Fair Oaks Ranch council tightens rehearing rule for Transportation Safety Advisory Committee

Fair Oaks Ranch City Council on Thursday approved an amendment to the Transportation Safety Advisory Committee (TSAC) rules that bars rehearing the same traffic-safety request for 365 days unless new pertinent safety information is provided and the committee or staff determines the information merits reconsideration.

The change, adopted after council pulled the item from the consent agenda for discussion, replaces language that previously tied the rehearing exception to whether the original requester or staff submitted the new information. Council member Laura Kerner moved the amendment and it passed by unanimous voice vote.

The amendment revises section 8.4 of the TSAC rules. As amended, the rule reads in part: “Once an item has been heard and finally acted upon by the committee, it cannot be reheard for a period of 365 days from the day the committee heard the item unless new pertinent safety information is provided, as determined by the committee and/or staff.” Council members said they wanted to avoid gaming the rehearing process by having a new requester bring the same case repeatedly.

Chris Depke, vice chairman of the Transportation Safety Advisory Committee, told council at the meeting that his concern was whether the change would affect an individual’s ability to seek an appeal if they believed the committee had treated their matter unfairly. “Is this the appeal process then?” Depke asked. City staff and council members said the amendment is not an appeals process; it is intended only to limit repetitive rehearings and to allow reconsideration where genuinely new safety information exists.

City Attorney and staff described the practical enforcement steps: staff may screen requests, and the TSAC retains the authority to decide whether newly submitted information is “pertinent.” Council members agreed that both staff and the committee should have a role in that determination.

The resolution amending Resolution 2024-34 (the TSAC rules and procedures) was approved by voice vote. Council instructed staff to update the rule language in the ordinance packet and proceed with implementing the amended rehearing standard.

The motion's passage ends a brief public discussion over whether the change might unintentionally prevent community members from raising valid new issues; council and staff reiterated that the amendment aims to reduce repetitive requests while allowing genuine new-safety information to prompt reconsideration.