Arlington's long-range plan is expected to go before council in November for initial adoption, planning manager John Chapman told the council at a meeting Tuesday.
The Innovate Arlington plan has been in development for about 18 months. It is intended to offer the city a long-range guide for growth, investment and decision making for the next 20 years.
The city has 99 square miles of space to build and grow, but it is landlocked by other cities including Mansfield, Grand Prairie and Fort Worth.
Arlington also surrounds Pantego and Dalworthington Gardens.
With North Texas rapidly growing — more than half a million people have moved to the region since 2020 — Arlington is expected to run out of space for new development soon.
In-filling, or taking land that is small or awkwardly shaped or placed, is a part of the plan, along with redevelopment.
Walkability, public transit and the future of city services are also expected to be major topics in the plan.
Chapman, the city's long-range planning manager, has led the effort to build the plan using research, data, the council's wishes and the wants, needs and concerns of residents.
Input from the community has come in several formats. The city has hosted town halls and interactive planning sessions.
Planners have been especially interested in getting feedback on what five goals residents have for the future of their communities.
Chapman calls them the five pillars of the city’s comprehensive plan, a big-picture overview of the city’s goals with recommendations on how to make them a reality.
He said the pillars were created using the input from community members who attended planning events and helped describe the ideal Arlington of the future.
Planners even created a board game, Grow a Better Arlington, so residents can give feedback on what they would like their community to look like – specifically what types of broad uses they’d like to see for different areas of the city.
The city has seen 165 residents show up to town halls in Districts 1, 2, 4 and 5.
"Especially in districts two, one, and four, we heard that residents are really looking forward to how development and rezoning aligns with this vision over the next 20 years, implementation tracking and that annual report," Chapman told the council.
There were concerns in District 4 about how vacant land will be used and the potential of losing tree canopies in the district, Chapman said. They also shared concerns about sales tax leakage, such as people going to neighboring cities to shop thus giving those other cities the sales tax revenue instead of Arlington.
Those are concerns Chapman said his team is working to address.
And while planners intend to take Innovate Arlington to the council for initial adoption in November, Chapman said they aren't done encouraging community input and refining what will be the final product.
The city has two more town halls scheduled: one in person at the Bob Duncan Center at 6 p.m. Aug. 31 and a virtual town hall Sept. 1 at 5:30 p.m. Details can be found on the Arlington Listens website.
James Hartley is the Fort Worth breaking news reporter and producer for KERA News. Got a tip? Email James Hartley at jhartley@kera.org.
KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.
