Developers in Dallas are outraged after an avoidable error on the part of City staff resulted in their projects receiving stop-work orders.
As previously relayed by The Dallas Express, the stop-work orders are affecting home builds in the Elm Thicket/Northpark neighborhood. Apparently, the individuals issuing permits failed to use the correct zoning information for the development sites.
Permitting always seemed to trouble City staff under former City Manager T.C. Broadnax. Now, however, it’s on interim City Manager Kimberly Tolbert to sort out (or assume responsibility).
Here’s the latest on the issue reported by Candy’sDirt:
CandysDirt.com broke the news Friday night that the City of Dallas erroneously issued several building permits in the Elm Thicket/Northpark neighborhood and later “red tagged” the projects — some of which were complete — ordering builders to stop work. Several hours later, an assistant city manager revealed that the inspection team that issued the permits was using outdated zoning information when they signed off on plans and permits.
“The initial fact-finding revealed that permit applications for projects in the Elm Thicket-Northpark neighborhood reviewed between October 12, 2022, and June 2, 2023, were evaluated using outdated zoning information, and some permits may have been approved in error,” Interim Assistant City Manager Robin Bentley wrote in an Aug. 2 memorandum. “We are working to determine what led to these errors.”
The development community was livid and immediately turned to social media to express their concerns. While the idea of a lawsuit has been raised, builders acknowledge that could take several years to resolve while their incomplete projects sit in the middle of a former Freedman’s Community where neighbors fought for and were granted protection almost two years ago.
“A lot of these guys are building just one or two houses,” said real estate broker Clay Stapp, whose clients are among the red-tagged builders. “Do they really want to let their project sit for two years and spend a ton of money on a lawsuit? It’s a no-win situation to have a lawsuit, unfortunately.”