The council heard a package of Community Services Committee items on Oct. 20: outdoor commercial storage (notably tire shops), a code pilot against popup vendors and updates to emergency weather alerts on social media and outdoor alert sirens.

Councilmember Dutton summarized a review of the city’s outdoor storage standards and said inspectors reported safety concerns when tire stacks exceed 5 feet. Staff recommended a 90‑day public education campaign to inform businesses of storage limits, combined with continued enforcement and a possible pilot for after‑hours enforcement. Code staff reported about 57 tire-specific shops in Garland and said education followed by notices of violation will be the first step before stepped-up enforcement.

On popup vendors, code staff described a 13‑week pilot that used overtime to saturate enforcement in hot spots; the pilot cost less than $5,000 and produced visible reductions in vendors selling merchandise in retail parking lots. Staff recommended continuing a targeted, measured enforcement approach — with weekend coverage and a plan to scale up if the problem resurfaces — and asked council to support continuation for high-traffic holidays.

Emergency management reported that the city’s automated posting of emergency weather alerts to social media had fallen out of sync but that the issue has been corrected with the vendor; citizens should see more consistent social‑media alerts and standard messages tied to registered address-based alerting. Staff clarified that outdoor sirens are outdoor alert systems and not citywide “tornado sirens” for every resident.

Councilmembers praised improvements to enforcement and to the NXL operational changes and supported staff continuing education, targeted enforcement and alerting improvements.

Provenance: Community Services Committee report covering code enforcement, public education, targeted pilot, and emergency alerting.