Over the past few years, there has been a lot of fear-mongering and empty promises about apartments and other development in Plano. Here are some key things to understand:

1. NO candidate, as far as I know, is “pro-apartment.”
2. No one – developers, Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z), or City Council – is proposing to tear down single-family homes or neighborhoods to replace them with apartments. Neighborhoods with single-family homes are safe from re-development, period.
3. The only questions are: what to build on the yet undeveloped land (a small percentage of Plano overall), and how to redevelop failing retail areas (emphasis on FAILING.)
4. While they ran on an “anti-apartment” platform, Council Members Smith, Bao, and Ricciardelli approved thousands of apartments at Collin Creek Mall. Not necessarily a bad decision; just proof that sometimes apartments may need to be in the mix.
5. Most of the apartments built in recent years aren’t attracting young families, so they don’t add a lot of kids to the schools. (PISD’s enrollment is declining, btw.)
6. Crime has declined in Plano since 2006; apartments built in Plano since then did not cause an uptick.
7. Traffic is a problem, but it’s mostly due to people driving through or to Plano. If more people are able to live closer to where they work, we can reduce traffic in Plano.

STEVE LAVINE