How do you spend your Tuesday nights? Maybe you watch your favorite Netflix show, spend time with family, or go to bed early. As the second day of the week, Tuesdays are usually more relaxed, right? Our team members at Masterplan would have to disagree. Tuesday nights usually find our team traveling to cities all over the State of Texas to participate in meetings. This past Tuesday, our team engaged in six public hearings across Garland, DeSoto, Rowlett, and Richardson, and one neighborhood meeting at Pepper Square Dallas. The team had successful victories at five of those hearings and a tremendous turnout at the neighborhood meeting.
Wes Hoblit, Managing Director of Fort Worth, agrees that Tuesday nights are one of the busiest nights for Masterplan. He states, “Tuesdays start early and end late…You can find our team spread across the state working in different cities and multiple counties. Most cities hold their public hearings on Tuesdays, so any given week we have anywhere from two to seven cases on a Tuesday night across all offices.” He mentions that these meetings usually don’t start until 8 o’clock and range from hours long to a few minutes.
As a land-use firm with over 40 years of experience, our role at City Council or any public hearing is to advocate for our clients’ projects, answer questions and clear up concerns that officials, staff, and neighbors/neighborhoods might have regarding the projects. Masterplan consultants must be able to think on their feet, which requires them to be well versed in the project details as well as local city codes.
Wes prepares for these meetings in many ways. He describes, “I arrive early to beat traffic and listen to the briefing if it’s open to the public. This allows me to come ready for the hearing to answer any questions asked to staff and address concerns they may have”. After the meetings conclude, our teams debrief with their clients. Wes describes this process: “Once the project has been heard, we usually hold a client and team ‘check in’ outside the city hall and deliberate next steps for the next hearing or finalizing plans to begin work after a successful case.”
Tuesday nights are incredibly busy for our company, but crucial for our success and that of our clients. At the expense of our employee’s sleep schedules, it’s worth it when they come in on Wednesday morning with a win.