DeSoto Council approves neighborhood traffic-calming ordinance, multiple grant applications and land-use actions

DeSoto City Council members approved several measures during their Jan. 7 meeting, most notably adopting a new neighborhood traffic‑calming policy by ordinance and authorizing applications for regional active‑transportation grants. Council also remanded a large planned‑development rezoning back to the Planning and Zoning Commission and approved a specific‑use permit for a vocational training provider at 10102 Ezell Drive. A separate update to the council’s rules and procedures passed 5–2.

Why it matters: The traffic‑calming ordinance establishes a standardized, data‑driven process for neighborhoods to request measures such as speed humps, chicanes or access management, and sets a path for prioritizing and funding work. The North Central Texas Council of Governments grant applications seek federal reimbursement for multimillion‑dollar pedestrian and bicycle projects that would reshape major corridors in DeSoto.

Summary of formal outcomes

- Neighborhood traffic‑calming ordinance — approved unanimously (7–0). - What passed: An ordinance adding Article 12.900 to the city code to adopt a Neighborhood Traffic Calming Policy and Guidebook. The policy creates a seven‑step process (application, study, preliminary cost ranking, resident ballot, final design, construction/trial and appeals), defines eligible streets and technical thresholds…