Farmers Branch committee adopts ‘Map 7’ as preferred plan to present to council

A Farmers Branch map-drawing committee voted unanimously Thursday to adopt an updated district plan the group labeled Map 7 as its preferred map and to present Map 7 — with Map 4 as the alternate option — to the city council at a public hearing scheduled for June 7.

The committee began the meeting by approving the minutes by voice vote. Members spent most of the session adjusting precinct and census-block lines on a working copy of Map 6, discussing compactness and population deviation, and testing small changes aimed at improving visual compactness and keeping neighborhoods together. After reloading the baseline map (Map 6) and making a single-block adjustment to District 1, the group saved that version as Map 7 and then took a show-of-hands vote to adopt it as the committee’s top recommendation.

Why it matters: the committee’s recommendation will be delivered to the city council for a public hearing. Council members may accept, modify or request more information; the committee’s vote merely sets which maps the staff will bring forward to council. Committee members repeatedly cited compactness and continuity with neighborhood boundaries as reasons for favoring Map 7.

Most important facts - The committee approved the meeting minutes at the outset (motion and second; voice vote in favor). The transcript does not name the mover or seconder. - After iterative on-screen edits of Map 6, the group reverted to Map 6, added a small area into District 1 and saved the revised version as Map 7. - The committee voted to adopt Map 7 as its preferred map; members agreed that Map 4 would be the secondary map to present as an alternate option to the council. - The committee decided not to hold its previously scheduled meeting on May 25. Members agreed to appear at the city council presentation on June 7 and to be available to answer questions.

Discussion details and numerical context Committee members tested multiple swaps of census blocks among Districts 1–5 while monitoring population deviation and compactness. At one point in the session the working map showed a 4.92 percent overall population deviation; committee members repeatedly referred to a 5 percent deviation goal as a practical target. Participants also discussed Voting Age Population and Hispanic VAP figures for the draft plans; the transcript records example values near 75 percent for one VAP Hispanic figure when comparing maps, though the committee noted the maps differed mostly in appearance rather than in large changes to demographic percentages.

Several neighborhood names and local streets were mentioned during edits as members tried to keep communities intact: Dennis Lane, Valley View, Johnson Park, Birch Lawn, Prairie Crossing, and portions of Brookhaven were discussed repeatedly as possible transfer areas. Members emphasized keeping identifiable neighborhoods together as a functional form of compactness in addition to the numeric compactness measures the mapping software can produce.

Procedure and next steps Committee staff said the maps and a written report will be provided to the council in the meeting packet ahead of the June 7 public hearing. The committee understands the council may accept the recommendation, schedule another hearing, or take different action. The committee agreed it would be practical for members to attend the council meeting to answer questions; staff will confirm who should attend and provide the council packet once it is finalized.

Ending The committee adjourned after recording its votes and agreeing that Map 7 would supersede Map 6 for presentation purposes and that Map 4 would be the secondary plan. The group will present both options to the Farmers Branch city council at a public hearing on June 7, and the committee will not meet on May 25 as previously scheduled.