University of Florida Thesis Or Dissertation Formatting Template

BUILT-OUT CITY, UNDERUSED MALL: URBAN METABOLISM IN PLANO, TEXAS

LAUREN MECKE

A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

2016

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank my committee, Dr. Joseli Macedo and Dr. Kathryn Frank for listening to me talk about my obsession with mall redevelopment and helping to guide me in the writing of this thesis. I am fortunate to have professors that care about sustainability and encourage students to think critically about sustainability and environmental planning. I look forward to using all that I have learned at the University of Florida in my career.

I would like to thank my parents for supporting me throughout my life, pushing me always to be the best I can be. Their financial support and encouragement is the primary reason for achieving this degree.

Finally, I would like to thank Andrew, for believing in me when I didn’t believe in myself. No words can describe my gratitude for the friendship, support, and several tours of Plano.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

page

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...... 3

LIST OF FIGURES ...... 6

ABSTRACT ...... 8

CHAPTER

1 INTRODUCTION ...... 10

Research Purpose and Significance ...... 10 Description of Chapters ...... 12

2 LITERATURE REVIEW ...... 17

Urban Metabolism Literature ...... 17 Components of Urban Metabolism ...... 19 Energy ...... 19 Water ...... 20 Waste ...... 21 Air quality ...... 22 How it is Measured? ...... 23 Retrofitting Literature ...... 25 Suburban Retrofitting ...... 25 EcoDistricts and Relation to Urban Metabolism ...... 27 Seaholm District and [re]Manufacturing Hub, Austin, Texas ...... 28 Reusing Malls ...... 30 History of Suburban Shopping Mall Revitalization ...... 30 Denver, Colorado Examples ...... 33

3 METHODOLOGY ...... 40

City Selection: Why Plano? ...... 40 Research Question ...... 42 Urban Metabolism Case Study ...... 43 Collin Creek Mall Case Study ...... 44 Proposal ...... 45 Limitations ...... 46

4 URBAN METABOLISM: PLANO ANALYSIS ...... 48

Plano’s Built Environment and Population ...... 48 History of Planning and Population Changes in Plano ...... 48 Sustainability in Plano ...... 52

Evaluation of Plano ...... 52 Energy ...... 53 Water ...... 55 Landfill ...... 57 Air Quality ...... 58 Population ...... 61 Public Communication ...... 62 Summary of Plano’s Metabolism ...... 63

5 COLLIN CREEK MALL ANALYSIS ...... 68

Background on the Collin Creek Mall ...... 68 Collin Creek Mall Land Use and Surrounding Properties ...... 69 Future Land Use ...... 70 Collin Creek Mall Discussion ...... 71

6 PROPOSAL USING TACHIEVA’S MALL SPRAWL REPAIR METHOD...... 77

Seven Key Factors ...... 77 Community and Existing Surroundings ...... 79 Redevelopment ...... 80 Sustainability Best Practices ...... 82 Summary ...... 84

7 FINDINGS ...... 87

Recommendations Based On This Research ...... 87 Further Research ...... 91 Conclusion ...... 92

APPENDIX

A SCORECARD OF STAR COMMUNITIES CERTIFICATION ...... 95

B SITE AND LEASE PLANS ...... 99

LIST OF REFERENCES ...... 103

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ...... 108

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure page

1-1 Plano, Texas...... 15

1-2 Collin Creek Mall Location ...... 16

2-1 Comparing Linear and Circular Metabolism ...... 35

2-2 From linear to circular: in an urbanizing world the metabolism of cities must become compatible with the ecosystems of planet Earth...... 36

2-3 Project Strategy Matrix...... 37

2-4 Seaholm District has helped reduce energy and water loads in this area...... 38

2-5 Denver Area Malls ...... 39

4-1 Rail Crossing near Parker Road Station ...... 65

4-2 Bus Stops Along Coit Road ...... 65

4-3 Bicycle Route Sign ...... 66

4-4 Plano's Mixed Use Developments ...... 66

4-5 Location of Downtown Plano in Relation to Collin Creek Mall...... 66

4-6 "Subscribe to the City of Plano" form ...... 67

5-1 Collin Creek Mall Location ...... 73

5-2 Four of the Numerous Store Closed Inside of Collin Creek Mall ...... 74

5-3 Empty Parking Lots at Collin Creek Mall ...... 74

5-4 Parks Master Plan ...... 75

5-5 Future Land Use Map ...... 75

5-6 Growth and Change Map ...... 76

6-1 Collin Creek Mall Property Map ...... 85

6-2 Proposed Infill, Environmental Restoration, and Mainstreet ...... 86

B-1 Site Plan ...... 100

B-2 Ground Floor Building Plan ...... 101

B-3 Second Floor Building Plan ...... 102

Abstract of Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Urban and Regional Planning

BUILT-OUT CITY, UNDERUSED MALL: URBAN METABOLISM IN PLANO, TEXAS

Lauren Mecke

May 2016

Chair: Joseli Macedo Major: Urban and Regional Planning

Urban planning is evolving to focus on understanding impacts upon the environment and retrofitting rather than planning new developments. The focus of this research is the utilization within the field of planning to retrofit and redevelop greyfields, specifically shopping malls, to make cities more sustainable to reach circular urban metabolism. Urban metabolism is critical to understanding the flow of materials and energy within cities as they enter, stay and leave the cycle. As a city develops and economic activity flourishes, there is an increase in the production, use, and disposal of materials that fulfills the needs of a city. This increase of materials begins to impact a city’s environment. Shopping mall retrofitting is important because mall use and infrastructure is beginning to deteriorate throughout the country and it is important to discuss potential uses for these large sites.

Plano is a suburban city of Dallas that will soon run out of undeveloped land, promotes their sustainability initiatives and has a dying mall, which makes it a perfect candidate for studying urban metabolism and mall reuse. The research question is: How could the redevelopment of the Collin Creek Mall enhance the Urban Metabolism of

Plano, Texas? This qualitative study evaluates the metabolism of Plano, evaluates the

Collin Creek Mall property, and recommends what could be implemented on the site of the mall to help the city’s metabolism move towards being circular.

The implications of this study will add to the body of knowledge on urban metabolism and mall retrofitting. This research can aid policymakers, voters, and developers, to better understanding the weaknesses of sustainability at a city-wide scale and possible reuse opportunities for dead mall properties. A more knowledgeable community can create more efficient resource use and a healthier environment.

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

Research Purpose and Significance

The field of urban planning has evolved throughout the last century to not only focus on new developments but also to include thinking about the environmental impacts created by the built environment and to revitalize existing developments.

Sustainability has become a hot topic in planning the built environment. Urban metabolism analysis is used to understand the environmental sustainability of a city’s flow of materials and energy as it enters, stays, and leaves the cycle of the city.

Planning professionals have also been learning and implementing new strategies for underused, existing buildings and neighborhoods such as indoor shopping malls.

Declining shopping malls provide a unique opportunity for planners to revitalize a large development.

Using a case study approach, this research examines the environmental section of sustainability at a city-wide scale and a sub-case study of mall retrofitting at the site- scale. Plano, Texas is a suburban city located twenty miles northeast of Downtown

Dallas as shown in Figure 1-1. The city of over 278,000 residents cannot extend its boundaries any further as it is municipally bordered by several cities and towns. The

City of Plano not only has a declining indoor shopping mall but is also a city that takes pride in their efforts to being a sustainable city, making it an excellent city for this study.

Located in southern Plano, see Figure 1-2, this mall is full of potential for redevelopment.

The purpose of this qualitative research is to find redevelopment strategies for the underused Collin Creek Mall that could facilitate the city’s urban metabolism to

become closer to being circular. The research question is: How could the redevelopment of the Collin Creek Mall enhance the urban metabolism of Plano,

Texas? The recommendations provide an idea of what could be implemented on the site of the mall to help the city’s metabolism move towards being circular.

This thesis looks at the urban metabolism of the city to understand the level of sustainability. When a city’s sustainability has minimalized outputs such as waste and pollution, and increased renewable energy sources it is known as circular urban metabolism. Reaching circular metabolism minimizes the human effects on the environment. Urban metabolism analyses are critical to understanding the flow of energy, water, waste, and air quality. In urban planning, there is no one perfect formula to evaluate urban metabolism. More complex analyses can focus on specific nutrients within the water and air based on the communities concerns. Urban metabolism analyses provide thorough insight to the achievements made by sustainability initiatives.

The City of Plano is a good candidate for an urban metabolism analysis due to their increasing sustainability efforts and dedicated Sustainability and Environmental

Education Division.

Shopping mall reuse is an important topic because mall use and infrastructure is beginning to deteriorate throughout the country and planners are required to think about the prospective uses for these large sites. As many news stories have portrayed over the last decade, the popularity of indoor shopping malls has declined throughout the

United States. Several have been driven to the point of shutting down, left abandoned.

These large tracts of land hold immense potential for urban planning opportunities - such as building reutilization or increasing urban densification. The City of Plano’s

planning staff has received numerous comments from the community concerning revitalization of the Collin Creek Mall.

By combining the analysis of the city’s metabolism to the retrofitting of the mall to create a proposal and recommendations, the findings of this study will add to the body of knowledge on urban metabolism and mall retrofitting. Planners, policymakers, voters, and developers that become more knowledgeable about the weaknesses of sustainability of their city can create a healthier environment that uses resources more efficiently. The research on mall retrofitting can inspire others to use sustainable practices that does not only benefit the site but at a neighborhood and city-wide scale.

Description of Chapters

The thesis is organized into six chapters. It begins with the Introduction in

Chapter 1, Literature Review in Chapter 2 and Methodology in Chapter 3. Chapter 4

Urban Metabolism: Plano Analysis and Chapter 5 Collin Creek Mall Analysis are the analyses of this research. They are separated to focus on the city-scale in Chapter 4 and the site-scale in Chapter 5. Chapter 6 a proposal for the site was made after completing these analyses based on Galina Tachieva’s Sprawl Repair Manual. Chapter

7, Discussions and Recommendations, provides the recommendations formulated from the analyses and conclusions made.

The introduction provides a rationale for this study and includes the description of each chapter.

Chapter 2, the literature review, sets the stage for the analyses by reviewing urban metabolism, retrofitting, and mall retrofitting research. It begins with research dedicated to understanding urban metabolism as a sustainability indicator and a design tool. The second half of this literature review summarizes the initial inspiration for this 12

thesis by giving a history of revitalization research on American suburban malls and the current trend to redevelop the increasing number of greyfields. This literature comes from several books and news articles. The combination of retrofitting a large tract of land and identifying sustainability strategies for a city is similar to the definition of an

EcoDistrict. EcoDistricts are defined as walkable communities which emphasize mass transit, local food production, equity, and job creation, which are each designed to recapture water, energy, and nutrients, while minimizing carbon emissions, energy consumption, greywater, and storm water discharge. Therefore it was important to include some background research on this subject. The research was collected primarily from books, journal articles, websites, and news articles.

The methodology contains the reasoning for the question, further inquiries that are required to be answered, and details the methods used for analysis. The city selection and limitations are also discussed. The methodology describes the analyses so other researchers may replicate and apply to other cities.

In order to answer the question regarding potential uses for the Collin Creek Mall property, it is necessary to understand the environmental sustainability at the city-wide scale. To achieve this, the analysis is organized consistently to the literature review and divided into two parts. The first part is about urban metabolism and the environment at the city-wide scale. The second part analyzes the Collin Creek Mall and revitalization.

Chapter 4 is the analysis of Plano on the citywide scale. A summarized historical timeline of Plano’s urbanization was created to understand how the city has changed over time. A brief explanation of the components of sustainability as it applies to Plano is discussed. The analysis of Plano is used to determine the city’s ability to have circular

metabolism, the current sustainability practices, and the sustainability goals of the comprehensive plan. The information for the analysis was collected via site visits, local newspaper articles, and accessible public information. It concludes with a discussion of the analysis of Plano.

Chapter 5 is the analysis of the Collin Creek Mall at the site scale. A summarized historical timeline of the Collin Creek Mall was created to understand how the mall has changed during its existence to get to the current states. The site analysis of Collin

Creek is an evaluation of the built environment and building utilization to determine the likelihood of it becoming a dead mall or being economically revived. The information for the analysis was collected via site visits, local newspaper articles, and accessible public information. It concludes with a summary of the analysis.

Using the analyses and Chapter Four of The Sprawl Repair Manual by Tachieva, a proposal was created. Tachieva (2010) provides three options for declining and abandoned malls: leave the existing structure, keep only the department stores, or tear down the entire mall. She also includes seven key factors which are to introduce new building types and mixed uses, connect and repair thoroughfares, rationalize parking, define open and civic spaces, integrate local food production, rezoning, and phasing.

Using her ideas, maps of the property were created and each of the factors was considered. It continues with a discussion of sustainability best practices that should be implemented.

By combining the research from these topics and proposal formulates the recommendations found in Chapter 7. Chapter 7 also contains the conclusion to summarize the main points of the analyses and discussions. Future research from this

thesis about the use of urban metabolism and mall retrofitting in the field of planning are examined.

Following the conclusion are appendices containing further information on the

STAR Certification and the Collin Creek Mall’s layout for those interested. Plano’s evaluation from the STAR Communities Certification, Appendix A is the scorecard in which Plano received a 4-star rating. Appendix B contains the site plan and leasing plans from Rouse Properties.

Figure 1-1. Plano, Texas from Plano.gov

Figure 1-2. Collin Creek Mall Location from Google Maps

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

Urban Metabolism Literature

Since 2008, more than fifty percent of the world’s population is living in urban areas. As the earth’s population continues to urbanize and rapidly grow, the urban atmosphere is “grey, paved with concrete and asphalt, and/or brown, polluted by industry, automobiles, and waste” (Wolch, 2007). The way these urban areas are built greatly influences the rate and quality of resource use in order to maintain urban life

(Pinho, Oliveira, Cruz, & Barbosa, 2012). As the population has increased fourfold in the past hundred years, energy use has increased tenfold (Weisz & Steinberger, 2010).

Studies on the ecological footprint of cities collectively show that cities do not use resources efficiently and greatly exceed their bio-capacity anywhere from 15 to 50 times

(Agudelo-Vera, Leduc, Mels, & Rijnaarts, 2012). An urban metabolism analysis is the study of these complex anthropogenic systems of high population densities, high use of resources, continuous exchange of information and goods, dependence on alternative sources of and disposal of energy and matter outside of its borders (Ferrão &

Fernández, 2013).

Urban metabolism explains and analyzes how people use “energy, materials, water, food, and land, for maintaining and reproducing themselves” (Pinho, Oliveira,

Cruz, & Barbosa, 2012). The completion of an urban metabolism analysis can be used as an environmental sustainability indicator and to create sustainable urban designs and policies. The urban metabolism of most American cities is linear, meaning resources are used then disposed. A city with a circular metabolism has low consumption rates while it incorporates reuse and recycling which reduces negative

impacts on a city and its surroundings (Agudelo-Vera et al., 2012). Figure 2-1 illustrates the differences between linear and circular metabolism.

The concept of evaluating urban metabolism was first theorized by Karl Marx and first applied in 1965. In the first application, Abel Wolman compared cities to living organisms by demonstrating the urban metabolism of a fictitious, typical American city of one million residents. Since then urban metabolism has primarily been studied within the industrial ecology community (Kennedy and Hoornweg, 2012). After mainstreaming the concept of sustainability into society, an interest in urban metabolism has increased after the realization of its comprehensive measurements of water, energy, nutrients, and waste within a city (Pinho et al., 2012). Urban metabolism studies have measured the sustainability of many international cities including Lisbon, London, Sydney, Toronto, and Vienna (Ferrão & Fernández, 2013).

Being able to understand energy and material flows through cities is one of the keys needed to develop sustainable cities (Kennedy and Hoornweg, 2012). Nearly 90 years ago in 1927, Clarence Stein called for a “revolution in planning” by designing communities that are integrated and self-sustaining (Scott & Joseph, 2012). Scott and

Joseph (2012) begin their book Renew Town by explaining the need for communities to design with nature and “to take full advantage” of environmental processes in order to reduce negative ecological impacts. Using an urban metabolism analysis can provide measures of resource exploitation and waste generation, the degree of circularity of resource streams, and identify opportunities for improvement (Ferrão & Fernández,

2013).

Components of Urban Metabolism

Figure 2-3 (Girardet, 2015) shows the amount of waste that is put out by cities with linear compared to those with circular metabolism. In many urban metabolism studies there are four major areas of concern: energy, water, solid waste, and air quality.

Energy

The first component of urban metabolism to be discussed is energy. In order to evaluate energy, it is necessary to find the demand required and how it is generated. In developed countries, 40% of all energy use is by buildings with 70% of it being electricity use (Scott & Joseph, 2012). As buildings become more efficient with tools such as better sealing and higher-quality windows, the next step will be to look at how energy is created for those buildings. Cities of larger populations and bigger buildings will have more electricity requirements than a rural village. Buildings in seas of grey cause an urban heat island effect compared to buildings with awnings and surrounded by trees. While one might think urban heat islands reduce heating demands, it powerfully causes higher cooling demands (Weisz & Steinberger, 2010).

The majority of our energy has come from non-renewable resources which is the leading cause to carbon emissions. While renewable resource technology has been touted as too expensive for lifetime use, research continues to make these sources more efficient and lowers the initial costs.

The other big energy user is transportation. Automobiles, motorboats, and trains have become a major contributor to pollution as they are primarily operated by oil and coal. Higher density cities with mass transportation options uses less energy per person compared to the one person per car, suburban commuter (Weisz & Steinberger, 2010).

Many companies are finding ways to use renewable resources to operate these modes of transportation but reducing the number of personal automobiles will also help reduce carbon emissions. Mixed use zoning helps to reduce the need for automobiles by making access to daily necessities within walking distance. It will take a few more decades before the use of renewable source technologies become widespread; right now there needs to be a focus to decrease driving and fuel consumption and to increase efficiency at fossil fuel generating plants (Diamond, 2005).

One way to help reduce economic and environmental strains from energy consumption is the utilization of tree canopies. Urban trees reduce building energy costs and mitigate urban heat island effect (Rouse and Templeton, 2015).

Water

Water is a major area of concern. Water is the center of all life on earth. Potable water has been used for all daily life activities, 50% usually being for non-potable uses

(Elmer & Kehoe, 2014). Technology is increasing to reduce the amount of water needed for things such as toilets, urinals, washing machines, etc. Similarly, moving away from large open fields of grass to native plants prevents using large amounts of water outdoors. One issue with potable water is obtaining it, especially in places where water is not replenished to the water table faster or at similar rates than it is being withdrawn.

Along with obtaining potable water, cities also have to worry about removing stormwater and wastewater. Stormwater is the runoff from rain events which has increased as impervious surfaces prevents water from being naturally absorbed. Due to the increased volume and velocity of stormwater waste, communities are required to build stormwater infrastructure (Scott & Joseph, 2012). Tree canopies can reduce

stormwater impacts by catching rain on the leaves as well as naturally filter the water and stabilize stream banks from sedimentation (Rouse and Templeton, 2015). Elmer and Kehoe (2014) wrote their article discussing various ways cities are utilizing greywater, rainwater, and stormwater for non-potable uses to help reduce the demand on drinking water including laundry washing and plant watering.

The next water issue is disposing of waste water. There have been many horrific stories of drinking water being contaminated by sewage or salt water. There are two types of waste water: blackwater and greywater. Blackwater, primarily sewage, is water contaminated with animal, human or food waste. Greywater is the waste from other household tasks such as dishwashing, laundry, and bathing (Scott & Joseph, 2012).

Two buildings in Seattle are experimenting with on-site treatment where all water used on the property must remain on-site (Elmer & Kehoe, 2014). Although highly ambitious, it is a great example of the future of water treatment. Likewise, scientists on the coasts have looked to desalination plants as a way to obtain drinkable water. Rainwater catchments are becoming more popular to collect stormwater runoff from roofs and reducing the demand of piped water. Of the four areas of concern, water is the most visible as the built environment and human behavior heavily influences how it affects our daily lives.

Waste

The next concern is solid waste. Humans have existed by using resources and immediately disposing of them. The creation of plastic made it easier to mass produce which are disposable items. While plastic is a recyclable material to an extent, it is a product that takes several lifetimes to completely decompose (Chrysoulakis, Anselmo

de Castro, & Moors, 2015). All that waste must go somewhere. Current waste removal practices utilize vast amounts of land items that go to the landfill. These items are not decomposing at the same rates than there were one hundred years ago. Land is a precious resource, if not well managed, will lead to unlivable places (Gennawey, 2011).

Landfills cause surrounding properties to lower in property value and only a certain amount of land can be used. Instead of shipping waste to foreign countries for other people to deal with, there must be an effort to reduce the amount of garbage.

By implementing practices such as reduce, reuse, recycle, and compost helps divert the amount of waste that goes into landfills. Food waste can be composted to become nutritious soils to grow food. Recycling metal, plastic, and glass helps to reduce the amount of new resources that go towards producing these items. Many construction companies have begun to recycle materials for new buildings. The more items that can be diverted from landfills, reduces the amount of resources needed to produce new items.

Air quality

Air quality is the final concern discussed in this paper. Air quality is measured by the rates of pollutants in the air. As the built environment has changed the landscape from naturally green to grey the ecological process of water and air filtration have been lost. When Jarred Diamond wrote Collapse (2005) there was an estimate of 130,000 deaths per year in the United States from air pollution alone. The suburban landscape with large seas of grass have also negatively impacted the ecology by using excessive amounts of potable water and filter carbon and other nutrients at a lower rate than trees and shrubs. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are a major concern of air

quality due to the increasing large amounts created within the past 100 years. Many of these greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced as technology has become more efficient. But the concern with greenhouse gases is that they deteriorate the ozone layer which protects from harmful UV Rays and has increased the earth’s average climate.

The way urban areas have been designed without nature has ignored the importance of plants to air quality. As fossil fueled cars and electric companies pollute the air, urban areas have forgotten the best combat to this pollution: trees and plants.

Plants help convert carbon dioxide and other pollutants into oxygen. To prevent brown, polluted air as seen in large cities such as Los Angles, cities must evaluate greenhouse gas emissions and tree coverage.

Agudelo-Vera et al. (2012) describe four steps to increase the metabolism: inventory the demand, minimize the demand if possible, inventory alternative sources, and then harvest local and renewable resources. In addition to measuring each of these areas of concern, urban metabolism studies analyze the issues with current policy such as greenhouse gas emissions or the use of resources to inform policymakers on the needs of the community (Kennedy and Hoornweg, 2012).

How it is Measured?

Cities are dramatically growing in population, utilization of material and energy, causing the challenges of supply of goods, energy, and information to maintain the urban activities as wells as cleaning and disposing of the wastes (Chrysoulakis,

Anselmo de Castro, & Moors, 2015). Urban metabolism is a quantification of a city’s energy, water, wastes, and nutrients as they come into, exit, and stay within the city

(Kennedy and Hoornweg, 2012).

There are three main accounting methods for urban metabolism: Material flow analysis (MFA), Emergy (energy flow) analysis, and the Ecological footprint analysis

(Zhang, 2013). Most of the early urban metabolism studies have used the material flow analysis to account for the flows through each city. Due to the complexity of measuring energy, water, waste and nutrients, most case studies have focused on only one component instead of a comprehensive evaluation. The major obstacle of urban metabolism analyses is obtaining the complete data to account for all energy, water, wastes, and nutrients (Pinho et al., 2012).

One unique approach comes from the European Union’s 7th Framework

Programme for Research and Technological Development. The BRIDGE DSS

(sustainaBle uRban plannIng Decision support accountinG for urban mEtabolism

Decision Support System) is a tool for sustainable planning using urban metabolism to look into fluxes for energy, water, carbon and pollutants (Chrysoulakis, Anselmo de

Castro, & Moors, 2015). The BRIDGE project looked at five European cities (Firenze,

Helsinki, London, Gliwice, and Athens) and used several models to collect information on each city’s environment, energy, water, carbon and pollutant fluxes. The BRIDGE approach did not use identical models in all five cities to measure specific data points but did use the Eddy Covariance technique to quantify Urban Energy Balance, Urban

Water Balance, and Urban Carbon Balance (Chrysoulakis, Anselmo de Castro, &

Moors, 2015).

The completion of an urban metabolism analysis can illustrate the weaknesses within a city. This allows planners, citizens, and developers to focus on retrofitting their city to become more sustainable. Retrofits give communities the opportunity to repair

the natural environment to fix issues such as watersheds and carbon sequestration diminished by development (Talen, 2015).

Retrofitting Literature

In order to proceed in finding new uses for the Collin Creek Mall site, it is necessary to see the research done on retrofitting and previous mall reuse projects.

There is a brief discussion about a retrofitting technique called EcoDistricts and how they relate to urban metabolism.

Suburban Retrofitting

The planning profession is charged with guiding the community to design a built environment that promotes the health and safety of its residents. As many millennials have begun to move back into the city, suburban neighborhoods are beginning to suffer.

Many suburban neighborhoods choose to redefine their community with new urban designs such as higher density, walkability, connectivity, and town centers. There are many interchangeable terms (sprawl repair, retrofitting, revitalization, etc.) which all discuss stimulating the infrastructure, economy, ecological health, or any other needs of the community. Suburban streets over the last century have been designed to be

“overly wide” and do not provide adequate nor safe sidewalks and crosswalks

(Williamson, 2013).” Retrofitted projects that create comfortable public spaces for the community provides economic and aesthetic benefits (Arendt, 2015). One of the biggest barriers to retrofitting properties with abandoned or underutilized buildings is the cost of purchasing the property and property owners unwilling to sell.

Retrofitting and revitalization has become a growing topic throughout the United

States as planners, government officials, and the public are adapting to changing

communities, aging infrastructure, and increasing public knowledge of the environment on impacting health. Williamson (2013) includes the Build a Better Burb 2010 competition design brief and some of the winning schemes in her book Designing

Suburban Futures. The Long Island Index, an advisory group to identify key goals for the Long Island region, created the Build a Better Burb competition in 2010. The competition invited architects, urban designers, planners, and visionaries to create innovative ideas for the underutilized land in Long Island. The competition received 212 submissions from over 30 countries and was narrowed to 23 finalists and then selected

6 winners and an additional public choice winner was selected by online voting. As seen in Figure 2-4, a matrix of the 7 winners and 14 noteworthy schemes illustrates many tactics that can be deployed to find solutions to suburban issues. Within the top 21 design schemes, walking and biking, infill development, and urban agriculture were more common ideas utilized compared to new uses for schools and streetscape infrastructure. Since the completion of the competition, Build a Better Burb has transformed into an online journal for suburban design sponsored by the Congress for the New Urbanism.

In the book Regenerating Older Suburbs published by the Urban Land Institute,

Walz and Wilson (2007) discuss the inner-ring suburbs of the Dallas Metroplex. In it they discuss four major challenges of first-ring suburbs including Plano: automobile- focused designs, “overretailing”, single-use properties, and vast single-family residential neighborhoods. They praise three of Plano’s neighborhoods, Custer at Legacy, downtown Plano, and Legacy Town Center, for diversifying housing types and densities.

Other opportunities for regenerating these inner-ring suburbs include building on core

assets, reinventing retail, offering transportation options, creating new land use patterns, embracing the growing diversity, and collaborating with other cities, districts, and associations (Walz and Wilson, 2007).

EcoDistricts and Relation to Urban Metabolism

EcoDistricts are sustainable redevelopments designed to reduce the ecological footprint of the area by reducing the negative impact on the environment. EcoDistricts use the ten principles of sustainability best practices: energy efficiency and conservation; water and wastewater systems; green building; waste reduction and recycling; climate-friendly purchasing; renewable energy and low-carbon fuels; efficient transportation; land use and community design; open space and offsetting carbon emissions; and community and individual action. As its own overlay district, many outdated policies that would typically ban the use of green infrastructure are updated for

EcoDistricts which is significant for the “growing enthusiasm for rain barrels, green roofs, recycling programs, and greenways” (Leonard, 2015). The amount of land that the average mall uses, including its parking lot, is very similar in size to most of the existing EcoDistricts. They are a sustainable solution that can help to change a city’s urban metabolism.

An EcoDistrict is an area that is “committed to advancing sustainability through green building, smart infrastructure and individual behavior while providing a framework for people to come together to set goals, define projects, engage in collaborative efforts, and raise the bar for sustainable practices” (About EcoDistricts). EcoDistricts focus on 8 areas: energy, water, materials management, transportation, ecosystem health, human health, equity, and the community. Most EcoDistricts use integrated systems to reduce

demand on water and energy and reducing the waste water and compostable materials

(Elmer & Kehoe, 2014). In their book, Todd and Todd (1994) describes the use of integrative systems known as Living Machines as the next step for “eco-cities” to process wastewater to generate energy and clean water without the use of chemicals.

Unlike the criticisms of new urbanism projects being new developments on greenfields,

EcoDistricts are redevelopments of existing greyfields and brownfields.

Seaholm District and [re]Manufacturing Hub, Austin, Texas

Located a few hours southwest of Plano is the city of Austin which is becoming a leader of sustainability and the incorporation of EcoDistricts. The statewide support for fossil fuels and the conservative politics of Texas do not always “align with the liberal culture of Austin, and therefore regional and state priorities do not often support the progressive municipal political climate” (Ferrão & Fernández, 2013). Despite state politics, the city of Austin has proven its commitment to sustainability by implementing diverse strategies including “mandatory energy audits as a requirement for every home sale; substantial support and subsidies for a renewable energy; information, training, and resources for water conservation; recycling; biodiversity and habitat protection; and pollution reduction and waste management” (Ferrão & Fernández, 2013). Austin planning staff has included a health aspect into their comprehensive plan which aims to have a built environment that will promote an increase physical activity of residents and improve the local sustainable food system (Pedulli, 2015). Because of this, it is important for Plano to look to Austin as an example for its sustainability practices such as Austin’s two EcoDistricts.

The Seaholm District is one of the largest EcoDistrict projects in the United

States. It is a 65 acre redevelopment project of a former industrial zone centered on the decommissioned Seaholm Power Plant. The Seaholm District has several projects including restoration of water flow into Lady Bird Lake, green roofs, solar panels, increasing transportation options, and improving public assets. The Seaholm District

Power Plant renovation was able to use the Conserve-Integrate-Cycle method in order to implement LEED and Austin Energy Green Building ratings in order to conserve water and energy; enable single interventions to fulfill multiple functions; and emphasize the continuous flow of resources as seen in Figure 2-4 (Fisk, Vittori, and Wittstruck,

2013). This area continues to improve its walkability and use of renewable resources as it refurbishes surrounding buildings and adds new office and residential units.

Following the growing success of their Seaholm Redevelopment District, the City of Austin is in the process of their next EcoDistrict by developing 107 acres from an undeveloped landfill on Farm Road 812 to become a hub for industries that specialize in recycling (Austin [re]Manufacturing Hub). With the name [re]Manufacturing Hub, this new eco-industrial district is another component of the city’s goal to reach zero waste by

2040 (Austin [re]Manufacturing Hub). The EcoDistrict is combining the desire to eliminate waste while also economically stimulating the local taxes and job opportunities within the city limits. The city is using the [re]Manufacturing Hub as a target for greener manufacturing companies which “integrates resource recovery, recycling, and reuse” while providing an estimated 1,250 new jobs (Rhodes, 2013). The city is targeting specific “green” industries for these lots such as:

“Construction and demolition reuse and recycling; Scrap plastics processing;

Carton processing or manufacturing; Paper and wood fiber recycling; Glass processing or manufacturing facility; Scrap tires processing and manufacturing; Electronics and appliance reuse, repair and recycling; and Other manufacturing companies that reuse waste and create new products.” (Austin [re]Manufacturing Hub) The [re]Manufacturing Hub is expected to start selling lots in 2016. EcoDistricts are designed to make an area more sustainable. As Speck (2007) says in Making Better Places, “There is no longer any excuse for not building green.” In the case of the [re]Manufacturing Hub, this EcoDistrict helps to remove waste from the entire city. Both the Seaholm District and the [re]Manufacturing Hub EcoDistrict can be prime examples for how Plano citizens can guide the future of the Collin Creek Mall property.

Reusing Malls

History of Suburban Shopping Mall Revitalization

Malls “sprang from a uniquely American culture” and have been a common fixture of the American landscape for over 65 years (Cohen, 2002). The increased popularity of personal automobiles and growth of suburbs in the 1950’s led to a major expansion of shopping malls in the United States, especially as department stores wanted to move closer to the suburban Americans (Englebright, 2010). Although still attracting a popular frenzy on Black Friday every year, smaller, suburban shopping malls have been in decline since the late 1980s. Malls continue to decline with the boom of internet shopping, strong support for campaigns such as ‘Shop Locally’, and movement of people and businesses back to cities from the suburbs (Sobel &

Greenberg, 2002).

Malls that have a high vacancy rate and low shopper rate or are completely closed are defined as dead malls or greyfields. The majority of research on redeveloping suburban shopping malls stems from hundreds of news articles and videos about communities repurposing buildings or reusing the land to create new downtowns. One article written by Bridgette Meinhold (2012) discusses the city of

Joplin, Missouri’s unique solution of using an abandoned department store to use as a senior high school after the city was devastated by an EF5 tornado. A dying or dead mall negatively affects local tax coffers causing stress for residents and local government officials (Sobel & Greenberg, 2002). Many places around the country have been struggling with vast seas of empty parking lots that accompany the dying malls. In

2009, Arthur C. Nelson found that by 2019 there will be 2.8 million acres of greyfields in the United States (Ehrenhalt, 2013). Some places, including Denver, Colorado, have been very successful in redeveloping their malls by either reusing the structure or demolishing the building and creating a higher density, downtown-inspired district. Many communities are taking their local greyfields as opportunities for creative reuse and redevelopment by converting these malls into thriving, walkable neighborhoods with increased public spaces and access to transit.

In 2001 the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) and

PricewaterhouseCoopers performed the first major study on suburban shopping malls and their potential to become transit-oriented, mixed-use developments. Building on that research, CNU published a book named Greyfields into Goldfields. In 2005, along with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, CNU published a follow-up report titled Malls into Mainstreets that focuses on neighborhoods which were once malls. In 2008 and an

update in 2011, Ellen Dunham-Jones and June Williamson included mall redevelopment in their book Retrofitting Suburbia. Their book discusses the retrofitting of suburban features to promote walkability and sustainability. Englebright (2010) focused on mall redevelopment as an opportunity for different types of housing possibilities.

CNU, Dunham-Jones and Williamson, and Englebright each discuss various benefits to communities that redeveloped shopping malls. Inner-ring suburban malls that are in need of attention, stop generating profits, do not serve their communities, strain the tax base, and deplete social spirt (Smiley, 2002). These benefits include:

Opportunities to add needed public facilities Elimination of an isolated eye sore Reviving a large parcel of land to the tax roll Eradicating a target for crime Increasing surrounding property values Allowing innovative planning Providing opportunities for green, healthy, energy-efficient projects. Many of the former mall sites, such as Mizner Park in Boca Raton, FL, that were once continuously deserted have gained new life as mixed use neighborhoods. In some places, large greyfields are converted to needed facilities such as libraries, nursing homes, and civic functions. Abandoned buildings do not continue to generate taxes and consequently lower the surrounding property values (Dunham-Jones and Williamson,

2011;Englebright, 2010; Smiley, 2002); by redeveloping these greyfields it helps the community economically. Similarly, reducing the eye sore in a community helps bring a sense of community thus leading to lower crime rates. Finally, redeveloping malls can help restore ecological functions that were disturbed from the mall construction and experiment with new sustainable technologies.

There are several barriers to redeveloping malls examples include old zoning laws, parking development laws, and limited financial incentives (Englebright, 2010). 32

Cities that have not updated their zoning laws to include mixed-use zoning or created a future land use map, with the potential for anything other than commercial uses; automatically inhibits planners and developers from creating anything other than commercial strips. Similarly, parking development laws can limit plans for increasing density. These laws dictate the number of parking spaces a building requires based on utilization rates. Usually, the parking requirements for mixed use zoning aren’t as strict as Euclidean Zoning1. The demolition or renovation of a greyfield can be very costly.

This type of development would have high initial costs and would require patience for several years before any expectation of a return on investment, as well as the possibility of requiring additional investment of more money into the project for unseen costs such as environmental restoration. Sprawl and Public Space: Redressing the Mall states that investors and developers will only support mall redevelopment with the support of strong municipal leadership from public agencies and elected officials (Smiley, 2002).

Having a private-public partnership, as well as input from the community, improves the design process and keeping the project on track (Smiley, 2002). Without input from the citizens, a project may remain unpopular like the mall it replaces.

Denver, Colorado Examples

One of the most successful examples of mall redevelopment is the Denver metropolitan area. In their book Retrofitting Suburbia, Ellen Dunham-Jones and June

Williamson (2011) include a map of the shopping malls of the Denver Metropolitan area.

The map pictured in Figure 2-5 (Dunham-Jones and Williamson, 2011), identifies the seven of the thirteen malls in the area which have been retrofitted. The two largest

1 Euclidean Zoning is defined as a type of zoning where every day uses are separated from each other and land uses of the same type are grouped together.

retrofits are the 1.3 million-square-foot Cinderella Mall into CityCenter Englewood and

Villa Italia Mall into Belmar. Both projects began construction in 2001 but chose different retrofitting plans. CityCenter is formed by the adaptive reuse of the original mall structure into civic space, mixed use buildings, and Wal-Mart. Belmar completely tore down the former mall to turn into a new downtown.

The focus of CityCenter was to add civic space and mixed-use buildings to the property. Before the mall had existed the property belonged to the city as a public park with a creek; when the city reacquired the property they sought the public’s input finding that the public wanted a store like Wal-Mart (Dunham-Jones and Williamson, 2011).

One unique aspect of the CityCenter project is that it utilizes the space to fulfill civic and transit needs. The city is the major tenant with the new city hall, library, public offices and city council chambers (Sobel & Greenberg, 2002). The project was also able to integrate mass transit by building a new bus transfer station at the light-rail station

(Sobel & Greenberg, 2002).

The creation of Belmar, a new downtown in Lakewood, CO, was one of the first of its kind to change a mall into a mixed use neighborhood (Dunham-Jones and

Williamson, 2011). Belmar was designed with the intent to reduce reliance on automobiles and to promote pedestrian activity while utilizing sustainable practices such as green-building with exceeding Energy Star requirements, sustainable materials and energy-conservation technology (Englebright, 2010). Belmar has integrated the new downtown to the adjacent civic and cultural centers and promote mass transit in the area being close to the light-rail station (Sobel & Greenberg, 2002). A project of this magnitude has accumulated high costs. The expected total development costs round up

to $750 million dollars with $320 million to be paid through public improvement fees and green bonds awarded by the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (Dunham-Jones and

Williamson, 2011).

Inputs Outputs Linear Metabolism Food

Energy Pollution & wastes

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Inputs Outputs Circular Metabolism

Local Renewable Composting Organic Energy Wastes

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Energy Pollution & wastes

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Local Food Recycling Materials

Figure 2-1. Comparing Linear and Circular Metabolism

Figure 2-2. From linear to circular: in an urbanizing world the metabolism of cities must become compatible with the ecosystems of planet Earth (Girardet, 2015).

Social Networks and Bottom-up X x x x Tactics Modular Building X x x x Alternative Energy Production x X Ecological Repair X X x X Transforming Zoning x X X Adaptive Reuse of Building x x x New Uses for Schools X Streetscape Elements X Supporting Diversity x x x x Financing Tools x x x Multiunit Housing x x x x x Innovative Building Types x x X x x Walkability and Bikeability x x x x x x X Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) x x x x x x Cultural Capital and the Arts X X Infill Development X x x x x x Supporting Local Economies x X x Housing Choice for Seniors x X Landscape Improvements X x x Suburban Agriculture x X x x x x New Mass Transit Networks x X x X Strengthening the Public/Civic X x X x Realm Retrofitting Office and Industrial X X Parks Retrofitting Shopping Centers x x x X X x

Retrofitting Auto Infrastructure x x x X x

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Winning schemes Noteworthy schemes Figure 2-3. Project Strategy Matrix (Williamson, 2013).

Figure 2-4. Seaholm District has helped reduce energy and water loads in this area. (Fisk et al., 2013).

Figure 2-5. Denver Area Malls (Dunham-Jones & Williamson, 2011)

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY

The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore new uses for the Collin Creek

Mall Property that would promote circular metabolism for the city. As a type of qualitative research, the case study approach can help make decisions for designs and policies in planning (Baxter and Jack, 2008). This chapter will outline the rationale for the city selection, research question, case study approaches, and limitations.

City Selection: Why Plano?

When completing an urban metabolism analysis, it is best to find a city that is implementing sustainable strategies – such as the promotion of renewable energy and walkability. A city that is already trying to be sustainable will have more information and will create a more detailed profile. There are many programs dedicated to making cities more environmentally friendly and evaluating those cities. Sustainable Cities

International and EcoDistricts are two groups dedicated to revitalizing cities. STAR

Community Rating System is a certification program for cities to evaluate their sustainability. Finding a city that is listed in more than one of these groups will allow a researcher to find and compile a greater profile of detailed information.

While developing the proposal for this thesis it was necessary to find a city with a declining mall. There are hundreds of malls throughout the United States that could benefit from revitalization. Many websites such as DeadMalls.com, and news articles are dedicated to discussing failing and abandoned malls as well as former malls that have been revitalized. Being able to visit the mall site, especially over a period of time, helps the researcher to experience how the mall has declined.

The researcher learned about Plano while completing a Biophilic Profile

Assignment based on Chapter 3 of the book Biophilic Cities by Timothy Beatley and article The Eco-City: Ten Key Transport and Planning Dimensions for Sustainable City

Development by Jeffrey R. Kentworthy. The assignment was to evaluate a city based on indicators from the two readings and an overall analysis based on Stephan Wheeler’s

Chapter 6 of Planning for Sustainability: Creating Livable, Equitable and Ecological

Communities. Indicators can be used to “demonstrate problems, motivate action, educate the public, and show positive effect of sustainability policies” (Wheeler, 2004).

The indicators from Beatley focused more on the environment and Kentworthy evaluates the policies that make a city sustainable. In his article, Kentworthy states that in order for a city to be sustainable the urban form must be compact and mixed use; nature is mixed into the city; car dependence is minimalized for walking, bicycling, and public transportation; closed-loop systems for water, energy, and waste management; economic performance and employment creation are maximized; and the public has a voice in decisions made about the planning process (Kentworthy, 2006). After completing the assignment it appeared that Plano would make a great case study since it has implemented many sustainable projects including the preservation of over 80 parks, implementation of bicycling trails, and inclusion of solar panel rebates. Further attention to Plano grew when reading articles about the Collin Creek Mall and the interest from the city’s planning staff and citizens to redevelop it. Looking into Plano more revealed that the city was currently undergoing an update of their comprehensive plan and had submitted for STAR Communities Certification.

Research Question

The case study evaluation has been conducted to answer the research question:

How could the redevelopment of the Collin Creek Mall help the Urban Metabolism of

Plano, TX?

Redevelopment is a second chance for a property to fulfill necessities of the community. In order to find redevelopment strategies for this property, additional questions are required to be answered. First there must be an understanding of the urban metabolism and environmental sustainability of the city as a whole.

Is the city of Plano able to reach circular metabolism? Is the city currently sustainable? Does the city promote a sustainable environment through their comprehensive plan?

After observing ecological sustainability at the city-scale, it is necessary to look at the site itself. It is important to understand the function of the site as well as using the research from the literature and urban metabolism analysis to inform possible land uses.

What are the current and future zoning ordinances? What are some of the amenities that this property could contain that would benefit the city?

These questions are necessary for understanding the future of Plano and the mall’s property. To answer these questions, the researcher examines weaknesses in the city’s policies and practices to find strategies that lend themselves to potential functions of the

Collin Creek Mall property towards increased sustainability for Plano. After completing the analyses, the researcher uses The Sprawl Repair Manual by Galina Tachieva.

Urban Metabolism Case Study

Originally the idea to evaluate Plano’s metabolism was to conduct a quantitative analysis. After evaluating the literature available, however, it was deemed impractical to collect and analyze all of the data necessary to fulfill a complete urban metabolism analysis. After this realization, a qualitative approach was used to evaluate Plano by the components measured in urban metabolism studies. Case study analysis is relevant to planners due to the utilization of narratives which are the primary sources. Like many case studies, this evaluation focuses on the end-result of transforming the city’s sustainability to reach circular metabolism.

The analysis begins with a brief history of the city’s built environment. It is important to understand how Plano developed in order to recognize the city’s policies on energy, water, waste, and air quality along with the values of the community. A community that is actively participating in the sustainability efforts shows that they are working together to achieve a healthier environment. With it also being a city in one of the largest oil states in the country, it is necessary to see if they are open to renewable energy sources. When looking for this information several books about the history of the town, the City-Data website, and the City of Plano website provided the information used to formulate this timeline. It also briefly discusses the STAR Communities Report to show how Plano is succeeding economically and socially, but needs work on the environmental sector of sustainability.

The second section of the analysis is a case study evaluation of Plano. The case study approach is based on the principles of urban metabolism with a focus on energy, water, waste, and air quality. Circular metabolism, as illustrated in Figure 3-1 (Dastur,

2010), keeps energy, water, and waste in the system, while also improving air quality 43

and eliminating wastes and pollution. Additionally, it is important to assess the population and the communication efforts to educate the public. Identifying the population and the public outreach efforts allows researchers to draw conclusions about the sustainability of the community. The primary sources of information come from

Plano Tomorrow, the new comprehensive plan which was approved by the City Council

October 12, 2015, and the STAR Communities Report on Plano completed May 2015.

Plano Tomorrow expresses the values of the community and goals they wish to achieve. The STAR Communities Ratings gives insight to the current sustainability practices of the city since it is an evaluation of the economic, social, and environmental practices of the city. Other information comes from books and journal articles as well as the North Texas Municipal Water District and City of Plano websites.

Collin Creek Mall Case Study

After the completion of looking into Plano’s sustainability at the city-wide scale, it is important to focus on the ways this parcel of land can help to achieve circular metabolism. In order to create recommendations for the future of Collin Creek Mall, it is necessary to evaluate the history, land use, building occupancy, and future land use.

The analysis begins with a brief background of the mall. This allows comprehension of the mall’s creation. Next it is necessary to look into the current land and building usage. If the mall has the potential to regain popularity or attract a new type of tenant, then the structure should remain. If more tenants continue to leave, especially department stores, then it does not make sense to keep it open. Finally studying the future land use to grasp how the city sees the future of this property and the surrounding area. This approach will allow the researcher to draw conclusions regarding the mall property’s potential to impact the city’s urban metabolism. The 44

information was collected via site visit, Rouse Properties information, Plano Tomorrow, and news articles.

Proposal

The next section of the thesis is an evaluation of the Collin Creek Mall property based on the city analysis, land use investigation, and the book The Sprawl Repair

Manual. Within Chapter Four: Repair at the Community Scale, Tachieva (2010) includes a section on shopping mall retrofitting. Using the land use code, Google aerial images, site visits, and Rouse Properties (2013) Site Plans, which can be found in

Appendix B, this researcher drew site plans to assess the property. The map highlights the main mall building, surrounding property land uses, green space, Spring Creek flow and culvert openings and areas for car usage: the surrounding roads, the six parking lots, the main road surrounding the parking lots, the interior “roads” of the parking lots, and the loading docks.

Tachieva’s three steps and seven factors provide guidelines for shopping mall retrofitting. The seven key factors are discussed first to understand how the property should be developed.

Following Tachieva’s steps, a map was drawn using the strategy to keep only the anchor stores and create a main street where the mall structure currently lays. As

Tachieva (2010) says, the retrofitting plans can begin with any of the strategies or in phases start from strategy one and over time phasing into strategy three. It would start from keeping the original structure and begin infilling the parking lots. Then, in phases, remove the main mall structure while keeping the anchor stores to create a town center.

Tachieva’s example includes infilling of surrounding properties of shopping centers,

office parks, and parking lots to transform the larger area into an agricultural village. It is critical to understand what the community would want the end result to look like.

The proposal includes a discussion of the Plano citizen’s desires for the future of this property and suggestions for redevelopment. The purpose of the planning profession is to design and implement for the greater good of all people. While a design or policy may work in one place it doesn’t mean it will be successful with the citizens of another place. This part of the chapter attempts to embrace the citizen’s opinions in the design process. The suggestions for redevelopment come from information learned in the literature review and the analyses.

While following Tachieva’s steps it was also important to consider the sustainability best practices in order to achieve environmental improvements.

Sustainability must be included from the very beginning of the design process rather than being an afterthought. The proposal is used to formulate the recommendations.

Limitations

One of the hardest parts of a case study according to Baxter and Jack (2008) is making sure that the question is not too broad. Although the research fulfills the need of the study at hand, there are several limitations from a planning student’s perspective in regards to the study of urban metabolism. The elements of air and water do not abide to political boundaries; a place can have all of the amenities to create a perfect circular urban metabolism, but have poor air quality if the neighboring cities have high pollution emissions. Second, the quantification of energy, water, waste, and air quality requires a significant amount of data. To obtain this data and process it would entail more time and knowledge of the industrial ecology methods. The organization of this case study is designed so that multiple cases could be documented and compared in future research. 46

Additionally, some of the industrial ecology jargon within the literature that is available requires further understanding of ecological processes than most planning professionals are familiar with. A researcher with a background in industrial ecology would be able to develop a more complex framework and analysis of the urban metabolism.

Figure 3-1. An attempt to reach circular metabolism (Dastur)

CHAPTER 4 URBAN METABOLISM: PLANO ANALYSIS

Plano’s Built Environment and Population

History of Planning and Population Changes in Plano

The City of Plano began as a rural suburb of Dallas, Texas. Long before Texas became a state, immigrants were granted land in the Plano area with the promise of becoming part of the Texas colony (“Plano Historical Timeline”). The town was named

Plano which is Spanish for flat, reflecting the surrounding landscape. Completion of the

Houston and Central Texas Railway in December 1872 helped to bring in new growth to the area. Plano became an incorporated city June 2, 1873 and by 1874 the population had more than 500 residents. Less than ten years later the population reached over

1,000 residents and by 1890 the population grew an additional 500 residents. Around this time Plano earned the reputation for having beautiful homes and “being a forward- thinking, upscale community” (McCulloch, 2000). Throughout the 1880s and 90s several fires ravaged the city, resulting in the city’s population to decline to 1,304 due to many residents and businesses having no insurance coverage and consequently were unable to afford rebuilding; in the same year, however, Plano schools experienced overcrowding (“Plano Historical Timeline”). Rebuilding in the early 1900s was stimulated by a visionary group of businessmen, known as the ’44 Club, whom sought early opportunities for economic advancement as a leader in North Texas (Plano

Conservancy for Historic Preservation, Inc., 2009).

In the 1920s, with a population of 1,715, Plano became one of the first towns of its size in Texas to pave the majority of its streets with almost all of the dirt roads paved by 1926. Plano’s first property appraisers and Planning and Zoning Commission were

appointed by Mayor Art Schell in 1932. The population grew to 2,126 shortly after World

War II. The first zoning ordinance established on August 27, 1956 drew the boundaries between land usage within the city. Shortly after, on October 2, 1958, the North Central

Expressway was completed through Plano connecting to McKinney which became an important contributing factor to Plano’s growth, which grew to 3,695 by 1960 (“Plano

Historical Timeline”).

The 1960s were very important to the planning and infrastructure construction of

Plano. Marvin Springer was hired in 1960 as the city planner to create the city’s first master plan and Plano was third in per capita construction throughout Texas. After two years of designing the master plan, the City Council began to review the plan “including studies on economics, land use, population, thoroughfares, storm drainage and water and sewer use” (“Plano Historical Timeline”). In 1963, the city council formed a 31 member Capital Improvement Committee to encourage additional citizen participation and make recommendations for a five-year Capital Improvement Program; this allocated $2.14 million for infrastructure and was approved by voters in 1964. The master plan was completed in 1965 with a new zoning ordinance, a future land use map, and proposed park and school sites. By 1965 the population had exploded to

13,097 (“Plano Historical Timeline”). In 1968, city officials established the Parks &

Recreation and the Planning & Engineering departments.

In January of 1970, the Plano population was 17,872; an increase of 384% in a single decade. When the population exceeded 65,000 in 1978, city officials realized the need to update their water and sewer plan. The Plano Parks and Recreation

Department gained national recognition when it received the 1978 Outdoor Recreation

Achievement Award from the U.S. Department of the Interior for the unique approach to park sites and the 1979 National Gold Medal from the National Recreation and Park

Association (“Plano Historical Timeline”). By 1979 the city was home to more than 100 businesses valued at $9.3 million and had won 23 industrial projects. In the same year the city adopted the Historic Landmark Preservation ordinance.

In 1980 the Plano population reached 72,331; a 304% increase since 1970. The

1980s saw an influx of large corporations, Frito-Lay and JCPenny for example, each moving their headquarters to Plano, specifically the Legacy Business Park. This addition of jobs was a primary catalyst for the population and housing construction explosion. The city received its first designation as Tree City U.S.A. by the National

Arbor Day Foundation in 1989.

By 1990 the Plano population reached 128,713; a 78% growth since 1980. In

1991 the city established a sub-committee of the Planning & Zoning Commission to prepare a plan for downtown development. The 90s saw numerous national awards.

Plano earned the 1994 title of “All-America City” from the National Civic League, which recognized Plano for crime prevention efforts of the police force, Plano Independent

School District’s Practical Parent Education program and the Plano Children’s Medical

Clinic. Plano won the 1996 National Recycling Excellence Gold Award after implementing a recycling program only five years earlier. Plano’s Parks and Recreation department received the 1996 Texas Recreation and Parks Society’s Texas Gold Medal

Award. In 1996 the companies Dr. Pepper, PageNet Inc. and Southwestern Legal

Foundation announced their headquarters would become an addition to the Legacy

Business Park. By 1997 Plano’s population surpassed 200,000. Electronic Data

Systems announced in 1997 and broke ground in 1999 on the new urbanism2 project known as Legacy Town Center (“Plano Historical Timeline”).

The population of Plano was 222,030 in 2000; a 72% increase since 1990. In

2001 Intuit Inc. and Ericsson joined the numerous corporations to move to the Legacy

Business Park and Crossmark announced their headquarters would remain and expand in Legacy. In the past decade, Plano has received numerous accolades for being a safe, popular, growing city. In January 2004, Money Magazine named Plano the” #1 hottest city in the West for cities with a population over 100,000” (“Plano Historical

Timeline”). CNN Money Magazine recognized Plano in 2005 and once again in 2011 for being one of the best cities in which to live in the western United States, and ranked 11th overall in the entire United States for 2006. In April 2006 the City Council recognized their 250,000th resident. In 2010, and again in 2011, Plano was ranked the Safest City in the country, by Forbes magazine (“Plano Historical Timeline”).

Plano continues to grow with more residents every year. Plano will soon reach maximum build-out; currently, less than 8% of the total land in Plano is still developable

(Fox, 2015). These two facts have motivated the city to look towards more sustainable planning practices for the future of Plano. On May 5, 2015 Plano became a 4-STAR

Certified Community, the second in Texas and 32nd in the nation; the score card is included in Appendix A. The City of Plano recently completed a major overhaul of their comprehensive plan titled Plano Tomorrow.

2 New urbanism developments are created by mixed land uses and have a “live, work, play” slogan which supports walkability and mass transit.

The older districts of Plano are undergoing revitalization and redevelopment with a focus on retaining the small-town feel and incorporating pedestrian oriented designs.

The critical success of current revitalization projects has been the use of public/private partnerships (Cline, 2012).

Sustainability in Plano

Sustainability is defined by three sections: economy, society, and the environment. Plano staff has been focusing on sustainability within the city. Staff members began the evaluation process to earn a rating from STAR Communities. In

May 2015, STAR Communities acknowledged Plano as a 4-star community, out of a possible 5, by earning 431.6 points. The breakdown of the points can be seen in

Appendix A.

There are eight categories: Built Environment; Climate & Energy; Economy &

Jobs; Education, Arts & Community; Equity & Empowerment; Health & Safety; Natural

Systems; and Innovation & Process Credits. The two categories Plano is weakest in are

Climate & Energy and Equity & Empowerment earning only 40.1 and 33.7 respectively, out of 100 for each category. The highest category is Health & Safety which earned

76.2% of possible points.

Urban metabolism is concerned only with the environmental part of sustainability.

The environment is the weakest of the three components of sustainability. The environmental ratings are discussed further throughout the analysis.

Evaluation of Plano

The four important components to look at for urban metabolism is energy, water, landfill, and air quality. It is important to see where Plano obtains energy and water to fuel the daily lives of its citizens. It is also necessary to see how the city disposes water

and other wastes. For each of the four areas of concern there is an evaluation of the ways Plano city officials are promoting more sustainable practices for obtaining energy and improving air quality while reducing the wastes. Additionally, it is important to assess the population, population density, and the communication and opportunities to educate the public to determine if citizens are aware of sustainability.

Energy

There are three major sectors for energy consumption: transportation, industry, and buildings. Of the four areas of concern, energy received the lowest marks on the

STAR certification assessment. Under the Climate and Energy section, the city only earned 40.1 out of 100 points. Plano earned partial credit for the increased ownership of alternative and fuel-efficient vehicles and full credit for removing restrictions on renewable energy systems as well as incentives for renewable and alternative fuel infrastructure (“STAR Communities”). The Energy Efficiency category under the subsections Industrial Sector Resource Efficiency, Resource Efficient Buildings, and

Resource Efficient Public Infrastructure all received zero points. Plano does offer a

Smart Energy Loan Program but stipulates that projects must receive a project eligibility letter before construction can begin.

Plano is described as a suburban city that was designed for the automobile

(Rouse, Kerns, Albright, Schwarz, Lande, & Kock, 2015). Plano is a city that is always on the go, especially with four major expressways going through or bounding the city limits. Bound to the north by Sam Rayburn Tollway and to the south by President

George Bush Tollway, intersected to the west by the Dallas North Tollway and in the east by US Highway 75 makes it easy to travel through and around Plano. High speed roadways require vehicles to use more fuel compared to slower speed roads. Some 53

parts of the city have access to DART, the regional public transit system. Every trip made via public transportation instead of a personal vehicle saves energy requirements.

Northern Plano lacks adequate public transportation throughout the city.

The diverse subsectors which make up Plano’s industry includes information technology, electronics, energy, finance, healthcare, marketing, and consumer goods production. The majority of industries in Plano are office buildings. Industrial zoning is a very small percentage of Plano’s zoning. As mentioned previously, Plano is home to a number of industry headquarters and medical centers whose energy use is primarily electricity.

Electricity accounts for 70% of energy consumption in residential and commercial buildings. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, ERCOT, manages 85% of the state’s electric load and groups the state into eight zones. The North Central Texas

Zone, which includes the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, is the highest consumer of electricity; 1/3 of all electricity consumption in Texas (Plano Solar Advocates, 2014). As for Plano’s electricity needs, Plano Solar Advocates (2014) found that the city of Plano consumes over four billion kilowatt-hours of electricity every year. In 2002, Texas

Senate Bill 7 approved the deregulation of electricity in Texas (Dyer, 2014); therefore citizens have many options to choose from. The goal of this bill was to make electricity more affordable while establishing the addition of renewable energy sources to the state. Another Senate Bill 20 expanded on SB7 renewable energy goals and established a target of 10,000 megawatts of renewable energy capacity for the state by

2025 (Dyer, 2014). TXU energy, one of the largest providers in Plano has incorporated energy efficiency monitoring and wind power into their business plan. The state has

primarily focused on wind power but Plano and the Dallas Metroplex are not in an area that is considered a high quality wind zone. On October 1, 2015 the company Intuit became 100% wind-powered through a wind farm in west Texas owned by Renewable

Power Direct, LLC, RPD, and delivered by RPD’s retail partner, XOOM Energy

(Hammet, 2015).

Due to a lack of resources from the city and energy providers in the area, a grass-roots group formed as the Plano Solar Advocates. This group created the program Solarize Plano which helps homeowners that are unfamiliar with the cost and technology involved in solar projects. The City of Plano’s Live Green Plano began to work with the group to help educate the public about solar power. The city is 72 square miles. Plano Solar Adovactes (2014) claim that 2.16 square miles of today’s solar technology, or 3% of the total surface area, could produce 40% of Plano’s electricital demands. Renewable energy harvested within the city would reduce energy lost through transmission from outside of the city.

Water

For the 2014 fiscal year, Plano’s resident families of four on average used

146,000 gallons of water annually (“Plano’s STAR Community Rating”). This includes being under the Stage 3 water restrictions from the North Texas Municipal Water

District, NTMWD. Plano purchases potable water from the NTMWD. According to the

2014 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report (2015), the Texas Commission on

Environmental Quality rates Plano’s water system as superior. NTMWD sources its water from surface water of Lavon Lake, Lake Texoma, Jim Chapman Lake, Lake

Tawakoni, Bonham Lake, and the East Fork Raw Water Supply Project (“About our water system”, 2014). Plano’s water primarily comes from Lake Lavon, Jim Chapman 55

Lake, Lake Tawakoni, and Lake Texoma and comes from the treatment plant in nearby

Wylie. In the STAR Communities rating, Plano earned 14.4 out of 15 points for drinking water quality and security (“STAR Communities”).

Plano has developed several ways to promote water conservation for residents.

The City of Plano promotes water conservation by providing free water retrofits including low-flow shower heads, toilet flappers, faucet aerators, rain gauges, and toilet leak detection tablets. The Water Conservation Rebate currently offers rebates for residents that install rain/freeze sensors by licensed professionals and for high efficiency toilets in homes built before 1994. In 2014, the city discontinued the rebates for rain barrels.

As the city has grown with impervious surfaces, it is necessary to manage the stormwater. Plano averages 35 inches of rain annually. As part of the Health

Department, the Stormwater Management Division manages the monitoring of stormwater quality, monitoring the drainage system, improving water quality, and educating the public. The stormwater management plan is updated every five years.

Plano was not able to demonstrate that the water withdrawn for human use is less than the amount of freshwater that enters the hydrological system and does not have a watershed management plan (“STAR Communities”).

Although potable water and stormwater management are the primary focus for most water issues, greywater and blackwater are the other types of water to be considered in urban metabolism. According to Plano Public Works Director Gerald

Cosgrove, Texas has allowed greywater irrigation since 2003, but no one in Plano has applied for a permit. (Korosec, 2012) The Environmental Education Center incorporates

greywater recycling to educate the public. For residents to implement greywater, Plano requires permitting, inspection, and backflow preventers to be installed to prevent contamination of fresh-water lines. As part of the NTMWD, sewage or blackwater is treated regionally and not within the Plano city limits.

Landfill

Since the 1970s people have been advocating “reduce, reuse, and recycle” to thwart the increasing amount of wastes going to landfills. As long as humans exist there will be waste, but managing that waste can help reduce the impact on future generation.

STAR Communities gave high marks for Waste Minimization, earning 6 out of 15 points for the demonstrating progress towards 100% reduction by 2050 in total solid waste generated and earned an additional 8.1 points for actions the city has taken to achieve this (“STAR Communities”).

The Environmental Waste Services Division of the Public Works Department provides four services: residential collections, customer service, commercial recycling, and compost operations & marketing. There are two solid waste transfer stations in

Plano and all solid waste is exported outside of the city limits through the NTMWD.

By providing several chemical pickup and composting options, Plano is reducing the amount of waste leaving the city. The city provides hazardous waste and household chemical pickup, taking those chemicals that can still be used to the Household

Chemical Reuse Center where other Plano residents can pick it up – for free! This program is not only reducing the impact on the landfills but also helps increase the equity of residents. The composting collection began as Plano’s composting program,

Texas Pure Products, in 1992. Today is diverts compostable materials from Plano,

Allen, Frisco, and McKinney and is sold to anyone with discounts for the residents of the 57

participating cities. Texas Pure compost has been certified by the U.S. Composting

Council and the Organic Materials Review Institute.

The city currently diverts 40% of waste from going to landfills by recycling (Plano

Tomorrow, 2015). The residential recycling is single-stream, meaning plastics do not have to be separated from cardboard or aluminum. Single stream recycling typically yields higher number of residents participating in recycling compared to programs that requires separating the specific materials. While these services reduce the waste going to the landfills, recyclables also leave the city limits through the NTMWD.

Air Quality

The CDC (2009) states that transportation-related pollutants are the largest contributor to unhealthy air and in urban areas, motor vehicles contribute more than

50% of the air pollution. Like water, the quality of the air is not controlled solely by the actions of Plano residents. Air quality falls under the regionalism pillar of Plano

Tomorrow. Action statements for air quality in Plano Tomorrow (2015) include reducing dependence on fossil fuels; working with state and local officials for reducing idling vehicles by improving traffic flows and implementing High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) access on expressways. Through the North Central Texas Council of Governments, there is a regional campaign known as Air North Texas which promotes clean air by maximizing walking and bicycling opportunities and reducing transportation emissions.

The air quality index for the region typically stays in the good to moderate range according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

The STAR Communities evaluation gives insight on how the city is working to improve air quality. Plano received only 5.3 out of 15 points for Outdoor Air Quality on the STAR ratings (“STAR Communities”). STAR gave the city credit for educating the 58

public but not for providing sidewalk and bicycling infrastructure nor reducing idling and congestion.

Lori Schwarz, former planning director, describes the design of Plano as suburban, suburban, accommodated for the automobile but is connected with Dallas Area Rapid Transit, DART, buses and rail (Rouse, Kerns, Albright, Schwarz, Lande, & Kock, 2015). DART is the regional alternative transportation system with rail lines, bus routes, one streetcar, one trolley, and an on-call service that serve the Dallas Metropolitan area,

Figure 4-1 is a road crossing near the Parker Road Station in Plano. The DART system primarily serves the southeastern area of Plano and the Legacy mixed-use development in northwestern Plano. There is no rail or bus service in north central

Plano. There are four park and ride lots within the Plano city limits which helps reduce the number of people driving into Dallas city limits. One noticeable deterrent for citizens to use public transportation, specifically buses, is the lack of public infrastructure such as benches or shelters from rain at the majority of bus stops. This can be seen in Figure

4-2, bus stops along Coit Road which is one of the major roadways.

A healthier transportation alternative is bicycling. Plano’s city staff has been working to improve cycling trails and safety. Plano has designated on-street cycling routes as well as over 70 miles of recreational trails (“Plano’s STAR Community

Rating”). Figure 4-3 is an example of the road signs throughout Plano to guide cyclists along the routes. Almost all of the Plano Independent School District schools are along one or more of these routes and trails.

Increasing walkability in cities is the best alternative form of transportation to reduce the impact on air pollution. Following the success of Legacy, a former office park transformed into a mixed-use district, Plano has been increasing their mixed use

developments over the last year. The Plano City Council approved two urban mixed-use developments in 2014, Beacon Square and Heritage Creekside, 86.2 acres and 156.3 acres respectively (Hansen, 2014). From Hansen’s (2014) article, Figure 4-4 shows the three developments. Plano has also been working on revitalizing Historic Downtown

Plano; on October 8th it was awarded as one of the Great Neighborhoods of the

American Planning Association’s “Great Places in America” Award. The boundaries of

Downtown Plano are located east of US Highway 75, catty-corner to the mall property as seen in Figure 4-5.

The best tool for clean air is the use of trees. Plano has received Tree City USA designation every year since 1989 making it one of the longest consistently designated cities. The goal of Tree City USA is to remember the importance of an urban tree canopy with four standards: having a tree board or department, tree care ordinance, community forestry program with an annual budget of at least $2 per capita, and an

Arbor Day observance and proclamation (Tree City USA, 2014). Along with previously stated environmental benefits provided, urban tree canopies also help with social benefits such as improved mental energy and concentration, influences social interaction, and well-kept tree canopies have a correlation with crime reductions; and economic benefits like “increased property values, increased tax revenue, improved health and lower healthcare costs” (Rouse and Templeton, 2015). The tree coverage for

Plano is about 16.4% of the total land. With over 83 parks and 4,200 acres of park land, the city has shown dedication to preserving open space for the health of its citizens.

One regional partner is the Texas Trees Foundation which has planted several trees within the city limits as part of their Tree North Texas Initiative to plant 3 million trees by

2023 in the 16 counties of the greater Dallas area. Compared to surrounding cities,

Plano has had the smallest percentage of trees planted through the Tree North Texas

Initiative.

Population

In order to move forward in any community, planners must recognize the community they are planning for including future growth and diversity. One aspect of sustainable cities is the density of the population and mixed use zoning. Originally an agricultural community and then becoming a first-ring suburb of Dallas by the late

1960s, Plano and other surrounding suburban cities have grown immensely over the last half century. The average population density is 3,834 people per square mile and will increase as the population grows (“Plano, TX”). Most of the housing stock was built between 1970 and 2000, and many families moving to the area prefer the modern housing rather than investing in “fixer-uppers” (Plano Tomorrow, 2015).

Plano is becoming increasingly diverse. Plano is attracting millennials and international families to the vast business opportunities and abundant housing variety.

According to Lori Schwarz, former Planning Director of Plano, one in four residents are born outside of the United States (Rouse, Kerns, Bednarek, Schwarz, Lande, and Koch,

2015). Plano Tomorrow (2015) notes that aging residents want to remain in their single- family homes but have walkable access to recreational opportunities and millennials want access to alternative transit in walkable communities.

It must be noted that the citizens of Plano are very passionate about the fate of the city. As seen in the October 12th City Council Meeting, many of Plano’s citizens desire the city to maintain its suburban character (City of Plano City Council, 2015). A group of citizens formed the group Plano Future to express the concerns created during 61

the creation of the Plano Tomorrow Comprehensive Plan. Plano Future is striving to keep Plano an environmentally safe, suburban city by limiting multifamily apartment complexes due to concerns of school overcrowding and traffic congestion.

Public Communication

Citizens that are informed about sustainability are more likely to live sustainably and vote on matters that affect the sustainability of the city therefore improving a city’s urban metabolism. McMahon (2013) states that in order for a community to be successful, it is important to use education because it reduces the need for regulation, promotes citizens to take voluntary action, and helps to create a sense of community.

Since April 2015, this researcher subscribed to Plano’s electronic newsletters to monitor the frequency and range of topics released to the public. There are several subsections, as seen in

Figure 4-6, that a resident can choose from including Live Green in Plano newsletters. Live Green Plano is the Sustainability and Environmental Education

Division’s initiative to promote citizens to live more sustainably. It is surprising to see the dedication that the city staff and citizens of Plano have become at teaching sustainability principles to all ages through multiple programs from Eco-Tots,

Sustainability Series at the Davis Library, and classes on a variety of topics from wise landscaping to energy efficiency. Having a well-informed community is a contributing factor for the fate of a city’s urban metabolism. The Live Green in Plano e-mails did not have a consistent frequency due to special events throughout the summer aiming at parents to get school-aged children involved while being out of school.

Summary of Plano’s Metabolism

Urban metabolism studies are growing in popularity for resource allocation evaluation and as a sustainability indicator. Advancing the understanding of urban metabolism as well as utilizing sustainability’s best practices among the average citizen will certainly help urban metabolism studies gain momentum. Reducing our impact on resources now will help future generations.

With national awards and high ratings for sustainability, parks and recreation, well-being, living, and several others, it is clear that the City of Plano is already paving the way towards sustainability within the city and as a partner regionally. The goal of circular urban metabolism, however, has not been met. Until there is community support to take advantage of the opportunities throughout the city, it will not achieve circular metabolism.

Part of Plano’s ability to boast about their sustainability efforts is due in part to the exportation of the unwanted problems: waste and wastewater. Plano’s lack of green infrastructure requires the city to import water from the region and export waste.

Although Plano relies on working with regional partners for energy requirements, water quality, air quality, and waste removal, it is important to minimize their own impact to aid these partners and to influence surrounding towns and cities to improve the regional urban metabolism. The city’s air and water quality would benefit from increasing the urban tree canopy. The lack of public transportation opportunities for the entire city combined with low density zoning means that Plano is going to be dependent upon personal cars for many years.

The use of the STAR Communities Report helps in understanding the sustainability of the city. STAR Communities 4-star rating says the community is doing a 63

good job overall achieving the three pillars of sustainability: ecology, economy, and society. Looking further into the scores, Plano can do much better in the environmental categories.

Plano Tomorrow, the city’s new comprehensive plan, provides new goals to make the city more sustainable. Many of the older residents of Plano fear that Plano

Tomorrow with goals for revitalization and increased housing opportunities – specifically multifamily residential apartments – will mean that Plano will lose its suburban feel

(Taketa, 2015). While comprehensive plans are supposed to guide development and redevelopment to keep the character of the community, it must also recognize the changing demographics since it is the public policy that guides transportation, utilities, land use, recreation, and housing. Through Plano Tomorrow, the planning and zoning department has shown great effort to invigorate the city’s sustainability with mixed-use developments. Before passing the Plano Tomorrow Comprehensive Plan, Mayor Harry

LaRosiliere stated that only thing changed in the vision statement is the word sustainable which shows the “understanding” that the city will strive to be environmentally friendly (City of Plano City Council, 2015).

The city can benefit from redevelopment by restoring natural landscapes, creating walkable communities with low to medium density to preserve the suburban nature, building additional schools, and invigorating businesses in the places that have started declining.

Figure 4-1. Rail Crossing near Parker Road Station. Photo courtesy of Lauren Mecke

Figure 4-2. Bus Stops Along Coit Road. Photo courtesy of Lauren Mecke

Figure 4-3. Bicycle Route Sign. Photo courtesy of Lauren Mecke

Figure 4-4. Plano's Mixed Use Developments. Photo courtesy of the Karahan Companies (Hansen, 2014)

Figure 4-5. Location of Downtown Plano in Relation to Collin Creek Mall from Google Maps.

Figure 4-6. "Subscribe to the City of Plano" form from Plano.gov

CHAPTER 5 COLLIN CREEK MALL ANALYSIS

Background on the Collin Creek Mall

Plano has only one shopping mall within the city limits: the Collin Creek Mall. The

Collin Creek Mall is owned by Rouse Properties and is anchored by JCPenny, Macy’s,

Sear’s and Amazing Jake’s with over one million square feet of retail space (Rouse

Properties, 2013). On February 12, 1979, the City Council endorsed the construction of a “super-regional” mall and nine months later, city officials announced that a 1.4 million square foot regional mall would be built (“Plano Historical Timeline”). Located in southern Plano, the mall is easily accessible due to its location on three main roads of the city: Alma Drive, West Plano Parkway and the North Central Expressway as detailed by the Plano GIS Department (2015) in Figure 5-3. To the west of the mall is a suburban residential development and to the east, across US Highway 75, is additional commercial and industrial properties. Less than 1,000 feet west of the mall property is

Sigler Elementary School. In July 1981, the Collin Creek Mall opened; there was an expansion in 1992, and a renovation in 2008 (“Plano Historical Timeline”, Rouse

Properties). Through their ordinances and many projects, the city of Plano has displayed great effort promoting higher density, mixed-use development projects. Collin

Creek is underutilized, with stores shutting down or leaving the mall. For many years, city staff and residents of Plano have expressed interest in the redevelopment of the

Collin Creek Mall, thus establishing an increased probability of the mall and property being redeveloped in the near future (“Summary Report”, 2014).

Collin Creek Mall Land Use and Surrounding Properties

The Collin Creek Mall is a two story, enclosed mall with 1,112,214 square feet of retail space. There are 135 store fronts and kiosks with five anchor stores that are each two floors as illustrated in Appendix B.

Although retail space vacancy rates are as low as 5%, Plano has 3 times the national average for available retail space in the city which leaves many spaces underutilized (Plano Tomorrow, 2015). The mall currently has a vacancy rate of 19.4% and smaller stores in the surrounding properties are constantly changing. This researcher has made several visits to the Collin Creek Mall from April 2013 through August 2015.

Over this period there was an increase in the number of vacant stores. In fall 2013,

Dillard’s closed its doors leaving one of the anchor stores abandoned. During a trip on

August 13, 2015 this researcher counted a total of 32 stores and restaurants, as well as the former Dillard’s, were all vacant. Figure 5-2 shows several closed storefronts.

Driving onto the mall property from any direction the first thing one might notice is the vast, empty sea of parking as seen in Figure 5-3. With six parking lots surrounding the Collin Creek Mall, there are approximately 6,223 parking spaces enclosed by an access road as illustrated in Appendix B (Rouse Properties, 2013). Large, impervious, concrete parking lots with few trees or shrubbery such as this one prevents water from naturally flowing into the aquifer system and contributes to an urban heat island effect.

One of the few positive effects of this large empty space is that it allows enough space for citizens interested in obtaining their motorcycle license to take classes on the property from the Texas Motorcycle Training group. On the edge of the parking lot and access road in front of the empty anchor store is a clothes and shoe recycling center.

Several articles about the Collin Creek Mall have discussed the need for renovations within the building. Although there was a renovation in 2008, this 34 year- old structure is likely to contain a high concentration of asbestos, which is a concern if the building is demolished or renovated. The only construction occurring during the

August 13, 2015 visit was in Macy’s. Many of the vacant stores looked abandoned with trash left from the previous tenants. Some residents in the community are relying on the new mixed use developments like the nearby Heritage Creek to bring in high-end stores and restaurants as well as aesthetic improvements to encourage the existing retail in the area to revitalize (Hansen, 2014).

Spring Creek flowed freely through the property before the mall was built. At some point in the mall’s construction, a culvert was created to divert Spring Creek underneath the mall property. Spring Creek naturally would flow where the parking lots and access roads are located through the eastern portion of the property. Although it is difficult to see the creek enter from the north side due to walls and surrounding buildings, the opening of the culvert on the southern side of the property shows a slow trickle of what is now Spring Creek.

Future Land Use

The current land use zoning plan adopted by the city council on March 28, 2011 lists the Collin Creek mall as Freeway Commercial with surrounding properties being

Residential, Light Industrial, Low Intensity Office and also Freeway commercial. The

Spring Creek is zoned as Major Parks and Recreation until the Freeway Commercial zones. The flow of Spring Creek through the mall property is listed as a proposed park on the Park Master Plan (2012) as seen in Figure 5-.

In Plano Tomorrow, as seen in Figure 5-5, the Collin Creek Mall property’s future land use zoning is Compact Complete Center and Open Space Network. Plano staff defines Compact Complete Centers as areas designated for significant redevelopment into mixed-use, self-contained neighborhoods with reduced surface parking, useable open space, and encouraged efficient use of land (Plano Tomorrow, 2015).

Simultaneously, the comprehensive plan indicates specific areas which are expected to grow and change as seen in Figure 5-6. Plano Tomorrow (2015) designates the Collin

Creek Mall property as Freeway Commercial zones with Open and Social Space. Plano city staff describes the Freeway Commercial zones as evolving urban areas which are existing areas that “are expected to experience extensive large-scale change through major redevelopment projects that evolve into distinct walkable districts (Plano

Tomorrow, 2015).

Collin Creek Mall Discussion

Along with attention to sustainability, city residents and officials are very focused on revitalizing the Collin Creek Mall and surrounding properties. During several trips to the mall it was noted that many stores appeared to have no customers especially the several competing jewelry stores. Some of the stores closed for the staff to take lunch.

The stores that appeared to attract the most patronage were the remaining anchor stores JCPenny, Sears, Amazing Jake’s and Macy’s, clothing stores, and a video game store selling older consoles and games. There appears to be little effort from Rouse

Properties to attract new tenants that would suggest the mall will continue to operate successfully.

The mall will not regain its popularity as the city moves forward with several mixed-use developments and improves Downtown Plano. City officials and residents 71

identify the mall property as having potential for redevelopment which led to its reclassification on the future land use map in Plano Tomorrow. It is time for the owners to decide if they should invest in a new opportunity or get out before more mall tenants leave.

The existing department store, mall tenants, donation station, and motorcycle classes do not need to be erased from this property’s future. The former Dillard’s, now abandoned department store, holds the potential for new uses. Citizens are concerned with overcrowded schools; this building could be transformed into a new high school.

Current mall tenants could be the first group to move into new commercial buildings built during the infill process. The donation station could also move into a new building.

As long as there is enough open parking space, the motorcycle classes could continue to be held on the property. But the idea of infilling all of the parking lots suggest they will have to move to one of the other under-utilized shopping centers in town. The following section will discuss this in greater detail.

Figure 5-3. Collin Creek Mall Location (Plano GIS Department)

Figure 5-2. Four of the Numerous Store Closed Inside of Collin Creek Mall. Photo courtesy of Lauren Mecke

Figure 5-3. Empty Parking Lots at Collin Creek Mall. Photo courtesy of Lauren Mecke

Figure 5-4. Parks Master Plan (2012)

Figure 5-5. Future Land Use Map (Plano Tomorrow, 2015)

Figure 5-6. Growth and Change Map (Plano Tomorrow, 2015)

CHAPTER 6 PROPOSAL USING TACHIEVA’S MALL SPRAWL REPAIR METHOD

Tachieva (2010) includes a chapter on shopping mall retrofitting in her book

Sprawl Repair Manual. Within the section she discusses three overall strategies and seven key factors to think about when analyzing the site. The three strategies are keeping the mall structure and infilling the surrounding areas; keep only the anchor buildings and transforming the main mall structure into a main street; and lastly remove the mall entirely. A designer can choose to select only one of the three strategies or use all three strategies in phases to get to the desired end-result. The seven key factors are: introduce new building types and mixed uses, connect and repair thoroughfares, rationalize parking, define open and civic spaces, integrate local food production, rezoning, and phasing. Each of these factors is important to keep in mind when determining what the end-result will look like.

Based on Tachieva’s method, this researcher illustrates the Collin Creek Mall site based on the Rouse Properties’ (2013) site plans, current land use map from the city, and Google Map aerial images as seen in Figure 6-4. This map identifies specific elements of the site. In the map, the researcher highlights the roadways, parking lots, entrances and exits, loading docks, main mall structure, surrounding properties as well as identifying Spring Creek and culvert openings. Using Tachieva’s method, the next step is to look at the seven key factors to understand how the property should be redeveloped.

Seven Key Factors

The first factor that Tachieva proposes is to introduce new building types and mixed uses, which is a key concept of increasing density while also increasing the site’s

efficiency. Infill development is necessary for repairing the sprawl-centric designs that created indoor shopping malls.

Connecting and repairing thoroughfares is the idea of creating new roads and pathways. As part of any large scale development, there must be a design for the flow of traffic. The Collin Creek Mall property has the roadway as part of their parking design which helps the flow of traffic on and off of the property. If the future of this property is to turn the mall into a main street, it would be important to plan for the flow of traffic. The property would also benefit from connecting to the neighborhood to the west by adding bicycle and walking pathways.

The concept of rationalizing parking is to reduce the number of underutilized parking lots while also strategically hiding them. The sea of asphalt that surrounds the

Collin Creek Mall is highly underutilized. Small parking garages would suffice the need for parking and allow for redevelopment to occur.

Within the mall retrofitting plan it is important to define open and civic spaces by weaving plazas, playgrounds, and civic structures throughout. By using the assessment of Part I, there are several opportunities for the future of the property to create more open space. As mentioned earlier, Figure 5-4, Figure 5-5, and Figure 5-6, each depict the mall property connecting to the existing greenspace of the city which suggests restoration of Spring Creek. This restoration would create more open, green space. The restoration of Spring Creek could be connected through a network of bicycling paths that would allow access to the neighborhood to the west of the property. Additionally, this large property provides ample opportunity to add to the tree coverage of the city.

Another factor to keep in mind is the integration of local food production. To promote local food production, rooftop gardens can be implemented onto the existing and future buildings. Food grown on these rooftop gardens can be used in restaurants or sold in a farmers market. Food production is not for every community and it would depend on the people that live and work here to decide how important this is to them.

The next factor is rezoning. The rezoning factor has already been established in

Plano Tomorrow as a Compact Complete Center. The Compact Complete Center zoning designation allows future development to be a mix of residential and commercial uses.

Phasing is an important factor to determine the steps that will be taken to get to the end result. A phasing strategy can help to plan for major construction on a large- scale development while allowing the current tenants to continue their business during the construction. If the future of this property is to keep the department stores open while tearing down the connecting mall structure, it would be important to plan which areas could be closed off without affecting the department stores. A phasing strategy would also plan for new construction and ecological restoration for the development.

Community and Existing Surroundings

When thinking about the future of the Collin Creek Mall property, it is important to remember the concerns of the citizens. The group of concerned citizens known as

Plano Future have formed to make sure that the city remains suburban, focuses more on the quality of schools and development practices, and reducing traffic congestion.

Ideally, a public charrette would also be conducted to engage citizens to explore their ideas for the future of this property. Based on these facts, unlike many mall redevelopments throughout the country, the mall’s property should not be redeveloped 79

into a high-density property. According to Plano Future’s presentation at the Planning and Zoning meeting held June 29th, 2015, the Collin Creek Mall area is over 200 acres of the 900 acres of compact complete centers in Plano (Dillavou, Hall, Hittle, Mason, &

Kendler, 2015). The citizens input have suggested that the property should not be redeveloped as high-density residential, but rather office, retail and entertainment with the possibility of minor residential.

The property should attempt to integrate with the existing neighborhood to the west. The possibility for residential uses on the property must listen to citizen’s concerns. It is possible to create a higher density by having smaller yards for single family, detached homes. This aids neighborhoods to become more walkable while maintaining the desires of Plano citizen’s to keep the character suburban.

Redevelopment

The general idea of redevelopment for this property is to keep the department stores and existing roads, infill the parking lots, daylight Spring Creek, and create a main street through the center. A map depicting these ideas can be seen in Figure 6-5.

Proposed Infill, Environmental Restoration, and Mainstreet. To achieve this redevelopment, a public-private partnership will be necessary to finance this venture.

Residents, developers, and city officials need to consider what amenities they want on this property. There are endless possibilities to the tenants that could be in this mixed use development: a grocery store, an office building that provides jobs, or a school building. While thinking about infilling, it is also important to consider new uses for the empty department store.

The three parking lots on the western side would ideally be infilled with new developments and parking structures. These western parking lots account for between 80

30 and 40 acres, between the “road” circling the property and the road along the department stores. People of community have stated that they do not want this property to turn into multi-story apartment complexes. To integrate with the existing neighborhood, it would be rational to include housing, neighborhood amenities, and small stores. The smallest lot of single-family dwellings can fit 9 units per acre and townhomes can fit 15 units per acre (Dunham-Jones and Williamson, 2011). Using these numbers, the western parking lots could be redeveloped into approximately 270 single-family units or up to 600 townhouse units.

The eastern parking lots should daylight the spring creek and infill the remaining areas. Daylighting Spring Creek provides the opportunity for the area to become a new park in the city. Other uses after restoration along the creek could include restaurants and a hotel. The border of the eastern road on the property is a wall between the adjacent properties. This blank canvas holds the potential for public art from local artists displaying murals of Plano’s history.

The next step is to look at tearing down the mall structure. This structure is approximately the size of 6 acres. From the northern point between the empty department store and Sears down to the southern point between Macy’s and J.C.

Penny’s is roughly1100 feet; 172 feet wide between the empty store and Sears and 230 feet between Macy’s and J.C. Penny’s. Like other malls in the United States, it should be converted into a main street with a variety of stores and uses. To preserve the suburban character of the city, this new main street and infill buildings should not exceed a three story building.

Sustainability Best Practices

In order to allow the city as a whole to attain circular metabolism, it will start at the neighborhood scale. The important aspect to remember during the redevelopment design of Collin Creek Mall is that it should implement sustainability best practices.

Using these ten practices to the fullest extent turns the property into a self-sustaining

EcoDistrict. Plano’s planning staff should reach out to Austin planning officials to learn about the complexities and rewards of having EcoDistricts in their city.

The site should implement renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies to reduce the energy demand and achieve zero net energy. The site can capture solar energy through photovoltaics and solar heating. Public amenities such as crosswalk signs, parking meters, and street lighting can be solar powered. Using high efficiency appliances will reduce the energy demand as well as reduce the need for carbon sources such as natural gas or coal.

With increased density of the property means there will be an intensified usage of water and maintenance of storm water. Water is a limited resource. Texas is a state known for the increased depletion of their aquifers. One way to provide potable water is to implement Living Machines. There are three types of Living Machines: one uses hydroponic or aquaculture methods, or tidal flow wetland systems. The Living Machine uses natural processes to clean water without the use of harsh chemicals. Living

Machines allows water to remain on the property by recycling 100% of sewage. To reduce storm water, impervious surfaces should be replaced and vegetation should be added. Green roofs, bioswales, and trees reduce the runoff of storm water. Daylighting the creek and adding vegetation allows for the water to naturally percolate into the

ground and filter into the water table and help reduce the storm water on the eastern portion of the property.

In order to achieve circular metabolism for the mall property it should be turned into an EcoDistrict geared towards recycling businesses like the [Re]Manufacturing

Hub. Along with a Living Machine for wastewater, having businesses geared towards recycling would help reduce the amount of waste and recyclables that are exported outside of the city and keep any recyclable wastes on the property. An EcoDistrict geared towards sustainable businesses could be an ideal location for the Texas Pure

Products to have a new composting site and retail location. This would provide an opportunity for other cities to become member cities and divert their compostable items.

Texas Pure Products composting could be used to grow food on the property and the food waste would be kept on the property going back to Texas Pure Products.

The addition of open space such as parks helps the community by reducing carbon emissions and increasing health benefits. Some of the open space could be used as community gardens to grow food locally. The Tree North Texas Initiative can provide tree planting on the redevelopment.

Encouraging people to walk, bicycle and use public transportation through the development reduces the number of cars going to the site. By providing stores within walking distance to the neighborhood reduces the number of cars to obtain everyday needs.

One of the sustainability best practices is community and individual action.

Increasing public communication and education efforts will help the community to implement sustainability in the city. A public charrette should be held by city staff to

allow the community to be part of the redevelopment and consider their input. If the citizens feel like their opinions and input matter, they are more willing to participate in sustainable efforts.

Summary

Using Tachieva’s method for mall retrofitting and the sustainability best practices, this proposal will allow the Collin Creek Mall property to be redeveloped into a self- sustaining EcoDistrict. If this 22% of the compact complete centers that are focused on future redevelopment into mixed-use, self-contained neighborhoods becomes an

EcoDistrict it could create a domino effect with the other 88% of compact complete center areas and other places within the city to follow. If all redevelopment and new developments within the city incorporate sustainable best practice designs it will help the city become one step closer to reaching circular metabolism.

To implement this redevelopment it will take a few years, millions of dollars, and patience, but it is possible to create a circular metabolism for the neighborhood scale.

This proposal is summarized further in the Recommendations Based On This Research.

Figure 6-4. Collin Creek Mall Property Map

Figure 6-5. Proposed Infill, Environmental Restoration, and Mainstreet

CHAPTER 7 FINDINGS

Recommendations Based On This Research

The city cannot reach circular metabolism without extreme policy and infrastructure changes at the mesoscale. While circular metabolism seems unachievable, it should not thwart sustainability initiatives. The Collin Creek Mall property can contribute to sustainability efforts of the city. The property is 22% of the areas zoned compact complete centers; the areas indicated as future redevelopment into mixed-use, self-contained neighborhoods. If this property becomes a green, sustainable development or EcoDistrict, it could encourage the other 88% of compact complete center areas and other places within the city to follow. If all redevelopment and new developments within the city incorporate sustainable best practice designs it would result in helping the city become one step closer to reaching circular metabolism.

The research from the analyses has directed this researcher to form the following recommendations for future redevelopment of the Collin Creek Mall property. These recommendations are for everyone involved in the redevelopment process: governmental officials, developers, and citizens of the city.

1. Form a private-public partnership to purchase the property and create a new development.

Private-public partnerships have been the primary way to give new life to dead malls. The city has already kept an eye on the mall property and is more than likely willing to work with an investing developer. The City of Plano should obtain the property and re-plat new property lines to sell the properties to developers. The entrances and access road that surrounds the mall could remain intact except in the northeast corner of the property which culverts Spring Creek. Mall tenants should move to other areas of

the city or work with city officials to become part of the redevelopment of the mall property.

2. Complete a public charrette to have input from the community.

Plano residents have shown how passionate they are about their city throughout the completion of the Plano Tomorrow Comprehensive Plan. It is important to show the public that their input matters for the future of sustainability in Plano. Achieving their support will encourage the residents to actively participate.

3. Revitalize the property into an EcoDistrict with the sustainability best practice components so that its metabolism is circular at the local scale.

The best practice components would incorporate green infrastructure which is lacking especially on the mall property but also throughout Plano. Some of the best practice components include:

a. Develop the site to capture renewable energy and maximize energy efficiency.

If the site can eliminate electrical demand at the local level, it reduces the electricity demand on the city. The property is over 20 acres of potential area for photovoltaic panels.

As the site is redeveloped, it is important to use energy efficient technologies to reduce the energy consumption of buildings as they currently throughout the United

States account for 40% of all energy demands. Ways to maximize energy efficiency include the windows, the building envelope, the appliances, the lighting, and visible energy modeling. Shading techniques, window coatings, building insulation, and roofing materials are all ways to reduce natural heating from the sun during summer months and reduce energy “lost” through cracks in the building. EnergyStar products and LED lighting consumes less energy compared to conventional appliances and light bulbs.

Energy modeling provides consumers a visual representation of building energy consumption to identify where, when, and how much energy is being used. When the consumer can see when and where their demand is highest, it can incentivize them to change their energy consumption habits.

b. Incorporate stormwater reduction methods.

Stormwater is the result of increased impervious surfaces that causes large volumes of water that can cause flooding, erosion, and brings pollutants into the watershed. There are several types of stormwater reduction methods including green roofs, natural defenses like bio-swales, trees and shrubbery, rain catchments, and reducing the amount of impervious surfaces. Green roofs, bio-swales, trees and shrubs reduce the rainfall from landing on the ground. Rain catchments reduce the amount of landing on the ground while reducing the usage of potable water. Increasing the pervious surface of the property allows water to seep into the ground naturally.

c. Implement a Living Machine to process wastewater and provide potable water within the site

Living Machines are a new technological answer to the issue of declining potable water resources especially in a dry state like Texas. A small scale example is in the neighboring city of Dallas. The city’s animal shelter uses a Living Machine to recycle water to maintain the 10,000 gallons per day needed to maintain the kennels. Annually it reduces potable water requirements by 70% or one million gallons. Making a large scale Living Machine or using multiple Living Machines will allow the property to be self- sustaining and reduce water demand from the NTMWD.

d. Restore Spring Creek by daylighting to improve the ecological health of the property.

Daylighting the creek helps reduce stormwater runoff and aids the water table.

Native plants that would thrive in Plano would help to naturally clean the water as it enters into the Trinity River basin. Spring Creek flows south through neighborhoods in

Richardson and Garland until it meets Rowlett Creek which eventually flows into Lake

Ray Hubbard, a major drinking water source for other cities in the region. Daylighting the creek could add to Plano’s expansive greenspace and public parks. The aesthetic addition of native plants not only adds to the property value and environmental value but would also reduce the heat island effect of the property and provides health benefits of the community.

e. Increase the tree coverage of the property to reduce the heat island effect, reduce stormwater runoff, and increase ecological process of water and air filtration.

Currently there are very few trees or other vegetation on the property. The mall is a vast amount of land near two major corridors which produces high auto-emissions.

The mall property has the potential to reduce the effects of these auto-emissions and increase tree coverage on the site scale. Increasing the tree coverage reduces heat island effect, reduces stormwater runoff, filters water as it naturally seeps into the ground, and improves the air quality. Plano as a city has not actively been a part of the

Tree North Texas Initiative compared to neighboring cities. They could be a source of trees for the property. Participating in this regional campaign could encourage more trees to be planted in the area.

f. Convert the property to be zero-waste.

As a new EcoDistrict, it should attract sustainable businesses like the

[Re]Manufacturing Hub. Increased recycling along with a Living Machine would help

reduce the amount of waste and recyclables that are exported outside of the city.

Increasing composting with Texas Pure Products would allow for residents to grow their own food. Being zero-waste is a huge challenge but would be a significant accomplishment for this suburban city.

4. Improve infrastructure and increase transportation routes to promote public transportation and reduce the necessity for personal vehicles for citizens to get to the property.

In order to help reach circular metabolism it would be necessary to increase public transportation options throughout the city to make the property accessible. City- wide, there should be an investment in the public infrastructure to include benches and shelters at bus stops. People are less likely to use public transportation if they do not feel safe while waiting. Several bus stops along Coit Road, a major north-south road, is nothing but open grass with no sidewalk or bench, only the sign to indicate that it is a bus stop.

Further Research

The implementation of urban metabolism analyses in the field of planning is just beginning. This study of urban metabolism for the City of Plano provides a few opportunities for future research. First, conducting a quantitative analysis on the city’s processes would be the next step in further research. Having a background in environmental ecology is necessary to understanding the processes being evaluated.

There will be an extensive collection of data and will take no less than a year to compile all of the necessary information. Another opportunity, as the findings reflected, is the dependence of the city on the NTMWD’s water and waste management. If a researcher could collect the data, it would be interesting to evaluate the NTMWD’s metabolism for water and waste it collects, generates, and exports.

Urban planners are very familiar with suburban revitalization. There will be more projects and opportunities throughout the United States. The books by Williamson,

Dunham-Jones and Tachieva provide excellent theories for all types of redevelopment.

These women are leading the way of research regarding retrofitting and any research on redevelopment is incomplete without them. Williamson’s (2013) inclusion of the Build a Better Burb competition sparks an idea for other cities and possibly mall properties to have similar competitions that are detailed to a city’s specific needs. Plano city officials or a private group, maybe Plano Future, should look into developing their own competition for the future of the city.

Conclusion

The city of Plano is becoming a regional leader for sustainability practices but has a long road ahead before it can come close to reaching circular metabolism.

Environmental sustainability efforts should be maximized in the redevelopment of the

Collin Creek Mall and all other future developments.

The city heavily relies on the regional services provided by the NTMWD that prevents it from having circular metabolism. Future research on urban metabolism in this area should either focus on the neighborhood scale, if they choose to implement mixed-use EcoDistricts, or to look at the NTMWD’s boundaries for water and waste. The

STAR Certification, while being highly rated with four stars, shows that the city of Plano has the opportunity to improve the environment and sustainability. Plano needs to continue the initiatives that have succeeded and work on improving the weaknesses.

The city should continue encouraging residents to install solar powered photovoltaics and water heaters and energy efficient appliances. Plano relies very heavily on the

DART system to provide transportation and does not service the entire city. Continuing 92

arguments over Plano Tomorrow between Plano Future and the city staff and council over the possibility of more apartments is wasted time. These people need to focus on financing great projects that will preserve the suburban character of the city and increase sustainability.

Mall and similar greyfield redevelopment is becoming more common throughout the United States. By utilizing these sites, cities and towns can fulfill the specific needs of their communities. The implications of this study are not bound solely to suburban shopping malls, but also strip mall centers, big box stores, apartment complexes, and any other property of significant size that is underperforming and redevelopment would greatly benefit the community. Plano’s extensive commercial areas have left many places underutilized throughout the city and would benefit from retrofitting. The Collin

Creek Mall will undoubtedly close in due time and the city must plan for the site’s future.

Many of the stores in the mall, the donation station on the north side of the property, and motorcycle classes could easily remain on the property without the mall or find another location in Plano. Redevelopment of the Collin Creek Mall would influence the surrounding commercial properties to one day be retrofitted as well.

By looking at the site, using Tachieva’s factors for mall sprawl repair, and using the research found in regards to urban metabolism, a proposal and several recommendations were created. The proposal, using Tachieva’s method, analyzes the site based on surrounding properties and environmental restoration. The mall site and surrounding properties hold the potential to restore ecological functions. The recommendation for the Collin Creek Mall property is to form a private-public partnership between the city and developers to create an EcoDistrict development with

circular metabolism at the district scale. Completing this will encourage other underperforming shopping centers to redevelop and consequently helping the urban metabolism get closer to being circular.

The intent of this study is to add to the body of knowledge on urban metabolism and mall retrofitting. Planners, policymakers, voters, and developers should become more knowledgeable about the weaknesses of sustainability of their city and work to develop healthier environments. The research on mall retrofitting ought to inspire the implementation of sustainable practices in redevelopment projects.

APPENDIX A SCORECARD OF STAR COMMUNITIES CERTIFICATION

Built Environment 55.6/100 BE-1: Ambient Noise & Light 3.4/5 Outcomes 1.4/5 Actions 2/5 BE-2: Community Water Systems 14.4/15 Outcomes 14.3/15 Actions 0.1/15 BE-3: Compact & Complete Communities 9.1/20 Outcomes 6/20 Actions 3.1/20 BE-4: Housing Affordability 1.7/15 Outcomes 0/15 Actions 1.7/15 BE-5: Infill & Redevelopment 3.4/10 Outcomes 0/10 Actions 3.4/10 BE-6: Public Spaces 12.3/15 Outcomes 9/15 Actions 3.3/15 BE-7: Transportation Choices 11.3/20 Outcomes 5/20 Actions 6.3/20

Climate & Energy 40.1/100 CE-1: Climate Adaptation 5/15 Outcomes 0/15 Actions 5/15 CE-2: Greenhouse Gas Mitigation 9.5/20 Outcomes 0/20 Actions 9.5/20 CE-3: Greening the Energy Supply 7.9/15 Outcomes 4.7/15 Actions 3.2/15 CE-4: Industrial Sector Resource Efficiency 0/10 Outcomes 0/10 Actions 0/10 CE-5: Resource Efficient Buildings 3.6/15 Outcomes 0/15 Actions 3.6/15 CE-6: Resource Efficient Public Infrastructure 0/10 Outcomes 0/10 Actions 0/10 CE-7: Waste Minimization 14.1/15 Outcomes 6/15 Actions 8.1/15

Economy & Jobs 60.1/100 EJ-1: Business Retention & Development 20/20 Outcomes 20/20 Actions 0/20 EJ-2: Green Market Development 12.3/15 Outcomes 2.6/15

Actions 9.7/15 EJ-3: Local Economy 4.3/15 Outcomes 0/15 Actions 4.3/15 EJ-4: Quality Jobs & Living Wages 3/15 Outcomes 0/15 Actions 3/15 EJ-5: Targeted Industry Development 14.2/15 Outcomes 10.5/15 Actions 3.7/15 EJ-6: Workforce Readiness 6.3/15 Outcomes 0/15 Actions 6.3/15

Education, Arts & Community 63.5/70 EAC-1: Arts & Culture 13.3/15 Outcomes 11.3/15 Actions 2/15 EAC-2: Community Cohesion 13.4/15 Outcomes 7.4/15 Actions 6/15 EAC-3: Educational Opportunity & Attainment 20/20 Outcomes 13.3/20 Actions 6.7/20 EAC-4: Historic Preservation 8.4/10 Outcomes 1.4/10 Actions 7/10 EAC-5: Social & Cultural Diversity 8.4/10 Outcomes 3.5/10 Actions 4.9/10

Equity & Empowerment 33.7/100 EE-1: Civic Engagement 8.5/15 Outcomes 202/15 Actions 6.3/15 EE-2: Civil & Human Rights 3.5/10 Outcomes 0/10 Actions 3.5/10 EE-3: Environmental Justice 0/15 Outcomes 0/15 Actions 0/15 EE-4: Equitable Services & Access 1.6/20 Outcomes 0/20 Actions 1.6/20 EE-5: Human Services 12.4/20 Outcomes 0/20 Actions 12.4/20 EE-6: Poverty Prevention & Alleviation 7.7/20 Outcomes 0/20 Actions 7.7/20

Health & Safety 76.2/100 HS-1: Active Living 9/15 Outcomes 5.3/15 Actions 3.7/15 HS-2:Community Health & Health System 20/20

Outcomes 20/20 Actions 0/20 HS-3: Emergency Prevention & Response 12.9/15 Outcomes 9/15 Actions 3.9/15 HS-4: Food Access & Nutrition 7/15 Outcomes 5.3/15 Actions 1.7/15 HS-5: Indoor Air Quality 4.4/5 Outcomes 3.5/5 Actions 0.9/5 HS-6: Natural & Human Hazards 7.9/15 Outcomes 5.3/15 Actions 2.6/15 HS-7: Safe Communities 15/15 Outcomes 15/15 Actions 0/15

Natural Systems 57.4/100 NS-1: Green Infrastructure 9.5/20 Outcomes 0/20 Actions 9.5/20 NS-2: Invasive Species 4.5/10 Outcomes 0/10 Actions 4.5/10 NS-3: Natural Resource Protection 12.4/20 Outcomes 3.5/20 Actions 8.9/20 NS-4: Outdoor Air Quality 5.3/15 Outcomes 0/15 Actions 5.3/15 NS-5: Water in the Environment 17/20 Outcomes 15/20 Actions 2/20 NS-6: Working Lands 8.8/15 Outcomes 0/15 Actions 8.8/15

Innovation & Process Credits 45/50 IP-1: Best Practices & Processes 5/10 Comprehensive Planning No Credit Public Engagement Full Credit Codes and Ordinances No Credit IP-2: Exemplary Performance 10/10 Exemplary Performance Full Credit IP-3: Local Innovation 25/25 New Outcome in Natural Systems Full Credit New Outcome in Built Environment Full Credit New Objective in Natural Systems Full Credit New Action in Equity & Empowerment Full Credit New Action in Equity & Empowerment Full Credit New Action in Health & Safety Full Credit IP-4: Regional Priorities 5/5 Regional Priorities Full Credit

Total 431.6/710

5 Star Rating 600+ 4 Star Rating 400 – 599 Plano = 431.6 3 Star Rating 200 – 399 Reporting Star Rating 50 – 199

APPENDIX B SITE AND LEASE PLANS

The following site and building plans come from Rouse Properties (2013).

The first image is the site plan depicting the parking lots and anchor stores. The second image is the first floor lease plan. The third image is the second floor lease plan. Both lease plans exclude the anchor stores’ footprint.

Figure B-1. Site Plan 100

Figure B-6. Ground Floor Building Plan

101

Figure B-3. Second Floor Building Plan 102

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Lauren Mecke graduated with her Master of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Florida. She received her Bachelor of Science in Sustainability and the Built Environment, also from the University of Florida. Upon graduation Lauren has chosen to pursue a career in environmental planning and urban redevelopment in the

Dallas Metroplex.

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