A Preston Hollow resident has successfully made de-annexation part of the Republican Party of Texas platform and is now in the middle of a vetting process to determine whether he has enough support at home to secede the affluent neighborhood from the City of Dallas.
Matthew Patrick spoke to The Dallas Express about his efforts.
“I actually want to get this done because I think it’s the right thing to do,” Patrick told DX. “I don’t feel represented in this city, and I don’t think they’re effective.”
Patrick said current state law does not provide a path for de-annexation in Preston Hollow. However, the Republican Party of Texas is pushing lawmakers to amend legislation that would benefit not only the North Dallas neighborhood but others, as well.
“The right solution here, for me, is to spin out from the city. I’ve started doing some research, and I’ve found it’s been successfully done elsewhere. A law is already on the books that allows de-annexation, but the reasons are very limited. What I have been setting out to do is see if we could change the law.”
Patrick is chair of the Republican Party of Texas’s Platform Advocacy Committee and Senate District 16 committeeman on the State Republican Executive Committee.
The platform calls for legislation that would grant homeowners and landowners “the right to approve or reject the annexation, including infill development zones (IDZ), regardless of the population of the county. No annexation can occur within 45 days of any election. In any city with a population of over 250,000, any neighborhood can elect to de-annex and reincorporate as a new city — for any reason — provided they receive at least 50% plus one vote of those voting in a regular election and living within the defined de-annexation boundaries.”
Patrick said the City’s insistence on pushing Forward Dallas onto residents despite widespread opposition was a motivating factor in making de-annexation a priority during the next legislative session in January.
“If the [city council] continues to govern the way they are, there’s a chance they could lose parts of the city,” he said. “Maybe they could reign in the city before [any neighborhood] leaves. There is the possibility that the threat level of people being able to [de-annex] could change the behavior of this city council. I don’t discount that. Whether that happens or not, I still want to go,” said Patrick.
Preston Hollow is in Jaynie Schultz’s District 11. Her support of a proposed redevelopment of Pepper Square led to a recall initiative by one of her constituents, but she does not plan to seek a third term on the council.
Schultz did not respond to DX for a request for comment.
“I started all of this because I kept hearing and reading about Forward Dallas and how they were going to basically change the definition of what a single-family lot is required to be,” Patrick said. “What I originally heard was this is the backdoor way of changing the zoning without changing the zoning so that somebody with a half-acre lot could buy a lot across from me that size and tear down the house and build five or six houses. And I’m very upset about that.”
Forward Dallas is a comprehensive land use plan first approved in 2006 “for how the City should look and grow for the long term.” On July 25, the City Plan Commission recommended sending the second version to the city council for approval. Officials have repeatedly said Forward Dallas is not a zoning document but a “guide” to land use.
“Looking at the Dallas City Council, it’s so left that I don’t feel like I have any representation,” Patrick said. “No way I could possibly stave this off, so I just kept thinking about the problem. How am I going to get out from under this mandate? It wouldn’t ruin me economically, but it would ruin the neighborhood I live in. People said that the solution is to move, but I don’t want to move. Why should I move?”
Preston Hollow
Incorporated in the late 1930s in what is now called the Old Preston Hollow area, Preston Hollow was annexed by the City of Dallas in 1945. Eleven years later, a neighborhood association covenant required that “only white residents” were allowed to live there. But that language was never enforced, and federal courts later ruled it unconstitutional. The restriction was appealed in 2000.
The population is about 13,300 — about 15% of the population in District 11. Nearly 90% of its residents are white, and the median household income is just under $170,000. Such prominent figures as former President George W. Bush, Ross Perot, T. Boone Pickens, Mark Cuban, Wade Phillips, and Roger Staubach call Preston Hollow home.
Bounded by Northwest Highway to the south, Central Expressway to the east, I-635 to the north, and Midway Road to the west, Preston Hollow encompasses about 16 square miles. Patrick said he hasn’t determined how boundaries will be defined in a proposed de-annexation.
“I haven’t gone into that, really, at all. I would be changing those boundaries anyway because there are some things I have to figure out in what kind of city I want — the kind of property Preston Hollow would have and the type of government.”
Preston Hollow would ideally have a strong mayor-council form of government.
“I want my city governed more of a way to my liking,” Patrick said. “I can change the form of government so we don’t have a [council-manager] form of government. The city council members will vote the way we want. We would have much more effective governance than what we get from the City of Dallas.”
The Dallas Express reached out to Mayor Eric Johnson and each city council member for comment. By the deadline, only Cara Mendelsohn (District 12) had responded.
“I don’t believe the answer to government dissatisfaction is to leave the country, state, county, or city, but instead to engage and drive improvement,” Mendelsohn said in an email. “I would encourage all citizens to give input to their elected officials, attend town halls and get involved, vote during each election, and consider running for office or actively supporting someone who represents their views.”
‘Wildly Enthusiastic’
Patrick said he’s found no opposition to the possibility of Preston Hollow de-annexing.
“Everybody I’ve talked to is wildly enthusiastic about it. A guy who lives a block over from me is a developer, and he said this is a ‘radically brilliant idea.’ I’ve talked to the Republican Women’s Club about it, and everybody there is excited. Others ask me if I could expand the boundaries to include their neighborhood. So, it seems to be very well received,” he said.
Patrick’s proposed legislation would allow any area in a municipality of at least 250,000 people to de-annex “for any reason.”
“I think there are at least three things I put in there: You have to define the boundaries beforehand, have to have a referendum that goes on the ballot on a regular voting day, and only those who live in the defined boundaries are eligible to vote,” Patrick added.
Additionally, the referendum must receive 50% support plus one to gain approval.
“I’ve talked to my friends on the SREC about it, and several of them are from other big cities,” Patrick said. “They are very enthusiastic. Down in South Texas, two neighborhoods say they want to leave the City of Houston because they hate it. And the northwest part of San Antonio probably wants to annex.”
Admittedly, Patrick noted that much work remains in Austin and Dallas before the extent of Preston Hollow’s de-annexation is determined.
“I don’t know the makeup of the city or the tax revenue that would be generated. So, that’s all kind of open. I believe there’s a state law requirement that in order to be annexed, you have to be able to demonstrate viability. You look at Highland Park and University Park and, combined, I think they’re only about 5.5 square miles. So, if they can run their own cities just south of me and Preston Hollow is an area that’s three times bigger, I think we can run our own city as well.”
Neither State Rep. Morgan Meyer (R-University Park) nor State Sen. Tan Parker (R-Flower Mound) responded to messages seeking comment.
“I’m going to talk to a couple of economists and think tanks this weekend and some other people I know who are policy-oriented over the next month just to try to gauge what kind of support there would be,” Patrick said. “But just in casual conversations with four or five state reps, they like the idea. Having them like an idea and supporting legislation are two vastly different things.”
Other De-Annexation Cases
In April, the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that the proposed City of St. George, a community in Baton Rouge, followed the proper incorporation process, clearing the way for it to become its own municipality, the Associated Press reported. But Buckhead, an affluent neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia, wasn’t successful in its de-annexation attempt.
State senators in 2023 rejected its secession plans after Gov. Brian Kemp’s administration questioned the legality and practicality of the move, according to the AP.