housing units in each, they were combined without adjustment for the analysis. Despite these limitations, the analysis clearly shows the relationship between each of the land use types and their ability to "pay for themselves." 'Budget of $16,000,000 was allocated to 6300 single-family dwelling units, and 590 multi -family dwelling units that existed in February, 1991. 2.20 LAND USE The Land Use Plan is one of the most significant elements of the Comprehensive Plan. It presents an arrangement for future development which should remain valid far beyond the traditional 20 - year time period. For a suburban community such as Allen where the present rate of growth is rapid, it is advisable to plan for the full development of the city, with short range growth areas predicated by provision of facilities and services. Review of Baseline Data The major goal for future land use development is to provide for the development of Allen as a high-quality residential community. Land use policies of the city have been based upon that overriding goal, as can be seen by the existing and committed pattern of development to date. This pattern emphasizes a neighborhood residential pattern, predominantly single-family, with clusters of high and medium density residential at commercial centers or along major streets. Creeks and their floodplains flow from north to south and provide a linear pattern through the city. Industrial uses are located along the major highways, as are the strip commercial areas. The planned developments along the U.S. 75 corridor are for intense commercial or light industrial, with office development buffering residential areas from the commercial and light industrial areas. Local retail and services are located at intersections of major streets at approximately one -mile intervals, although some strip commercial is located along S.H. 5 and F.M. 2170. These existing and committed land uses represent over two thirds of the land areas of Allen and have already established the basic land use pattern for the future city. Since Allen is surrounded by three major cities and three other communities, the plan for Allen should be compatible with adjacent land uses and major street extensions of these other cities, where such is possible. Goals and Policies Goals and policies for Allen were originally prepared by each subcommittee, consolidated by the Oversight Committee, and updated by city staff. A number of sources were used by the committees including research findings, personal observations and findings, and the results of the community survey. 1.000 General Goal: Provide for the development of Allen as a high quality residential community. 1.010 Specific Goal: Provide for high quality residential neighborhoods. 1.011 P/IS: Develop guidelines for densities and land uses to assure high quality neighborhoods. 1.020 Specific Goal: Develop a well balanced community. 1.021 P/IS: Plan for a diversity of ages and income levels in the city. 1.022 PAS: Emphasize desire for larger lot/house size. 3.1 1.030 Specific Goal: Provide adequate retail and commercial services for the shopping needs of Allen. 1.031 P/IS: Determine measures of demand and design land use plan to meet those needs. 1.040 Specific Goal: Provide a strong tax base capable of supporting the high quality residential community desired. 1.041 PAS: Provide sufficient offices, commercial and light industrial for local jobs and tax base. 1.042 PAS: Develop a public land use plan. 1.043 PAS: Plan for multiple industrial parks. 1.050 Specific Goal: Provide open space throughout Allen, preserving the natural resources. 1.051 PAS: Develop floodplain as open space, if feasible. 1.052 P/IS: Preserve major wood lots and trees in all developments (See Environment). 1.060 Specific Goal: Establish land use pattern. 1.061 P/IS: Update comprehensive plan for land use. 1.062 P/IS: Evaluate land use compatibility with neighboring cities. 1.063 P/IS: Coordinate land use development with extension of utilities and public services. 1.064 P/IS: Establish and administer density levels for future residential development and intensity levels for future nonresidential development. 1.070 Specific Goal: Redevelop the Central Business District. 1.071 PAS: Encourage retail and commercial services and office development in the CBD. 3.2 Land Use Plan Development StrateQv The development strategy for Allen is focused on eight key areas (See Plate 1). 1. Preservation of the floodplains as open space, recreation corridors, or natural habitats. 2. Reducing U.S. 75 as a development barrier by properly integrating automobile, bike, and pedestrian routes across U.S. 75 and by maintaining a high- quality atmosphere that is compatible to surrounding uses. 3. Development of a high-quality office, commercial, and light industrial environment along S.H. 121. 4. Taking advantage of the key location of city property at McDermott Drive and U.S. 75 to create a major image node for the city. 5. Redevelopment of the CBD and north side of F.M. 2170 (LIM Area) to complement key areas above. 6. Provision of high-quality residential neighborhoods throughout the city. 7. Concentrate local retail commercial in nodes, rather than in strip commercial areas. Designate given areas of the city for high-quality light industry, in particular those which are identified as being between U.S. 75 and S.H. 5 and south of the proposed city center, along S.H. 121 between Custer Rd. and U.S. 75, along Stacy between U.S. 75 and S.H. 5, and west of U.S. 75 north of Stacy. Concept of the Plan The Land Use Plan provides for the complete development of Allen, a process that may take 20 to 50 years. The following are the long-range strategies for the plan (The Land Use and Major Thoroughfare Plan map is located at the back of this report). 1. The city should continue construction of a major "city center" on the southeast quadrant of the intersection of U.S. 75 and F.M. 2170, which provides an identity for Allen and a center for major city activities. The development should fall within the category of high intensity mixed use, and should consist of a unique architectural character. Uses might include high rise offices, first level retail, a hotel, entertainment, city offices and city civic center facilities. The city should limit its participation to development of its 29.8 acres and should manage development on the other parcels to provide an overall high- quality and compatible development. High priority should be given to site planning the area and establishing permanent zoning. 3.3 2. Redevelopment of the downtown, as presently envisioned in the CBD district, should be accomplished as a low intensity mixed use center. The realignment and landscaping of F.M. 2170 should provide incentives for new development along it. Offices, retail, public uses, restaurants and other services—all in an attractive, pedestrian, and cyclist environment—should be the redevelopment goal. 3. Existing development in the northeast quadrant of U.S. 75 and F.M. 2170 presently consists of small lots with single-family, multi -family and some offices. Future development of this tract will be hindered by multiple ownerships, high utility replacement costs and high land costs. This area should be planned for moderate intensity mixed use, consisting of offices, some retail at key locations and multifamily on a block/half block scale. Some incentives such as tax increment financing or unilateral platting may be required to bring about the quality and scale of development appropriate at this location. 4. The U.S. 75 corridor should be developed for high intensity offices, retail and services. Tall buildings should be clustered at the major node points, with intense but not tall development in the intervening section. Residential areas should be separated from the corridor, with low intensity office uses. Unique architectural renderings and landscaped setbacks should parallel this highway. S.H. 121 is planned for future development as a freeway facility, and will have convenient access both to the Dallas/Ft. Worth Ailrport and the expanded McKinney Airport. The S.H. 121 corridor from the west city limits to U.S. 75 should be devel- oped as quality, high and low-rise offices and/or selected high-quality light industrial in a low intensity campus -type environment, and retail and services. Locations adjacent to interchanges should be developed as commercial. Residential areas south of Ridgeview should be separated from the more intense uses on the north end of the corridor with low intensity office uses. This area is identified as SD -1 on the land use plan. Performance indicators should be considered for this district. Unique architectural renderings with landscaped setbacks should parallel this highway. 6. Community level retail, offices and services should be located at three key loca- tions—Alma Drive and F.M. 2170, S.H. 5 and F.M. 2170 and Rowlett and Watters Roads. Local retail and services should be clustered at intersections of most major streets. These would provide services to the residential neighborhoods. Strip commercial should be discouraged, particularly on S.H. 5 and F.M. 2170, as should commercial uses at intersections of minor arterial or collector streets. 7. The area identified as SD -2 is an unusual area. It is located between the two high intensity corridors and is a difficult configuration because of the converging streets. The existing zoning suggests that the more intense and dense uses are intended for the eastern and northern portion of this district, with a gradual decrease in intensity and density as the district approaches the residential areas. A number of possible future uses should be considered including institutional uses such as a hospital, educational, or public institu- tion. With the proper development plan, multifamily and garden offices could be permitted as well. Performance indicators should be considered for this district. 3.4 Floodplains and large wooded areas should be preserved as open space, public recreation, or natural habitats. 9. Light industrial/areas should be considered for a number of locations: • The first should be the present industrial area south of the city complex, between S.H. 5 and U.S. 75, including DLM and Intecom. • The second should be in the triangle formed between Ridgeview Drive, Watters Road, and Stacy Road, where good vehicular access and visibility would be available. This area is known as SD -2. Performance indicators should be considered for this district. • The third area would include frontage along U.S. 75 between Exchange Parkway and Ridgeview Drive. Industrial areas fronting on U.S. 75 and S.H. 121 would be highly visible with quality, campus -type development. • The fourth area includes most of Neighborhood District 13 between U.S. 75 and S.H. 5, and south of Stacy Road. This area would complement the uses and support services that are anticipated for the expanded McKinney airport. This site would have direct access to U.S. 75, the McKinney airport, and the railroad. Also, it would be adjacent to the proposed Princeton/McKinney bypass. This area is identified as SD -3, and is considered to be a less intense industrial district with a more restricted height and FAR than the other industrial districts. Performance indicators should be considered for SD -3. 10. The residential area along the northeastern edge of Allen is presently very low density residential. These areas should be continued. 11. Most of the remainder of the residential areas should be developed in a traditional neighborhood arrangement. Each should have a mix of housing densities, with the higher densities located along major thoroughfares or in close proximity to commercial centers. These are shown as NR. 12. The city should explore the possibilities of taking advantage of the unique commercial and industrial opportunities that are offered by the railroad that traverses Allen. Research and studies should be completed that determine the potential for maximizing the railroad's influence upon the economic and industrial base. Future land uses along the railroad should be consistent with the nonresidential character of the railroad. 13. A number of ponds and small lakes are currently in place in the ETJ of Allen (e.g., McDermott Ranch and along Rowlett Creek in northwest Allen). Future planning and zoning should consider these sites so that they are incorporated into the park system or maintained as part of a private development. 3.5 14. The city should consider developing a portion of either Cottonwood Creek or Watters Creek that travels through commercial areas into creekwalks that are similar to the San Antonio Riverwalk. 3.6 (� nOt n n 00/ahr� mmmw scMa : i' = ezeo Hou+aN ASSOCIATES,TEIR INC. AL" oKw Land Use Categories 1. Very Low Density Residential (VLDR) This land use category is intended for development of estate residences and neighbor- hoods on large lots of one acre or more. 2. Low Density Residential (LDR) This land use category provides for development of neighborhoods with traditional single- family homes having densities of two to five units per acre. 3. Medium Density Residential (MDR) This land use category is intended for development of nontraditional single-family residences including duplexes, townhomes, cluster homes, patio homes and garden homes with densities ranging from six to eleven units per acre. 4. High Density Residential (HDR) This land use category in intended for development of apartment/condominium residences with densities ranging from 12 to 24 units per acre. 5. Neighborhood Residential (NR) This land use category is intended for development of mixed density residential neighborhoods. It provides for flexibility of specific locations and uses within the neighborhood provided that design principles and development policies of the city are maintained and provided uses fall within the maximum_ levels of the control totals and are acceptable density levels to the city. 6. Corridor Commercial (CC) This land use category provides for high intensity retail, offices and light industrial uses in selected locations along the U.S. 75 highway corridor. Additional characteristics of the category and possible uses are shown on Table 18. Adjacent residential neighbor- hoods should be carefully buffered from uses in this district. 7. Retail, Offices and Services Commercial (C) This land use category provides for local retail, offices and services to residential neighborhoods of the city. These can be located in neighborhood or convenience shopping centers or be developed as separate uses. Because of their close relationship to the residential neighborhoods they serve, good design, compatibility, and interre- lationship to the neighborhoods is important. 8. Offices O This land use category provides for concentrations of major offices, some with light industrial uses as part of the overall use. Supplemental retail in the buildings or in limited amounts to serve the complex should be encouraged. 9. Garden Offices (GO) This land use category is designed for low-rise, garden type offices in a high quality environment. These areas will often serve a transitional function of buffering the more intense corridor commercial or office areas from adjacent residential areas. 10. Light Industry (LI) This land use category provides for a high quality light industrial uses having no outside storage and in a quality environment. 11. Low Intensity Mixed Use (LIM) This land use category provides for a mixed use area of offices, retail, services, medium to high density residences and public buildings. Low rise in character, the area should be oriented to the pedestrian, where possible, and provide an atmosphere and character conducive to attracting customers and residents to the area. 12. High Intensity Mixed Use (HIM) The HIM category provides for a wide range of intense land uses—offices, entertainment, hotels, retail and high density residences—into a mixed use complex. 13. Public and Semi -Public (P) This land use category includes public and private parks, public uses such as schools and city buildings, and other uses such as churches. 14. Special Development Areas (SD) These special development areas are areas for which the city has identified a specific type, character and use of land. Three areas have been designated, each different and with varying land use purposes. (See previous section for a description of each). Others could be added at the discretion of the city. 3.9 TABLE 18 MATRIX OF COMMERCIAL/INDUSTRIAL LAND USE CATEGORIES City of Allen, Texas Low/ Light High Moderate Retail Industry & Intensity Mixed Intensity Corridor Garden Office & Industrial Use Mixed Use Commercial Office Office Services Technology Major Uses Retail and Services Offices Retail and Offices Offices Local retail Office/ Offices Retail & Services Supplemental & services Industry Entertainment Services Shopping Retail Offices with no City Complex Medium to Centers Restaurants Shopping outside Civic Center High Density Lodging Some light Center storage and Lodging Residential (Hotels) industry Convenience campus environ - (Hotels) Public Offices ment Condominiums & Buildings Entertainment apartments Some heavy (high density) commercial Some light commercial Height 1-20 stories 1-3 stories 1-15 stories 1-15 stories 1-3 stories 1-2 stories 1-3 stories Employment High Moderate High High Moderate High Mod/High w o Traffic Low/ Very Moderate/ Generation High Moderate High High Moderate High High Service, Low/ Trucks Moderate Moderate Moderate Moderate Moderate Low -High Compatibility to Residential Uses Low High Very Low Low to Moderate High Moderate Moderate Typical Floor Area Ratio (FAR) 1:1 .75:1 1:1 .7:1 .3:1 .25:1 .5:1 Principal Along major Intersections of Industrial Location N/A N/A Corridor Corridor thoroughfares major arterials Park Details of the Plan The plan follows existing and committed development as currently zoned. This accounts for approximately two-thirds of the land area of the future city. The remaining one-third of the city is presently uncommitted and the plan provides general direction for development of these areas. It should be recognized that many of the planned developments and other standard districts were approved under different market conditions, and there will probably be requests to downzone as well as upzone property. Consequently, the city should develop criteria in which to consider upzoning, downzoning, or changing the land use configurations in order to minimize the loss of the residential development to other communities but also to minimize the loss of the important commercial tax base. Residential Development. Residential development in Allen should continue to be predicated upon on the neighborhood concept. In this concept, a residential neighborhood is assumed to be bounded by major arterial streets, and may consist of a number of properties or subdivisions. Development should occur as follows: retail, commercial, or office at the intersections of the major streets, based upon economic need to serve the neighborhood, and multifamily units, retirement housing or housing for the elderly in close proximity to the commercial area where services and facilities are conveniently available. School/park facilities should be centrally located to the neighborhood, with residential uses designed around the facilities. Elementary schools should not be located adjacent to major thoroughfares. Both medium and high density uses should be carefully located in groupings along the major thoroughfare and adjacent to commercial or office uses. For each neighborhood, public and semipublic uses such as churches could locate along the major thoroughfares. Market Demand and Timing of New Development. Studies prepared for the city of Plano conclude that market demand for commercial/industrial land over the next 20 years will be far less than is presently zoned or planned in Plano, Allen, Frisco, McKinney, and other U.S. 75-Tollway Corridor cities. Competition for new development will be high and absorption could be slow. The timing of new development will be important to the city's ability to provide .facilities and services. Allen should consider some method of managing the rate of new development to minimize adverse cost and impact to the city. 3.11 NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING AREAS ---- BOUNDARY 1D NUMBER CKy of AHen Comprehensive Plan PLATE 4 F--_------0 J ILLl 1 i' €r; u HUNTER ASSOCIATES, INC. F; E1;EUS/ LMNEPS/SURVEYORS Using the plan The land use plan is not intended as an inflexible guide for the city. For good development to occur, some flexibility must be built into it. The question arises then, how should the plan be used and what adjustments can be made short of amending it? The plan is designed to be used at the neighborhood level. Land use, dwelling units, employment and population which will serve as the basic units for sizing of streets, sewers, water facilities and other community facilities are calculated for the neighborhood unit. If these facilities are to be adequately/efficiently sized, the control totals should not be exceeded. These should be considered maximums for which the city may choose to approve less than the control totals. Neighborhood planning units in Allen are shown on Plate 4. Development should be reviewed based upon design standards for neighborhoods and control totals given on Tables 19 and 20. The neighborhood will normally consist of several subdivisions or planned developments. They should not exceed the control totals, but development may be so designed internally that it will be the best land use pattern and the highest quality development. Clustering of residential development to preserve woodlots would be a good application of this concept. Since the control totals do not include all land for parks or for public uses, the area used or reserved for new public uses should be subtracted from the neighborhood area and the control totals adjusted each time an application is considered. Similarly, the location of commercial /office development should be appropriate to the major arterial streets, but the design permits many variations which will enhance the quality of the development. Most important to the success of this system will be the maintenance and administration of zoning and development statistics for each neighborhood district. Since the control totals are so important, reverification of the acreage of neighborhoods should be undertaken at an early date. There is an interrelationship between designated categories on the land use plan and districts of the zoning ordinance. The interrelationship is not exact and permits considerable choice, depending upon the specific type of development the city wishes within the category (See Table 21). The majority of new areas will probably be Planned Districts (PD's) when zoning is finally accomplished. 3.13 TABLE 19 SUMMARY OF LAND USE ALLOCATIONS City of Allen, Texas Residential Neighbor- hood LDR/ COMMER- INDUS- TOTAL Units VLDR MDR HDR TOTAL CIAL OFFICE TRIAL PSP ACRES 1 - 20 - 20 40 302 - 90 452 2 - - - - 80 95 - 35 210 3 - - - - 104 90 - - 194 4 - - - - 74 100 - 35 209 5 - - - - 157 67 47 6 277 6 1,151 51 20 1,222 20 - - 170 1,412 7 484 46 52 582 37 21 - 15 655 8 70 30 20 120 - - - - 120 9 551 7 40 598 41 36 - 82 757 10 0 0 55 55 38 150 172 41 456 11 - - - - 22 - 285 71 378 12 - 69 72 141 174 - 89 74 478 13 0 16 15 31 62 88 398 33 612 14 402 23 28 453 37 2 - 18 510 15 906 5 - 911 14 14 - 2 941 16 210 158 61 429 70 108 - 21 628 17 - - - - 155 47 25 3 230 18 443 - - 443 72 2 - 62 579 19 722 45 27 794 44 16 - 14 868 20 684 54 15 753 40 - - 142 935 21 111 - 12 123 30 - - - 153 22 209 49 15 273 23 46 - 48 390 23 - - - - 90 - - 5 95 24 129 - 15 144 21 80 156 6 407 25 421 109 51 581 56 14 14 100 765 26 718 50 25 793 32 - - 71 896 27 264 32 - 296 35 15 - 208 554 28 - - - - - - 369 16 385 29 718 98 52 868 108 - - 76 1,052 30 313 12 13 338 20 - - - 358 31 359 41 59 459 54 62 - 35 610 TOTAL 8,865 915 647 10,427 1,750 1,355 1,555 1,479 16,566 Note: 1. All measurements are in gross acres. 2. Does not include public and semi-public uses, such as churches, schools, other institutions, golf courses or athletic complexes. 3.14 TABLE 20 SUMMARY OF DWELLING UNITS, POPULATION & EMPLOYMENT City of Allen, Texas Residential Neighbor- hood TOTAL LDR/ POPULA- EMPLOY - Units ACRES VLDR MDR HDR TOTAL TION MENT 1 432 - 128 - 128 320 6,840 2 210 - - - - - 3,500 3 194 - - - - - 3,880 4 209 - - - - - 3,480 5 277 - - - - - 5,420 6 1,432 3,683 326 360 4,369 13,132 200 7 655 1,455 250 936 2,641 7,475 580 8 120 224 192 360 776 2,074 - 9 757 1,763 45 720 2,528 7,378 770 10 467 0 0 990 990 2,475 2,352 11 378 - - - - - 6,140 12 478 - 442 1,296 1,738 4,345 5,260 13 612 0 141 270 411 1,028 10,960 14 510 1,282 142 504 1,928 5,589 390 15 941 1,982 25 - 2,007 6,225 280 16 628 971 850 1,098 2,919 7,880 1,780 17 230 - - - - - 4,540 18 579 1,417 - - 1,417 4,392 740 19 868 2,162 308 486 2,956 8,687 600 20 935 2,188 346 270 2,804 8,493 400 21 153 395 - 216 611 1,765 300 22 390 702 344 270 1,316 3,711 690 23 95 - - - - - 1,800 24 407 413 - 270 683 1,955 2,570 25 765 1,347 698 674 2,719 7,605 840 26 896 2,298 360 450 3,108 9,149 320 27 554 845 205 - 1,050 3,133 500 28 385 - - - - - 7,380 29 1,052 1,853 604 936 4,393 12,694 1,080 30 294 1,001 77 252 1,281 3,926 200 31 610 1,149 262 998 2,409 6,713 1,740 TOTAL 16,989 29,859 6,098 8,820T 44,777 1 130,144 75,532 Note: Population estimated at 2.5 persons per dwelling unit for MDR and HDR; 3.1 persons per dwelling unit for LDR and VLDR. 3.15 Scaling the plan In order to test the land allocation for the plan, acres per 100 persons were calculated for existing development in 1991 and buildout (See Table 22). As the area develops, it will be more urban. This is reflected in total density and the allocation of total land area (12.74 acres per 100 persons). The table , shows a reasonable balance of land uses, particularly residential uses. Commercial acreage is high because of the significant amount of property that is adjacent to S.H. 121 and U.S. 75. The numbers in Tables 21 and 22 are not intended to be applied as quotas to individual developments. Overall, from a land use standpoint, the plan provides a reasonable allocation of the various land use categories to permit balanced development. Fiscal Impact Fiscal characteristics of the future plan based upon existing relationships and forecast trends in revenues and costs were prepared. Results showed the plan able to generate the revenues needed to provide essential services for the future community (See Table 23). 3.16 TABLE 21 RELATIONSHIP OF ZONING DISTRICTS TO LAND USE PLAN CATEGORIES City of Allen, Texas Land Use Plan Category Zoning District or Districts VLDR A -O LDR R-2 (18,000 sq. ft. lot) (2000 sq. ft. house) R-3 (12,000 sq. ft. lot) (1800 sq. ft. house) R-4 (9,000 sq. ft. lot) (1400 sq. ft. house) R-5 (7,500 sq. ft. lot) (1200 sq. ft. house) MDR 2 -Family 9.6 DU/A Townhouse 10.8 DU/A HDR Multifamily -1 12.1 DU/A Multifamily -2 24.0 DU/A Multifamily -3 18.0 DU/A NR PD C Local Retail Shopping Center General Business GO Office LI Light Industrial Industrial Technology LIM and HIM PD CC PD Corridor Commercial SD -1, SD -2, SD -3 PD O PD(0) 3.17 TABLE 22 LAND USE ALLOCATION City of Allen, Texas 1991' Build -Out' -9.2 Acres Acres/100 Acres Acres/100 Residential LDR/VLDR MDR HDR 1,878 9.63 8,133 6.25 Commercial 140 0.72 3,105 2.39 Industrial/ Railroad 128 0.66 1,555 1.20 Public/Semi Public and Parks 302 1.55 1,479 1.14 Streets and Alleys 606 3.11 2,294 1.76 TOTAL 3,054 15.67 16,566 ::1:2:74 Source: City of Allen, Department of Community Development, June 30, 1991 TABLE 23 ESTIMATED FISCAL IMPACT OF COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AT BUILD OUT City of Allen, Texas Estimated Annual Revenues Less Cost $000,000 - Residential -9.2 Commercial +7.6 Industrial +2.0 TOTAL +0.4 Source: City of Allen, Department of Community Development, May 31, 1991 ' 19,500 Persons ' 130,100 Persons 3.18 TRANSPORTATION The transportation analysis and plan focuses principally on the thoroughfare system, but alternative modes of transportation such as bicycle and pedestrian improvements are also addressed. The thoroughfare network, when properly linked with the regional and county system, will effectively and efficiently carry the anticipated traffic. Goals and Policies The major transportation themes were developed by the 1985 Comprehensive Plan and updated by the 1990 Survey. The specific goals of the plan relate to details of the planning effort regarding development of a safe and effective thoroughfare system. The respondents in the 1990 survey indicated that the transportation system is an area that needs attention. Additional capacity for the major highways S.H. 5, U.S. 75, and F.M. 2170 were some of the reasons given in the written comments. Although the respondents clearly indicated that they are not interested in joining DART at this time, this sentiment should not preclude long range plans for light rail or mass transportation. 2.000 General Goal: Develop an efficient and safe transportation system. 2.010 Specific Goal: Develop a thoroughfare system with sufficient capacity and including provision for mass transit and light rail (DART). 2.011 P/IS: Base thoroughfare planning on Level of Service C. 2.012 P/IS: Design collector streets for Level of Service C on thoroughfares. 2.013 P/IS: Maintain parallel thoroughfares for land use corridors on U.S. 75-S.H. 121. 2.014 P/IS: Work with the responsible government agency(s) to improve signalization and maintenance of F.M. 2170 and S.H. 5, as well as all major thoroughfares. 2.015 P/IS: Plan for grade separation at railroad crossing. 2.020 Specific Goal: Emphasize safety on the major thoroughfares. 2.021 PAS: Coordinate the major street system with existing and projected adjacent land use. 2.022 P/IS: School/park sites should be located on collector streets (not arterial streets). 2.023 PAS: Where schools are adjacent to existing collector streets, sidewalks and painted safety zones shall be required. 2.024 PAS: All existing major intersections should be updated with painted safety zones and sidewalks. 2.025 P/IS: Designate streets to limit truck traffic and movement of hazardous materials. 4.1 2.026 P/IS: Establish school safety policy that addresses crosswalk standards, signage, and the like. 2.030 Specific Goal: Seek mass transit and inclusion in the DART light rail system. 2.031 P/IS: Work with proper agencies to obtain services needed. Thorouehfares Current Plans and Plannin The current transportation plan for the city was adopted in 1985. It is consistent with the Collin County Thoroughfare Plan. Of primary importance for this analysis relative to the county plan are the designation of Bethany Road eastward, a proposed north/south route on the east end of town, the designation of Stacy Road as a subregional arterial, and Custer Road (F.M. 2478) as part of the primary county system. The spacing of interchanges across S.H. 121 include the proposed Custer Road, Rowlett, Stacy, and Watters. It is possible that one of the interchanges adjacent to U.S. 75 will be eliminated as engineering for the reconstruction of S.H. 121 is completed. This would impact the final alignment of Watters Road. At the time of this writing, the state highway department is reconstructing U.S. 75 from Spring Creek Parkway to Bethany Drive as a six -lane divided thoroughfare, and they have plans to continue this reconstruction to S.H. 121 when the Spring Creek -Bethany segment is complete. Thus, the long-range cross section being contemplated involves three lanes in each direction plus the frontage roads, which will be one way in each direction. Current planning is underway to reconstruct F.M. 2170 to Allen Heights. The engineering and right-of-way map have been completed and construction is expected to begin in 1992. The state highway department has indicated that work will begin on S.H. 5 in 1994. The reconstruction of S.H. 121 to a six -lane divided highway with frontage roads through Allen is expected in the late 1990's. F.M. 2478, which is the western city limits of Allen, will be widened in 1995. Existing Thoroughfare System The existing major street system in the City of Allen primarily consists of a two-lane network of designated major streets. S.H. 121 and S.H. 5 are two-lane state highways serving the area. U.S. 75 currently is a four -lane, divided freeway with frontage roads on each side. The frontage roads are two lanes each with two -way operation from McDermott to S.H. 121 and are one way from Rowlett Creek to McDermott. They are discontinuous in some sections where the facilities cross the creeks. Interchang- es between the main line of U.S. 75 and the frontage roads are provided by a series of slip ramps at a number of locations—notably near Bethany Road, McDermott/Main Street, Lynge Drive, Stacy Road and Ridgeview. F.M. 2170, between U.S. 75 and S.H. 5, was recently realigned to provide a more direct route, but is a two-lane highway from S.H. 5 to F.M. 2551 and from S.H. 5 to F.M. 2478. S.H. 5 is currently a two-lane highway throughout the city limits of Allen. F.M. 2478 and F.M. 2551 are two-lane highways and represent the western and eastern city limits of Allen, respectively. 4.2 Traffic Model Overview A traffic model for Allen was completed in 1984 as part of the 1985 Comprehensive Plan. Recent technological advancements have offered cities the opportunity to upgrade their models, and completion of a secondary thoroughfare plan that utilizes that technology would enhance the current model. This study should be completed as soon as possible in order to obtain the necessary right-of-way. The study area of the existing model was limited by S.H. 121 on the north, F.M. 2551 on the east, Chaparral Road on the south, and F.M. 2478 on the west. Vehicles traveling inside this area were classified into three different types of trips: (1) internal trips made by local residents, (2) through trips which do not stop in the area, and (3) internal-external trips. Table 24 provides data used for the selected land use option and includes the land use data, trip - by -trip purpose, and the resulting peak -hour trips per dwelling unit. TABLE 24 LAND USE/TRAFFIC PARAMETERS City of Allen, Texas ITEM PLAN Total Dwelling Units 46,090 Total Employment 67,572 Vehicle Trips -Home Based Work 21,111 -Other Home Based 23,835 -Non-Home Based 12,698 -Total 57,644 Daily Trips per Dwelling Unit 10.4 Of the three types of vehicular trips in the study area, forecasts of through trips are the most difficult. Data developed by North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) was utilized for through trips, and this data is based upon regional models which have not been adequately compared to the projected land use plan. Thus, through traffic, which would be primarily located on the major thoroughfares may be higher than projected. The traffic tests conducted were based upon peak -hour trips in order to make comparisons between traffic demand and capacity for each street segment. Peak -hour trips are typically about 10 percent of the average daily traffic. . The data indicates that the build -out level of traffic for each land use option results in approximately 10 trips per dwelling unit during a typical day. 4.3 In a comprehensive plan study, the land use plan is developed on a full build -out concept, while traffic data is more dependent upon a fixed point in time. Traffic estimates for the full build -out of the study area thus incorporated the following limitations: Traffic for areas other than Allen were based upon volumes expected in 20 years—say, by the year 2010. 2. The full build -out in Allen may not take place before 2010 (or later). 3. Trips per dwelling unit have historically increased over time, thus trip generation rates applicable in 2010 may be too low for the full build -out in Allen. Internal-external volumes (those with only one trip end in Allen) are highly dependent on what happens outside the study area. However, the projections are developed on sound data assuming the land use options developed for full build -out of Allen. The most significant findings in travel patterns for the land use plan are: A 7.5 -fold increase in Allen area dwelling units (46,090) 2. A 16 -fold increase in Allen area employment (67,572 _ 4288 COG). 3. A 123% percent increase in the employment to dwelling unit ratio (1.47 - .66). , � The first two items are simple indications of the magnitude of overall traffic increase that should be anticipated. The third factor illustrates that the desires of local residents to change Allen from a "bedroom community" orientation to a community with a higher employment base is recognized in the land use plan, and this will significantly affect the quantity and distribution of trips made in the Allen area. Allen Thoroughfare Plan The recommended land use and thoroughfare plan retains the basic roadway system of the current plan with some alterations on the west side, Allen Heights, Stacy Road, and a north/south movement near the eastern edge of the city. The proposed Collin County Thoroughfare Plan contains provisions for a direct north/south arterial that will connect Stacy to Chaparral Road. Also, Stacy Road is designated as a subregional arterial. These linkages are necessary to support the expected traffic movement from U.S. 75 to the expanded McKinney airport and to Interstate 30 in Greenville, Tx. Stacy Road will also be an integral part of a traffic system that will loop through Collin Co. A realignment of Allen Heights from Bethany to Edelweiss may be needed to reduce the bridge requirements across Mustang Creek. The amended Allen thoroughfare plan reflects these proposed alignments and designations. Traffic modeling by the NCTCOG indicate that certain segments of roadway on the city's west side should be eliminated as major thoroughfares or realigned; they include: Bethany Drive from Alma to Rowlett, Alma Drive from Exchange to Ridgeview, Rowlett Circle, and Watters Drive from Stacy to Ridgeview. The projected traffic counts suggest that the specified portions of Bethany, Rowlett Road and Alma Drive should be reclassified as major thoroughfares. The realignment of Watters is necessary because of the construction and environmental costs of the bridge across Cottonwood Creek. Some 4.4 north/south movement from Stacy to Ridgeview on both sides of the creek will probably be needed, but one of the segments can be a commercial collector or minor arterial. The need for Raintree Circle to be a major thoroughfare will be dependent upon the type of development that occurs in the area, and the ultimate need for the loop system may be questionable if other development options occur. The current loop system will be maintained on the thoroughfare plan until alternative development patterns are identified. Roadway type C4U and type C2U should include a modification to require different treatments at intersections with major streets. The proposed modification is to provide a widened cross section at crossings on these two types of collectors with major streets. Roadway type C4U should continue with the four traffic lanes on a 70 -foot right-of-way but should be widened to incorporate left turns in a median. Roadway type C2U should be modified to permit provision of this same cross section, which basically involves changing the right-of-way width for a distance of about 500 feet on each side of a major street to 70 feet instead of the current 60 feet. These modifications will provide a good long-term capacity reserve as a sound and defensible planning principle for major streets in the area. Table 26 illustrates an analysis of the cross-section needs for traffic on streets crossing U.S. 75. This indicates for each of the major street facilities the resulting evening peak hour traffic. The minimum lane call for the cross street is provided also. Of the six cross streets, only Allen Drive is a questionable inclusion as a major street because of current plans to reorient traffic to Rowlett Road in this area. Ridgeview Drive is shown to need at least four lanes for the U.S. crossing. Stacy Road, Rowlett Road, and McDermott Drive can be satisfied with eight -lane cross sections based upon the traffic tests. Bethany Drive will require a ten -lane cross section (including the turn lanes). This is due primarily to the expected growth of commercial and industrial activity in this area. Council of Governments projections indicate that Bethany Drive, between S.H. 5 and U.S. 75 is inadequate to meet future traffic demands, and additional improvements, such as additional lanes and intersection expansion, will be needed. McDermott Drive will need an eight -lane section for through traffic plus left turn movements at U.S. 75. Traffic tests further suggest that a six -lane cross section is not adequate between Alma and the U.S. 75 frontage road; consequently, this segment is shown on the thoroughfare plan as eight lane divided at that location. The right-of-way and cross section should be widened between Alma and the east frontage road along U.S. 75 to accommodate the eight through lanes plus turn lanes. A six -lane cross section may then be adequate to the east of U.S. 75. The traffic testing on Stacy Road indicated that an eight -lane cross section between Ridgeview Dr. and Watters Road is needed, which is indicated as such on the thoroughfare plan. As stated previously, Stacy Road has been designated as a subregional arterial, which will require flared intersections and limited ingress and egress. Based upon the goals, the level of service test for the cross -street requirements at U.S. 75 is Level of Service C. Consideration was given to requirements for both through , traffic and turning movements at each of the frontage roads involved. On the basis of this, a general guide of 550 to 600 vehicles per through lane was used for Level of Service C. For example, the peak hour assignment at Rowlett Road indicates an eastbound volume of 1,452 vehicles. Based upon the level of service guideline, this requires six lanes of cross section—three 4.5 through -lanes in each direction. Additional lanes may be required for crossing U.S. 75 when final design is undertaken—a left turn lane and/or right turn movement to access the frontage roads. Until actual design is undertaken in a preliminary or final phase, the precise treatment of left turn/right turn lanes and through traffic lanes can only be estimated in a general manner. Clover leaf designs at the highway crossings should be considered whenever feasible. Another critical item relative to developments along U.S. 75 relates to the provisions for eventual needs on the frontage roads. The current two-way, two lane frontage roads were designed and constructed for low volume traffic levels, which are no longer appropriate for the city of Allen. For both safety and capacity reasons, at the earliest time these frontage roads should be redesigned for one-way traffic, and necessary modifications to them should be made. Eventual traffic levels will, in many locations, require three lanes on each side for one-way traffic flow. Thus, the city should proceed with establishment of a policy and development guidelines to obtain the necessary rights -of way and construction of on -way frontage roads on each side of U.S. 75 that would be designed for one-way operation. 4.6 Cty of A en Comphrehensive Plan PLATE 5 MAJOR THOROUGHFARE PLAN LEGEND �•� EXISTING PROPOSED P -8-0-A F- FFarocs v-owm u - uawEr nor v Wane Lem mwl a - aw MOO - rcr,v+r MMOL r - aW0 Mnorr e - aoutnai IE 4000 2000 0 4000 8000 SCALE : 1" = 4000' F- rraxaa nrs .-rwAr� * Will Be Built to State Standards ** May Vary Depending Upon Cycle and Pedestrian Routes P -Principal Arterial M -Minor Arterial D -Divided U -Undivided TABLE 25 CITY OF ALLEN, TEXAS RECOMMENDED THOROUGHFARE DESIGN STANDARDS DESIGN ELEMENT FUNCTIONAL CLASSIFICATION IS.H.1211 P6DA I P6D I M6D I M6U M4D M4U C4D C4U C2U ------- R3U ------- R2U -------� -------------------------------- I ------- CROSS SECTION I * I ------- I I I ------- I I I ------- I I I ------- I II I ------- I I I ------- I II I ------- I I ------- I ------- I II ------- I I II ------- I I II ------- I IV ------- -------------------------------- (A) ------- NUMBER OF TRAFFIC LANES * ------- 6 ------- 6 ------- 6 ------- 6 ------- 4 ------- 4 4 ------- 4 ------- 4 ------- 3 ------- 2 ------- -------------------------------- (B) ------- LANE WIDTHS (FT) * ------- 12 -------1------- 12 12 ------- 12 ------- 12 ------- 12 11 11 10 10 12 --------------------------------------- **(C) RIGHT-OF-WAY WIDTH (FT) 1 * ---------------------------- 1170-2001120-140110-1201 100 ------- 180-100 ------- 1 70-90 ------- 1 70-90 ------- 1 60-80 ------- 1 60 ------- 1 50 ------- 1 40 -------------------------------- (D) I ------- AVERAGE VEHICLE CAPACITY 1 I ------- 13,850/ I ------- 13,000/ I ------- 13,000/ I ------- 13,.000/ I ------- 12,000/ I ------- 12,000/ ------- 11,900/ ------- 11,900/ ------- 11,000/ ------- 1600/ I ------- 1400/ (VEHICLE HOUR/VEHICLE DAY) 1 * 143,000 133,000 133,000 133,000 122,500 122,500 121,000 121,000 111,000 17,500 15,000 -------------------------------- (E) ------- DESIGN SPEED (MPH) * ------- 45 ------- 45 ------- 40 ------- 40 ------- 40 ------- 40 ------- 40 ------- 40 ------- 35 ------- 30 ------- 25 --------------------------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 00 (F) MAXIMUM GRADE (o) * 6-7 6-7 6-7 6-7 6-7 6-7 6-8 6-8 6-8 6-8 6-8 -------------------------------- (G) ------- MAXIMUM HORIZONTAL CURVATURE1 ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- CENTERLINE RADIUS (FT) 1 * 1 800 573 573 573 573 573 573 573 450 302 146 ------- -------------------------------- (H) ------- STOPPING SITE DISTANCE (FT) * ------- 400 ------- 400 ------- 325 ------- 325 ------- 325 ------- 325 ------- 325 ------- ------- 325 ------- ------- 275 ------- ------- 200 ------- 150 ------- -------------------------------- (I) ------- MINIMUM MEDIAN WIDTH (FT) * ------- 24 ------- 16 ------- ------- 16 ------- NA ------- 12 ------- NA 12 ------- NA ------- NA ------- NA ------- NA ------- -------------------------------- (J) ------- MIN. SPACING MEDIAN ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- I. OPENING (FT) * 1000 1000 600 NA 300 NA 180 NA NA NA NA -------------------------------- (K) ------- VERTICAL CLEARANCE (FT) * ------- 16 ------- 16 ------- 16 ------- 16 ------- 16 ------- 16 ------- 16 ------- 16 ------- 16 ------- 16 ------- 16 -------------------------------- (L) -------------------------------- ------- MINIMUM DRIVEWAY SPACING(FT)j I ------- ------- 1 250 I ------- ------- 1 250 I ------- ------- 1 250 I ------- ------- 1 250 I ------- ------- 1 150 I ------- ------- 1 100 I ------- ------- 1 100 I ------- ------- 1 100 I ------- ------- 1 NA I ------- ------- I NA I ------- ------- I NA I-------� * Will Be Built to State Standards ** May Vary Depending Upon Cycle and Pedestrian Routes P -Principal Arterial M -Minor Arterial D -Divided U -Undivided TABLE 26 THOROUGHFARE PLAN TRAFFIC ON STREETS CROSSING U.S. 75 City of Allen, Texas Evening Peak Hour Assignment Resulting Lane Call' Facility Eastbound Westbound Total Minimum Total Ridgeview Drive 493 702 1,195 4 lanes 6 lanes Stacy Road 1,231 759 1,990 6 lanes 8 lanes Rowlett/Exchange Parkway 1,452 1,063 2,515 6lanes 8lanes Lynge Drive 181 115 296 2 lanes 4 lanes McDermott Drive 1,361 1,400 2,761 6 lanes 8 lanes Bethany Drive 2,094 1,492 3,586 8 lanes 10 lanes TOTAL 6,812 5,531 12,343 ' Desirable number of through lanes (two-way) at Level of Service C considering crossing volumes and turning moves at each frontage road. Right-of-way for turn lanes is added on the basis of a minimum of a left -turn lane for each direction to give the total lane call shown. 4.9 Frontage roads along S.H. 121 also will require long-range consideration at this time to guide developments in the immediate future that are adjacent to these routes. S.H. 121 connects with U.S. 75 north of Allen, and the frontage road on the south side of S.H. 121 connects directly into the west frontage road for U.S. 75. For these and reasons of consistency, one-way frontage roads should be developed along S.H. 121, and the frontage roads should be planned for three lanes on each side of S.H. 121. The cross section for the main line of S.H. 121 will be highly dependent upon through traffic volumes. For this reason, regional analyses are needed to establish appropriate number of lanes, but for immediate planning purposes, it is sufficient to consider that three lanes in each direction would be adequate for a number of years for traffic on S.H. 121. Thus, the cross section for S.H. 121 for planning purposes in Allen is recommended at six lanes on the main line (three lanes in each direction) plus one-way frontage roads of three lanes each until such time as more detailed analyses can establish a design cross section for the main line. Intersection Improvements A method for improving traffic movement along thoroughfares is to require the right-of-way necessary for a flaired intersection so that there is room for dual left turn lanes, decelerator and accelerator lanes, and exclusive right -turn lanes. Recent academic studies indicate that acquiring such right-of-way through the subdivision process is recommended. This accomplishes almost the same goal as an eight -lane divided thoroughfare, without having to acquire the entire length of right-of-way. Conse- quently, the Subdivision Ordinance should be reviewed and revised accordingly. Protecting Thoroughfare Capacity Thoroughfares represent a considerable investment on the part of the city and the development community. It is important that the city both plan for and protect the capacity provided in the investment. This thoroughfare plan and the street cross sections identified are predicated upon a land use arrangement and the traffic loadings it produces. The city requires a traffic impact analysis for each major development proposal. The analysis should include traffic generated by the development plus regional background traffic volumes and traffic produced by other developments. After the construction of the street, property owners will request additional service drives, additional density and other such requests that will exhaust the capacity. Policies should be made and adhered to that will preserve this capacity by following prescribed density levels and using design techniques that will accomplish this purpose. Other Modes DART is the operator of the bus system and future light rail system in the Dallas area. Allen is not a member of DART. Its bus system does not serve Allen, although Allen residents can catch the bus in Plano. Planning for the future light rail system calls for service to Plano, but not to Allen. Allen should plan for light rail service and should work to get Allen on the light rail system when it is appropriate to do so. The 1990 survey suggested that Allen residents are not prepared at this time to join DART, but future plans should designate locations for bus and light rail stations so that mass transportation can be properly integrated with the transportation system. 4.10 Bicycle Transportation At the present time, no separate provision has been made for bicycles in the city. Recreation and transportation planning should provide for bicycle use of trails, particularly in the linear park system and the east -west linkages. Planning should be completed so that areas/facilities such as schools, employment centers, parks, and major shopping centers are linked with residential areas. Bicycle transportation should be integrated with other systems through multimodal networking e.g., bike trails terminating at secure bicycle storage facilities at pedestrian, bus, and rail stations. Additional right-of-way to accommodate these trails will be needed when subdivisions are platted; consequently, standards for a bicycle trail system should be considered and implemented though the subdivision ordinance. Trails should accommodate cyclists in both directions, and should be separated from vehicular traffic for safety reasons. A bicycle transportation system should not restrict the rights of cyclists to use roadways, but should enhance the opportunities for cycling to become a viable part of the transportation system. Pedestrian Transportation Allen currently requires sidewalks as a part of subdivision and site plan review. Sidewalks or pathways should continue to be required. Provision should also be made for sidewalks along arterial and collector streets, so that as development occurs in the future, opportunities for pedestrians will be available. Street crossings at appropriate locations should be marked and pedestrian signals provided where traffic warrants. Pedestrian and bicycle paths can be integrated with appropriate precautions. A safe school route that addresses crosswalks and signage should be an integral part of the pedestrian transportation plan. 4.11 HOUSING The overriding goal of the city is to develop as a high quality residential community. This concept of quality in a balance of types of housing units, good neighborhoods, services and sufficient tax base. With the city less than 20 percent developed at present, the city can influence the locations, mix of types, and range of cost levels in the future city through the development process. Land prices, development costs and interest rates in the last 30 years have increased the cost of housing across the nation. These increases in housing costs can be seen in Allen where new homes built today have increased markedly in price. Much of the new housing today is too expensive for the young, first time homebuyer. However, in the 1990's, the prices of homes in the secondary market are at their 1980 rates, and are expected to remain stagnant during the early 1990's. The original city has a variety of types of older homes which, depending upon the maintenance, vary from standard to substandard. Later subdivisions such as Rolling Hills, Whisenant and Allen Estates are modern, low density subdivisions with moderate to high prices homes. The more recent subdivisions have varied from the smaller, affordable housing of Wind Ridge and Hillside to the larger, more expensive homes in Fountain Park, Country Meadow, Cottonwood Bend, Heritage Park, and Willow Creek Estates. The city presently requires a mix of housing within each neighborhood district and this policy should result in a more integrated and diverse housing supply. Two major topics are addressed in this section -housing supply and housing quality. Goals and Policies 3.000 General Goal: Provide a range of housing to meet the needs of present and future residents which efficiently utilizes land resources and essential city services. 3.010 Specific Goal: Continue the city's role in housing as one of directing, planning and regulating the development and maintenance of housing. 3.011 P/IS: Main and administer strong zoning and building codes. 3.012 P/IS: Continue to regulate lot and house size. 3.013 P/IS: Discourage conversion of single-family residences in the CBD to business use. 3.020 Specific Goal: Provide a variety of housing densities. 3.021 P/IS: Prepare standards for desired types of housing in city and coordinate with density standards. 3.022 P/IS: Plan for new zoning districts to accommodate new housing types such as patio homes and garden homes. 5.1 3.023 P/IS: Plan to use apartments and condominiums to buffer single-family areas from intensive development. 3.030 Specific Goal: Encourage each housing development to have a variety of architecture and building materials. 3.031 P.IS: Set standards and administer for appearance of housing developments (urban design factors). 3.032 P/IS: Encourage use of variety of floor plans. 3.040 Specific Goal: Redevelop blighted areas and areas with potential of becoming blighted. 3.041 P/IS: Encourage owner -occupied residences in single-family developments. 3.050 Specific Goal: Plan for quality housing for all income and age groups. Housing Supply Inventory of Housing Allen's housing is and has been predominantly single-family detached dwellings (See Table 27). While the number of multifamily units (apartments) has risen significantly since 1980, the percentage increase has been moderate. TABLE 27 TRENDS IN HOUSING TYPES City of Allen, Texas 1970 1980 December, 1991 Housing Type No. % No. % No. % Single-family 579 94.5 2,685 95.9 6,674 91.8 Multi -family 27 4.4 108 3.9 590 8.1 Mobile Home 7 1.1 7 0.2 7 0.1 TOTAL 613 100.0 2,800 100.0 7,161 100.0 Source: 1970 - U.S. Census 1980 - NCTCOG 1991 - City of Allen The housing units presently in the city represent a variety of sizes (See Table 28). A policy of providing different housing sizes in each development was adopted in the 1985 Comprehensive Plan and 5.2 the present housing stock compared to city policy is shown below. This comparison shows: (1) fewer very small units (under 1200 square feet) than desired, probably because of the small number of apartment units in the overall housing stock; (2) a proportional excess of units in the over 2,000 square foot range. Over three-fourths of the single family residential permits issued in the last year were for houses that are in excess of 2000 square feet. This demonstrates that the current market is for a larger product type. TABLE 28 HOUSING SIZE City of Allen, Texas Housing Size December 1991 % Policy % % +/- Under 1200 s.f. 5.2 15.0 -9.8 1201-1400 s.f. 22.5 25.0 -2.5 1401-1600 s.f. 18.3 15.0 +3.3 1601-1800 s.f. 17.1 15.0 +2.1 1801-2000 s.f. 13.3 20.0 -6.7 Over 2000 s.f. 23.6 10.0 +13.6 TOTAL 100.0 100.0 Source: City of Allen Housing Needs Using the projection of ±31,000 persons by the year 2,000, an additional 3,769 dwelling units will be needed by 2,000 to house the population. This represents a 57% increase in the housing stock as of August 31, 1991. TABLE 29 PROJECTED HOUSING - 2000 City of Allen, Texas 1980 1990 2000 Population 8,314 18,309 31,000 Occupied Units 2,645 5,896 10,333 Persons/Household 3.14 3.1 3.0 Percent Occupancy 94.5% 95.5% 95% Source: 1980, 1990 - U.S. Census 2000 - City Staff Estimate 5.3 The current population of Allen is young, with over 44.3 % of the population in the 25-44 age bracket in 1990. Allen should continue to attract the young family, but the median age of the population will probably continue to increase as evidenced by the fact that since 1980, it rose from 28.3 to 35-39 in 1990. The projected age distribution indicates that the majority of the population will be in the age group 25-44 by the year 2000 (Table 30). This finding has several implications for the housing stock. First, as the age of the population increases, the provision of affordable housing for both the senior citizens and younger people with lower incomes will become more critical. Second, because there will be more persons in the age group 25-44, the disposable income for larger homes will continue to increase. TABLE 30 PROJECTED AGE DISTRIBUTION - 2000 City of Allen, Texas 1980 1990 2000 Age No. % No. % No. % 0-17 2,975 35.8% 6,543 35.7% 11,160 36.0% 18-24 1,030 12.4 1,275 7.0 1,550 5.0 25-44 3,338 40.1 8,111 44.3 13,950 45.0 45-64 686 8.3 1,880 10.3 3,410 11.0 65+ 285 3.4 500 2.7 930 3.0 TOTAL 8,314 100.0 18,309 100.0 31,000 100.0 1980 - U.S. Census 1990 - U.S. Census 5.4 TABLE 31 PROJECTED HOUSEHOLD INCOME - 2000 City of Allen, Texas 1980 1984 1990 2000 Income % % % % Under $10,000 6.8 3.1 8.0 3.9 $10,000-$14,999 10.2 $15,000-$19,999 15.9 3.3 $20,000-$25,000 20.8 6.4 $25,000-$49,999 42.6 65.8 45.0 33.6 $50,000 & Over 3.6 21.4 47.0 62.5 TOTAL 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Median $24,053 $36,200 $46,350 69,071 1980 - U.S. Census 1984 - City of Allen, Comprehensive Plan 1990 - City of Allen, Comprehensive Plan Future housing should be directed at meeting the needs of each of the population and income levels. Affordability will continue to be a key question. Using a standard rule of thumb of 25 percent of household income devoted to housing, approximately 3.9% will not be able to afford rentals or purchases of $500 per month rent or payment (See Table 31). Another 33.6% of the households will need affordable housing. Maintenance of existing housing stock, as well as moderately priced rental apartments, will be needed. While the elderly will continue to represent a small percentage of the population, approximately 930 senior citizens can be expected by 2,000 (See Table 30). Special attention should be given to their needs. The land use plan provides for full development of the city of Allen to meet the goal of a balanced community and some reasonable provision of all housing types will be important. The plan provides for a 68/13/19 percent split between traditional single-family and moderate or high density units (apartments, townhouses, gardenhomes, etc.). Future cost of land and houses will lead to a greater interest in building and buying the medium density unit (13 percent), such as townhomes, garden homes, patio homes and similar attached units. Selectively located in small concentrations on the edges of neighborhoods, these will greatly help the housing supply and will be highly desired by residents. These units can be of a variety of price levels -- some being more expensive and desirable than a single-family home. 5.5 Housing Quality The number of substandard structures is very small relative to the housing stock. The only grouping of substandard housing units occur in the Central Business District and St. Mary's area. Recent public improvements should enhance the redevelopment of the surrounding zone. It is unlikely that any material improvements in the housing will be made without a housing assistance program to help homeowners in improving their property. There are parts of three other areas of the city which need attention. They are Wind Ridge, Hillside, and to a lesser extent, a part of High Meadow (See Plate 6). The following conditions appear to exist: (1) growing change from totally owner occupied to a substantial percentage of rental units, (2) possibility of more than one family per unit (overcrowding), (3) decreasing maintenance on some of the properties, and (4) substantial front yard and on -street parking of boats, cars, and trailers. These characteristics are a product of the high cost of housing relative to income level and the lack of affordable alternatives. It should be noted that most of the homes in each range of housing are in good condition. Fortunately, all three subdivisions are in the early stages of transition and can be enhanced with remedial action by the city. The 1990 survey affirmed the city's role in directing, planning, and regulating the development and maintenance of housing. This action should be directed to three major areas: eliminate overcrowding, restore maintenance and provide alternative housing, as described below: 1. Review existing city ordinances to determine if the necessary regulations are available to address rental housing, overcrowding, lack of home maintenance and environmental conditions. 2. A certificate of occupancy should be required for each house at the time of sale or new rental, and future enforcement coordinated with housing turnover. 3. Designated areas should then be surveyed to locate rentals and overcrowding and the ordinance enforced in accordance with steps delineated by the city attorney. The first step should be notification and persuasion. 4. A systematic survey of homes in each area requiring maintenance and/or environmental cleanup (outside storage, junk, litter, etc.) should also be made and maintenance requirements enforced. A neighborhood integrity ordinance would address these issues. 5. More alternative housing is needed for these affected income groups. The city has set as its goal to provide a balance of housing types and cost levels. Apartments and homes for lower income groups need to be provided, but not all in one location. They are better located in a variety of areas, where the overall pattern of higher quality housing will support them. When sufficient alternative housing is available, pressures on present neighborhoods should decline. 5.6 I Citv nof Akan 0 p 6260 6CAIX : l" - 6260' Pian HUNTER ASSOCIATES, INC. ENQNMZM/P NM/SURWYORS PARKS AND RECREATION The Parks and Recreation Department faces many challenges as the city of Allen begins its rapid growth. Demand for some activities already exceeds the city's ability to provide them. The city must be prepared to identify and acquire park lands—especially large sites for community and special parks—before development precludes their acquisition. The citizens have made it clear that they want a balanced system of neighborhood, community and linear parks along floodplains. The city can provide facilities for its existing neighborhoods but must balance the expenditures with the need to purchase many acres of new park land. Making this system affordable should be the goal of this plan. Finally, if the floodplains are to become a significant part of the city's park and open space system, they must be correctly identified, protected from insensitive development, erosion and attempts to straighten or cover them, and managed so that they are not a drain on the financial resources of the Parks Department. Inventory of Existing Facilities The existing park and recreation system provides a total of 196 acres or 10 acres per 1,000 persons in the city. This constitutes a 1.6 acre per person increase over the 1984 figure of 8.4 (See Table 32). Of this total, 10 parks having a combined acreage of 100.5 (acres/1000) are developed. The Policy for Land Acquisition identifies that an optimum level of 8.5 acres of active/passive park facilities would be provided for each 1,000 person living in Allen. At today's population of 19,600, this would require 167 acres of developed park land. Of the 100 acres of developed parks, 24.7 acres are deemed temporary parks that will ultimately be replaced by other uses, such as the McDermott Park and Hillside Park. The 50 acres of undeveloped parkland located at Bethany and Allen Heights are projected to be developed during fiscal year 1991-1992. Therefore, the city presently has adequate land area in its system, although development of the system is lagging behind growth of the city. An additional 323.50 acres have been zoned CF and are to be dedicated to or purchased by the city for park land. This includes approximately 60 acres to be used for neighborhood parks and 263.50 acres of floodplain land for greenbelts and linear parks. The city has already obtained through dedication approximately 60 acres of greenbelt/linear park lands. rem TABLE 32 EXISTING PARK AND RECREATION FACILITIES (Based on Population of 19,600) City of Allen, Texas KEY= L=Lighted U=Unlighted Y=Yes N=No d c°a o F, v .W � a p p, w p, b o •, pq W °o fs+ o C7 co a1 b o °; � a a O °� Ra o U ;4+' o cn ani H o M 0 0 U v] o a ° b N bb x H a1 cd m w Reed 10 Y Y 1U 1U Y 2L Hillside 9.2 2L 2U Jupiter 8.5 1L 1U Animal Shelter/ - Cottonwood Crk Rolling Hills .3 Y Y Walden .3 Y McDermott 7 6U Hillside Play .3 Y Ford 50 Y Y 3L Y 3L 4L 1 1 1 1 Story 10 Y Y Y Cottonwood Bend 4.9 Y Y Y St. Mary's 8.6 Cottonwood 14.9 Country 7.4 Meadows Collin Square/ 8.9 Glen Hollow Bethany Lakes 50.0 Raintree 3.8 Watters Creek TABLE 33 AREAS TO BE DEDICATED OR PURCHASED (Presently Zoned CF) City of Allen, Texas DEVELOPMENT ACRES Folsom (PD No. 20) 11.6 Baker (PD No. 23) 183.0 Tompkins (PD No. 26) 54.0 Shadow Lakes (PD No. 12) 22.1 Bray Central (easement) 7.2 Utal (PD No. 31) 18.8 Whisenant (PD No. 38) 10.0 258 Acre Joint Venture (PD No. 41) 11.8 Majestic Savings (PD No. 42) 5.0 TOTAL 323.50 TABLE 34 EXISTING GREENBELT/LINEAR PARKS City of Allen, Texas DEVELOPMENT ACRES Cottonwood Bend Greenbelt 12.1 Bray Central Easement 7.2 Cottonwood Bend North II 4.73 Heritage Park South 32.6 Heritage Park II 1.3 TOTAL 57.93 The City of Allen is served by ten parks: Hillside, Jupiter, Reed, Rolling Hills, Hillside Play area, McDermott, Ford, Story, Cottonwood Bend, and Walden. The city has recently purchased and have begun development of a 50 acre regional park at the northeast corner of Bethany and Allen Heights. 6.3 Other undeveloped parks include St. Mary's, Cottonwood, Country Meadows, Collin Square, and Raintree. Reed Park is functioning as both a neighborhood and a community park. Rolling Hills and Hillside playground are classified as playgrounds serving only the immediate neighborhoods adjacent to the park. Jupiter, Hillside, and the McDermott Soccer Complex provide athletic fields used on a community -wide basis. All of the parks are located in the eastern half of the city where most residential development to date has taken place. Neither Collin County nor the state of Texas provides facilities in the city of Allen. Hillside This 9.2 acre park is located at the southwest corner of Allen Heights Drive and F.M. 2170 in the eastern part of the city. An elevated water tank occupies about one acre of the tract. The site contains two lighted (regulation) and two unlighted ballfields and an unpaved area. The park is not as attractive as it could be and, combined with the active uses and lighting, has a negative impact on the residential areas. The City Council has approved Resolution No. 950-10-89(R), which indicates that Hillside Park is not a permanent facility, therefore, no lasting improvements should be constructed. Jupiter Park This 8.5 -acre park, located south of Cottonwood Creek along the west side of Jupiter Road, is the site of the abandoned sewage treatment plant. The park contains one lighted softball field and one unlighted football/soccer field, as well as the city's animal shelter and a storage building for materials. A number of alternative uses exist for this site, such as a community recreation center or park maintenance service center once other parks are developed and in service. Reed School Park This ten -acre park shares the site with Reed Elementary School. The park contains a playground, one unlighted softball field, one unlighted soccer field, two lighted tennis courts and a picnic area. The improvements are relatively new and well maintained. The layout of the park facilities is separated by the school building which blurs the identity of the park and possibly makes ground maintenance more difficult. Rolling Hills Park This .3 -acre park provides playground equipment and picnic tables. The park fills a need for the neighborhood, but the site is very small. Hillside Playground This .3 -acre park provides playground equipment and picnic tables. The park fills a neighborhood need, but the site is very small. 6.4 McDermott Soccer Complex The complex consists of eight acres and is located adjacent to the city government facilities on Mc Dermott Drive, east of U.S. 75. Six unlighted soccer fields of various sizes (related to age groups) are located on the site. No other facilities are provided. As this is the site of the city's proposed municipal complex, the long-term use of the soccer complex should not be planned. Ford Park Ford Park contains 50 acres and is a community park. There are three lighted multi -use ballfields with the potential for six additional soccer fields, three unlighted multipurpose courts, four lighted tennis courts, an exercise trail, picnic facilities and a 25 -meter outdoor swimming pool. Story Park Story Park is a ten -acre site that is adjacent to Story School. It is a neighborhood park where picnic tables and an open play area are in existence. There are currently two backstops, and there is the potential for an unlighted soccer field. Cottonwood Bend This is a 4.9 -acre park that contains picnic tables and a beautiful playground. There is a potential for a backdrop and/or unlighted soccer fields. Walden Park This .3 -acre park provides a park bench and no other facilities. Recreation Interests As part of the citizen survey, the respondents were asked, "How often would you or other members of your household use each these facilities or programs?" This information on park facilities can be used to measure the interest of the general population but should not be used analytically to determine the required facilities of the future park system. The survey measured the interests of those presently living in Allen. The population is estimated to increase from 19,600 to over 130,000, and it should not be assumed that we can accurately predict the future desires of those persons. In addition, recreation interests may change as evidenced by the fact that participation in tennis and soccer in the United States was minimal thirty years ago. As the city develops, a proportion of the recreational facilities will be provided by the private sector. For example, racquet and swim clubs or some residential developments may offer private recreational areas for residents. Predicting the exact number of needed facilities, i.e., swimming pools or tennis courts, should not be the goal of this plan. Rather, identifying the elements of the system and charting the path to implement the system is what is important at this time. While the facility requirements of the future population of Allen cannot be precisely determined, the city can try to meet the interests of its existing population while planning the basic components of its system—neighborhood, community and special parks—and proceed with identifying and acquiring park sites. Similar to the 1984 survey, the respondents in the 1990 survey indicated a strong interest in using 6.5 or potentially using parks and open space, and support of a recreation center, outdoor swimming pool, and bicycle paths was also registered. A recreation center and bicycle paths are two facilities that are lacking in the city's present system. Other facilities showing a more moderate response include ball parks, children's recreation programs, and indoor swimming pool. TABLE 35 MOST FREQUENTLY USED COMMUNITY FACILITIES City of Allen, Texas Often (Percent) Occasionally (Percent Total (Percent) Parks 35 44 79 Open Space 21 38 59 Recreation Center 18 37 55 Swimming Pool (Outdoor) 19 34 53 Bike Paths 17 35 52 Ball Parks 18 28 46 Childrens Recreation Programs 20 24 44 Swimming Pool (Indoor) 18 26 44 Adult Recreation Program 9 31 40 Source: Allen Citizen Survey The Parks and Recreation Department has prepared a Land Acquisition Policy that has been formally adopted by the city as Resolution 08-5-84(R). The policy identifies goals for the overall system, defines standards for park types, outlines planning procedures for implementation and describes methods for land acquisition. The policy provides excellent direction for the Parks Department to follow. As part of this plan, the policy will be reviewed and, where required, recommendations for changes to the policy suggested. Bike Paths Allen has an unprecedented opportunity for providing an excellent bicycle transportation program. Most of Allen is still undeveloped, and there is the possibility of obtaining the necessary right of way for effective bike paths. There are four valid reasons for bike paths—aesthetic recreation, exercise, transportation, and access to areas that are unavailable to cars. The 1990 survey indicated that there is I.M. a support for bike paths (52%). Bicycle transit integration is a must for the 1990's and twenty-first century. Cyclists should be provided with designated areas that have unimpeded travel, for the safety and convenience of both the cyclist and the motorist. A minimum of an additional 12-15 feet of right-of-way will be needed along the major thoroughfares, and the design of community, neighborhood, and linear parks should accommodate bike paths. While other cities may have bike paths inside parks, a cyclist must pack the bike in the car and drive to the destination to ride the bike bath. Trails should be constructed so that major parks are connected to each other, and to the residential areas. A cyclist should be able to access bike paths near the residence, and pedal to the park. The raised curb and three feet of pavement or grass should separate the route from the roadway. Bike paths along thoroughfares should be eight feet wide. This arrangement allows for four feet in each direction. They can be 5-8 feet inside parks. A bike -pedestrian accident can be serious but is far more preferable than a bike -car accident. Path -road crossings must have a traffic signal that can be activated by cyclist demand. Internodal transportation such as bike -rail, bike -bus, and bike -car are likely to be more popular forms of transportation in the future. Consequently, bike racks for security and storage should be incorporated into the bicycle transportation system. The city should explore the availability of grants from the Department of Transportation and the Texas Parks Department for demonstration bike path projects. Goals and Policies 4.000 General Goal: Provide optimum park lands and facilities, recreation programs and open spaces to meet the needs of Allen's residents. 4.010 Specific Goal: Plan for public and private natural open space in the development of Allen. 4.011 P/IS: Provide strict guidelines for floodplain development and emphasize recreational use. 4.012 P/IS: Proceed with floodplain/recreation plan for Rowlett and Cottonwood Creeks and their tributaries. 4.013 PAS: Retain major wooded areas, both within and outside of floodplains, and preserve major woodlots and trees in all developments (See Environment). 4.020 Specific Goal: Provide for development of a parks system with a full range of facilities and programs for residents. 4.021 PAS: Evaluate and proceed with park land acquisition program. 4.022 P/IS: Utilize current data to compute demand for park facilities and programs. 6.7 4.023 PAS: Develop standards for all types of parks and include the relationship between parks and adjacent lands in those standards. 4.024 P/IS: Provide organized community recreation for youths, adults and senior citizens. 4.025 P/IS: Provide for development of acquired park lands to meet demand, while acquiring new park lands in advance of need. 4.030 Specific Goal: Provide a high level of park maintenance of park lands and facilities. 4.031 P/IS: Include operation and maintenance costs in all consideration of facilities. 4.032 PAS: Provide adequate staff, equipment and budget for maintenance. 4.040 Specific Goal: Provide safety and security in parks. 4.041 P/IS: Use safety and security standards in the design of parks and open space areas. 4.042 P/IS: Develop a program for park security in coordination with other city departments. 4.050 Specific Goal: Provide for bike paths integrated with the transportation and parks system. These goals should be used to provide the overall direction of the park and recreation plan. They exist within the qualitative goals for many other aspects of community life. The park and open space system must, therefore, be viewed as an integral element of the quality of life in the city of Allen. Parks and Open Space Plan Land Acquisition Policy Based upon the city's adopted park land acquisition policy, Resolution 508-5-84(R), and assuming the city will have an ultimate population of approximately 140,000 persons, a total of 1,190 acres of park land would be desirable for the total system. In addition, the city contains 1,350 acres of land in the floodplains, of which approximately 75 percent is considered desirable by the Parks Department. If all desirable floodplain land was acquired, the city's park and open space system would contain approximately 2,190 acres (See Table 36). These landholdings would provide an excellent park and open space system for the residents of Allen. Unfortunately, it would also be an expensive system to implement and maintain. The floodplains, where suitable, should be used for a portion of both the community and special parks. If as much as 300 acres for these parks were located in the floodplain, the total needed land would be 1,890 acres. m TABLE 36 PARK LAND REQUIREMENTS BASED ON POLICY FOR LAND ACQUISITION City of Allen, Texas Facility Type Acreage Requirement Neighborhood Parks @ 2.0 acres/1,000 persons 280 Community Parks @ 2.5 acres/1,000 persons 350 Special Parks @ 4.0 acres/1,000 persons 560 Floodplain 1,000 SUBTOTAL 2,190 Minus Community & Special Park Acres in Floodplain -300 TOTAL ACREAGE REQUIREMENT' 1,890 Parks and Open Space System The concept of the future park system takes into consideration the stream valleys, the woodlots, the present park system and future needs of the city as it grows to the west. The major stream valleys—Rowlett Creek, Mustang Branch, Watters Creek and Cottonwood Creek—should be the framework of the parks and open space system. Where possible, major parks should be clustered along the stream valleys and linked by trails utilizing the greenbelt system. East -west linkages should be provided to channel users to the major parks and the greenbelts (See Plate 7). Community Parks. The plan provides for five community parks. Two of the new parks should be located along Rowlett Creek, one along Watters Creek and one along Cottonwood Creek. Community input should be solicited during the design phase of park master planning. Each park should total 75 acres in size (25 acres in the floodplain). Community parks should provide active uses. Each might contain a swimming pool, a recreation center, several baseball/softball and football/soccer fields, a bicycle path, tennis courts, multipurpose courts, picnic areas, possibly a running track, and open space. The park should serve the active recreation needs of the community. Neighborhood Parks. Each residential neighborhood is planned to have a neighborhood park. Some should be located adjacent to a school location, and some adjacent to a greenbelt. At full development, .' Allen should have 15 to 20 neighborhood parks, each 5 to 15 acres in size. The number will vary somewhat with development to the west and the number of future residential neighborhoods. Neighborhood parks should be central to the entire neighborhood. They should not be located adjacent to major thoroughfares or commercial areas. The neighborhood parks should serve the walk-in, recreational needs of the adjacent residential area, i.e., the area within a one-half mile radius. 6.10 0 P STACY RD, un.0 NPQ Nod - A NP NP NP0- NP(OD EXCHANGE PARKWAY N P '0 NP NP y. NPO- , 7 NPQ NP J NPO NP SID *wA*J7 NPO . .. . ... ... .. .. . ..... NP 43 NP RD. . . ........ . . . . ................ 1.1'....�,, ity of Al n Comprehensive Plan PLATE 7 PARKS AND OPEN SPACE PLAN NEIGHBORHOOD PARK COMMUNITY PARK SPECIAL USE PARK FLOOD PLAIN/WOODS/GREEN BELTS PUBLIC, SEMI—PUBLIC IE 4000 2000 0 4000 8000 00101 Enid SCALE : I" = 4000' Small Parks. Until the early 1980's, small neighborhood parks that were 2 acres or less in size were constructed in some of the neighborhoods (e.g., Hillside Playground and Walden Park). The park plan now discourages the construction of these small sites due to maintenance and efficiency reasons. Regional Parks. Regional parks should provide for the specific recreation needs of the citywide population. Development of Allen's first regional park at the northeast corner of Allen Heights and Bethany is currently underway. This 50 acre park is being designed as a nature park with an adult and children open play area. Based upon the current interest of Allen's residents specifically and the recreation interests of the general population, three possible uses for the large regional parks would be an athletic complex, a day camp program, or an indoor recreation center. The summer day camp and related programs are some of the most popular activities now being offered by the Parks and Recreation Department. These programs will be offered at the new regional park. Other park and recreation uses may be provided on this site, but provisions for other uses should reflect the expressed needs of the citizens. The second regional park might be an athletic complex. By grouping a majority of the lighted fields used for organized baseball, softball, and soccer, in one location, the Parks Department will be able to more efficiently manage and maintain these facilities. The location of the sports athletic complex is somewhat flexible, although care should be taken to place the facility for easy access, but where night lighting and traffic will not negatively impact residential areas. Additional site investigation should take place before the final decision on location is made. An indoor recreation complex can be located at the projected third site. This facility should be centrally located, custom designed to meet the specific needs of Allen residents, and may include an indoor pool and open gym area. Greenbelt and Linear Parks should provide unencumbered floodways and pleasant pedestrian, equestrian, and bicycle routes throughout the city. Greenbelts and linear parks are proposed along the city's major creeks. The character of each of the creek corridors provides different opportunities within each. For this greenbelt/linear park program to be successful, the floodplain land must be protected. No development should occur within the 100 -year fully developed conditions flood line. Tree cover abutting the creeks and floodplains should be preserved. This policy has been successfully implemented in Planned Development No. 41, where the city will obtain approximately 11.8 acres of wooded tree lots along Rowlett Creek that are outside but adjacent to the Rowlett Creek floodplain near Ridgeview Drive. The creeks should not be paved, straightened or "improved" to increase their capacity to handle storm - water. No sooner than this type of improvement is completed, new problems are created downstream requiring the "supposed solution" to be used again. The quality of the corridors must also be protected from another hazard of development—sedimentation. The city should develop an erosion control ordinance that prevents soil erosion both during and after construction. The ordinance might also require on-site detention of stormwater in order to regulate the great quantities of runoff that the creeks will be required to handle when the city is fully developed. 6.12 There appears to be (based upon topography) several opportunities to dam the creeks in order to create water features. If this can be handled and still provide for drainage and flooding, it would greatly increase the attractiveness of some of the proposed community, neighborhood, and special parks. Past experience in other cities proves that the ongoing management of the linear parks is also a key to their success. The city will simply not be able to afford, nor is it desirable, to keep the linear parks mowed or maintained, as would a neighborhood or even a community park. The mowed areas should be kept to a minimum along pathways and trails. Lastly, to be truly successful as linear parks, the city must coordinate the design of future streets and bridges to allow uninterrupted pedestrian, bicycle, and equestrian travel under or adjacent to vehicular routes. This can be accomplished by providing adequate headroom between the path and support structure where bridges are used or by using box culverts large enough for pedestrians and cyclists where roads are built on fill. The Rowlett Creek corridor traverses a varied topography, is fairly wide in sections, and contains many excellent tree stands. This area contains some of the most beautiful acreage in North Texas. Topographically, it appears possible to create several water bodies (by damming the creek) along the creek. The corridor will provide an excellent linear park connecting three of the proposed community parks and the Connemara located in Plano. The greenbelt will also help buffer and protect the tranquil environment of Connemara from residential development to its north. Watters Creek has a narrower floodplain than Rowlett Creek and fewer significant tree stands, but offers a natural scenic panorama. In addition to being a linear connection of various neighborhood and commu- nity parks, the greenbelt corridor will provide an important buffer between planned office/commercial uses and residential development. Vehicular parkways are proposed as routes parallel to both the Rowlett and Watters Creek corridors. Cottonwood Creek is similar in character to Watters Creek. The primary function of this greenbelt will be to link the various neighborhood and community parks together with the residential area. That section of Cottonwood Creek north of U.S. 75 will probably not serve or link any residential areas and for that reason may not be an ideal linear park. However, the city should still protect the floodplain. The design for east -west linkages between parks and linear parks along the stream corridors was expressed by the original 1985 Oversight Committee. This is easier said than done. There are no easements or utility corridors in Allen running in an east -west direction. In addition, to be a true "link," it would have to cross U.S. 75. The most logical means of creating these linkages are along major thoroughfares. This has been done along parts of McDermott Drive, west of U.S. of U.S. 75, where the city has a 20 foot additional easement. This should be continued throughout the city on Rowlett/Exchange Parkway, Stacy Road and Bethany Road as well. These areas should be used for pedestrian paths, bike trails,paths, or sidewalks connecting to the floodplain/greenbelts. In some instances where no easement is possible, a hike/bike path will have to be provided in the existing right-of-way. 6.13 The Scale of the Future Park and Open Space System In order to check the size of the future park system, standards for recreation facilities for Allen were developed and used as the base for allocation of future park lands. A need for 678 acres of land for community and neighborhood parks was identified (See Table 37). The plan provides 650 acres for these parks. Together with special use parks, the plan provides for 960 acres of park land and 700 acres of greenbelt open space, a total of 1,665 acres (See Table 38). This land allocation should be adequate to provide a high quality parks and open space system for Allen. Standards and Criteria Neighborhood parks should be designed to the following criteria: 1. At least 5 acres in size, when adjacent to an elementary school or greenbelt, otherwise 15 acres. 2. No more than one-third of the site occupied by active recreational uses; one-third would be buffer area around the park and one-third natural areas. 3. Facilities provided to serve mostly neighborhood needs. 4. Located adjacent to an elementary school, if possible. 5. Children's play area, picnic tables, benches, and open lawn areas for informal play be designed to meet the needs of the neighborhood. 6. Not used for organized athletic activities. 7. Located adjacent to a greenbelt, it at all possible. 8. Serve residential areas within a '/z mile radius. M TABLE 37 PARK STANDARDS AND LAND REQUIREMENTS City of Allen, Texas Standard No. Req'd Allen's Requirement Minimum Acres Required Total Acres Swimming Pool 7 5 2.0 10 Picnic Sites 350 350 0.2 70* Hiking/Nature Trails 14 mi 14 mi -- 6* Golf Course 3 1 180.0 180* Tennis 70 50 0.3 15 Multi-Use 98 30 0.3 9 Softball/Baseball Lighted Unlighted 19 42 25 28 3.0 3.0 75 84 Football 7 5 2.0 10 Soccer 14(56) 20 2.0 40 Running Track 7 2 2.5 5 Outdoor Theater - 1 3.0 3 Recreation Theater 5 5 2.0 10 Playgrounds - - - - Archery/Shooting 3 1 5.0 5 SUBTOTAL 206 PARKING, BUFFERS, OPEN SPACE 412 MINIMUM ACRES REQUIRED FOR COMMUNITY AND NEIGHBORHOOD PARKS 618 *Not included in park acreage requirement. Either located in greenbelt or a special use park. 6.15 40 Community parks should be designed to the following criteria: 1. Serve residential areas within a 1'/2 to 2 mile radius. 2. Include between 50 and 75 acres and be on a high, well drained site. 3. Located adjacent to a senior high school or greenbelt, if possible. 4. Provide adequate on-site parking areas. 5. Have no more than one-third of the site occupied by active recreational uses; one-third would be buffer area; and one-third natural areas. Regional narks should be designed to the following criteria: 1. Serve the citywide population. 2. Include at least 50 acres and preferably 100 acres. 3. Include necessary development pertaining to the needs of special activities including athletic complexes, historical/archaeological and natural preserves, and botanical gardens. 6.16 TABLE 38 PARK LANDS PROVIDED IN THE PARK PLAN City of Allen, Texas Allocation Total (Acres) (Acres) A Community Parks 375 (125 FP) 375 B Neighborhood Parks 275 ( 0 FP) 275 C Special Use Parks Day Camp 75 ( 25 FP) Athletic Complex 60 ( 0 FP) 315 315 D Greenbelt 1000 Acres Less 300 FP for Park Use 700 700 TOTAL 1,665 POPULATION ±140, ACRES/1000 POPULATION 11.89 Community parks should be designed to the following criteria: 1. Serve residential areas within a 1'/2 to 2 mile radius. 2. Include between 50 and 75 acres and be on a high, well drained site. 3. Located adjacent to a senior high school or greenbelt, if possible. 4. Provide adequate on-site parking areas. 5. Have no more than one-third of the site occupied by active recreational uses; one-third would be buffer area; and one-third natural areas. Regional narks should be designed to the following criteria: 1. Serve the citywide population. 2. Include at least 50 acres and preferably 100 acres. 3. Include necessary development pertaining to the needs of special activities including athletic complexes, historical/archaeological and natural preserves, and botanical gardens. 6.16 i 4. Include lakes or water bodies. 5. Depending on use, as much as one-half of the park area may be contained in the floodplain. Greenbelts and linear parks should be designed to the following criteria: 1. Occupy land within the 100 -year fully developed conditions floodline. 2. Provide a trail, walk, or bicycle path. 3. By proper management reduce area requiring mowing and labor- intensive maintenance. 4. Provide links to other recreational areas. 6.17 COMMUNITY FACILITIES Both public buildings and utilities fall within the scope of the community facilities element. Public buildings include the full range of buildings necessary to provide services to the city including city offices, police and courts building, library, fire protection facilities, animal control facilities, and a civic/cultural center. Community recreation centers are covered under parks and recreation. Water, sewer and storm drainage facilities are included. The level of growth projected for Allen will require considerable investment in the community facilities if the high quality of services available in Allen today is to continue. Good service area planning and reservation of future sites will yield dividends as the city expands. Goals and Policies 5.000 General Goal: Provide community facilities and utilities in the most efficient and high quality manner. 5.010 Specific Goal: Continue the centralization of the municipal complex on acreage presently owned by the city, to include city hall, civic center and service center. 5.011 P/IS: Develop strategy, timing and funding options for municipal center. 5.020 Specific Goal: Plan for fire stations to allow for adequate fire protection in all planning districts. 5.021 P/IS: Develop strategy, timing and funding options. 5.030 Specific Goal: Continue to provide efficient animal control services for the city. 5.031 P/IS: Expand animal control center at present location as needed. 5.032 P/IS: Investigate need for additional personnel, split work hours, or weekend shifts. 5.040 Specific Goal: Provide adequate and efficient water and sewer facilities. 5.041 P/IS: Work closely with NTMWD in planning for water and sewer. 5.042 P/IS: Minimize the use of lift stations and maximize the use of gravity flow in the sewer system. 5.043 P/IS: Locate water storage in most efficient locations. 5.044 PAS: Interrelate land use planning and utility planning to assure sufficient capacities over the long term. 7.1 COMMUNITY FACILITIES PLAN CKv no4 Aflen 0 6260 SCALL : 1' = 6200' e Plan HUNTER ASSOCIATES. INC. ENQNE DM/PLVMMS/SURWYORS H{-YFMT II1-�Sf--IT COMMUNITY FACILITIES -- SCHOOLS C -172v nof AHann 0 0 6280 SCALE : L" = 6260' HUNTER ASSOCIATES. INC. QICINEERS/PLANNERS/SURWYORS owN w.sm a�a►-hn nx-wFan� 5.050 Specific Goal: When practical, schools and other public buildings should be designed for public access and multiple use. 5.051 P/IS: Encourage public access and multiple use in planning for and design review of schools and other public buildings. Plan and Program Based upon the above goals and policies, the following plan and program outlines public building needs and improvements for the city (See Plate 8). Municipal Complex The city owns 29.821 acres at the south U.S. 75 and McDermott Drive and plans to construct a centralized municipal center. City offices and service center are currently located in one building opposite a similar facility of the Allen School District. When new, city offices are needed, city staff will move to a new building and the service center will be used exclusively for that purpose. With the completion of the McDermott Drive project, the city should—through unique zoning, platting and development standards—control as much of the land as possible south of FM 2170. City offices or facilities to be included in the municipal complex are: City Offices. The city staff presently occupies the service center building. The building functions well but there is no additional space for staff expansion. It is oriented to the east with storage areas not visible from U.S. 75. New city offices should be designed as a part of the total complex and with a prominent location. 2. Police and Courts. The new police and courts building is located at the southwest corner of Allen Drive and McDermott Drive. It has excellent access to the thoroughfare system and is convenient to the public. There is a jail that holds prisoners until they are transported to the Collin County facility in McKinney. Violators of city ordinances can also be detained in the city jail as needed. Statewide jail certification has not been requested because of a lack of need so it cannot be used as a permanent holding facility for prisoners that are guilty of a Class B misdemeanor or above. Long-range development in the S.H. 121 section of the city may make it advantageous to maintain a small police substation in the area. The substation could be a stand alone facility or in a leased facility such as a store front location or office. Library. The library is located in a new edifice beside the Police and Courts building in the Municipal complex at the southwest corner of Allen and McDermott Drives. It is designed and engineered for expansion into a second or third floor facility when needed. The Library Board has adopted a policy of providing a single, centrally located library facility to serve the city, rather than a decentralized system, but it could be supplemented by mobile libraries, kiosks, or store front locations as needed. 7.4 4. Civic Center. A major facility where meetings, cultural events, exhibits, social events and other civic activities could be held would be a highly desirable long-range facility. This should be planned for in the municipal complex and could be a privately funded facility. 5. Civic Plaza. The Plaza will be adjacent to and complement the new library, police and courts building, and municipal annex. Construction is expected to begin during the next year. 6. Service Center. The service center location is presently well located and should be good for the next fifteen years. However, over the long run it will conflict with the mixed use center planned nearby, will put industrial traffic on the central traffic artery and, if light rail becomes a reality, would be poorly located relative to a future rail station. The heavy equipment, storage of materials and repair shops should be relocated to a site more appropriate to the industrial nature of the use. Development on the west side of U.S. 75 will eventually create the need for a second service center. This site should be located on the west side, in a central location, adjacent to a commercial or industrial area which can be effectively screened and landscaped from the street and adjacent uses. Fire Protection Facilities Allen presently has two fire stations: the Central Station located on Main Street and the Station No. 2 on Exchange Parkway. These two stations provide good coverage on either side of the railroad, but there are deficiencies such as excessive response times south of Bethany Dr. In addition, the city maintains mutual aid agreements with all fire departments in Collin County. The city has a key rate of $0.23, which is four cents less than 1984. The key rate is determined by an evaluation of a wide range of factors such as manpower, equipment, ability to provide water, building code and fire prevention education, and is the basis for fire insurance. The city is evaluated yearly and should continue to work to improve the present rating. The city is currently penalized because of the lack of a drill tower which is required for cities with a population of 15,000 or more. The city could jointly participate with other municipalities to share the costs of this type of facility. Also, the city is charged an additional rate because of insufficient fire stations. The 1985 plan provided for five stations to serve the future city. Since the enactment of that plan, the service radii have been reduced from 1'/z mile to 1 mile in high value districts such as the S.H. 121 and U.S. 75 corridors. Therefore, it is recommended that six stations serve the city at buildout, and the proposed locations are noted on plate 8. Fire station location standards call for a three to five minute response time(shown hypothetically as one mile and one and one-half mile service radii). With six stations, the coverage will be quite good—equal to or better than that provided at neighboring cities. Cost of construction, equipment and operation of a station is high and budgetary planning should be made far in advance of the needs. Present equipment includes a 1,500 gpm pumper, two 750 gpm pumpers, one 500 gpm pumper, three monitor nozzles, two ambulances, an equipment van, and a chiefs vehicle. It should be noted that the two 750 gpm pumpers are at least 15 years old and the recommended replacement is 20 years. The 500 gpm pumper is over 25 years old, and the city cannot receive key rate credit for this unit without annual inspection. The city requires sprinklers in some commercial buildings based upon model fire code 7.5 regulations. In addition, both DLM and Intecom have installed fire pumps, and are fully sprinklered. Park Maintenance and Animal Control The present animal control shelter is located in Jupiter Park. The shelter location is good. Expansion will be needed in the future to meet city needs. Expansion will impact the park and its use; therefore, as new parks are completed, a site at Ford Park or the new regional park at Bethany and Allen Heights should be designated for park maintenance. As growth to the west takes place, a second park maintenance area should be developed at one of the new regional parks. TABLE 39 EXISTING COMMUNITY FACILITIES City of Allen SITE LOCATION ACRES MUNICIPAL COMPLEX Municipal Annex Police & Courts Allen Library One Butler Circle Three Allen Civic Plaza Two Allen Civic Plaza 29.821 Substance Abuse Prevention 102 S. Allen Drive 0.531 Central Fire Station 105 S. Anna Drive 1.0 Fire Station No. 2 1100 Exchange Parkway 1.0 Old Police Building 101 S. Butler Drive 1.0 Allen Cemetery 300 E. McDermott Bray Central Water Tower 250 Raintree Circle 1.79 Stacy Road Pump Station 700 E. Stacy Road 5.974 Ferris St. Water Tower Ferris and McDermott Part of 2 Ac tr Hillside Park Water Tower F.M. 2170 and Hillside 10 Ac with park Lucas Ground Water Storage Tank F.M. 2170 and F.M. 1378 4.458 7.6 TABLE 40 PROPOSED COMMUNITY FACILITIES City of Allen SITE LOCATION ACRES Fire Station No. 3 Heritage Park Addition 0.8 Fire Station No. 4,5,6 See Plate 8 3.0 Elevated Water Storage Tanks (3) See Plate 8 3.0 Ground Storage Site See Plate 8 5.0 Water and Wastewater Services Water Allen contracts with the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) for water and for wastewater treatment. The NTMWD provides treated water to ground storage facilities at Lucas and Stacy Road. From there, the city has responsibility for distribution to its customers. The city also has an elevated storage tank near McDermott and U.S. 75. Future facility requirements include three additional elevated storage tanks for a total of five, and one additional ground storage tank site, for a total of three. A potential third delivery point is the Rid- geview water line that is currently under construction by the City of Plano. As development occurs, the city provides the water and storage facilities. Mains and service lines are provided by the developer. Thus, the system expands as development occurs. This land use plan has assumed that sufficient water will be available in the future for full development. The city has developed a master plan for water distribution and storage, but the plan should be continually updated. Wastewater The city of Allen also contracts with the NTMWD for wastewater treatment. The city takes responsibility for collection of wastewater and delivery to NTMWD. There are no contractual limits on volumes to be accepted at the treatment facility. Presently, wastewater is conveyed by gravity in the city's collection system to lift stations at Cottonwood Creek and Rowlett Creek, and is pumped to the treatment facility at Wilson Creek. Some uses, primarily large lot residences, are on septic tanks. There are no known problems from this at present. When sewer lines are available to these uses, they must hook up to them. 7.7 When development occurs, collection sewers are put in by the developer. The developer pays the total cost of a sewer line, but those costs which exceed the cost of a 12 -inch line can be reimbursed through a facilities agreement when funds are available. The land use plan is predicated upon the assumption that sufficient wastewater facilities can be provided for full development and that no weaknesses exist in the system which would require reduced wastewater generation to avoid unreasonable public cost. A master plan for wastewater collection and drainage has been constructed. Stormwater The stormwater system for Allen consists primarily of creeks and their floodplains, curb and gutter, storm water, bridges and culverts. Since most of the planning area is undeveloped, creeks and their floodplains carry most of the stormwater. As development occurs, runoff will increase. Preservation of floodplains, as is current policy in the city, will be of considerable importance for stormwater needs, as well as for other reasons. For urban development, full conformance with the city's standards for stormwater systems should also be maintained. Stormwater regulations that are required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will be in the Environment Section, and they will significantly impact city policies. M. URBAN DESIGN In the late 1960's, the city of Allen was considered a small, rural community. In the 1990's, it is a growing city, rapidly preparing for the coming expansion. By the year 2000, the city as we know it today will not be recognizable. An appreciation for and attention to the urban design of the community will make it a more desirable community and better place to live. The central part of the city is characterized by a mixture of new retail and office buildings and older edifices that denote a prairie style architecture. While many of the structures are dilapidated and beyond repair, others have been or can be potentially restored. The 1960's and early 1970's saw Allen emerging as a bedroom community. This growth has accelerated into the 1990's. The quality and character of this growth has been met with mixed judgment. While some residential developments are of a high quality, others are criticized for being unimaginative and repetitive. Much of the commercial development is not of the quality one would have hoped for. Industrial development, particularly the InteCom and DLM facilities has been carried out with much greater care and attention to architectural and landscape detail. While the analysis of existing development is mixed, the character and quality of the city is really yet to be determined. Through 1991, only 3,054 acres or 19 percent of the total land area of the city had been developed. Over 21 square miles is yet to see development for the first time. The key to the quality of the urban design in Allen lies ahead of the city, not behind it. The city of Allen has an excellent opportunity to positively affect the quality of development within the city if it so desires. In order to achieve the desired quality, considerable thought must be given to the city's role in urban design. How strict should regulations be? What issues should the government regulate? Current City Efforts The urban design of Allen is being influenced by decisions and policies that the city government has already made. The most important policy that will affect the quality of the city is the preservation of the creek corridors and floodplains in their natural state. Careful management of the creeks and the stormwater will provide the city with both an important element of its parks system as well as preserving the most significant natural open spaces within the city. The protection of these natural corridors will provide positive visual and environmental benefits to the entire city. Overall land development densities will be reduced, existing vegetation saved, bicycle, and pedestrian linkages connecting neighborhoods created. This is currently being accomplished through the implementation of the floodplain and subdivision ordinances. A decision to construct major thoroughfares as boulevards with landscaped medians will also have an outstanding effect on the appearance of the city. The city has implemented such a policy on McDermott Drive as part of the road reconstruction, and is an excellent example of an improvement being attractive, functional, and affordable. Sharing construction and landscaping costs with developers appears to be equitable since both parties benefit from an enhanced urban environment. The revised Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance that was approved in 1987 represents a third government action that is aimed at improving the quality of the city. The ordinance includes sections regarding densities, floor area ratios (FAR), setbacks, landscaping, parking, and screening. The plan development process appears to allow for better design but sometimes denser development through a process of site plan submittal and review. This process is acceptable, as long as it truly results in a higher quality of development within the city. While the zoning ordinance covers many areas, it is not particularly strong in regulations for quality development. It is recommended that corner design guidelines be approved for properties located at the intersection of two major thoroughfares. Site plan regulations should be enhanced to include more detailed lighting and landscaping standards. The landscaping of the city is absolutely critical for an aesthetically significant pleasing urban design. Landscaping should primarily be comprised of materials that are indigenous to the community. For example, landscaping in New Mexico may consist of cactus, rocks, and adobe materials. In North Texas, landscaping can be comprised of a variety of materials since there are a variety of ecosystems in the area. Examples of hardy plants and trees include: bermuda, St. Augustine, asian jasmine, japanese ligustrums, photinias, Stevens holly, bradford pear, cherry laurel, burford holly, pecan, cedars, post and red oak, willowleaf holly, and yaupon holly. Any good landscape will feature a variety of plant species in natural clumps and clusters. There might be a triangle of evergreen live oaks with hollies beneath, or crepe myrtles underlaid with hollies. Upright junipers, red cedars, or magnolias also offer a visually refreshing alternative. As the city continues to grow, many other issues will become important. One of the most critical, will be the redevelopment of the central business district (CBD) and the continuing development of the municipal complex/civic center. While these are two different projects, their physical relationship requires they be discussed together. At this time, the CBD does not make a positive contribution to the urban design of Allen or provide an identity for the community. The completion of the municipal complex/civic center and the recent improvements along McDermott should enhance the development potential and create an identity for the CBD. Another issue affecting both the actual character and the perception of Allen will be the development of the U.S. 75 and SH 121 corridors. The density, height and setback of the buildings will have a tremendous effect on the appearance of the city. Also important will be the care in site design, selection of building materials, landscape treatment and signing. Site plan criteria along these corridors should be separately established. The quality of the development will become more apparent in 30 or 40 years. Therefore, each project should be a positive community factor -both visually and as a contributor to the city's tax base. The design of other commercial /office areas (not seen by those passing through Allen on U.S. 75 or SH 121) is also important to the quality of Allen. Commercial nodes should be restricted to the intersection of the majoi thoroughfares rather than the ugly strip commercial areas seen in too many cities. While these are major issues that affect the urban environment, other "details" are also important and should be recognized. Attention to overhead wires and utility poles, parking setbacks and buffers, M. maintenance of right -of way, signing and landscape planting of major thoroughfares will combine to make Allen an attractive city. Goals and Policies 6.000 General Goal: Maintain a high quality of urban design and appearance in Allen. 6.010 Specific Goal: Preserve the scenic natural beauty of the creeks and aesthetic value of the floodplains. 6.011 P/IS: All floodplains should be used as recreation or open space. 6.020 Specific Goal: Emphasize design standards in review of development projects. 6.021 P/IS: Enhance site plan and landscape requirements. 6.022 PAS: Require underground utilities. 6.023 P/IS: Enforce sign ordinances and encourage good sign graphics. 6.024 P/IS: Encourage variety of building materials and design in both residential and nonresidential structures. 6.030 Specific Goal: Identify for historic preservation any historic sites or structures, including archeological findings. 6.031 P/IS: Research historic sites and structures and determine means of preservation. 6.040 Specific Goal: Emphasize design standards for public projects and public lands. 6.041 P/IS: Develop design standards for public projects and public land holdings, including rights- of-way. 6.042 P/IS: Include standards to minimize visual impact of water storage and pump facilities. 6.043 P/IS: Include standards to minimize adverse impacts of sewer projects on the environment. 6.050 Specific Goal: Control visual pollution with ordinances and regulations including signs, poles, structures, drainageways and lighting. Urban Design Plan The city of Allen is in the unique position to provide direction to the quality of urban design in the city. Wise decisions regarding communitywide systems have been made for the future benefit of all. Other decisions will be required to insure that new development provides the desired image for the city. These include the greater issues of density and scale, as well as detailed issues such as landscaping and signing. Overall, the city must work to elevate the quality of both planning and design. Floodplains and Tree Stands A key element of this comprehensive plan is the preservation of creek corridors and their use for recreation and open space. The city must be sure that the Floodplain Management Study is implemented. For the preservation of the creek corridors to be successful, all development except utilities must be kept out of the 100 -year floodplain as outlined in the study. The city should provide a carefully thought-out development strategy for the floodplain that considers initial development and ongoing maintenance costs. In order to maintain the environmental quality of the creek corridors, the city should implement ordinances to control sedimentation. An erosion control ordinance, with guidelines for projects under construction as well as completed projects, should be enacted. Detention ponds, sediment traps, diversion ditches, silt fences, sodding of drainage swales/slopes, and site vegetation are all important factors controlling erosion. Without such an ordinance, the city might find itself preserving creek corridors that are no longer desirable. Stands of indigenous trees and shrubs that are outside the floodplain ought to be preserved. Zoning techniques and development guidelines that preserve these tree stands should continue to be implemented. Fence rows should also be considered as worthy of preservation whenever possible. The identification of existing tree stands on site plans or preliminary plats should be made part of the submittal process. Existing ponds should be preserved as either parks or private lakes. Development Desmon Standards The challenge of designing future houses and nonresidential structures will be synthesizing the traditional with the demands for energy conservation. The energy deficiencies of the late 1970's and early 1980's may return as fossil fuels are depleted and if alternative fuels are not upgraded for efficient use. It can be expected that increased use of solar energy, alternative housing such as underground or pole frame, enhanced insulation, and geodesic concepts will be incorporated into future designs. The city should encourage and take the leadership in promoting energy conservation in design and construction so that the next fuel shortage will not be a crisis. Residential and nonresidential buildings should be constructed in such a manner that diversity in appearance and design is exhibited. Designing houses so that all dwelling units are not homogenous was expressed in the written comments in the 1990 survey. This can be accomplished without expensive architectural costs by including a variety of house plans, colors, and designs in each subdivision. The zoning ordinance provides for general control of development within the city. In order to aid the city in better understanding plan submittal and their physical and visual impact, additional information could be added to the ordinance requirements. This includes a preliminary grading plan, erosion control measures, the location of retention ponds when required, architectural elevations, and street planting. The ordinance's requirements for screening walls, landscaping, and open storage are good and these requirements should be equally enforced on all projects. The allowance of artificial landscaping is unacceptable. Those projects with the highest visibility along U.S. 75 and S.H. 121 should be of high quality and density. Strict ordinances and regulations of signs, poles, overhead wires and drainageways in these areas would not be unreasonable. Some regulation of these same factors in other parts of the city would also be expected. The city must also evaluate a development proposal on the quality of its design and not just if it meets the requirements of the zoning ordinance. Public Project Design Standards The design of public buildings and facilities in Allen should make a positive statement regarding the city's position on quality development. The design of various city buildings including the proposed city hall, civic plaza, fire stations, and parks are excellent opportunities to show leadership. The city of Allen needs a center or core that provides an identity if it desires to become more than another suburban community. This identity should be the central business district rather than the commercial and office developments along U.S. 75. The core of the city can and should be anchored by the city's civic center complex. The design should be integrated into the overall redevelopment of the central business district. The city must also show sensitivity in the location, design and maintenance of rights-of-way, utility corridors, water storage and pump facilities. Visual impact should be a major factor in the consideration of these facilities. The use landscape medians for the city's major thoroughfares is an excellent beginning. The initial improvements and the ongoing maintenance of the median are important in maintaining the desired quality. The medians can change in character in different areas of the city. For example, a median in a residential area should be planted with canopy and flowering trees, ground covers, and grasses. Medians in office or commercial areas should use decorative paving for the groundplain rather than grasses and ground covers. Landscape planting in other areas of the city are equally important. One of the simplest and most valuable requirements the city could implement would be to require mandatory street tree planting in all residential subdivisions. Historic Preservation Allen is one of the oldest communities in North Texas. The future of a city is tied to its heritage. All structures that are worthy of preservation should be identified, restored, and saved for future generations. In all the great cities of the world such as Paris, Rome, or London, the old is aesthetically blended with the new. A utilitarian office building often stands next to a gothic or georgian edifice. Once the historic structures have been identified, every effort should made to restore and save them for future generations. MR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Recent years have seen the growth of economic development as a legitimate function of city government in partnership with the private sector. Economic development for jobs, for needed goods and services for residents, and for tax base to sustain the community have become so visible and important that communities can no longer afford to leave them to chance. As an important part of the North Dallas area growth corridor, Allen's efforts can be directed more toward influencing the quality, mix and level of economic units, rather than offering incentives to lure industry or commerce into Allen. Still, the market becomes continually more competitive and Allen is marketing itself and its advantages in order to meet its long-range goals. This chapter addresses economic areas of business and industry, as well as those institutions having an economic impact, such as hospitals and colleges, and what steps Allen should be taking to maximize its economic future. The Advisory Board report of 1990 is a separate document, and should be referred to for further details concerning economic development strategy. Goals and Policies 7.000 General Goal: Develop an economy that will generate jobs, provide shopping and service opportunities and a strong financial base for Allen. 7.010 Specific Goal: The city should establish and maintain an aggressive posture in quality economic development. 7.011 P/IS: Implement the adopted economic development strategy. 7.012 P/IS: Support and assist the Chamber of Commerce and Allen Independent School District in their efforts. 7.020 Specific Goal: Encourage diversity in economic development. 7.021 P/IS: Provide for a variety of commercial, office and industrial land uses that will encourage diversity in the economic base. 7.030 Specific Goal: Expand the tax base in order to achieve and maintain a balanced tax base among residential, commercial, industrial and other land uses. 7.031 P/IS: Encourage retail near residential areas. 7.032 P/IS: Encourage office development in the CBD. 7.033 P/IS: Establish industrial parks. 9.1 Economic Development Program In 1987, an economic development alliance was created between the City of Allen, Allen Independent School District, and Chamber of Commerce. An economic development strategy was formulated for Allen and a cornerstone of that recommendation was to promote economic growth, private sector job creation, a diverse and viable tax base, and quality of life enhancements by cultivating a favorable business environment in Allen. Three areas of major emphasis include long-range organization and funding, existing business retention and expansion, and new business development. The Allen Chamber of Commerce has as important role for economic development in Allen. The chamber opened a part-time office in 1981 and in 1985 was opened full time. The chamber is directed by a 17 -member board and in 1991 had 215 members. This office is open for technical assistance to its members, prospective businesses, and citizens. The city of Allen plays a major role in economic development both as a part of the Chamber of Commerce and on its own. Often the first contact with a prospective business occurs when that business approaches the city. The city hired a full-time economic development coordinator in 1990. The Allen Independent School District's role in economic development is important due to the educational support that it provides to the community which enhances the skills of the labor force and elevates the quality of life. Program The major factors which will influence business and industry to locate in Allen will be: • proximity to markets (both supply and demand) • quality of life • energy and land availability • atmospheric climate • labor costs • union/labor relations • business climate • economies of scale due to urban agglomeration • access to educational resources • good support in the form of infrastructure and services While these are not necessarily all the factors that may weigh on a business location decision, they provide the city with a list, some of which can be influenced by community policies. The 1990 survey respondents indicated a desire to attract high quality retail, offices and light industry. Competition within the region and outside the region will be strong and much will depend on the perception of Allen as a superlative place to live and work. ON Based upon this, the following targets are recommended for the city: 1. Work diligently to communicate with existing business and industry and to provide assistance when needed. 2. Provide adequate industrial and commercial /office zoning land with graphic information concerning land availability. 3. Emphasize infrastructure development (streets, water, storm water drainage, etc.) and services provision as an economic development goal. 4. Emphasize quality and appearance factors in development (site planning, design, and architectural quality). 5. Emphasize support of parks and recreation programs as an important barometer of the quality of life. 6. Support the enhancement of both child and adult education programs such as manpower training, skill development, and the like. 7. Develop a fast-track development review process as an incentive for high quality business and industry. 8. Consider incentives for redevelopment of the area north of F.M. 2170 and east of U.S. 75, and for the City center area. 9. Develop information bank of demographic and such important marketplace statistics as retail sales, labor analysis, and absorption rates. 10. Project positive stance in marketing Allen as a location for quality business and industry. 11. Develop balanced housing market to ensure a diverse labor force to meet manpower needs. 12. Attract desired business and industry and continue the present proactive role. 13. Involve a full range of community leaders and resources in seeking business and industry. 14. Using community and industry leaders, strengthen Allen's contacts in the marketplace. 9.3 ENVIRONMENT The beauty of the Allen countryside, the scenic view of Cottonwood Creek, the Rowlett Creek Valley, the bluffs along Watters Creek, and the ponds along Mustang Branch, are aesthetic benefits to the City of Allen. This natural environment is a priceless resource and every effort should be made to preserve its qualities in future development. Food, water, and energy are precious resources that should be available to future generations. Allen's citizens have demonstrated a strong willingness to support their environment by implementing recycling programs, enacting a floodplain ordinance, and supporting efforts to maintain a clean environment. Goals and Policies 8.000 General Goal: Preserve natural resources and preserve a high quality environment in Allen. 8.010 Specific Goal: Encourage conservation of natural resources. 8.011 P/IS: Encourage conservation of trees, vegetation and water resources in all development. 8.012 P/IS: Provide guidelines to preserve and conserve natural vegetation and water resources. 8.020 Specific Goal: Minimize pollution in Allen including visual, air, noise and water. 8.021 PAS: Develop land beautification and maintenance plan to maximize visual appearance. 8.022 P/IS: Preserve a low level of noise through regulations, setbacks from major thoroughfares, good site planning and building materials. 8.023 P/IS: Maintain high air quality standards in Allen. 8.030 Specific Goal: Provide flood and drainage control. 8.031 P/IS: Implement floodplain regulations and policies. 8.032 P/IS: Continue storm drainage emphasis in site planning, construction projects, and designs standards. 8.040 Specific Goal: Prevent storage and generation of hazardous materials and waste. 8.041 P/IS: Develop regulations concerning hazardous waste. 8.050 Specific Goal: Develop organizational structure for environmental protection. 8.051 P/IS: Research role and character of such an organization and prepare recommendation. 8.060 Specific Goal: Provide for solid waste disposal. 10.1 8.061 P/IS: Work with proper authorities to ensure adequate methods and locations for disposal of solid waste. Environmental Program Allen regulates many of the environmental elements through its development regulations, the flood plain ordinance, or through other general ordinances. Presently, responsibility in city government for environmental elements is spread throughout various departments, but the 1990 survey respondents indicated strong support for a separate department for environmental protection. Impact of Environmental Protection Agency Regulations A. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced (55FR47-90) that cities over 5,000 in population in 1993 will be required to be in conformance with three regulations: (1) obtain permits for releasing storm water runoff into the nation's waterways; (2) submit management plans to reduce pollutants in storm water runoff and; (3) prohibit illicit connections to storm drains. Additionally, certain industrial and construction sites will have to apply for a storm water discharge permit in November 1991. These requirements will help to improve the quality of the nation's surface waters by reducing pollution from storm water runoff—one of the leading causes of water pollution nationwide. This is also called non -point source pollution. Storm drain water contains toxic metals, oil and grease from pavement, pesticides and fertilizers, contaminants, and sedimentation; and is currently released directly into our streams, rivers, and lakes. Consequently, the city will have to monitor storm water quality, maintain the drainage system, and enhance storm water management. B. A monitoring program for lead in water that is derived from leaded solder on copper pipes must be implemented. C. The existence of radionuclides may require amendments to the building codes that require sealants to prevent the release of radon gas from the earth. D. The Environmental Protection Agency sets standards on emissions, and the Council of Govern- ments has indicated that Collin County will soon be identified as a non -attainment county regarding ozone. The county will be given six years to come in compliance with the established standards. E. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA530SW89019, Feb. 1989,p. 10) and the State of Texas through the Omnibus Recycle Act have set a waste reduction goal of 40% by 1995. Specific discussion and recommendations to address the items listed above and other issues are provided below: Stream Valleys. The streams, their floodplains and valleys are the principal natural environmental resource. The Allen floodplain ordinance and the policy of preserving the floodplain for recreation and open space use is being implemented through the subdivision process. A study that was completed in 1987 delineated the floodplain under existing conditions 10.2 with ultimate flows. Existing conditions may change, which means final engineering calculations must be completed at the time of development. Development and passage of sedimentation and erosion ordinances are critical to the preservation of the creeks. 2. Wooded Areas. Most of the wooded areas are found along the creeks. Several substantial wooded lots still remain throughout the city jurisdiction, principally on the McDermott and Williams ranches. Some of these should be acquired as parks. Others can be protected through the zoning process. Wooded areas should be clearly and accurately located on each zoning or subdivision application, or on site and plot plans. Developments should preserve the trees and tract grading should not be permitted. A small lot single-family subdivision in a major wooded area cannot preserve the trees, but zoning practices such as clustering residences or incentives (additional dwelling units given), should be implemented. An example of this policy was accomplished in Planned Development No. 41. 3. Ponds. There are a number of private ponds or small lakes in the Allen countryside (e.g., Tomlin property, McDermott ranch, and in northwest Allen near Rowlett Rd. and 121). These ponds should be incorporated into private developments or into the park system. They will enhance the quality of life in the neighborhoods because they are ecologically sound and aesthetically pleasing (See land use). 4. Air. Air quality is a regional issue in the Dallas area. The greatest contribution that the city can make is to reduce traffic congestion (idle time), and control manufacturing emissions. Car and van pooling, flexible work time schedules, intersection and roadway improvements, and the composition of autofuels are among the strategies that cities can implement to reduce automobile related pollution. Present zoning policies do not permit heavy industries that seriously degrade the quality of the air, but the existing light industries and ones that Allen hopes to have will have to control their emissions in order to conform with the EPA regulations. Although the Texas Air Board city currently enforces air standards, the city should complement their authority whenever possible. 5. Noise. Noise is a difficult problem in our urban society. It takes so many different forms: an airplane on approach, a rock group practicing in their garage, or skateboards. Federal noise standards must be met for projects which are federally funded; however, most communities do little to control noise. The major (or at least the most obvious) noise problems that Allen will face in the future will be in those residential areas located near highways or industrial areas. While acoustical barriers, berms, or certain construction materials can be used to control noise, the city will want to work with the affected property owners and the state to resolve the noise issue. For new development, the land use plan provides for future residential areas to be located away from the major highway corridors. Strict adherence to this policy is important. Over the long run, Allen may wish to pass and enforce a comprehensive noise control ordinance. This has been done by many cities. It requires setting of acceptable ambient noise levels and enforcement of those levels using scientific noise testing equipment. 10.3 6. Li htin . Night lighting of ballfields, commercial outlets and other such uses can be among the most objectionable conflicts with the environment to a residential neighborhood. In the development review process, uses requiring major lighting should only be permitted where they will not adversely impact residences. Lights for parking areas and buildings should be at a reasonable level and carefully shielded so that they do not impact residential areas. This is particularly true of residential subdivisions which back up to commercial parking lots. Site plan requirements should be enhanced to address lighting. 7. Hazardous Wastes. EPA regulates disposal of hazardous wastes. Some regulation of routes of hazardous waste carriers is done by the state (Texas Water Commission). Allen has no regulations other than in the broad public health and safety authority. The city has emergency procedures for a spill or other such crisis. The city should prepare a plan to cover routing and emergency response. Since some of Allen's existing and future businesses will probably have hazardous wastes as a by-product of their process, the city will need to develop a policy for industry and, where permitted, work closely with industry to insure safe storage and transport. The city needs to be prepared to augment the monitoring performed by the Texas Water Commis- sion. 8. Solid Waste. The city contracts with a private firm for trash collection. It is also a member of the North Texas Municipal Water District NTMWD, which is responsible for permanent solid waste disposal. The solid waste is then transported to the Maxwell Creek landfill near Wylie. This site is expected to be filled in 1994. The landfill will then be moved either to a location near McKinney or one that has not been identified at this time. In either case, a twenty year life expectancy is projected for the new landfill. What then? It is obvious that a comprehensive solid waste management plan must be adopted for the city as soon as possible. The city currently generates 42 tons of waste per day, which means at the current rate, a reduc- tion of 16.8 tons per day is needed to satisfy EPA and State regulations. The city started a recy- cling program in March 1991 and in six months, the city recovered 56 tons of recyclable materials, which represents a .7% reduction. A good start but much more is needed. NTMWD charges the city according to its contribution to the total solid waste deposited by the member cities. Consequently, the more the city recycles, the less it is charged to deposit solid waste. A typical distribution of waste materials that is taken from national surveys is as follows: 10.4 distribution of caste material by weight* Plastic Glass Food Miscellaneous Debris Metal Yard Waste Paper 'National figures Source: Franklin Assoc., 1988. Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste in U.S., 1960-2000. Washington, D. C.: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, p. 21. Studies completed by the city of Plano indicate that yard waste constitutes an even larger percentage of a typical day's waste than the national figures suggest. Therefore, at least 59% or higher of the waste generated each day are from materials (paper and yard waste) that are highly recyclable. Waste reduction can be achieved through waste minimization and through recycling. Waste minimization alludes to reducing the amount of materials entering the waste stream by voluntary and mandatory programs to eliminate the generation of waste. Recycling refers to the process of converting discarded used surplus by-products and other elements of industrial, commercial, and residential solid waste into valuable new raw materials and products. Projections by city staff indicate that if no efforts are made to minimize source reduction or recycling, the amount of waste will increase from 42 tons per day to 69. Most of this increase will be due to a larger population and employment base. However, a 10% rise in minimization efforts concomitant with a 40% increase in recycling will reduce the amount of solid waste to 34.5 tons (even with the projected increase in population and employment). 10.5 Impact of Proposed EPA Waste Reduction Targets on City of Allen Solid Waste Estimates Tons/Day 80 70 60 50. 40 30 20 10 0 1991 Waste Reduction Through Recycling 1993 1995 1997 2000 - Source: City of Allen, Department of Community Development - Assumes population estimates of city staff. - Assumes 10% annual increase in recycling to a maximum of 40%. - Assumes 10% increase in source minimization. There are various opportunities for citizen participation in managing the solid waste of Allen. Residences and businesses can manage yard debris such as grass and leaves through composting or letting them stay on the lawn, and they can also recycle aluminum cans, glass, newspapers, and plastics. Selective consumerism and the purchase of recycled products would contribute to an enhanced solid waste management program. These strategies allude to the purchase of reusable and recycled products. 9. Storm water drainage. Alternative strategies to address this issue include the reduction of pavement, increased landscape regulations and setbacks, open drainage, retention ponds, soil and erosion control devices, floodplain management, construction standards, and open space planning. One of the assumptions of the above strategies is that a reduction in storm water runoff and sedimentation will enhance the quality of the water in the streams. The city has already enacted an ordinance to facilitate floodplain management, and the parks policy implements sound open space planning by encouraging parks to be adjacent to floodplains whenever possible. In this manner, a buffer is provided between the floodplain and the more intense uses. 10.6 HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Three areas—health facilities and services, human services and educational services—are addressed in this chapter. The city's role in each of these areas will vary greatly. In a city such as Allen, it is unlikely that the city will be or will want to be the chief provider of services; yet each of these areas will play an important part in making Allen a high quality community that meets the needs of the residents. Goals and Policies 9.000 General Goal: Make high quality health care and needed human services available to residents of the city. 9.010 Specific Goal: Support the Collin County Community College District. 9.020 Specific Goal: Provide needed continuing education to the community. 9.021 P/IS: Support the Community Education office of the Allen Independent School District. 9.022 P/IS: Support the continuing education division (Enterprise Office) of the Collin County Community College. 9.030 Specific Goal: Continue providing city paramedic services. 9.040 Specific Goal: Strive to provide a city free of chemical dependency and abuse. 9.041 P/IS: Research options to the city and public/private groups in achieving this goal. 9.042 P/IS: Support the Allen Substance Abuse Prevention Office. 9.050 Specific Goal: Encourage the provision of child care services by churches and other pbulic institutions, or by private industry. 9.051 P/IS: Research child care needs and develop a program to accomplish this goal. 9.060 Specific Goal: Establish health and human services office in city government. 9.061 P/IS: Determine options for this office and identify program structure. 9.062 P/IS: Support the existing health inspection service. 9.070 Specific Goal: Encourage the selection/reservation of a site for a future full service community hospital. 9.071 P/IS: Conduct feasibility study to establish need, full or limited service, and provide implementation schedule. Health Facilities Collin County has five hospitals: HCA Medical Center of Plano, North Texas Medical Center North Campus, North Texas Medical Center Westpark Campus, Physicians Regional Hospital in Wylie, and Presbyterian and Children's Healthcare Center in Plano. The City of Allen will probably not have a hospital constructed within the city limits until it reaches a population of 50,000, which is expected around the year 2005. By that time, the trends in health services—hospitals, in particular—may be clearer and the city's opportunities easier to delineate. If it is feasible to have a hospital in Allen, a site that is centrally located with good access to U. S. 75, S.H. 121, and the major street systems will be needed. It should be around 40 to 60 acres in size, with ample area for medical offices. There are approximately 17 primary care physicians (one per 1,150 persons) and fifteen dentists (one per 1,300 persons) in Allen. According to Dr. Tony Vita, the city health officer, the ideal number of primary health care physicians should be 1 per 1,000. Consequently, Allen is within reasonable limits of the national standard. The number of dentists per capita in Allen is greater than the 1 per 2,000 state ratio, and is adequate coverage for the dental health of the community. This ratio will probably be maintained as the population grows. Health care today is tied closely to the medical insurance industry. Changes are occurring quickly and even those in the field are uncertain what the health care industry will look like 20 years from now. According to recent polls, the rising cost of health care is one of the most important domestic issues facing America today. Proposed federal and state legislation could change the delivery of health services; therefore, social planning efforts should keep abreast of pending legislation. The major trends which are visible today include greater use of small, conveniently located, diagnostic/ambulatory care centers to supplement hospital facilities, greater need for hospital outpatient facilities, increased emphasis on emergency service with around-the-clock, full time medical staffing, and increased use of paramedic services by cities as an extension of the hospital. The survey indicated a need for a 24-hour urgent health care facility in Allen, but the current economic feasibility of having one appears to be limited. However, the city should continue to encourage this type of facility. Ambulance and paramedic service is available from the city, and is operated by fire department personnel. All of the firefighters have EMT training, and twelve of them already have paramedic certification with three more expected to be trained in January 1992. Paramedic education is received through the Collin County Community College. The city is under contract with HCA Medical Center of Plano to serve as the bay station control during emergencies. Health Inspection Health inspection is an area that was identified in the 1985 Comprehensive Plan as a service that needed enhancement. Since that time, a full-time registered sanitarian has been hired by the City of Allen Department of Community Development. Day care centers, swimming pools, restaurants, schools, mobile food vending, foster homes, food establishments, insect and rodent problems, and solid waste complaints are regularly inspected. A median health score of 88 or above has been consistently maintained by the food establishments. 11.2 Substance Abuse Prevention The 1985 Comprehensive Plan identified substance abuse prevention as an important goal that the community should attain. The City of Allen and Allen Independent School District hired a full-time coordinator and an administrative assistant for this program in 1988, and over 1,000 adults and 3,100 children have participated in either peer pressure reversal training, kids connection skills for living, or the Developing Capable People program. The adopted mission statement that the Allen Substance Abuse Prevention implements is "Dedication to promoting positive family relations, and increasing productivity in the work place, and developing happy drug free children and adults by supporting existing programs and activities that will foster greater community awareness and involvement in order to prevent, reduce, and disrupt the use of alcohol and other drugs." Child Care A majority of Allen households (60%) reported that both spouses are employed in the 1990 survey, and that number is expected to increase. There are 9 day centers in Allen, 41 registered family homes, and numerous child care givers. Consequently, the need for day care for children exists and is expected to increase. The Allen Independent School District has initiated an extended after school care for children at Reed School. It is anticipated that this program will be expanded to other campuses and will eventually include a before school day care program as well. The school district also has plans for enhanced teenage activities and programs. On-site industrial day care should be encouraged and supported (1990 Comprehensive Plan Survey). Human Services Human services include the broad range of health services and social services needed by the citizenry. These needs vary greatly from city to city. As a suburban community, Allen is unlikely, for at least several generations, to have to address the serious dysfunctional problems of an inner city such as Dallas. However, there are social problems that face Allen today! The 1990 survey indicated that 8% of Allen households have incomes less than $25,000, and 3.9% are projected to have low incomes in the year 2,000. Allen Community Outreach, which is the primary social service agency in Allen, served 5,588 unduplicated persons residing in Allen (28% of the population) during 1990. This service delivery is accomplished with one full time and two part time staff members and most importantly, over one hundred citizen volunteers. Many of these cases have resulted from personnel reductions and corporate cutbacks at regional companies. Their clients are primarily in the 20-40 age group, and reflect the racial and professional composition of the community. Consequently, their client base is primarily white and includes white collar workers, which extends far beyond the traditional indigent groups. The commitment of Allen Community Outreach is to the improvement of the quality of life through the provision of basic needs, specialized programs, and independent living skills. Over 20 different programs are provided by this agency, and they include information and referral for the food pantry, clothes closet, social services, and indigent health care; the job bank for resume writing, counseling, and placement; emergency assistance for rent and utilities. 11.3 Churches have been extremely supportive of the social service network by providing volunteers through the Allen Ministerial Alliance for the food pantry and clothes closet. Collin County offers the Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) program, prenatal care, immunizations, sexually transmitted disease clinic, and indigent health care. The Texas Department of Human Resources administers the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program and food stamps. Medicaid and medicare is administered through the Social Security Administrtion. Immediate social needs of the Allen community in which there are critical shortages in resources include elderly day care, mental health, and transportation for those that are unable to drive. From study of the projected demographics of Allen and the national, state and local trends, some projections can be made of the general areas where need is most likely to be. Over the next decade, Allen will continue to be a city of young to middle age, upwardly mobile families—many having two income earners. To this demographic profile will be added an increasing number of low to moderate income families, single adults, single parents, and senior citizens. The most likely areas of need appear to be: (1) alcohol and chemical abuse programs, (2) teenage need programs, (3) single adult programs, (4) family counseling, (5) child care and latch key programs, (6) single parent programs, (7) senior citizen programs, and (8) abuse -assault crisis help. The needs described above and others that are certain to emerge will probably be provided by many groups. What then should be the role of the city in the human services area? The city's first step should be to communicate and coordinate with the school district and private agencies in identifying and facilitating community involvement in solving these problems. The city will be limited in its ability to be directly involved in the resolution of these problems, but it can provide information and act as a catalyst for meeting the social needs of the community: Educational Facilities Allen Independent School District This plan includes an element on facilities for public schools (See the Communities Facilities Plate 8). Park and school sites should be adjacent to each other whenever possible to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the facilities. The importance of a high quality public school system to the future of Allen cannot be overstated. The Allen Independent School District serves most of the City of Allen. Portions of the future city are in the Plano, Lovejoy, and McKinney school districts. Every effort should be made by the city of Allen to support and assist the Allen Independent School District in meeting its educational goals. This should consist of: (1) working to strengthen the tax base within the school district, (2) working together with the school district to reserve sites for schools as a part of the development review process, (3) coordinating location of schools and park facilities, and (4) coordination of bond issue proposals. 11.4 Higher Education Collin County Community College has two sites in its system (Spring Creek Campus in Plano and the McKinney campus on S.H. 380.), and a third undeveloped site has been purchased in Frisco. Collin County operates under an open door admission policy, which states that all adults that are 18 years or over with a high school education or equivalent are eligible for enrollment. Other students can be admitted if special requirments are satisfied. The availability of graduate level research, development, and training facilities is a critical factor in many corporate location decisions. Whenever possible, Allen should support the expansion efforts of these types of facilities at the University of Texas at Dallas, Southern Methodist University, and University of North Texas. A satellite facility of one of these universities, both on the undergraduate and graduate levels, should be encouraged to locate in Allen. Adult Education The average college education for students today is expected to be obsolete in ten years without continuing training and career enhancement strategies. Middle age wage earners who are not close to retirement are finding themselves without jobs as the economy becomes restructured because of changing technologies. Communities in the "Rust Belt" states have experienced severe unemployment as new technical processes have been introduced into the economy. Efforts should be made to avoid similar problems by encouraging adult manpower training programs. A substantial portion of this goal is being accomplished by the Community Education program of the Allen Independent School District where over 5,000 adults were enrolled in their classes during 1990, and that number is expected to double in the next five years. Their focus is on job enhancement and life skills. The city and school district should work closely in identifying the job training needs of the citizens. 11.5 GOVERNMENT SERVICES Existing_ Services The City Charter of the city of Allen approved in 1979 provides for a city manager form of government with five basic departments: Police Department, Fire Department, Public Library Department, Public Parks and Recreation Department, and Public Works Department. In addition, the Charter provides for additional departments to be established by ordinance, at the discretion of the Council. The Community Development Department and the Finance Department were formed under this proviso. The positions of City Secretary, City Attorney, and Tax Assessor are appointed by the City Council. The changes in population that have occurred since 1970 are reflected in the size and scope of municipal government. City government has grown in both employees and budget as shown in Table 41 below: TABLE 41 GOVERNMENT GROWTH COMPARISON City of Allen, Texas 1969-1970' 1979-1980' 1983-19842 1990-1991' Population 1,940 8,314 11,500 19,600 Employees 54 234 704 130 Approximate General Fund Expenditures 41,000 743,000 3,000,000 9,244,000 ' Audits for Fiscal Years ended 1970, 1980 (June -May) 2 Budget for Fiscal Year 1983-84 (October -September) 3 Budget for Fiscal Year 1990-91 (October -September) 4 Estimated Not only do more people need services, but as a city becomes more urban in character, a higher quality and level of services is desired by residents. Traditionally, expansion of facilities and services in response to population growth proceeds in concentrated periods of action followed by periods of catch up, as demand and provision of facilities are balanced. For example, provision of a sanitary sewer line will often follow a period of great need. After the trunk line is constructed, the demand will be met for some time until a new increment of demand spurs the need for additional facilities. Today Allen is providing a level of services and facilities to the city that far exceeds those provided to a much smaller city in 1970. Both facilities and service needs will continue to increase dramatically in the growth decades ahead and probably will not level out until well into the 21st century. Increases in personnel, equipment facilities and the budget necessary to provide for them can be expected. The tradeoffs to Allen are the level of facilities and services the resident is willing to pay for. 12.1 During the present fiscal year(1991-1992), Allen has a full-time staff of 130 persons and 22 part- time, an operations budget of $9,243,644, and a total budget of $12,514,164. This represents a minimal staff and budget level for a city of Allen's size, growing at the rapid rate Allen is (See Table 41). The greatest element of the operating budget is for public safety (31.4%), particularly police protection (17.7) followed by fire protection (13.7). The major capital expenditure areas have been for infrastructure and public buildings. Goals and Policies 10.000 General Goal: Provide a high level of government services in a cost-effective manner and within the financial constraints of the city. 10.010 Specific Goal: Provide quality governmental services in the areas of fire protection and prevention, police, water, emergency ambulance, street maintenance, sewer and wastewater, library and others. 10.011 P.IS: Provide a high level of administrative services and adequate staff to deliver those services. 10.012 P/IS: Work with NTMWD to keep ahead of the needs of Allen for water, sewer and wastewater facilities and service. 10.013 P/IS: Continue providing emergency ambulance service, with full-time paramedics and intensive care ambulances, to keep pace with growth. 10.014 PAS: Improve substandard streets to a maintainable condition. 10.015 P/IS: Provide adequate maintenance for all city streets. 10.016 P/IS: Use the Texas Library Standards as guidelines for library facilities and services. 10.017 P/IS: Improve brush pickup, making it more convenient for the customers and diverting it from the municipal waste stream. 10.018 PAS: Provide a high level of fire protection, with adequate full-time staff, fire fighting equipment and overhead storage, as population growth requires. 10.019 P/IS: Emphasize fire prevention as needed to keep pace with growth. 10.020 P/IS: Provide a high level of police protection, expanding the department to keep pace with growth. 10.021 P/IS: Expand and improve neighborhood crime watch, public awareness, youth education and public involvement. 10.030 Specific Goal: Encourage public utilities to provide quality services, including gas, electric, telephone and cable television. 12.2 10.031 P/IS: Work with each of the above public utilities to identify any problem areas and seek solutions and improved quality. Government Services Observations and Recommendations This government services section is not to set out a plan for restructuring of city government in Allen. Such a plan is hardly necessary. The city has successfully provided services with modest financial resources and will continue to do so, altering the governmental structure to meet the needs of its residents, as such needs become evident. Rather, this section is designed to provide a listing of some of the future needs, from the comprehensive plan perspective, to help city officials in planning for the provision of public services in the future. Short -and -Medium Range Needs 1. The city should have personnel trained in drafting and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). A mapping system that meets the needs of all city functions ought to be implemented as soon as possible in order to enhance service delivery. 2. Traffic engineering assistance is needed. This service can be obtained on a part time basis through a private consultant. The city currently utilizes the Council of Governments, but their future availability can not be assumed if development activity increases. A secondary thoroughfare plan is needed that must be determined by a thoroughfare forecasting model which performs trip generation, distribution, and traffic assignments from land use and demographic assumptions identified in the Comprehensive Plan. A set of geometric designs for alignments of thoroughfares should be established. Identification of problem links and intersections along with recommended improvements should be compiled and maintained. 4. Water and sewer construction capabilities are needed in order to enhance the existing system as required. Inhouse capability is preferable because of frequent emergency needs. 5. Increase staff skills and capabilities through informal and formal training. Rapidly changing technologies dictate that continuing education be offered to employees. Efforts to improve employee productivity through retraining are a prerequisite for enhancing service delivery. 6. Update the city's accounting system by providing costs according to functional categories rather than simple line items. This will reflect the true cost of services and assist policy makers in determining the efficiency and effectiveness of programs thereby enhancing service delivery. 12.3 TABLE 42 GOVERNMENT SERVICES Cit of Allen 1991 FT 1991-92 BUDGET % OF EMPLOYEES EMP BUDGET PER OPER. POP BUDGET DEPARTMENT FUNCTIONS FT PT/T PER ($000) 1000 P t Ma or/ Cit Council 1 8 NA 180 9.2 1.9 General Governmemn y y City Secretary Elections City Administration Mgmt/Adm of City Government 5 Legal Solid Waste Community Develop- Planning 9 ment Code Enforcement Capital Improvements Admin. Health Police Department Police Protection 35 Animal Control Court Clerk Dispatching Municipal Court Fire Protection 31 Fire Department/ Fire Marshal Paramedics /Ambulance Fire Prevention Civil Defense High Weed/Grass Enforcement 0 1 .3 1 1,172 1 59.8 1 12.7 0 1 .5 1 384 1 19.6 1 4.2 1 1 1.8 1 1,635 1 83.4 1 17.7 0 1 1.6 1 1;272 1 64.9 1 13.7 N Ln TABLE 42 (Continued) 1991 FT 1991-92 BUD- % OF EMPLOYEES EMP BUD- GET OPER. DEPARTMENT FUNCTIONS FT PUT PER GET PER BUDGET 1000 P ( $000) POP. Public Works Planning and Maintenance 23 0 1.2 3,105 158.4 33.5 Department of Sewer System Planning and Maintenance of Water System Construction and Maintenance of Streets Construction and Maintenance of Storm Drainage Street Lights Street Signs Parks and Recreation Planning and Construction 15 4 .8 754 38.5 8.2 Department of Parks and Facilities Maintenance of Parks and Facilities Recreation Programs and Activities Library Library 5 8 .3 319 26.3 3.5 Finance Department Management of Financial 3 0 .2 256 13.1 2.8 Resources Economic Development Economic Development 1 1 .05 80 4.1 .9 Substance Abuse Substance Abuse Prevention 2 0 .1 87 4.4 .9 Prevention Office TOTAL 130 22 6.63 9,244 472 100 DEBT SERVICE 3,271 NA NA GRAND TOTAL 12,515 NA NA Population estimate for July 31, 1991, of 19,600 persons. 7. Provide a personnel function, but not necessarily a department, that coordinates employment records, insurance, and job announcements. 8. Utilize the city's computer technologies in developing a database of information so that inquiries regarding complaints, service delivery, demographics, economics, or other statistics can be answered by any city employee. 9. Utilize the city's survey technology to obtain feedback for service delivery. While private enterprise can look to the income statement to determine their effectiveness, the city must obtain feedback through alternative means such as surveys and suggestion solicitations. 10. Provide referral and support to Allen Independent School District and Allen Community Outreach in provision of a health and human services referral system. 11. Provide higher level of library services through integrated technologies with area libraries, additional resources, and program development. Libraries will be at the forefront of the information revolution and will be play a key role in providing continuing education and retraining to the citizens. 12. Be proactive in marketing the services of the city. 13. Enhance recycling program to reduce solid waste at rates that are consistent with federal and state standards. 14. Improve quality of stormwater drainage through prescribed methods and procedures. 15. Implement advances in fiber optic technology to enhance citizen accessibility and communication. The Public Utilities The survey indicated that there is general satisfaction with the electric, gas, telephone, and water utilities. This represents an improvement over the 1984 survey when criticism concerning the telephone company was expressed. This can be attributed to the inclusion of Allen into the metropolitan phone network (EAS) and the installation of electronic software such as call forwarding and call waiting. There appears to be some dissatisfaction with the cable service in the 1990 survey, which is precipitated by service interruptions and lack of program variety. 12.6 IMPLEMENTATION GUIDELINES Like a major private corporation's plan, implementation of a plan for a community involves many groups, many projects and programs to accomplish it. Critical to success is the coordination of all these elements so that efficiency is built into the entire system. This section provides an overview of the opportunities for implementation, specific implementation steps, and discussion of the planning process, as well as provision for updating. Implementation Groups The plan for Allen consists of actions which will involve all elements of the community. The entire community has a responsibility and an opportunity to truly implement the plan. Listed below are the key groups and comments about their part in the process. City of Allen - The city government in Allen has the major role in implementation. This implementation is executed by the City Council, the Planning Commission, the various boards and commissions and the city staff. Actions may include regulatory decisions, implementation projects, provision of information, and administration of city policy on behalf of the City Council. Allen Independent School District - As an autonomous body, the school district has responsibility for actions in the educational field and within its district. Because of the interrelationship between schools and parks and recreation, as well as all community activities, there is a strong role of coordination between the school district and the city in addition to the specific actions for which the district has responsibility. Chamber of Commerce - The Chamber is the chief private economic group in the city. It has both a lead and coordinating role in many areas of the plan. Allen Community Outreach - Many of the human services actions are provided or are referred by this organization. Residents of Allen - The support of residents of Allen is essential to any successful implementa- tion. Business Community - As with the residents of Allen, the business community has an important part in the overall implementation program. Full support of the business community will be needed. Developers in Allen - While most developers are not residents of Allen, because of their role in the building of Allen, they have a very important and far reaching role to play. 13.1 Goals and Responsibilities The major responsibilities for implementation descend upon the Allen City Council, although in many instances the City Council will delegate the responsibility to either an appointed commission or the city staff in administration of the city's policies. There are several areas where implementation is a primary responsibility of a group outside the city. These areas are: health and human services, public utilities, and education. Implementation Tools The comprehensive plan serves a variety of functions. It serves as a guideline for the land use decisions and the transportation routes recommended. It serves as the basis for delineation of projects needed to bring about the development of the community and it specifies a variety of policies which will need to be followed for the community to obtain the high quality development it desires. Major implementation tools fall into two basic categories: administration and fiscal. Allen presently has a number of regulations in place which govern land development. These include zoning, subdivision regulations, the building code, and other miscellaneous ordinances. The design of these regulations to meet the goals of the community and the administration of those regulations by appointed commissions and by city administrative staff is an important part of the overall implementation. At the same time, many of the projects and programs within the plan itself involve funding. The major funding source for programs is the city budget or the budgets of the other participating entities including the school district, the Chamber of Commerce, Allen Community Outreach, and public utilities. Some actions in the form of projects are too expensive to be funded out of the operating budget and will have to be funded by a capital bonds program. Some can be funded with water revenues or accumulated funds: however, in most instances, some method of financing other than the operating budget is needed. This will require a continued reliance upon bond programs which will provide funds for major project development. The city has approved bond issues in the past which have been instrumental in the construction of major improvements. Development and approval of a bond issue will be needed if this plan is to be implemented successfully. In addition to the public improvements described above, the private development community will participate in the costs for many of the infrastructure improvements for the developing city. The extent to which participation is set in city policies and is administered by city government. Regulatory Recommendations In order to accomplish the goals and policies of the plan, a number of minor revisions to the zoning ordinance or the process should be considered. They are: 1. Add provision for new housing types and products as market conditions and styles change. 13.2 2. Extend site plan requirements to include: (a) location of major woodlots and treatment thereof; (b) architectural elevations, where appropriate (particularly high visibility areas such as the U.S. 75 and S.H. 121 corri- dors and local retail and office areas which will impact neighborhoods); (c) expansion of site plan requirements to include all major develop- ments. (This is presently being accomplished through extensive use of the planned development and the specific use permit processes; however, the commercial and light industrial districts are not included in this process); (d) submittal of grading plans, where such are appropriate (particularly near stream valleys), and (e) consider the liberalization of the site plan process so that the review process is completed by staff only. Commission and Council approval should only be necessary for highly visible sites such as frontage along freeways. Broader use of certificate of occupancy for changes in use or occupancy. 4. Use of joint public hearing when appropriate. 5. Enhance the landscaping and illumination standards of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance. 6 Continue the procedure of neighborhood district planning, review, and analysis as part of the zoning process. This procedure has been successful in providing staff and the governing bodies a systematic framework for analyzing zoning cases. 7. Some form of administrative or operation policies should be assembled in writing by the city for zoning, site plan, and plat reviews. These could range from policies on required access to such areas as treatment of air conditioning condenser units. A checklist could then be prepared by the staff for the Com- mission and Council, showing that the applicant has or has not met the policy. Consideration should also be given to change of zoning to planned development for the light industrial corridor from Bethany to city property and for the future mixed use area at FM 2170 and the frontage road. The subdivision regulations should also be amended to require the applicant to show the location of wooded areas and treatment of them. The city should provide controls over erosion and sedimentation, particularly in close proximity to the stream valleys. An erosion and sedimentation ordinance would provide this needed control. Review and Update of the Comprehensive Plan Preparation of this plan and its implementation are but one step in the continuous planning process employed by the city. The successful activities and actions of the plan must be continually monitored. 13.3 New detailed studies of areas of the plan should evaluated and designs prepared, partial updating should be done when the need arises, and the plan redone at least on a ten year schedule. There are four key elements of the planning process: 1. Plan Evaluation Plan evaluation should completed every year. This should be undertaken so that the budgeting and planning processes are integrated in order to ensure adequate resources are allocated to each item. The major emphasis should be to review the goals and policies and an evaluation made to the extent to which the plan has been carried forward. A chart should be prepared for assigning the responsibility for implementing each goal to the responsible agency -City of Allen, Allen Independent School District, Community Outreach, Chamber of Commerce, and the like. It may well be that in some of these instances, a recommendation may come forth for amending or adjusting the plan in order to better meet the goals of the community. 2. Partial Update Given the growth anticipated, a partial update should be completed every five years. This update would consist of reviewing the the broad area that the plan has addressed and identifying those areas which should be reconsidered. This could be done for one area of the city such as the Central Business District or some of the neighborhood districts. 3. Major Update Again, given the growth anticipated in the city, a major update should be made at least every ten years. The changes that are occurring in the metropolitan area and the impact of those changes on the city of Allen necessitate rethinking on a regular schedule the directions Allen wishes to go. 4. Continual Planning The Comprehensive Plan has identified a large number of needs for further study and detailed design as a part of the planning process. These are needed to implement projects and programs and are described more fully in the section which follows. Continual Planning The following should be undertaken over the next five years to more specifically define projects and programs identified in the plan: 1. Solid Waste Management Plan 2. Detailed CBD plan to determine future thoroughfare designs and land uses 3. Urban design guidelines for U.S. 75 and S.H. 121 development 4. Research energy conservation measures for housing, government operations, and transportation 13.4 5. Explore opportunities for mass transportation and station placement 6. Develop an information strategy that addresses the information needs of the community 7. Bike and pedestrian transportation plan 8. Health and Human Services Plan 13.5 APPENDIX A MAJOR FINDINGS OF THE COMMUNITY SURVEY COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE SURVEY REPORT SUMMARY ► Quality of life issues such as water and sewer, trash and litter, noise and housing disrepair, enjoyed overall satisfaction. ► Congested on -street parking, weeds and grass, and stray animals, were minor problems citywide. ► Library and park use is high regardless of income, quadrant, and length of residence. ► No direction given for greenbelt linear parks. ► Support for additional passive parks. IN. Opposition to additional active parks. ► In general, additional parks are supported. ► Ford Park is most frequently used of all Allen parks. ► Age of head of household influences park use. ► Neighborhood parks used by households throughout the City. ► Majority think neighborhood is stable or improving. ► Most frequent choice for price of house is $80,000 to $100,000. ► Continue similar single family land use pattern. ► Continue similar multi -family land use pattern. ► Support for either similar or more commercial land use. ► Support for more industrial land use. ► Continue similar office land use. ► Continue similar public land use. ► Support for encouragement of local retail, family restaurants, business office/business operations, and light manufacturing. IN. Opposition to encouraging regional mall, fast food restaurants, fine food restaurants with or without clubs, hotels and motels, warehousing and trucking, medium industrial, and heavy industrial. ► Majority of respondents indicate use of recreation center, parks, outdoor swimming pool, bike paths, and open space. ► Significant percent of respondents would use indoor pool, ball parks, tennis courts, basketball courts, children's recreation programs, teenage recreation programs, adult recreation programs, jogging paths, and golf courses. ► Nominal use indicated for horseback riding paths. A.i COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE SURVEY SUMMARY 1991 ► Nominal use indicated for senior citizen programs, but majority of respon- dents 60 and over use program. ► Support of user fees for recreation center, indoor pool, outdoor pool, tennis courts, children's recreation programs, teenage recreation pro- grams, adult recreation programs, horseback riding paths, and golf course. ► Opposition to user fees for parks, senior citizen programs, bike paths, jogging paths, and open space. ► Support and opposition to user fees evenly divided for ballparks and basketball courts. ► More taxes for all park and recreation programs opposed by respondents. ► Support and opposition to more taxes for parks was evenly divided. ► Support for the location of small shopping areas within walking distance of neighborhoods. ► Support recycling efforts. ► Support for encouraging affordable housing for everyone. ► Support for continuing masonry requirement for commercial buildings. ► Support for encouraging industrial development in areas other than those already planned along S. H. 121, S. H. 5, and U.S. 75 . P. Support for considering retail in industrial. IN. Support for locating office along main thoroughfares. ► Support for allowing beer and wine sales. ► Support for encouraging local companies to provide child care. ► Support for creating a department for environmental protection. ► Support for the redevelopment of blighted areas. ► Support for controlling visual pollution. ► Support for the need of a 24-hour urgent health care. ► Support for the need of a transportation system for elderly and handi- capped. ► Support for locating retail in large shopping areas near major thorough- fares. ► Support for restricting heavy equipment on residential streets. ► Support for the provision of large area parks. A. ii COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE SURVEY SUMMARY 1991 ► Support for restricting residential along U.S. 75 and S. H. 121. ► Support for restricting aircraft to nonresidential areas. ► Opposition to bingo establishments and liquor stores. ► Police and fire protection enjoy good to excellent ratings. ► Streets and street maintenance enjoy good ratings, but specific areas need attention. ► Garbage collection enjoys good to excellent rating, but brush and large item pickup may warrant additional attention. ► Parks and park maintenance enjoys good to excellent ratings, but park maintenance may warrant additional attention in the northeast quadrant. ► Recreation facilities enjoys a good to excellent rating, but the southwest quadrant needs attention. No. Sewer and waste water enjoys good to excellent rating. ► Animal control enjoys good to excellent rating, but southwest quadrant may need additional attention. ► Care and beautification of public land enjoys good to excellent rating. IN. Electric, gas, and phone service enjoy good to excellent ratings. ► Majority give cable tv a good to excellent rating, but this utility registered the highest disapproval rating. ► Water billing collection and substance abuse prevention enjoy good to excellent ratings. ► Street bonds, park bonds, fire bonds,- and police bonds supported by respondents. Water and sewer bonds opposed by respondents. A. iii CITY OF ALLEN COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE SURVEY 1990 In general, are you satisfied with City operations? (Check One) Yes 78% No 22% If No, please be specific in your comment: 2. In the past year, have any members of your household expressed a concern to City officials about service delivery or other issues? (Check One) (2-5) Yes 18% No 82% (If no, skip to No. 3) If Yes, what was the nature of that concern? Was your concern satisfactorily resolved? ( Check One) Yes 36% No 64% Did the person you contacted exhibit a professional attitude? (Check One) Yes 77% No 23% Was the person you contacted a: (Check One) Staff Member 82% Councilmember 12% Board or Commission Member 6% 3. How should the City, if at all, improve its overall appearance? Comment 4. To what degree are the following conditions a problem in your neighborhood? (Check one for each topic) (6-15) Extreme Major Minor Not a Problem Problem Problem Problem Congested on -street parking 88% 14% 32% 46% Street disrepair (potholes, cracks , curbs, etc. ) 5% 9% 25% 610 Trash and Litter 3% 8% 35% 54% Crime against persons or property 3% 7% 40% 50% A.1 Extreme Major Minor Not a Problem Problem Problem Problem Noise 2% 5% 29% 64% Lack of Recreational Facilities 5% 16% 28% 50% Housing in need of Repair 3% 6% 310 60% Weeds and Unmowed Grass 5% 13% 38% 44% Stray animals 55% 11% 36% 48% Water & Sewer Problems 3% 3% 14% 79% Other 5. The City of Allen offers the following services and programs. We would like to know if you have used these services or programs in the past year, how you would rate them, and what additional services or programs you would like to see offered. (16-23) *(E=Excellent, G=Good, F=Fair, P=Poor, DK=Don't Know) Suggested Used In Past Rate* Additional Service/Program Year (Y/N) (E -G -F -P -DK) Programs Park Athletics, Senior Citizens, Aquatics, and Camps 58/42% 12-48-17-5-18% Library Book and Video Collections, Co Reference and Periodical llections, Childrens Programs 63/37% 20-46-16-4-15% Community Development Technical Assistance Concerning Zoning, Platting, Building Codes, and Demographic Information 12/88% 4-14-11-9-62% Substance Abuse Prevention Office Confidential Referral, Education, and Information via the Allen Substance Prevention (A. S.A.P.) Office 6/94% 6-13-5-1-75% 6. What types of additional parks do you think are needed? (Check desired choices) (24-27) A. Greenbelt Linear Parks (Parks Along Creek Corridors) Yes: 51% No: 49% B. Passive Parks ( Hiking & Biking) Yes: 66% No: 34% C. Active Parks ( Athletic Fields) Yes: 25% No: 75% D. No Additional Parks are Needed Yes: 16% No.: 84% A.2 T. Which parklands do you use? (Check all that apply) (28-42) 8. (43) Collin Square Greenbelt 3% yes, 2% 97% no Cottonwood Bend 9% yes, 3. 91% no Cottonwood Bend Greenbelt 5% _yes, Fountain Park 95% no Country Meadows 2% yes, 3% 98% no Ford Park 52% yes, 48% no Hillside Ballfields 14% Yes, 86% no Hillside Playground 7% Ves, 7% 93% no Jupiter Ballfields 14% yes, 86% no McDermott Ballfields 10% yes, 90% no Raintree Greenbelt 2% _yes, 7% 98% no Reed Park 37% Yes, 63% no Rolling Hills 2% yes, 98% no St. Mary's 0% _Ves , 100% no Story Park 15% yes, 85% no Walden Park 5% _Ves, 95% no If you moved to another neighborhood in Allen, where would it be? (Check One) 1. Clearview Estates 2% 2. Cottonwood Bend 4% 3. Country Meadow 2% 4. Fountain Park 14% 5. Greengate 3% 6. Heritage Park 2% 7. Hillside 0% 8. Rolling Hills 1% 9. The Woods or Raintree Estates 7% 10. Timberbend 0T-. 11. Willow Creek Estates 5% 12. Windridge 0% 13. Other 7% 14. Would Not Move 51% Why would you choose this location: 9. Do you think your neighborhood is-- (Check One) (44) A. Improving 13% B . Stable 66% C. Deteriorating 21% 10. Does your neighborhood have a sense of community spirit and pride? (45) Yes 58% No 42% ' 11. Have you or any member of your family been victimized in Allen by crime in the last year? (46) Yes 16% No 84% A.3 12.Do you feel safe in your neighborhood? Yes 92% No 8% (47) — 13. Are you aware of drug use or abuse in Allen? (48) Yes 40% No 60% If Yes, which of the following are you personally aware of that are used? (Check all that apply) (49-54) Alcohol 34% yes, 66% no Amphetamines (speed) 8% Ves, 92% no Crack -Cocaine 12% yes, 88% no Ecstacy 5% Ves, 95% no Inhalants 6% yes, 94% no Marijuana 24% Ves, 76% no 14. If you were buying a home today, what realistic price range would you consider? ( Check One) (55) Under $60, 000 8% $60,001 to $80,000 20% $80,001 to $100,000 35% $100,001 to $125,000 23% $125, 001 and higher 14% Comment: 15. In 1984, the citizens indicated that they desired the following allocation of land use (when fully developed) . Residential - Single Family 62% Residential - Multi -Family 4% Commercial & Retail ( Shopping) 11% Industrial (Mfg., Production, etc.) 6% Office 8% Public Use - Schools, Public Facilities, Parks, Streets, and Alleys 9% When fully developed, should the land use allotted for each use be more, the same, or less, than the 1984 choices above? (Check one for each land use) (56-61) More Same Less Residential - Single Family 16% 60% 24% Residential - Multi -family 11% 63% 26% Commercial & Retail ( Shopping) 45% 46% 9% Industrial (Mfg., Production, etc.) 53% 38% 9% Office 35% 55% 10% Public Use - Schools, Public Facilities, Parks, Streets, and Alleys 36% 58% 5% A.4 16. Which types of businesses should be encouraged to come to the City of Allen? (Check all that apply) 28% (62-75) 34% 7% 69% yes, 31% no Local retail 32% Ves, 68% no Regional mall 24% Ves, 76% no Fast food restaurants 80% yes, 20% no Family restaurants 43% Yes, 57% no Fine food restaurants ! 40% Ves, 60% no Fine food restaurants with clubs 39% yes, 61% no Hotels and motels 47% Ves, 53% no Business support services 61% yes, 39% no Business offices /business operations 81% yes, 19% no Light manufacturing (electronics, high tech) 17% Yes, 83% no Warehousing and trucking 33% yes, 67% no Medium industrial (machine shop, metal workings, etc.) 10% yes, 90% no Heavy industrial ( cement manufacturing, heavy equipment manufac- turing) 9% yes, 91% no Other ( Specify) 17. How often would you or other members of your household use each of these facilities or programs? If you use these facilities or programs, would you be willing to pay a user's fee and/or taxes to retain and/or expand these programs? (76-123) (Check one for each facility or program) (Check One For Each Option) Occasion- User Fee More Taxes Often ally Seldom Never Y/N Y/N 18% 37% 25% 20% Recreation Center 77%-23% 17%-83% 35% 44% 15% 6% Parks 32%-68% 48%-52% 18% 26% 23% 32% Swimming Pool 85%-15% 9%-91% (Indoor) 19% 34% 21% 26% Swimming Pool (Outdoor) 18% 28% 20% 34% 7% 22% 31% 41% 9% 20% 25% 45% Ball Parks ( Soccer, Baseball) Tennis Courts Basketball Courts A.5 87%-13% 50%-50% 56%-44% 50%-50% 11%-89% 25%-75% The City of Allen: Should encourage development Occasion- of apartments and garden homes 20% as a buffer between single User Fee Taxes Often alI_ Seldom Never 2% Y/N Y/N 20% 24% 15% 41% Children's Recreation 72%-28% 20%-80% disposal 63% Should encourage affordable Programs 31% Should continue masonry 10% 16% 14% 60% Teenage Recreation 68%-32% 20%-80% Programs 9% 31% 29% 32% Adult Recreation 82%-18% 12%-88% Programs 3%5% 9 % 83% Senior Citizens 46%-54% 28%-72% — — Recreation Programs 17% 35% 20% 29% Bike Paths 31%-69% 43%-57% 15% 24% 25% 36% Jogging Paths 29%-71% 41%-59% 3%9% 13 % 75% Horseback Riding 55%-45% 13%-87% — —' Paths 14% 20% 16% 50% Golf Course 84%-16% 13%-87% 21% 38% 20% 20% Open Space, Natural 31%-69% 43%-57% Environment 18. For each statement listed, please answer how strongly you agree or disagree. (Check one for each statement) . (124-149) Strongly Somewhat Somewhat Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Disagree The City of Allen: Should encourage development 22% of apartments and garden homes 20% as a buffer between single 24% family areas and business 9% development 9% Should locate small 2% shopping areas within walking 20% distance of neighborhoods 20% Should support recycling 24% efforts of solid waste 3% disposal 63% Should encourage affordable housing for everyone 31% Should continue masonry requirement instead of metal or wood for commercial buildings 41% 29% 22% 20% 20% 36% 24% 12% 9% 24% 10% 1% 2% 25% 20% 16% 8% 25% 24% 7% 3% A.6 Strongly Somewhat Somewhat Strongly Agree Agee Neutral Disagree Disagree Should encourage industrial 'development in areas other than those already planned along S. H. 121, S. H. 5 and U.S. 75 20% 240 220 190 150 Should allow retail and service uses in areas reserved for industrial purposes 14% 42% 29% 10% 5% Should locate office development along main thoroughfares 23% 44% 25% 7% 2% Should have a mix of housing types in residential areas 9% 23% 16% 27% 24% Should allow beer and wine sales 35% 17% 8% 7% 32% Should allow bingo 'establishments 16% 17% 24% 12% 32% Should allow liquor stores 22% 11% 11% 9% 47% Should encourage local companies to provide child care centers 38% 23% 28% 6% 5% Should create a department for environmental protection 30% 33% 20% 9% 8% Should redevelop blighted areas 35% 41% 20% 3% 1% Should control visual impact of signs, billboards, utility poles, etc. 56% 34% 8% 10 0% Needs subsidized housing for senior citizens and others 20% 24% 28% 16% 12% Needs a 24 hour urgent health care facility 51% 29% 12% 4% 3% Needs a local transportation system for the elderly and handicapped 28% 34% 25% 8% 6% A.7 Strongly Somewhat Somewhat Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Disagree Should locate retail businesses in large shopping areas near 310 46 % 17 % 4 % 1 major thoroughfares Should restrict heavy equipment and trucks on 67% 25 5% ° 10 2% residential streets Should provide several large area parks (such as Ford Park) with facilities like jogging trails, recreation centers, 47% 310 14 % 66 % 3 tennis courts, etc. , Should discourage retail uses on property that is specifi- cally zoned for industrial uses 9% 19% 36% 27 % 9 Should restrict residential growth along U.S. 75 and S. H. 121 22% 29% 30% 11% 8% Should restrict aircraft flight patterns to non- residential areas (airplanes and helicopters) 37% 29% 26% 5% 3% Needs a nursing home facility 16% 24% 46% 7% 6% 19. We would like to know how well you think each of the services listed below is being provided in the City of Allen, (please check either excellent, good, fair, or poor), and whether you have used this service in the last 12 months. For those services checked fair or poor would you be willing to pay more to have that service improved? Used In (150-203) Last 12 Willing To Months Pay More Excel. Good Fair Poor Y / N Y / N Fire Protection 35% 60% 5% 0% 7%-93% 40%-60% Police Protection 33% 56% 10% 2% 28%-72% 47%-53% Streets 5% 50% 34% 11% 84%-16% 34%-66% Street Maintenance 5% 46% 33% 16% N/A 34%-66% Garbage Collection 18% 62% 16% 4% 96%-4% 10%-90% Brush & Large Item Pickup 9% 48% 23% 20% 48%-52% 17%-83% Used In Last 12 Willing To Months Pay More , Excel. Good Fair Poor Y / N Y / N a o 0 0 Parks 12% 620 210 50 79/210 41/590 Park Maintenance 8% 62% 23% 7% N / A 34/66% Recreation Facilities 5% 61% 27% 7% 52/48% 34/66% Sewer & Waste Water 10% 72% 15% 3% 89/11% 12/88% Animal Control 12% 59% 19% 10% 34/66% 17/83% Care & Beautification of Public Land 8% 55% 30% 8% 46/54% 25/75% Electric Utility 14% 70% 14% 2% 96/4% 5/95% Gas Utility 14% 75% 9% 2% 61/39% 5195% Phone Service 20% 65% 13% 3% 97/3% 5/95% Cable TV 6% 47% 28% 19% 69/31% 5/95% i Water Billing Collection 11% 67% 15% 7% 89/11% 5195 Substance Abuse Prevention 7% 61% 28% 4% 6/94% 27/73% If you have rated any of the above items "fair" or below, please indicate any suggestions that you have. (Attach an additional sheet if necessary) 20. The City of Allen is approaching completion of the 1985 Bond Program and now must consider future requirements. Would you support a new bond program for: (204-208) Yes No Streets 62% 38% Water and Sewer 39% 61% Parks 57% 43% Fire i 57% 43% Police 60% 40% A.9 21. The 1985 Comprehensive Plan established the following general and specific goals for the City (when fully developed) . Please rate how successful you think the City has been in the achievement of these goals, with 1 being the most successful and 5 being the least successful. (Circle One) Rating LAND USE (1-8) Achievement 1=Most Successful/ 5 =Least Successful A. Provide for the development of Allen as a high quality residential community. 1=17% 2=42% 3=31% 4=8% 5=2% B . Provide for high quality residential neighborhoods. 1=15% 2=46% 3=28% 4=8% 5=3% C. Develop a well-balanced community. 1=10% 2=34% 3=34% 4=16% 5=6% D. Provide adequate retail and commercial services for the shopping needs of Allen. 1=5% 2=200 3=310 4=31% 5=13% E. Provide a strong tax base capable of supporting the high quality residential community desired. 1=10% 2=17% 3=26% 4=16% 5=310 F. Provide open space throughout Allen, preserving the natural resources. 1=10% 2=31% 3=40% 4=13% 5=5% G. Establish land use pattern. 1=6% 2=31% 3=49% 4=9% 5=5% H. Redevelop the Central Business District. 1=100 2=25% 3=35% 4=18% 5=12% TRANSPORTATION (9-12) A. Develop an efficient and safe transportation system. 1=4% 2=110 3=33% 4=21% 5=31% B, Develop a thoroughfare system with sufficient capacity and including provision for mass transit and light rail (DART) . 1=4% 2=9% 3=30% 4=23% 5=34% C. Emphasize safety on the major thoroughfares. 1=6% 2=23% 3=32% 4=19% 5=20% D. Seek mass transit and inclusion in the DART light rail system. 1=4% 2=5% 3=29% 4=24% 5=38% HOUSING (13-18) A. Provide a range of housing to meet the needs of present and future residents which efficiently utilizes land resources and essential city services. 1=8%2=40% 3=41% 4=9% 5=3% B. Continue the city's role in housing as one of directing, planning and regulating the development and maintenance of housing. 1=9% 2=41% 3=38% 4=8% 5=4% A.10 C . Provide a variety of housing densities. 1=8% 2=36% 3=44% 4=9% 5=4% J). Encourage each housing development to have a variety of architecture and building materials. 1=8% 2=34% 3=35% 4=17% 5=7% E. Redevelop blighted areas and areas with potential of becoming blighted. 1=3% 2=12% 3=410 4=30% 5=14% F. Plan for quality housing for all income and age groups. 1=4% 2=18% 3=49% 4=20% 5=8% PARKS AND RECREATION (19-23) A. Provide optimum park lands and facilities, recreation programs and open spaces to meet the needs of Allen's residents. 1=14% 2=37% 3=32% 4=13% 5=4% B . Plan for public and private natural open space in the development of Allen. 1=8% 2=35% 3=41% 4=12% 5=4% ' C . Provide for development of a parks system with a full range of facilities and programs for residents. 1=10% 2=31% 3=37% 4=16% 5-7% D. Provide a high level of park maintenance of park lands and facilities. 1=12% 2=36% 3=34% 4=10% 5=8 % E. Provide safety and security in parks. 1=10% 2=36% 3=37% 4=11% 5-6% COMMUNITY FACILITIES (24-29) A. Provide community facilities and utilities in the most efficient and high quality manner. 1=9% 2=37% 3=40% 4=9% 5=4% B . Centralize the municipal complex on acreage presently owned by the city, to include library, police and courts building, city hall, civic center and service center. 1=46% 2=40% 3=110 4=2% 5=1% C. Plan for fire stations to allow for adequate fire protection in all planning districts. 1=24% 2=47% 3=24% 4=3% 5=2% 'D. Provide efficient animal control services for the city. 1=15% 2=39% 3=30% 4=8% 5=8% E. Provide adequate and efficient water and sewer facilities. 1=17% 2=51% 3=25% 4=5% 5=3% F. When practical, schools and other public buildings should be designed for public access and multiple use. 1=22% 2=44% 3=27% 4=4% 5=3% A. 11 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (30-33) A. Develop an economy that will generate jobs, provide shopping and service opportunities and a strong financial base 1=5% 2=110 3=31% 4=29% 5=24 for Allen. B . The city should establish and maintain an aggressive posture in quality economic development. 1=7% 2=21% 3=36% 4=23% 5=13% C . Encourage diversity in economic development. 1=5% 2=18% 3=36% 4=25% 5=15% D . Expand the tax base in order to achieve and maintain a balanced tax base among residential, commercial, industrial and other land uses. 1=4% 2=12% 3=32% 4=21% 5=31% ENVIRONMENT (34-40) A. Preserve natural resources and preserve a high quality environment in Allen. 1=10% 2=34% 3=47% 4=7% 5=3% B . Encourage conservation of natural resources. 1=8% 2=26% 3=45% 4=14% 5=7% C . Minimize pollution in Allen including visual, air, noise and water. 1=12% 2=38% 3=36% 4=9% 5=4% D . Provide flood and drainage control. 1=11% 2=36% 3=36% 4=12% 5=6% E. Prevent storage and generation of hazardous materials and waste. 1=18% 2=32% 3=43% 4=4% 5=2% F. Develop organizational structure for environmental protection. 1=7% 2=21% 3=56% 4=10% 5=5% G . Provide for solid waste disposal. 1=10% 2=26% 3=47% 4=11% 5=5% HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (41-48) A. Make high quality health care and needed human services available to residents of the city. 1=9% 2=22% 3=41% 4=20% 5=8% B . Provide access to a community college/junior college. 1=25% 2=46% 3=22% 4=3% 5=4% C. Provide needed continuing education to the community. 1=33% 2=43% 3=20% 4=3% 5=1% D. Establish best approach to provide city paramedic services immediately. 1=16% 2=38% 3=36% 4=7% 5=3% E. Strive to provide a city free of chemical dependency and abuse. 1=14% 2=29% 3=46% 4=8% 5=4% F. Encourage the provision of child care services by churches and other public institutions, or by private industry. 1=10% 2=32% 3=45% 4=9% 5=4% A.12 G. Establish health and human services office in city government. 1=6% 2=20% 3=54% 4=13% 5=7% H. Encourage the selection/reservation of a site for a future full service community hospital. 1=7% 2=11% 3=44% 4=23% 5=15% GOVERNMENT SERVICES (49-50) A. Provide a high level of government services in a cost-effective manner and within the financial constraints of the city. 1=8% 2=23% 3=48% 4-12% 5=9% B . Provide quality governmental services in the areas of fire protection and prevention, police, water, emergency ambulance, street maintenance, sewer and wastewater, library and others. 1=17% 2=43% 3=32% 4=6% 5=3 DEMOGRAPHICS To help us analyze the replies on this study, we need to know statistical information about your household. 22. Total number of people living in your household: 1=7% 2=27% 3=22% 4=30% 5=10 % 6=2% Over 6=1% (209) 23. Of these household members, how many are age 19 or younger? (210) 0=34% 1=24% 2=29% 3=10% 4=2% 5=0% Over 5=0% 24. What is the age of the : (Check answers for both if applicable) (211-212) Age Male Head of Household/ Husband 2% 18 to 24 4% 18% 25 to 29 23% 23% 30 to 34 23% 20% 35 to 39 17% 16% 40 to 44 14% 9% 45 to 49 8% 5% 50 to 54 3% 2% 55 to 59 3% 2% 60 to 64 2% 3% 65 or Over 5% 25. What was the highest level of education completed: ble) (213-214) Female Head of Household/ Wife I (Check answers for both if app ca - Male Head of 16% High school graduate 26% Female Head of HH/Husband or less HH/Wife 28% Some college 39% 38% College Graduate 23% 6% Post Graduate Work 7% 12% Post Graduate Degree 6% A.13 26. In what city is the Head of Household/ Husband employed? (215) 1. Allen 110 2. Dallas 28% 3. McKinney 7% 4. Plano 210 5. Richardson 17% 6. Other 15% In what city is the Head of Household/Wife employed? (216) 1. Allen 31% 2. Dallas 19% 3. McKinney 60-o 4. Plano 22% 5. Richardson 11% 6. Other 12% 27. How long have you lived in the city? (217) Less than one Year 12% 1 to 3 Years 25% 3 to 5 Years 19% 5 to 10 Years 23% 10 Years and Over 22% 28. What are some of the reasons you chose to live in Allen? (Check all that apply) (218-222) 1. Small Town 70% Y / 30% N 2. Affordable Housing 60% Y / 40% N 3. Quiet Country 49% Y / 51% N 4. Location 51% Y / 49% N 5. Other (Explain) 25% Y / 75% N 29. Do you rent 16% or own 84% your current residence in Allen? (223) 30. If you own your home, what do you think the current market value is? (Check one if you own) (224) 2% Under $50,000 10% $50,000 to $60,000 9% $60,000 to $70,000 14% $70,000 to $80,000 20% $80,000 to $90,000 19% $90,000 to $100,000 16% $100,000 to $125,000 6% $125,000 to $150,000 2% $150,000 to $175,000 1% Over $175,000 A.14 31. What is your ethnic background? (225) 1% Asian/Pacific Island 3% Black 3% Hispanic 92% White 0% Other 32. In which area of Allen do you live? (Check one) (226) 10% North of 2170 (Main Street) and West of Highway 5 (Greenville) 6% South of 2170 (Main Street) and West of Highway 5 (Greenville) 37% North of 2170 (Main Street) and East of Highway 5 (Greenville) 48% South of 2170 (Main Street) and East of Highway 5 (Greenville) 33. Is your total yearly household income: (Check one) (227) 8% Under $25, 000 7% $25,001 to $30,000 7% $30,001 to $35,000 10% $35,001 to $40,000 10% $40,001 to $45,000 11% $45,001 to $50,000 37% $50,001 to $75,000 11% Over $75,000 (228) How many wage earners does that include? 1=39% 2=60% 3=0% 4=0% 5=0% 6=0% Over 6=0% 34. Gender of person responding to this questionnaire: (229) Male 57% Female 43% 35. Is the respondent to this questionnaire registered to vote in Allen? (230) Yes 78% No 22% 36. How many additional persons in the household are registered to vote in Allen? (231) 0=36% 1=56% 2=6% 3=1% 4=0% 5 or more=0 % Thank you for your cooperation in this study. 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