STRATEGIC PRIORITY: Growing
AGENDA DATE: April 9, 2025
COUNCIL DISTRICT(S): Citywide
DEPARTMENT: Department of Planning and Development
EXECUTIVE: Robin Bentley
______________________________________________________________________
SUBJECT
Title
An ordinance amending the list of standards, criteria, and requirements of which all street paving, storm drainage, bridge, and culvert design and construction must comply in Section 51A-8.601(b) of the Dallas City Code - Financing - This action has no cost consideration to the City
Body
BACKGROUND
• There are no previous code amendments.
• On November 15, 2024, the Audit of Compliance with City Code Section 51A-8.601 (b) recommended that the Planning and Development Department review the documents in this section and process and update the documents.
• In response to the Audit of Compliance, the Planning and Development Department has agreed to:
1. Implement a summary checklist to document the review and conformance of each infrastructure design and construction project with applicable General Standards.
2. Review and update the requirements listed in the General Standards, in collaboration with the City Attorney's Office.
3. Communicate to the public and developers the General Standards requirements, their applicability, location, and how to access the location of the requirements; and
4. Implement a written procedure with work instructions on performing an annual review and updating the requirements listed in the General Standards.
The code currently states:
Section 51A-8.601. General Standards.
(a) Infrastructure design and construction for water and wastewater mains must comply with Chapter 49 of the Dallas City Code, as amended, and all other applicable requirements of the water utilities department. All other infrastructure design and construction must comply with this section.
(b) All street paving, storm drainage, bridge, and culvert design and construction must conform to the standards, criteria, and requirements of the following, as they may from time to time be amended by those responsible for their promulgation, except that the design criteria in effect on the date the commission approves the preliminary plat must be used to design the infrastructure.
(1) The Thoroughfare Plan for the city of Dallas.
(2) The Central Business District Streets and Vehicular Circulation Plan.
(3) The Long-Range Physical Plan for Parks and Recreational Facilities.
(4) The Street Design Manual of the city of Dallas.
(5) The storm drainage policy of the city of Dallas.
(6) The Drainage Design Manual of the city of Dallas.
(7) The Plan Development Checklist of the department.
(8) The Standard Construction Details of the department of public works.
(9) The Texas Uniform Traffic Control Device Manual.
(10) The Dallas Central Business District Pedestrian Facilities Plan.
(11) The most recently adopted Dallas Bike Plan.
(12) The City of Dallas Planning Policies.
(13) All other codes and ordinances of the city of Dallas.
(c) If the infrastructure construction is not included in a city-approved private development contract within two years from the preliminary plat approval date, then the infrastructure must be redesigned using the most current criteria. (Ordinance Nos. 20092; 21186; 23384; 25047; 28073; 28424; 30239; 30654; 31314)
After some research it was found that the origin of the City Code Section 51A-8.601 (b), General Standards list of documents and the purpose of the list was not clear. It was also not clear if the list of 13 items is complete, up-to-date, adequate, and applicable to reviews done by the Planning and Development Department.
Furthermore, there was no single location for the 13 documents where the public, developers and professional engineers can locate and review the standards and requirements they are asked to conform with.
In addition, the list includes several vaguely titled items that the Planning and Development Department’s staff were unable to identify at all.
Coordination was done between various departments, including Department of Transportation and Public Works and Dallas Water Utilities Department - Floodplain Management to evaluate the current list of these documents. Upon coordination with various stakeholders, it was determined some of the documents have been merged into other documents and some are redundant.
Recommendations:
Based on the above evaluation and review of the code and coordination with internal stakeholders, and to comply with Audit recommendations, the following updated list is recommended for Section 51A-8.601(b) General Standards:
(1) The Thoroughfare Plan for the City of Dallas with the latest amendments.
(2) The Central Business District Streets and Vehicular Circulation Plan with the latest amendments.
(3) The Long-Range Physical Plan for Parks and Recreational Facilities.
(4) The Street Design Manual of the city of Dallas.
(5) The Drainage Design Manual of the city of Dallas.
(6) Drainage/Paving and Traffic Engineering Checklists of Planning and Development Department.
(7) The Standard Construction Details of the department of public works.
(8) The Texas Uniform Traffic Control Device Manual.
(9) The most recently adopted Dallas Bike Plan.
PRIOR ACTION/REVIEW (COUNCIL, BOARDS, COMMISSIONS)
On February 20, 2025, the Subdivision Review Committee by unanimous vote recommended adoption of the proposed amendments.
On March 6, 2025, the City Plan Commission by unanimous vote recommended adoption of the proposed amendments.
April 9, 2025, Planning and Development Department recommends City Council adoption of the proposed amendments.
FISCAL INFORMATION
No cost consideration to the City.