Dallas is doing away with walk-in zoning consultations beginning next month.
The Development Services Department (DSD) — which is responsible for facilitating development in Dallas — announced on November 20 that, effective December 1, the department will transition to an appointment-only scheduling model for all zoning consultations.
In general, a plot of land must be zoned appropriately in Dallas before a developer can begin to build. To obtain proper zoning, a builder must file an application for a zoning change, which takes approximately 12 weeks to complete and includes two public hearings, according to the City’s Planning & Urban Design, a division of DSD.
Although DSD is still accepting walk-ins leading up to the December 1 deadline, the department said it would be accepting fewer unscheduled consultations during Thanksgiving week.
“To facilitate and improve our service, we will be significantly limiting walk-in consultations this week, which may further extend wait times for customers seeking immediate service,” DSD said in its November newsletter.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, DSD assistant director Vernon Young claimed that the number one area development projects get stuck in Dallas is zoning.
Speedy approval of development projects has been a key component of Dallas’ economic development agenda. However, antiquated regulations maintained under City Manager T.C. Broadnax that govern parking, zoning, and permitting continue to hinder local builders. While some progress has been made over the last 16 months, commercial developers in Dallas have still been encountering significant delays in the City’s development process.
According to DSD, transitioning to an appointment-only scheduling model for zoning consultations is supposed to improve service.
“Moving forward, our staff is dedicated to assisting walk-in customers by helping set up future appointments,” DSD said in the newsletter.
Following the scheduling of a zoning consultation, a customer can meet with a zoning consultant in person or virtually via Microsoft Teams.
Another way DSD is working to improve services is by adding dedicated department teams. To help accelerate development in Dallas, DSD added a new “Zoning Consultation Team,” which will provide customers with complimentary, 20-minute zoning consultations.
“We have project coordinators that are stationed throughout building code, through zoning, and so forth that can walk folks through” the zoning requirements, Young explained during a recent Economic Development Committee meeting, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
