Will the third time be a charm?
At their regular meeting May 25, the Taylor City Council will consider approving a controversial events policy that has been tabled twice in the face of pushback from Christian groups who have charged that the new regulation is aimed to discriminate against their rights.
“This policy is needed because we did not have one,” said city spokeswoman Stacey Osborne. “They (city staff) started developing it in July of last year and revisited it after the parade. When they presented it to the council, they revisited the topic and adjusted the policy. We brought in a consultant to help us to make sure we were legally and constitutionally covered, and that it was a policy that would serve the city in the best way possible.”
Late last year, Taylor found itself at the center of a national media storm when some religious leaders running the annual Christmas Parade of Lights and LGBTQ-plus rights advocates tussled over whether to allow drag queen performances in the parade, which resulted in two back-toback parades, including the city’s “Very Merry Holiday Parade,” which included a float from Taylor Pride featuring individuals dressed in drag.
Since that time, the city has been attempting to implement guidelines that would spell out the rules for private events, as well as city co-sponsorship of events, which entails the municipality providing an in-kind donation of the personnel and street closures.
Under the proposed ordinance, which has already had one reading, certain criteria must be met in order to qualify for city sponsorship, including grants donated back to city, if the event promotes historical, cultural and arts preservation, if it generates an economic benefit to the community through taxes and other factors.
Osborne said the overall content and intent of the ordinance is the same from the last time it came before council in April, but that some language has been tweaked in response to charges of language vagueness that critics said could be used to limit constitutional rights to free speech and expressions of faith.
“We just cleared up legal language,” Osborne said. “The actual content hasn’t changed at all. There were just legal notations that they changed.”
In other business, at the next meeting the city will:
• Discuss and consider the creation of a committee to consider compensation for City Council members.
• Introduce an ordinance adopting updated roadway fees.
• Hold a public hearing to introduce an ordinance that would rezone .80 acres of land at 205. S. Doak St. from light industrial to manufactured housing.
• Hold a public hearing to introduce an ordinance that would rezone 3.59 acres at 2225 N. Main St. from institutional to local business.
• Consider supporting the municipality applying to the Texas Department of Transportation’s call for projects, which could help the city set up sidewalks along Mallard Lane and other transportation alternatives.
• Consider a TIF Board No. 1 recommendation to raise the Façade Improvement Grant to $25,000 from $5,000.
The Taylor City Council regularly meets the second and fourth Thursday of each month at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 400 Porter St. in Taylor. Agendas and live broadcasts are available at http://www. taylortx.gov.
