The Dallas Housing & Homelessness Solutions Committee held a special meeting on Tuesday to discuss a proposal to change current municipal zoning ordinances to encourage the construction of more housing at lower price points.
The proposal, brought forth by Council Member Chad West (District 1), would eliminate single-family zoning districts in Dallas and allow for “three- and four-unit” homes to be built in such areas, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
West clarified the purpose of Tuesday’s special meeting, stating that it is meant “to see what the process would be for amending the construction codes and the Dallas Development Code to allow for the construction of additional dwelling units.” In addition to the committee, other members of the Dallas City Council were in attendance to learn about the potential changes.
Although the meeting featured an explanation by ForwardDallas interim director Andrea Gilles about the potential steps that could be taken to rezone the neighborhoods, the committee did not take any official action. It will reconvene to discuss the proposal further at a later time.
However, members of the community were afforded the opportunity to speak, and the committee heard from multiple Dallas residents on both sides of the issue.
Ed Zara claimed the proposal, if adopted, would “destroy the quality of life we signed up for and expected the city to protect when we made the biggest investment in our life.”
Greg Estelle addressed the committee next and offered a similar point of view as Zara, arguing that “single-family zoning [was] not contributing to the housing shortage in Dallas.”
“While the City must encourage the development of affordable housing, there is no data that supports the blanket reduction of single-family lot sizes that will result in incremental housing improvements,” said Estelle.
“A blunt force approach of allowing by-right development of duplex, triplex, fourplex housing units or accessory dwelling units in single-family neighborhoods rings favorably only to developers. Too much of this unproven concept is in the hands of developers whose interests are more financial than altruistic,” he said.
Others spoke in favor of the proposal. Greg Anderson, for instance, expressed his approval, explaining that “most folks in Dallas who have a median family income can no longer afford the median price of a home.”
“I know a lot of concerns over change are always a real issue, and it’s hard to think through what that might look like. But the fact is, when you allow for smaller housing units to be built on land, it just helps with everybody,” claimed Anderson.
Elizabeth Markowitz also spoke in favor of the proposal, saying that she is raising her son in an apartment and would “love to be able to live in a home, but right now, the massive lot size requirements in Dallas price out lots of middle-income earners.”
“This is something that is supported by the majority of Americans,” added Markowitz. “From data out of Houston, we know that reforming our minimum lot size requirement works to lower the price of housing. But it also works to reduce the displacement of black and Latino residents.”
The Housing & Homelessness Solutions Committee will not meet again until the next calendar year.
