Roanoke City Council and the Roanoke Planning and Zoning Commission held a joint workshop March 3 to discuss updating development codes along the Oak Street corridor. 

These updates would be in compliance with the city's downtown code, which hasn’t been updated since 2009.

The discussion: The planning and zoning commissioners and City Council members brainstormed different ways to bring foot traffic to the downtown area.

“Our sales right now are a little bit flat with our labor costs going up,” said Dayne Jones, the general manager of Jack and Grill. “We need to do something to offset that, and it's building sales. The only way we can build sales is getting more people to this area.”

One idea for bringing in foot traffic was adding more multifamily housing.

More details: Additional ideas for bringing in foot traffic included encouraging businesses to open later at night and adding more retail options.

“There’s nothing to do down here other than go to a restaurant,” council member David Brundage said. “There’s no retail."

Stay informed on six road projects happening in Keller, Roanoke and northeast Fort Worth, including construction on North Walnut Street in Roanoke and a median project on FM 1938 in Keller that is scheduled to start in late March.

Upcoming projects

North Walnut Street

Project: The project will include a new concrete street, curb and gutter drainage improvements. Sidewalks and street lighting from Byron Nelson Boulevard to North Oak Street will also be installed. Storm drainage improvements will occur along Lois Street as well.

Update: Roanoke City Council awarded a bid to McMahon Contracting, a construction company, at the Feb. 24 council meeting.

• Timeline: work anticipated to start mid-April
• Cost: $3.6 million
• Funding sources: city of Roanoke, Denton County

Pickleman’s Gourmet Cafe, a sandwich shop based out of Missouri, will open its first Tarrant County location in Keller this summer, according to a city social media post.

The details: Pickleman’s will have made-to-order sandwiches, such as the turkey bacon club and the Cuban sandwich, along with soups, mac and cheese, pizzas, salads and sides, according to the restaurant’s menu.

Pickleman’s Gourmet Cafe offers a fast-casual dining setup and will have dine-in, to-go and catering options, according to the city’s post.

This is the third Pickleman’s Gourmet Sub location in North Texas, with the other two spots located in Plano and McKinney.

• 1521 Keller Parkway, Ste. 100, Keller

New retail space in Frisco and mixed-use development in Southlake are some of the many new North Texas projects filed recently with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Here are five of the most expensive permits filed with TDLR in the past week.

1. O’Reilly Auto Parts warehouse shuttle system: An automated storage and retrieval shuttle system is under construction for a new O’Reilly Auto Parts warehouse in north Fort Worth, according to a recent TDLR filing. The shuttle system will include three separate rack structures and a mezzanine with a catwalk. Construction is estimated to take a little under two years.

2. Retail pavilion at Omni PGA Frisco Resort & Spa: A new retail pavilion will be constructed within an existing retail district at the Omni PGA resort and spa in Frisco, according to a recent TDLR filing. The resort had its grand opening in 2023, per previous reporting. The 15,200-square-foot development is estimated to take less than a year to complete.

Texas held its primary elections on March 3, with Republican and Democratic voters selecting their parties’ nominees for scores of federal, state and local seats. Yet for some candidates, a major hurdle still remains before the November election.

The overview: Dozens of primary races are headed to May runoffs after no candidate picked up more than half of the vote, triggering an overtime round between the two highest-performing candidates.

The details:  Texas’ runoff election is set for May 26, the day after Memorial Day. Early voting runs from May 18-22, per the secretary of state.

State law requires primary candidates to receive more than 50% of the vote to advance to a general election, meaning a candidate must earn a majority of the vote—not just the highest number of votes—to win their primary outright. This rule means crowded races in Texas primaries and special elections frequently result in runoffs.

In those races, the top two vote-getters advance to a runoff.

Keep reading to learn about voting in the runoffs and who's on the ballot.