The Arlington City Council met in special session on August 25, 2026, from 11:30 a.m. to 5:06 p.m. The meeting included an executive session (11:35 a.m. – 1:53 p.m.) followed by work session and issues session discussions. Key topics included the Innovate Arlington comprehensive plan update, ACTIV operations, the FY2027 audit plan, regulations on single-family shared rental properties, economic development priorities, and the FY2027 budget. The council provided guidance on the tax rate, referred the single-family rental issue to committee, and directed staff to draft a resolution regarding Tarrant County polling locations.
Innovate Arlington Comprehensive Plan Update (3.1): John Chapman reported that since the June work session, the city created resource videos, council district scenario pages, and held four district town halls attended by 165 residents. The American Planning Association Texas chapter awarded Arlington first place for public outreach. Feedback showed support for the vision but concerns about market demand, tree canopy loss, and sales tax leakage. Next steps: continue public review through Labor Day, then refine the plan for adoption in late 2026 to early 2027.
ACTIV Operations and Performance Update (3.2): Gary Packan presented data on the 73,000-square-foot, $65 million facility. Membership exceeded projections at 15,000 (86% residents), with 282,000 visits from October to July and an average of 1,100 daily visitors. The facility has a 98% retention rate and 2% cancellation rate. Financial challenges include a $2.5 million expense against $1.2 million revenue through Q3. Strategies to reduce the general fund subsidy below $1 million include non-traditional revenue (sponsorships, coffee vendor) and fee adjustments. Challenges include fitness instructor recruitment and pickleball court allocation. Councilmember Pham requested more pickleball courts.
FY2027 Annual Audit Plan (3.3): Susan Edwards outlined the proposed audit plan, which includes external audit assistance, an artificial intelligence audit, workers compensation audit, access control audit, flock safety utilization audit, and an IT department audit. Co-source activities will include IT risk assessment and construction audits. Follow-ups on fire and police overtime and risk management audits were noted. The plan is on the evening agenda for approval.
Single-Family Shared Rental Property (3.4): Alex Busken reported on investor-owned homes being rented to multiple tenants (often 5+ occupants), causing traffic and code violations. Current enforcement is difficult due to proving tenant relationships. Options presented: (1) regulate bedroom sizes/number during remodels, (2) adopt the International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC), (3) limit leases to one per property or implement a single-family rental registration program. Examples from Fort Worth and other cities were provided. Councilmembers expressed support for a rental registration program and IPMC. Councilmember Hogg suggested referring the matter to the Community and Neighborhood Development Committee for further study; the mayor agreed.
Council Priority - Grow Our Economy (3.5): Marty Wieder reviewed the business plan, focusing on global competitiveness, business retention, and attraction. Highlights included the Japan Texas economic summit, pending opportunity zone designations, and a new Business Innovation, Research & Development (BIRD) matching funds program. Staff changes were noted. Councilmember Garcia-Dumas asked about Asia Times Square and the international corridor.
Trash and Recycling Cart Storage (4.1): No questions; a brief mention of a resident suggestion for a second day of service was discussed but not pursued.
Economic Development Committee (4.2): Councilmember Galante reported on the committee meeting, which covered the Film Incentive Program, Small Business Program, BIRD Matching Funds, and executive session on incentives.
Arlington Housing Finance Corporation (4.3): Councilmember Hunter reported officer elections (Hunter as president, Garcia-Dumas as treasurer, Shelton as secretary), a template for monthly property reports, and a variance approval for Center Place Apartments.
Evening Agenda Item 7.35 – Blackbird Development (4.5): Staff explained the $38.4 million funding structure for the development at Mesquite and Abram. Over 80% is for public infrastructure (sidewalks, water/sewer, parking garage) funded by water utilities and bonds. The item was on consent but discussed for clarity.
FY2027 Budget (4.6): City Manager Trey Yelverton presented on homelessness funding ($1.5M annually), transportation options (Sunday service would cost $550K–$900K), water rates (average user 8,000 gallons; proposed increase of 4.7–6.37%), debt service (total $1.4B, but 40% property-tax-backed), and tax rate options. The council debated moving from the proposed rate of $0.6298 to the no-new-revenue rate of $0.636334 (a $2.2M increase). Several councilmembers (Mayor Ross, Ware, Hunter, Pham, Gonzalez, Hogg) preferred the proposed rate to avoid a third consecutive tax increase, while Garcia-Dumas and Shelton supported the no-new-revenue rate for additional services. No final decision was made; staff will proceed with the proposed rate but will bring options for one-time investments from potential additional revenues (NTTA, FIFA dividend).
Tarrant County November Election Polling Sites (4.7): Mayor Ross raised concerns about Tarrant County's proposal to reduce polling locations. Council discussed the impact on voter access. Councilmember Garcia-Dumas and Shelton supported a resolution opposing reduction; others wanted more details. The council directed the city attorney to draft a resolution for future consideration.
Council External Committees (4.9): Reports included: CVB Board (Councilmember Galante: 16.5 million tourists in 2025, $3.3B economic impact; new branding; cultural tourism fund allocation); NCTCOG Executive Board (Mayor Ross: personnel investigation ongoing); RTC and subcommittees (Councilmember Gonzalez: approved funding for zero-emission vehicles, FIFA transportation team luncheon, two roadway safety projects in Arlington, and elderly/disabled transportation software; High-Speed Rail Subcommittee (Mayor Ross): meeting with Dallas and Fort Worth to discuss environmental analysis).
We're back with Arlington Eats. I'm Jeremy Thomas with My Arlington TV. On this episode, we are headed inside Couple Vibes where they are serving up more than coffee. They're looking to serve you right here in the community. We take pride in providing Southern hospitality. Our mantra is brewing community, serving culture, so we're really intentional about creating a welcoming atmosphere that feels like home. A home completed just this past October where owner and Arlington native Charlotte Sharp calls her customers her neighbors. The menu, it changes regularly, and it's really in response to what our neighbors communicate. We added that on the menu after he tasted. And so it wasn't until he approved that we added it to the menu. Customization is key with quick bites of food, their house refreshers, and a variety of chai teas. And so peach cobbler chai is very popular as well as your traditional chai. And then we have one called the perfect verse as well. Even with these items, Sharp says that they are more than just another coffee shop. They're here for your needs as she gives back to her hometown right here in the American Dream City. We're a place where we build community. We're also used for meetings, private meetings, birthday gatherings, there's been worship events here, book signings, and just various events. For me, it's all about the relationships. One thing kind of led to another very quickly. And as I was preparing my speech, I thought about so many of the people that have had an impact on my career. The love of baseball and the relationships it has afforded is what keeps me going after all these years. It's such a fantastic moment that I like I always feel I love her energy. I love her spirit. I love how she brings us all in together in this magnificent project that she's making us do like today. What if I I'm not gonna get it? What if I'm just gonna like go to that class and just not even do it? But I did. I I'm actually so proud of myself that I did push myself to do it. I totally recommend this class for basically for everybody, older women, young women, children. Compared and experience, so con los niños is demasiado gratificante. I was like, I'm gonna take that out of the Alright, everybody. We're gonna go ahead and call the afternoon session of the city council reading to order. And uh hope everybody had a good weekend. So it was fun. Man, I did that loud enough, we got everybody's attention there. We're gonna go ahead and call the afternoon session of the city council back to order. We're gonna move on down to discuss our work session items starting with three point one, Mr. John Chapman. Welcome back, sir. All right, great to see y'all. Mayor Council, John Chapman, Long Range Planning Manager. Gonna dive right into it. Agenda today, what we've been doing since our June work session with y'all. Uh, process and engagement update, and the next steps. Since our June's work session, the biggest takeaway we heard help the community understand what Innovate Arlington is. We've created, we did three big things so far, and that's certainly doesn't say that we're finished doing that objective. Created resource videos for all of the chapters, helping all the elected and appointed officials through the summer understand what each of those chapters really represent and mean for Innovate Arlington, and those are now publicly available so that residents also have the chance to review those videos. And then creating council district scenario pages that have been created and published for each of the town halls that I'll get more into here in a little bit. Clear engagement materials, making sure that our town hall presentation was prepared for residents as the focus.