The City of Dallas has issued multiple citations to an apartment complex for failure to provide adequate air conditioning.
Residents at the Rosemont at Meadow Lane in Dallas are reporting that temperatures inside their units have gotten close to temperatures experienced outside their homes.
Summer 2023 has brought multiple consecutive days of triple-digit temperatures across North Texas and the rest of the state. The National Weather Service in Fort Worth told The Dallas Express that exposure to such temperatures can be hazardous to health and advised residents to minimize exposure as much as possible.
Dallas’ Code Compliance Chapter 27 Housing Standards Manual details the standards that properties must abide by in the City, including for air conditioning units.
“An owner shall provide and maintain in operating condition, refrigerated air equipment capable of maintaining a room temperature of at least 15 degrees cooler than the outside temperature, but in no event higher than 85°F in each habitable room,” reads the regulation.
Mark Melton, board chair for the Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center, said that some residents at this complex are not only experiencing temperatures ranging from 95 to 100 degrees but also have been enduring this heat in their units for weeks at a time.
“These are two-story units. Bedrooms are upstairs, living areas downstairs. Typically upstairs units are out, so families are congregating in living rooms on pallets to avoid having to go up to bedrooms in apartments to try to stay as cool as possible,” said Melton, according to NBC 5 DFW.
Melton also alleged that the complex had not taken any measures to rectify these issues.
Following multiple complaints, Dallas Code Compliance and police officers visited the facility to conduct an investigation. Officials issued a total of 34 citations for the complex’s failure to provide proper air conditioning to affected units, per NBC 5.
Dallas residents who experience similar issues may call 311 to notify the City.