OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Arlington City Council Special Meeting – March 10, 2026: Access Agreement, World Cup, Capital Budget, Water Report

City Council — Tuesday, March 10, 2026
BodyArlington, Texas
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, March 10, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 4:29:25

Transcript — Verbatim
6:15

Some of us have already been sharing that information.

1:59:45

Okay, we'll go ahead and call the afternoon session back to order.

1:59:48

We'll move on down to the work session items three point one.

2:00:00

Today we are bringing you the access agreement proposal that we received at our Lake Arlington golf course.

2:00:03

This is a conversation that's been happening for quite a while.

2:00:06

In fact, in 2020, QT, the gas station group that has come to us, expressed interest in purchasing the southwest corner of Green Oaks and Pioneer Parkway in West Arlington to develop a gas station.

2:00:20

At the time, the access agreement requests came to Office of Strategic Initiatives as a real estate matter to get access to the site from the Lake Arlington Golf Course Drive.

2:00:32

At the time, council reviewed it in executive session and decided not to move forward with the access agreement at that time.

2:00:39

And so QT went back to the books, kind of worked on the design, had another opportunity come up in June of 2025, partially related to the development on the north side of the street, which was also a gas station being demolished and redeveloped.

2:00:53

Wanted to restart those conversations for the gas station here at this location.

2:00:58

So they resubmitted that proposal in June, and it was presented to council, and we were going to move forward with the conditions that there was a right turn out of the Lake Arlington golf course that would get traffic only going southbound.

2:01:12

QT came back and said they really need that left turn at Green Oaks in order to make the development feasible.

2:01:18

This is a little bit of a unique situation.

2:01:32

And so the discussion today really is about the access agreement and whether to allow QT access to the site as the adjacent property owner.

2:01:41

They're early on in their development process, and so they will still need to go through an administrative zoning, site planning, floodplain review, and all of their normal permitting processes once we grant an access agreement if the council chooses to do so.

2:01:57

The proposal that we received from QT, which was included in your packet, has a lot of investment uh commitment from QT at the golf course itself, including um reconstructing and maintaining the driveway with a new D cell lane into the golf course, relocating and replacing the golf course gate, which would need to move as a part of that configuration with a motorized version, which is our city standard, and replace any pieces of the wooden fence that were affected.

2:02:24

They would also construct an additional drive to the south with a new landscape bed and signage, and to install two trash enclosures, three sandbins, um, replace the eastern facing wall, repaint the eastern facing wall of the golf club house, and install conduit for future um irrigation electrical and security improvements.

2:02:44

The final piece of their proposal was to install a traffic signal at the shared drive, which would include an advanced warning system with flashing signal ahead sign and a radar speed limit sign.

2:02:55

Um their proposal also includes some of their projected phases of the project where their first phase would build that south driveway out of Lake Arlington golf course first, which would take four to six weeks, and then do the main drive reconfiguration, which is where the signal would go.

2:03:11

Um today we've got um two other presenters.

2:03:13

Uh QT is here to present uh how they kind of arrived at this and their need um for that specific configuration at the site, and then we've also got Keith Brooks, our director of public works, um, to discuss some of the impacts to our larger roadway network.

2:03:26

So I'm gonna turn it over to Craig.

2:03:30

Craig, we're gonna limit all y'all to five minutes each.

2:03:34

So if you have a tense to be long-winded, don't be surprised if I cut you off.

2:03:38

Okay.

2:03:39

We're good.

2:03:39

I appreciate the warning though.

2:03:40

Uh Craig Honeywell with Quick Trip, 1120 North Industrial Umless, Texas.

2:03:46

Um we have a lot of slides, a lot of it staff has covered very well, so I will make this move as quickly as possible and let the slides be a lot of QA if that works as well.

2:03:57

Um, so again, this is our existing intersection uh the intersection we're discussing.

2:04:02

Um wanted to give you a good aerial.

2:04:04

I know a lot of council members um have been great and shared times with us to be able to meet as well as you know, Mayor Mayor Ross.

2:04:11

And we had a lot of feedback back and forth and through conversations with everybody and wanted to go over some of that here.

2:04:17

Um the reason I wanted to show the intersection kind of zoomed out, is one of the things that kept coming up is can we fix the intersection with doing something different on 303 pioneer?

2:04:26

Um, we worked through a lot of issues with TextOt and Text Ot will not grant us a medium break in there.

2:04:32

Um, some of it has to do with the storm control and the I believe it's the outflow from Lake Arlington, but the creek going under 303, and some of it is to do with some of the other constraints Text dot has on that location.

2:04:44

Here's just a really quick site plan showing our proposed connection as staff pointed out.

2:04:49

Um, we are rebuilding the drive back into the golf course and making some upgrades there as well if this does get approved.

2:05:00

Landscape plan just for questions if later, as well as our new building elevations, because it is a unique building for us.

2:05:03

So we don't have any in DFW yet.

2:05:05

Um that's kind of a new prototype.

2:05:08

Uh so I've got slides in there for that as well if there's any questions later on.

2:05:13

Um getting started.

2:05:14

The bit the biggest thing is we're tying into a golf course.

2:05:17

It's a city, city building, city properties, you know, city service for that fact.

2:05:22

So we wanted to really limit any impacts to them the best we could.

2:05:25

When we met outside on site originally, right when this opportunity presented itself.

2:05:29

Uh, we met with the golf golf course management.

2:05:32

We met with Parks and Rack and had a lot of conversations.

2:05:36

Some of the conversations were around just traffic generation, over occupying just the one driveway.

2:05:42

Um we started where we had left off in 2020 with looking at ways to mitigate that impact and open it up to have for them to have a better traffic flow.

2:05:51

So we looked at adding a drive on the south end.

2:05:55

Uh, this is a location of kind of where that drive would tie in.

2:05:58

One of the concerns they had is well, you it's great if you can add us a drive, but we don't have a ton of extra parking spots.

2:06:04

So we looked around, we saw the dumpster enclosures, we saw where they're storing their sand, put the dumpster enclosures in or dumpsters in enclosures, put move the sand, build them little enclosures there.

2:06:14

It cleans up a lot of their existing parking, which allows us to add that drive without eliminating a single parking spot for them, which we thought was a huge win for both.

2:06:22

Um here's and then kind of a picture of where we're putting the sandbins as well as the dumpster enclosures and that connection to the drive to show how we mitigated impacts to the parking.

2:06:32

Uh the proposed improvements, I think staff did a really good job of going through those, so I'll I'll skip those for now unless there's any more detailed questions.

2:06:39

Um, but really we were just meeting with them and saying, hey, what can we do to make it work?

2:06:43

Add a sign by the other new drive so everybody knows it's yours, great.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural████████████████████████████████████████████44%
Transportation Safety██████████10%
Public Engagement████████8%
Water And Wastewater Management███████7%
Engineering And Infrastructure██████6%
Legislative Advocacy█████5%
Zoning and Land Use████4%
Downtown Development████4%
Public Safety███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Arlington City Council Special Meeting – March 10, 2026

The Arlington City Council convened in a special session on March 10, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. for an executive session followed by a work session and issues session. Key topics included a proposed access agreement for a QuikTrip gas station at Lake Arlington Golf Course, an update on FIFA World Cup 2026 preparations, the 2026 Capital Budget, the Arlington Water Utilities 2025 Year-End Report, and several policy and governance items. No votes were taken during the afternoon session; decisions will be made at a subsequent evening meeting.

Executive Session (Closed to Public)

  • 2.1 Discussion of Prestonwood Estates West Home Owners Association, et al. v. City of Arlington, Texas lawsuit (Section 551.071).
  • 2.2 Deliberation on economic development incentives to business prospects (Section 551.087). No public discussion or action taken on these items.

Discussion Items

3.1 Proposed Access Agreement at Lake Arlington Golf Course

  • Proposal: QuikTrip (QT) requested an access agreement to build a gas station at the southwest corner of Green Oaks and Pioneer Parkway. QT offered to construct a traffic signal, a south driveway, and golf course improvements (new gate, fencing, landscaping, trash enclosures, sand bins, and a trumpet drive with a right-turn lane). The access required a left-turn movement out of the shared driveway, which staff recommended against.
  • Staff Position: Keith Brooks, Director of Public Works, recommended a right-turn-only configuration due to safety concerns: the driveway is approximately 400 feet from the existing signal at West Pioneer and West Green Oaks, and northbound sight distance over a hill is shorter than the city standard for 45 mph. A signalized intersection with advanced warning systems might mitigate but does not eliminate the risk of rear-end collisions from vehicles queuing beyond the hill.
  • QT Position: Craig Honeywell (QT) and traffic engineer Anker (from the Dishazu Group) argued that a signalized intersection is safer than a right-turn-only design because without a median, drivers would likely make illegal left turns at night or off-peak hours. They cited studies showing a 40-45% reduction in red-light running and a 60% reduction in right-angle crashes with advanced warning flashers. QT stated a left-turn movement is essential for the project's feasibility.
  • Council Positions: Mayor Ross expressed strong safety concerns, noting the short stopping distance from the advanced warning to the signal (775 feet at 50 mph translates to about 7.34 seconds). Councilmember Hogg agreed, stating he could not support the project due to the hill and driver distraction risks. Councilmember Gonzalez initially leaned against a signal but reconsidered after hearing about potential illegal turns. Councilmember Piel questioned whether driver attention would fade over time. No consensus emerged.
  • Outcome: Staff requested direction. Council members indicated they would not support the signalized access agreement as proposed; a right-turn-only option was floated, but QT said it would not build under those conditions. The item is not expected to move forward.

3.2 FIFA World Cup 2026 Update

  • Deputy City Manager Jennifer Wichmann reported that the event is 92 days away. Key topics:
    • Short-Term Rentals: Permits are required; allowed only in specified zones (entertainment district, RM12/RM22). The city uses a host compliance tool to proactively flag unpermitted listings. Enforcement is within days.
    • Entrepreneurial Parking Program: Active businesses in the entertainment district can charge for parking on match days under specific rules.
    • Ambassadors Row: Complementary office space for diplomats; all teams playing in Arlington have reserved space. Additional bookings at SPARK and economic development opportunities are being explored.
    • Community Outreach: Town halls moved online; a small business playbook has been published.
    • Street Vending: Food trucks and vendors will not be allowed on match days or the day before/after due to permit restrictions. Councilmember Odom-Wesley expressed concern for small businesses.

3.3 2026 Capital Budget

  • Lemuel Randolph, Deputy City Manager, and Ethan Klos, Treasurer, presented the five-year capital improvement plan totaling $209 million for 2026: $50M for general obligation bonds (streets, parks, public safety), $10M for stormwater (pay-go), $69M for water utilities, and $80M for downtown projects (land acquisition, parking, streetscape). The city maintains conservative debt ratios (debt service <20% of operating revenue, debt-to-assessed value <2%).
  • Public Safety Training Center: Conceptual design shown; estimated total cost of $120 million. Phase I (gun range and fire training tower) is budgeted at $50 million, with sponsorship opportunities to offset costs. Current facilities are obsolete.
  • Downtown Projects: $80 million is proposed to accelerate infrastructure improvements in response to development interest. Funding sources may include extending the TIRZ, CO bonds, and general fund contributions. The plan does not interfere with voter-approved GO bonds.
  • Next Steps: Council to consider capital budget approval and debt issuance at the next meeting.

3.4 Arlington Water Utilities 2025 Year-End Report

  • Director Alex Whiteway highlighted:
    • Awards: City received the Outstanding Public Drinking Water System award and the Cross Connection Control award, both from TCEQ, being one of two water systems (out of 7,000) to achieve both.
    • Infrastructure: Pierce Birch Water Treatment Plant expansion (project named top project by Water World) nearing completion (July 2026); a new filtration project to follow.
    • Innovation: Introduced Splash, a leak-detection canine (adopted from Arlington Animal Services), who has identified 14 leaks with 100% accuracy. Arlington is one of two U.S. municipalities with such a dog.
    • Community Engagement: Water Utilities University launched; over 5,000 residents downloaded the mobile app.
    • Lead Pipes: City is in full compliance with lead and copper rule; 176 unknown service lines remain to be replaced over 10 years. A program to assist residents is under development.
    • Councilmember Hogg asked about PFOS compliance; design work is underway, but compliance deadline may be extended beyond 2029.

4.1 Periodic Review of Arlington Code of Ordinances

  • Assistant City Attorney Galen Gatten presented three options: (1) systematic review, (2) sunset provisions, (3) continue current case-by-case approach. Council consensus (Mayor Ross, Councilmembers Boxall, Hogg, Gonzalez) was to keep the existing process, addressing ordinances as issues arise, rather than creating a formal review schedule.

4.2 2025 Landmark Preservation Commission Annual Report

  • Jacob Browning reported four new properties added to the preservation site list, and one historic home incentive approved (covers 9-12 properties). Council noted the success but requested better outreach to eligible homeowners.

4.3 Community and Neighborhood Development Committee Report

  • Councilmember Boxall reported the committee discussed:
    • Multi-Family Recycling: Staff presented data on compliance with the 2018 ordinance; further analysis requested on enforcement approaches.
    • PY2026 Action Plan – HOME Funds: With $1.45M available (against $3M in requests), the committee recommended funding two for-sale townhome projects: DCTC (8 units) and Housing Channel (8 units). The 82-unit Autumn Park multifamily proposal was not funded due to a funding gap created by a required secondary egress.
    • Public comment period will begin soon.

4.4 Economic Development Committee Report

  • Councilmember Piel reported that all matters were discussed in executive session; no additional action.

4.5 Arlington Housing Finance Corporation Update

  • Councilmember Hunter reported the board approved a resolution to convert construction financing to permanent financing for Matlock Flats; no tax exemption requested. This item will be on the evening agenda.

4.6 Appointments to Boards and Commissions

  • None.

4.7 Evening Agenda Items Preview

  • Councilmembers raised questions on specific evening items:
    • 7.2 Nuisance Abatement Contract: Code compliance clarified that 10-day notice is typical, but immediate action is taken for health/safety hazards.
    • 7.6 Sidewalks in Entertainment District: Expected completion in June, before the World Cup.
    • 7.14 Renaming of Local Government Corporation (to “Arlington Inc.”): Broadens powers for future budget flexibility (e.g., licensing agreements).
    • 7.15 Homeland Security Grant: Chief Jones confirmed the funds support drone-first-responder and asset hardening in the entertainment district; no involvement in immigration enforcement.

4.8 Issues Relative to City and TxDOT Projects

  • No discussion.

4.9 Council External Committee Reports

  • Tarrant Regional Transportation Coalition: Meeting canceled.
  • Regional Transportation Council Transit Vision Subcommittee: Councilmember Gonzalez reported on February 25 meeting; legislative bylaws for DART were advanced.
  • North Central Texas Council of Governments Executive Board: Councilmember Hogg reported clean audit, strategic planning consultant selected, federal grant applications for US 287 improvements, and a speed enforcement pilot in Fort Worth; executive session held regarding the executive director.
  • North Texas Commission Board of Directors: Mayor Ross reported on a candidate forum, legislative update, and DART/Plano agreement.

4.10 Future Agenda Items

  • Councilmember Boxall requested review of the sign ordinance (to allow modernization of grandfathered billboards) and codification of a maximum size for gas well drill zones.
  • Councilmember Odom-Wesley requested a council resolution regarding the controversial statue placed at Globe Life Field.
  • Councilmember Galante requested measures to address bandit signs (illegal unsolicited signs).

Key Outcomes

  • No action taken on the Lake Arlington Golf Course access agreement due to unresolved safety concerns; item will not proceed as currently proposed.
  • Capital Budget and Water Report were received as informational; formal approval will be sought at the next meeting.
  • FIFA World Cup update provided; enforcement of short-term rental and parking rules is underway; no policy changes.
  • Code of Ordinances review process will remain case-by-case.
  • HOME fund allocation recommendation (DCTC and Housing Channel townhomes) will move to public comment and finalization.
  • Future agenda items on sign ordinance, gas well drill zones, Globe Life Field statue, and bandit signs were noted for future discussion.
  • No appointments were made to boards and commissions.
  • The meeting adjourned at 5:23 p.m., with the regular evening session scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

Meeting Transcript

Some of us have already been sharing that information. Okay, we'll go ahead and call the afternoon session back to order. We'll move on down to the work session items three point one. Today we are bringing you the access agreement proposal that we received at our Lake Arlington golf course. This is a conversation that's been happening for quite a while. In fact, in 2020, QT, the gas station group that has come to us, expressed interest in purchasing the southwest corner of Green Oaks and Pioneer Parkway in West Arlington to develop a gas station. At the time, the access agreement requests came to Office of Strategic Initiatives as a real estate matter to get access to the site from the Lake Arlington Golf Course Drive. At the time, council reviewed it in executive session and decided not to move forward with the access agreement at that time. And so QT went back to the books, kind of worked on the design, had another opportunity come up in June of 2025, partially related to the development on the north side of the street, which was also a gas station being demolished and redeveloped. Wanted to restart those conversations for the gas station here at this location. So they resubmitted that proposal in June, and it was presented to council, and we were going to move forward with the conditions that there was a right turn out of the Lake Arlington golf course that would get traffic only going southbound. QT came back and said they really need that left turn at Green Oaks in order to make the development feasible. This is a little bit of a unique situation. And so the discussion today really is about the access agreement and whether to allow QT access to the site as the adjacent property owner. They're early on in their development process, and so they will still need to go through an administrative zoning, site planning, floodplain review, and all of their normal permitting processes once we grant an access agreement if the council chooses to do so. The proposal that we received from QT, which was included in your packet, has a lot of investment uh commitment from QT at the golf course itself, including um reconstructing and maintaining the driveway with a new D cell lane into the golf course, relocating and replacing the golf course gate, which would need to move as a part of that configuration with a motorized version, which is our city standard, and replace any pieces of the wooden fence that were affected. They would also construct an additional drive to the south with a new landscape bed and signage, and to install two trash enclosures, three sandbins, um, replace the eastern facing wall, repaint the eastern facing wall of the golf club house, and install conduit for future um irrigation electrical and security improvements. The final piece of their proposal was to install a traffic signal at the shared drive, which would include an advanced warning system with flashing signal ahead sign and a radar speed limit sign. Um their proposal also includes some of their projected phases of the project where their first phase would build that south driveway out of Lake Arlington golf course first, which would take four to six weeks, and then do the main drive reconfiguration, which is where the signal would go. Um today we've got um two other presenters. Uh QT is here to present uh how they kind of arrived at this and their need um for that specific configuration at the site, and then we've also got Keith Brooks, our director of public works, um, to discuss some of the impacts to our larger roadway network. So I'm gonna turn it over to Craig. Craig, we're gonna limit all y'all to five minutes each. So if you have a tense to be long-winded, don't be surprised if I cut you off. Okay. We're good. I appreciate the warning though. Uh Craig Honeywell with Quick Trip, 1120 North Industrial Umless, Texas. Um we have a lot of slides, a lot of it staff has covered very well, so I will make this move as quickly as possible and let the slides be a lot of QA if that works as well. Um, so again, this is our existing intersection uh the intersection we're discussing. Um wanted to give you a good aerial. I know a lot of council members um have been great and shared times with us to be able to meet as well as you know, Mayor Mayor Ross. And we had a lot of feedback back and forth and through conversations with everybody and wanted to go over some of that here. Um the reason I wanted to show the intersection kind of zoomed out, is one of the things that kept coming up is can we fix the intersection with doing something different on 303 pioneer? Um, we worked through a lot of issues with TextOt and Text Ot will not grant us a medium break in there. Um, some of it has to do with the storm control and the I believe it's the outflow from Lake Arlington, but the creek going under 303, and some of it is to do with some of the other constraints Text dot has on that location. Here's just a really quick site plan showing our proposed connection as staff pointed out. Um, we are rebuilding the drive back into the golf course and making some upgrades there as well if this does get approved. Landscape plan just for questions if later, as well as our new building elevations, because it is a unique building for us. So we don't have any in DFW yet. Um that's kind of a new prototype. Uh so I've got slides in there for that as well if there's any questions later on. Um getting started. The bit the biggest thing is we're tying into a golf course. It's a city, city building, city properties, you know, city service for that fact. So we wanted to really limit any impacts to them the best we could. When we met outside on site originally, right when this opportunity presented itself. Uh, we met with the golf golf course management. We met with Parks and Rack and had a lot of conversations. Some of the conversations were around just traffic generation, over occupying just the one driveway.

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