Rebecca Boxall is proud of her accomplishments as a city council member in Arlington.
Boxall, who left office May 12 after losing a reelection bid to newcomer Brittany Garcia-Dumas, said her departure from the council is bittersweet. Boxall was running for a third and final term and told KERA News that the loss marks the end of her political career.
She was on the city’s planning and zoning commission when she decided to ask voters to elect her to council in 2021. When she took office, Boxall said she had a list of things she wanted to accomplish.
“Most of them I did get done, and so I feel really good about that and feel really proud of what I got done,” Boxall said.
Two of the biggest items on her to-do list were zoning reform and implementation of form-based code. She got the city to adopt rules on cottage court, flex hybrid and light industrial zoning added to the city’s zoning code.
Form-based code may be her most visually recognizable impacts as a council member.
The code moves away from traditional zoning that has specific restrictions for how a piece of land is used. Instead, the city creates a list of options – such as retail, office, multi-family and mixed use – that can be there.
The night Arlington approved form-based code, one man came forward during public comment and asked how he could get the pilot area expanded to include apartments he owns across the street from UTA’s campus — just outside the approved area.
Boxall said that was validating.
“I just looked over at my council members and I said, ‘I said it was gonna be fast, but it was going to be that fast,’ ” Boxall said.
The impacts of the code may take years to show up in big ways, namely through development and redevelopment, but Boxall said it’s something property owners are already happy about.
Passing form-based code makes it easier for developers to get approval for projects because all the little details are already outlined.
Unless there is a major deviation from those requirements, development projects in the form-based code area will be able to move forward with just administrative approval instead of a lengthy zoning process involving approval from city council.
The farmer’s market in the city is another point of pride for Boxall.
She was a consistent supporter of the farmer’s market, which has been so successful it is moving to have more operating dates year-round.
It should continue to expand, Boxall said, with more permanent structures and maybe even a larger area. She hopes someone will champion that expansion now that she’s no longer on the council.
“You just have to dog people and just stick on it,” Boxall said. “Make them sick of seeing you. ‘All right, we'll build it just so she'll be quiet.’ That sort of thing.”
A permanent, covered pavilion would be a good idea, she told KERA News. Especially if it honors the history of the property by recreating something similar to the Arlington Train Depot that once stood there.
Leaving office, Boxall said she hopes some of her plans will continue with support from other council members.
UT Arlington, downtown and the Arlington Entertainment District would benefit from better connectivity and walkability, she said.
And creating a zoning category for mixed-use parking garages, which would do more than just serve as a place to park with office, commercial or residential spaces, could help the city manage its land as it approaches buildout, according to Boxall.
Perhaps the biggest need she would like to see Arlington address, though, is promoting regionally connected transit options.
It’ll also probably take the most time, innovation, flexibility and determination.
Arlington’s last vote on establishing traditional public transit in the city is frequently cited as a reason not to create bus routes or light rail systems in the city. But that vote was in 2002, and Boxall said attitudes have changed since.
And she said they should be changing — if Arlington doesn’t adapt and bring in both traditional and innovative public transportation, it could be left behind as the rest of the region grows and establishes regional transit connections.
“You're always going to have the naysayers that are going to be in the way, but I just see that happening less and less” she said. “People are going to really push for what they want in transportation. I don't think that's an issue, really.”
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