No one seems to know what’s going on in the aftermath of the City of Dallas’ latest major permitting debacle, with a City body claiming that it does not know whether it is the proper venue for developer relief related to the Elm Thicket disaster.
As previously relayed by The Dallas Express, City staff issued permits for builds in the neighborhood based on erroneous zoning data, prompting the mass issuance of stop-work orders that are costing developers serious money.
In a statement to Candy’sDirt, this is what Phil Crone, the former head of the Dallas Builders Association who now serves as vice president of Leading Builders for America, had to say about the City’s approach to permitting and how the functionality of such municipal processes represent officials’ commitment to the future of their city:
“In competent jurisdictions, this commitment is rigorously upheld long before the first drop of concrete is poured. When the City of Dallas shirks this responsibility and tries to absolve itself from the very regulations it alone creates and enforces, it sends a clear and troubling message: Dallas is an unreliable, negligent partner — failing both its residents and those who seek to invest in its future.”
Candy’sDirt has the report:
The Dallas Board of Adjustment admitted Tuesday that it didn’t know the extent of its authority to rule on an Elm Thicket permit case stemming from a city permitting error — a mistake that let builders construct a towering three-story home and other structures that don’t meet zoning requirements.
CandysDirt.com broke the story earlier this month that the City of Dallas issued “stop work orders” on 14 construction projects in the former Freedman’s community near Love Field. City officials admitted they’d “erroneously” issued builders in Elm Thicket permits using outdated zoning regulations, despite changes that were approved almost two years ago. Builders were given the options to resubmit revised plans, tear down and start over, or appeal their cases to the Board of Adjustment.
Akber Meghani was the first to file an appeal for his Elm Thicket permit. The builder hired Masterplan zoning consultants and appeared before the Board of Adjustment Tuesday. After hearing from several residents in a public hearing and referencing 41 letters of opposition, the Board agreed to defer Meghani’s appeal for the home he built at 6801 Tyree St. to the panel’s next meeting on Sept. 17.