Q: Save Plano from what?
A: Our entire system of government has been replaced with a punitive regional framework. Proof is in your city’s comprehensive plan.
A former mayor of McKinney stated: “We are in a region that reaches out fifty miles all the way to Desoto. The federal government has dictated to our cities rules related to affordable housing; they have imposed quotas on cities.”
Plano City Councilman, Anthony Ricciardelli stated: “Residents feedback on developments like this matters, and it can only matter if those zoning decisions remain in Plano to be made by this city council.”
Plano City Councilman, Shelby Williams stated: “The property is positioned in a way that the city could face a protracted lawsuit if it were denied.”
Cities forced into a regional consortium—-federal government controlling local zoning decisions—-threats of litigation for non-compliance to federal dictates regarding housing: What’s going on in cities in our “region”?
Where’s the transparency for these cities in our “region”: Plano, McKinney, Allen, Frisco, Prosper, Celina, Little Elm, Wylie and more? Tax paying citizens deserve to know!
Would it surprise you to know that the City has not been transparent regarding the negative consequences of the most transformative federal regulation imposed on the city in its history? This federal “rule” has required the city to, in effect, cede over some of its governing authority to the federal government under the threat of expensive litigation. What is worse, is that the city recently voted 6-2 to continue accepting the federal money that is causing our city to lose local control! If there are high density apartments in your city—you’ve probably been “AFFHed”. Read on to learn about this hidden problem and the solution!
Over the years, increasingly more Plano residents have expressed concerns about the encroachment of urban sprawl through the explosion of high-density apartments. Wanting to preserve Plano’s suburban lifestyle from being “fundamentally transformed”, citizens have turned out en masse to countless City Council meetings to address the Mayor and Council members, and make their preferences known. They objected to the Council’s practice of overturning the original land use zoning from commercial, agricultural, industrial, or single-family housing, to instead, replacing the zoning to allow for the construction of high-density apartments. With few exceptions, their voices have fallen on deaf ears. Many Plano citizens have found this quite puzzling; after all, why would council members continually vote against the will of their constituents who elected them to office? And why has this occurred repeatedly in city councils going back approximately ten years?
Q: Why is this happening?
A: AFFH!
The answer lies within a federal regulation called the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule (AFFH). Under the guise of making housing “fair” (which is a subjective term), the AFFH rule gives the federal government the authority to control nearly every aspect of local government in cities and towns that take Community Development Block Grants and other federal housing grants. This control is exercised via the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and includes control over zoning, housing locations, business locations, transportation, schools, and the environment.
Regarding federal control of municipalities, Stanley Kurtz, Harvard Professor and Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, explained, “How can a housing rule control every aspect of local life? It’s far easier than you may imagine. AFFH redefines “fair Housing” to include proximity to transportation, jobs, and schools…Under AFFH, once a town takes HUD money, it effectively loses control not only over housing but schools, zoning, transportation, the environment, and business location.” So, if there isn’t a school in close enough proximity to an “affordable housing development”, the city could be compelled to build one. If there isn’t public transportation to and from the development, the city might need to provide it. No longer can cities plan their budgets for what the majority of the residents prioritize; now they must allocate the spending of city resources in such a way to ensure equality of outcomes; regardless of equality of input.
Deborah Thornton with Iowa’s Public Policy Institute asserted, “You take their [HUD] money, you play by their rules.”
Q: How does AFFH control cities?
A: Through Regionalism and Quotas
As Kurtz warned “AFFH replaces our entire system of government made up of nested local, state, and national, levels with a regional framework. Suburbs, small towns, and modest cities are turned into subordinate satellites of regional mega-cities…once HUD pressures a municipality into a regional governing entity, local control is lost.” A cursory reading of Plano’s Comprehensive Plan reveals our city is in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Region. Nearly 1,300 cities and towns across the nation are now in a regional consortium. It is not reasonable to believe regionalism is a local idea that is voluntarily entered into by municipalities.
Regarding the validity of regionalism, a former mayor of McKinney explained, “We [City of McKinney] are in a region that reaches out fifty miles all the way to Desoto.” He also referred to quotas forced on municipalities: “The federal government has dictated to our cities rules related to affordable housing; they have imposed quotas on cities.”
Over the years, to avoid expensive lawsuits, many cities have chosen to give in to HUD dictates regarding low-income housing quotas. When this happens, who is in control? Certainly not local government.
McKinney’s Plight
Around 2009, after HUD and other entities wanted more high-density apartments in West McKinney, the city was brought into a lawsuit alleging discrimination in housing. After the lawsuit was filed, a majority of decision makers in the city felt that the only way to have the lawsuit dismissed was to agree to a consent decree (Civil Action No. 4-08-CV-00434-MHS-ALM), that was hammered out in the United States District Court in Sherman Texas. As a result of this consent decree, the city had to approve construction of a new high density apartment complex called the Millennium Apartments. The threat of more lawsuits hovered over the city like a dark cloud, and it is likely that from that time on, local control over the locations of McKinney housing was lost. To avoid litigation, future requests by HUD for high density apartments would have to be met. Indeed, huge numbers of apartments have been added since then.
What occurred in the City of McKinney gave us a disturbing preview of what was to come through out all of Collin County, and in fact in the entire nation. What we see in Plano and McKinney regarding numerous high-density apartments has occurred in nearly 1,300 cities and towns nationwide!
Q: What are the more dire issues behind the AFFH High Density Apartments?
- Lack of Transparency by our city, and Lawsuits leading to loss of local control.
Many residents have not heard of AFFH. This could be because municipalities want to continue receiving HUD grants, so they have been reticent to inform their citizens that these grants come with the dangerous tradeoff of the federal government’s intrusive involvement in their cities or towns. However, two of our current city council members are to be commended for speaking out on the issue. In 2022 when referring to the city’s loss of local control of zoning, City Council member Anthony Ricciardelli stated: “Residents’ feedback on developments like this matter. And it can only matter if those zoning decisions remain in Plano; to be made by this City Council. I just hope everyone understands that, and the importance of maintaining local control over our zoning decisions.” Regarding zoning changes forced by threat of lawsuit, Council member Shelby Williams stated: “The project [located at the corner of Los Rios and Jupiter Road] is positioned in such a way that the city could face a protracted legal battle if it were denied.”
It’s a fact; Civil Rights Groups have threatened lawsuits against cities for refusing HUD dictates to approve high-density apartments since around 2009.
The rules were changed in the middle of the game!
Cities throughout America have been taking housing grants for decades and were deemed to be in compliance with the 1968 Fair Housing Act. Then in 2015, as the AFFH rule was piggybacked onto the Fair Housing Act, the rules changed. The framers of the Fair Housing Act never intended that it be used by the federal government some fifty years later to pressure municipalities into ceding over much of their governing authority to HUD. Yet that is what has happened.
Q. How does one fundamentally transform America?
A. By transforming cities and towns in America.
Urban sprawl is a nonpartisan issue; Democrats and Republicans are both opposed to huge numbers of high-density apartments in their neighborhoods. However, the birth of AFFH began in October of 2008, when President Obama stated to a crowd in Missouri “We are just five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.”
*Former President Obama enacted AFFH
*Former President Trump deactivated AFFH
*President Biden reactivated AFFH
With the stroke of the pen, another executive order can discontinue or continue enforcement of the rule. This means that cities need to stop taking HUD grants, in order to detach themselves from the strings that come with them long after the money has been spent.
Q: What is the Remedy?
A: I’m Douglas Reeves, and I’m running for the Plano City Council to bring transparency and accountability to our local government on behalf of Plano residents.
Despite what citizens were being told in city council meetings, in 2016, a few people (me included), began warning that AFFH was the main reason for the massive numbers of high-density apartments in municipalities nationwide.
Ignoring AFFH will not make it go away. HUD has proven to be relentless and will continue coming back for more control over local governance. Therefore, we as citizens must be ever vigilant and hold our city council members accountable.
Sadly, nothing can be done about the almost 50% multifamily dwellings that already exist in Plano—our beloved city has been fundamentally transformed. But we can do something about the City’s plans to continue building additional high-density developments. A majority of the City Council and staff are now considering leveling strip malls and replacing them with apartments!
When elected I will not only be knowledgeable on the issues facing our city, but transparent and responsive to the citizens of Plano.
There are many issues that affect the health, safety and prosperity of our city. I will be happy to answer questions about my positions on property taxes, attracting large successful corporations to Plano, transportation, roads/congestion, and supporting our excellent first responders. But when asked “what is the most critical issue facing Plano in the next 10 years?”, there is no doubt in my mind that the loss of local control that comes from taking HUD money is the most urgent problem. It is virtually impossible to reverse the negative consequences of high-density developments and urban sprawl once they have been constructed. While the main issue appears to be “too many apartments” the underlying issue is that the City of Plano (as have cities and towns across America), ceded over some of its governing authority to the federal government.
All problem solving in city governance is a collaborative effort by the city council and leadership in the various departments. When elected, I will pledge to represent the citizens of Plano, and advocate for their concerns.
Q: What can citizens do to prevent further high-density apartments?
A: Elect me, Douglas Reeves to the Plano City Council and make your voices heard!
* I pledge to vote to stop accepting the HUD grants, because of the loss of local control and the nearly permanent consequences to the health of our city that remain long after the monies are spent. Vote for me in the 2025 Municipal Election on Saturday, May 3rd. The last day to register to vote is Thursday, April 3, 2025, and the last day to apply for Ballot by Mail is Tuesday, April 22, 2025. Early voting is Tuesday, April 22-Tuesday, April 29.
*Contact city council members at [email protected] and tell them to stop taking the HUD grants.
* Because of the extreme federal government overreach forced on our city AFFH may very well be a case for our stellar Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to pursue and consider taking to the Supreme Court of the United States. If that happens, call his office and voice your support for bringing such a case to restore local control.
Email comments to:
[email protected], and click the “Donate Now” button in the menu bar in the left-hand corner of this page to support my campaign. Together we can reach more citizens and Save Plano Now!
I am Douglas Reeves. I solicit your vote for Plano City Council!
