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Farmers Branch City Council

Council approves building permit extension for mayor’s house

Mayor recuses himself from discussion and vote

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Back-ordered LED mirrors have delayed completion of a new home, requiring the homeowner and general contractor to ask for an extension.

It’s the fourth time since the Covid-19 Pandemic that materials have caused such a delay.

The Farmers Branch City Council even extended the length of time allowed for new home construction permits in 2023 because of supply-chain issues caused by the pandemic.

Because it’s the second extension, Ordinance 3793 requires city council approval.

Records through the Dallas County Appraisal District confirm the home at 3352 Chaparral Dr. is owned by Mayor Terry Lynne.

“I will be recusing myself from this. I have filled out a conflict-of-interest statement, and filed it with the city, and we’ll leave it at that,” Lynne said after introducing Resolution 2025-009, a resolution for the Farmers Branch City Council to consider an expired building permit for a single-family home at 3352 Chaparral Dr. The mayor then left the dais and was not seen again in the video feed until after the vote.

Mayor Pro Tem Omar Roman presided over that agenda item.

Danielle Summers, director of community services, said the initial extension expired on Oct. 7. The extension goes through April 7, and that the contractor anticipates completion in March.

At council’s questions, Summers said an initial permit for the construction of a single-family home is 18 months.

City Councilmember Roger Neal, District 5, asked about the costs involved in the permitting and what would happen if the extension were denied.

Summers said to calculate the fee, the number of days of the extension requested is divided by 365 days and multiplied by the fee that was paid in the beginning, which is confirmed in Ordinance 3793

Summers said if denied, the contractor would need to apply for another new home construction permit, and the fee would be based on what needs to be done.

“It would probably be the same, possibly more,” Summers said.

City Councilmember Richard Jackson, District 4, asked when the ordinance was revised extending initial new construction permits from 12 months to 18 months.

According to Ordinance 3793, the council approved the amendment on May 2, 2023.

City Councilmember Tina Bennett-Burton, District 2, asked about the cost of each of the permits.

Summers said the initial cost was about $4,000. “The second should have been about the same,” she said.

In answer to Bennett-Burton’s questions about how frequently extensions have been requested, Summers said at least three since the Covid-19 Pandemic and one before.

At the request of council, builder Tom Cusick, owner of Thomas Cusick Custom Homes, answered questions.

Neal said he calculated the property would take 24 months for construction.

Cusick said that because of the square footage and nature of some of the products, the timeline has taken longer than usual.

“This is not off the shelf … Any time you get something like this, there’s a litany of reasons why something is going to take an extended amount of time, but we’re still trying to get a few products that we’ve been told will arrive the next week or two,” he said.

Specifically, he said the specialty LED mirrors that have been on back order, which delayed the finish electrical trim out.

“It’s a six-month extension, but I’m very confident we can get this done in the next 60 daysish [SIC],” he said. “The cost is apparently going to be about the same whether I do an extension or a whether I do a new home permit, so I’m confident based on the information provided third party to me from my vendor saying she’ll have them here next week. I don’t know. If a boat crashes in the Pacific tomorrow and those mirrors are on there, things could change.”

Council approved the resolution allowing the extension with a three-vote majority. Bennett-Burton and Roman voted against the measure.