Plano council to vote on shelter-in-place ordinance

PLANO, TX – Just two weeks ago, Plano City Council members gathered in the Senator Florence Shapiro Council Chambers. Now, the decision-makers are taking to Zoom, a video conference service, to discuss their agendas in an effort to keep the city safe.

As of Tuesday morning, Plano has confirmed 56 cases of COVID-19. Collin County is up to 160 cases. Two weeks ago, the council voted to close dine-in services in restaurants, as well as entertainment and gym facilities. The city also declared a local state of disaster, which has been extended to April 27.

The council has now asked City Attorney Paige Mims to create a shelter-in-place city ordinance. Plano council members are set to evaluate and vote on the ordinance Wednesday.

“When we got together two weeks ago, I said how the world had changed a week prior. So here we are two weeks later – dramatic changes since then as well,” Mayor Harry LaRosiliere said.

“Part of that conversation I mentioned to you all that meeting was these executive powers are not something I necessarily crave to have or desire to have but obviously are necessary for us to move and act in a very fast-moving environment.”

The council discussed how to move forward with a focus on joining neighboring jurisdictions.

“In the past several days, I’ve had many conversations with our neighbors to the north and our neighbors to the south of us,” LaRosiliere said.

Some council members – including Shelby Williams, Kayci Prince and Lily Bao – showed hesitation in crafting the ordinance. The financial health of low-income residents in Plano was a focal point for those wary of a shelter-in-place ordinance.

Council members also discussed funding updates for Collin Creek Mall and the budget for the next year. Council Member Maria Tu asked for a reference to the 2008 recession budget to help guide the coming economic adversities.

“Council, the incidents and then the recovery of the incidents can take several shapes. It can be a V-shape, it can be a prolonged, slow, arduous crawl out of an instance,” City Manager Mark Israelson said.

“I would caution everybody that we haven’t seen anything like this.”