Rowlett City Council members spent more than two hours on June 30 discussing who must maintain masonry screening walls, vegetation and subdivision entry features along arterial corridors and whether the city should pay to repair them.

City staff said the municipality’s current development and streets codes place maintenance responsibility on adjacent property owners or on homeowners associations and that prior city maintenance spending did not have a clear legal basis. “The city is not responsible for the maintenance of screening walls, vegetation, or entry features, even in the right of way,” City staff member David Hall told the council, summarizing the city’s development regulations and street-maintenance ordinance.

The conversation matters because several long stretches of screening wall along Dalrock and other corridors are deteriorating; staff said fully funding city maintenance of those corridors would likely cost “millions of dollars.” Council members discussed enforcement, revising ordinances, cost-share programs and assessment districts known as property improvement districts (PIDs).

Hall reviewed relevant local rules, including Development Code section 77-504 (landscaping and screening) and the streets and right-of-way provisions in Chapter 54 (sec. 54-189). He said those provisions require masonry screening walls at the time of development and assign ongoing maintenance to the property owner or HOA in most cases. Hall also described fact-specific exceptions — for example, plan development (PD) regulations or private covenants that may impose different requirements for a particular neighborhood.

Council members raised several recurring issues: when an HOA is dormant, who can be contacted to enforce maintenance; whether the city should allow property owners to remove masonry walls and replace them with other materials; and whether a city-funded program would create equity problems if only certain corridors received ongoing maintenance. A participant noted that historic practice in Rowlett had sometimes led staff to maintain strips of land or medians that the ordinances assign to private owners.

Council members and staff discussed enforcement tools: code notices, citations and, in rare cases, abatement if a wall is an imminent safety hazard. Hall said liens or abatement actions are legally possible but are generally a last resort and are frequently impractical when an HOA is dormant or when ownership is unclear.

Several council members favored a community-driven funding option. A number of speakers urged a pilot PID approach — an assessment district in which participating property owners agree to a levy to fund upkeep — combined with an education campaign telling residents what the ordinances require. Hall told the council he could return with a proposal and that staff would assist neighborhoods through the PID process if the council wanted that direction.

By the end of the discussion the council gave direction to pursue neighborhood education and a PID pilot and to provide staff resources for the effort. Councilmember (unnamed) asked for a small sample of property records showing how property lines and easements apply to specific deteriorated walls; Council staff agreed to provide sample addresses and legal citations for follow-up.

David Hall summarized the staff position to the council: “If you tell me that’s what you want to do, I’ll figure it out,” and later said staff would bring back more detailed options, maps and samples if the council directed them to move forward.

What’s next: staff will return with a PID/education proposal, sample property analyses and program options; Council also signaled support for creating and funding a staff position to administer a pilot program if the council decides to proceed.

Ending: The council recorded no formal vote on changing ordinances or setting aside large new maintenance funds during the meeting. Staff said a PID pilot and community-education approach would be the first step; other options remain on the table, including targeted city cost-share programs, ordinance amendments or broader bond funding if the council directs those steps in the future.