Allen Downtown Steering Committee

The Downtown Steering Committee was appointed by Mayor Ken Fulk and Allen City Council to develop a vision and plan to revitalize the heart of Allen. The work plan will include research, community feedback and team collaboration to create a workable vision for downtown that can be implemented.

If you have questions about the work of the committee, please submit a contact request form. Community feedback opportunities will be included in Phase 2 of the project anticipated early 2022.

The Downtown Steering Committee includes five task force areas that committee members will be researching and compiling data for during the first phase of the project late summer/early fall.

Meetings and agendas

The Downtown Steering Committee kicked off their work on June 30, 2021 with a proposed timeline of 12-15 months to complete recommendations for a downtown revitalization plan to present to Council.

The committee will meet regularly at various times as needed over the next year. Meeting notices are posted 72 hours prior to each meeting on the City meeting notice calendar.

Sign up for NotifyMe to receive meeting notices that include a link to the agenda
Progress updates and project information is available on the Downtown Planning Project page.
Meeting minutes will be posted once approved and available through the open records portal.

Updates on downtown planning

Follow the progress of planning for downtown Allen on the Downtown Planning Projects page.

Submit a contact form for questions about ongoing work or progress of the Committee.

Contact Community Development Director Marc Kurbansade at 214.509.4162 for more information.

Members

Name	Role
Tommy Baril	Chair
Murry McKenzie	Vice Chair
Bob Acker	Member
Austin Bassil	Member
Doug Galletti	Member
Ted Gould	Member
Stacey Greer	Member
Alyssa Schnick	Member
Janet Sherlip	Member
Ana Sutter	Member
Mary Vail-Grube	PR and Communication
Gregg Watling	Member
Chris Schulmeister	Ex-Officio Member, Councilmember
Dave Cornette	Ex-Officio Member, Councilmember

Task Force Areas

Committee members are working on task force areas based on their expertise to support the work identified.

Ownership and Zoning

Team charge: Identify existing boundaries of Allen's original downtown area, historical districts and overall Central Business District. Document all zoning, preservation and development standards for these areas as well as identify and review existing infrastructure (roads, utilities, parking, etc.).

Finance and Economic Development

Team charge: Analyze downtown Allen's current economic impact. Identify financial resources and/or incentives (e.g. grants, downtown designations, existing funds) to encourage downtown development or which can be used to develop public amenities in the old downtown area.

Community Use

Team charge: Identify all existing community activities that occur in the downtown area. Develop a list of potential future community activities that could be organized and available to the public within the next two years (and identify groups who would host those activities).

Learning from Other Communities

Team charge: Visit nearby redeveloped downtown areas of similar size to determine what is desired and manageable for Allen's downtown. Identify community activities occurring in those downtowns (i.e. McKinney's Oktoberfest). Research may include cities outside North Texas.

Community Outreach Practices

Team charge: Develop procedures and processes for the direction, timing and tasks of community outreach as part of Phase 2, which includes working with City management to select a consultant to assist with the outreach process to include residents, business owners, landowners and developers.