Dallas Gas Ordinance Update: Council Briefing Wednesday, Council Hearing and Vote December 11th
Mark your calendars now. According to City of Dallas materials published online Friday, the final council hearing and vote on a new gas drilling ordinance will take place Wednesday, December 11th.
We might have a better idea about the likely outcome of that vote after tomorrow's briefing to the council by staff on the City Plan Commission recommendations that were adopted back in September. That's scheduled to take place between 9 am and lunch according to the council's agenda. Observers will be listening carefully to the comments and questions of the Mayor and Council to discern whether there are eight solid votes to adopt what's widely considered to be one of the most progressive gas drilling ordinances in the Barnett Shale, or whether opponents will have an opening to rollback key provisions, starting with the 1500-foot setback.
Rumor has it that work is already being done by at least one or two council members to write amendments to the Plan Commission draft to do just that. This is industry's last stand and they aren't likely to sit n their hands. Expect at least three to five hardcore driller-friendly council members to try and mount a charge. But they need eight to win.
As we've already noted, this is all now coming down to whether Mayor Rawlings will keep his word and support the product of the Plan Commission, as he said he would during his late August Trinity East soliloquy. If he likes the draft as is, chances are that's what we'll see adopted on the 11th. If he wants to tinker with it, then he'll allow that. The problem with opening it up to itemized changes is that nobody can predict what changes will win and what changes will lose, or how long such an amending process might take for such a detailed document. Things could get very messy and long.
Downwinders will be at tomorrow's staff briefing, trying to read the tea leaves like everyone else. We'll have a summary by tomorrow afternoon or Thursday morning. Stay tuned.