Retail Committee Meeting 1/31/2022

The Retail Committee met today! We decided during our last meeting that we wanted to review ordinances throughout the city to really open up the potential for public art in the form of murals and to align our various sign ordinances to allow for enhanced brand management and wayfinding in specific districts around Richardson.

I had pleasure of visiting Lufkin, Texas, a few weeks ago, and noticed that they had several multi-story public murals that emphasized the role lumber plays in their livelihood. Many other small towns throughout Texas have wonderful artwork on their buildings that celebrate something special about the city or a major town event. The ordinances governing signs throughout Richardson were developed in chunks over decades, and urban planning and public sentiment has evolved since many of them were put into place. I'm excited to remove some barriers to creativity from our small business owners and let them run with ideas to jazz up parts of Richardson.

We have also decided to look at certain protocols that were relaxed due to COVID-19, mostly dealing with outdoor space and event venues. We will be looking to see what relaxed rules can be codified into law - we want to be business friendly, but we also want to be safe and respectful of all tenants in a building.