Parks, Recreation and Trails Master Plan

06 - PRIORITIZATION OF NEEDS AND ACTION PLAN Watershed Management and Drainageway Ordinances These ordinances essentially address the same subject, albeit on different scales. They provide a tool to manage the drainage and floodplains within DeSoto. The ordinances respond to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) mandates for cities. Management of these areas will preserve the undisturbed natural area of Ten Mile Creek and its tributaries within DeSoto, and possibly reduce flood damage. A reciprocal benefit of the preservation of these areas would be their use as linear greenbelts and connections to destinations throughout the City. Parkland Dedication Ordinance

Since the early 1980’s, it has been a common municipal policy for the citizens of a new development to pay for the public improvements within the development; these public improvements include parks; both acquisition and construction. DeSoto’s existing Parkland Dedication Ordinances was approved by the City Council in 1982, which would make it one of the charter Park Dedication Ordinances in the State of Texas. Essentially, the existing ordinance stipulates a fee of $500 per housing unit or 1.485 acres dedicated for parkland for each 100 housing units or portion thereof. In comparison to contemporary parkland dedication ordinances, these figures are small; most recent ordinances require fees or dedications in excess of 3.5 times the amount of DeSoto’s current ordinance. Plan Updates Action Plan - As recommendations are implemented, priorities should be re evaluated and updated to provide as current a plan possible for city staff to go by.

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