Southlake kicks off utility master-plan updates; stormwater plan to prioritize maintenance, fees reviewed

Southlake’s City Council heard an overview Wednesday night of major updates to the city’s comprehensive plan and three utility master plans, with staff saying the emphasis will shift from growth-driven expansions to maintenance, asset management and clearer policy about private-versus-public responsibility for runoff.

"The comprehensive plan is our long range policy map. It provides the why and the where for how the city grows and invest over time," Director Daniel Cortez said as he introduced the process and timeline for the fiscal-year 2026 work. The city will update water, wastewater and stormwater plans in parallel so assumptions about growth, risk and investments align across systems, he said.

Why it matters: Southlake is nearly built out, staff said, so future choices will emphasize system resilience and maintenance instead of new installation. That approach will feed capital-improvement prioritization, utility budgeting and how the city enforces and funds post-construction stormwater controls. The stormwater program is supported by a dedicated fee, $8 a month for residential customers; staff estimate about $1.7 million will be collected in fiscal 2026.

Staff view and timeline

Cortez and Public Works Director Lauren Laneeve framed the work as policy-focused rather than engineering-only: the plans establish levels of service (what residents should expect in normal and high-demand…