Dallas homeowners push back on proposed housing density changes

Dallas homeowners spoke out Tuesday against some big proposed changes to add more housing units in the city.

They said the changes to reduce lot sizes and increase the number of units allowed on a lot could spoil the character of single-family neighborhoods.

Despite the opposition, there was strong support from city council members for adding more housing units. A pending citywide overhaul of land use rules could include changes in limited areas.

The request to review these changes came in a November memo signed by five city council members, which sparked Tuesday’s meeting.

“I think that it’s important for us to talk about this and look at where this already exists,” said Councilman Adam Bazaldua, one of the five who signed the request.

The changes call for much smaller lots in new developments than Dallas allows now.

Buildings that may look like single-family homes but have up to four units could be constructed on lots that become vacant in residential neighborhoods, with no further city review, right beside existing single-family homes.

That mix of up to quadruplexes with individual homes does exist in some older Dallas neighborhoods that were developed before the current land use rules, which were approved in the 1960s.

Bazaldua pointed out that the new discussion results from a five-signature memo, which allows members to post issues for the rest of the 15-member city council.

“And I think it’s important for the record that we don’t portray this as something being done nefariously by staff when they’re working extremely hard to work with antiquated zoning,” Bazaldua said.

Other Dallas City Council Members who signed the memo are Chad West, Jaime Resendez, Jaynie Schultz, and Paula Blackmon.

Bazaldua said many more supporters of the changes could have been recruited to attend Tuesday’s meeting.

All of the homeowners who attended were opposed.

“There are many less radical, more targeted, and less destructive solutions to increase affordable housing,” homeowner Jack Kocks said.

Southern Dallas Resident Anga Sanders said she purchased her home 42 years ago.

“Stop this blatant attempt to destroy our single-family neighborhoods. We bought what we wanted many years ago,” she said.

The other council members at the meeting said the changes might be OK in minimal areas but not city-wide.

“I don’t recognize an obligation on the part of existing single-family neighborhoods to accommodate increased density against their wishes as a matter of right,” Councilman Paul Ridley said.

The other members said their neighbors provided clear instructions.

“They don’t actually want to have multifamily, no matter what it looks like, in an established single-family neighborhood,” Council Member Cara Mendelsohn said.

Council Member Carolyn King Arnold said the discussion should end now.

“When we purchased our home, we did not expect any changes. If the house burned down next door to us, we’re not looking for a duplex to be put next to us,” Arnold said. “Today we should simply say, no. Have a conversation, have a great holiday and move on, because single-family zoning needs to be protected by all things necessary”

But the debate comes as the City of Dallas is already considering a complete rewrite of land use rules citywide called “Forward Dallas.”

Planning staff members said they hope Forward Dallas will be completed and approved in 2024 and that these changes could still be incorporated with additional work afterward.

Council Member Gay Donnell Willis said additional middle-income housing is very much needed in Dallas, and the city staff should encourage ways to build more of it.

“If you’re looking for direction, this change in a blanket fashion is not the vibe I’m getting from the room,” Willis said.

After years of work on Forward Dallas, Councilman Tennell Atkins said there has not been enough opportunity to review these new changes.

“You need to go back out and let the residents talk about it,” Atkins said.

Acting Planning Director Andrea Gilles said Dallas is behind other cities that are already adopting parts of the plan to encourage more housing. Austin is one of those cities in Texas.

Supporters of additional affordable housing in Dallas are also seeking a large portion of a proposed 2024 public improvement bond referendum to back neighborhood improvements and housing subsidies in Dallas, where housing has become very expensive.