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Tarrant County housing finance corporation approves draft security-reporting language for developer applications
Summary
The Tarrant County Housing Finance Corporation approved draft revisions to its developer application requiring applicants to provide recent crime statistics and a safety/security plan; board members asked staff to refine the language and return with options and monitoring mechanisms at a future meeting.
The Tarrant County Housing Finance Corporation on Tuesday approved draft revisions to its application for financing that require developers to provide recent crime statistics and a safety and security plan for proposed developments.
Board members voted to adopt the draft language after a discussion about how specific the requirements should be and how the corporation will verify and enforce any commitments. The revisions insert two new items in the application: (1) a requirement to provide crime statistics and other relevant public-safety data for the 12 months preceding the application for the area surrounding the proposed development, and (2) a requirement to provide an outline of the development's safety and security plan.
The corporation's staff presented the redlined application language and said the additions respond to previous concerns from members who wanted information about planned security improvements included with applications. Staff described the new items as informational requirements that would allow the board and its counsel to review proposed security measures before deciding whether to move forward with inducement resolutions or other approvals.
Board members raised several concerns during deliberations. Members noted the draft language is vague about what counts as “other relevant public-safety data” and how to define the geographic area for statistics (for example, block, radius, or other boundary). Several members said prescriptive technical mandates (naming specific camera vendors or systems) could be cost-prohibitive or inappropriate across different neighborhoods. Members also questioned what enforcement or monitoring would follow if a developer proposed a plan but later failed to implement it.
Several board members suggested options to make the requirement effective: develop clearer guidelines or thresholds, consult with security experts to craft technical standards, or seek endorsements or input from the municipal police department in the jurisdiction where a project would be located. Staff agreed to return with multiple options and to explore mechanisms for ongoing monitoring or annual reporting.
During the meeting the corporation also approved routine items: the minutes from the Nov. 20, 2024 meeting were approved, fiscal year 2024 financial statements were received and filed, and officers were appointed (Judge O'Hare as president; a vice president and commissioner Kraus as secretary were named in a single motion). All listed motions were adopted by voice vote and recorded as passing unanimously.
The board directed staff to refine the security-related application language and to present alternatives and implementation options at the next scheduled meeting on April 8 at 10 a.m.
