The Dallas Express has been following the story of the developers who received stop-work orders affecting home builds in the Elm Thicket/Northpark neighborhood of Dallas because of a City staff error.
A quick backstory: The City of Dallas mistakenly issued 19 building permits and later flagged them with a “red tag,” as they violated the neighborhood zoning restrictions, even though some projects were already completed. The builders were instructed to halt their work. A few hours later, it was revealed that the inspection team responsible for issuing the permits had used outdated zoning information when approving the plans and permits.
City authorities acknowledged the error via email and urged developers to demolish their work and begin again or file an appeal with the Board of Adjustment, reported Candy’s Dirt.
Developers insist that they stand to suffer substantial financial losses, upward into the millions of dollars, if they are unable to proceed.
The latest development: On September 17, the Board of Adjustment inquired about the zoning issues in the Elm Thicket neighborhood, directing questions to developers and the City of Dallas. The board sought clarification on why duplex construction persisted in the historic neighborhood despite violating the new zoning regulations.
“The city definitely has a greater responsibility than my client does to know what the rules are,” said Dallas Cothrum, who represented Akber Meghani with Grand Development, per Fox 4 KDFW.
Meghani claims he knew about a zoning change but didn’t know the effective date or details.
However, one of the City’s attorneys, Justin Roy, challenged Meghani’s assertion of ignorance, claiming the developer knew of the zoning changes as he had objected to them months prior. He added, “It is incumbent on the builder to know what the ordinance is and get the information he needs,” reported Fox.
Roy acknowledged that the City of Dallas had made errors and that it aimed to digitize its land use map.