The Rowlett City Council on Oct. 31 unanimously selected Scheme 2 as the council’s preferred schematic design for a proposed municipal complex within the park, directing staff and the design team to refine that option as the baseline for further work.

Council members, staff and the project architect presented three conceptual site schemes developed with Hafer Welker. Council favored Scheme 2 because it places City Hall facing Main Street while integrating park amenities and arranging the public-safety building so that the park benefits from “eyes on” passive surveillance. Mayor Pro Tem Winchick moved to approve Scheme 2; Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Schindler seconded and the chair announced, “That passes unanimously.”

Why it matters: the choice will shape the park’s layout, the dog-park footprint, vehicular access and utility runs, and establishes the design direction staff will use to develop more detailed engineering and cost estimates. Council members repeatedly emphasized that the schematic vote preserves the council’s design vision and that later value engineering may be needed once detailed cost estimates are available.

Designers and staff reviewed each scheme’s trade-offs. Scheme 1 places both City Hall and public safety forward on Main Street with the park at the rear and was described as the most cost-effective. Scheme 2 pulls elements to better integrate the park with civic buildings. Scheme 3 tested an opposite approach, moving civic activity toward the back of the site to evaluate different relationships with Main Street and surrounding development. The design team cautioned the drawings are early concepts, not final designs.

On costs, city staff and the project engineer provided preliminary, high-level comparisons of utility and staging impacts. A consultant summarized relative cost differences as: Scheme 1 the least expensive, Scheme 2 roughly 2% more expensive, and Scheme 3 roughly 3–5% more expensive in the team’s early analysis. Staff stressed these are ballpark figures and that precise costs will require further design and bidding.

Council and staff addressed neighborhood concerns raised during public comment. Adjacent residents urged involvement in dog-park planning and flagged potential cut-through traffic on Cheyenne Drive, which was described as a 26-foot-wide street adjacent to Stevens Elementary School. On the dog park footprint, staff said they were “looking at a 2-acre piece of that right now” and that the dog-park area could be expanded by relocating other courts if the council wanted a larger fenced area.

Traffic and access also drew technical input. The city’s traffic consultant recommended a small roundabout as a safety and placemaking tool, noting roundabouts can increase throughput and maintain lower speeds; council members discussed whether a roundabout or a standard stop control would be appropriate once traffic studies are completed.

Next steps: staff will return with refined designs based on Scheme 2, additional details about utilities and site infrastructure, and follow-up analyses (including traffic and cost refinement) as the project progresses.

Public comment: residents raised concerns about park adjacency to new apartments, parking overflow and school drop-off traffic; residents and dog-park users asked for further opportunities to provide detailed input as designs are refined.