A majority of council members passed an amended ForwardDallas 2.0 comprehensive land use plan, much to the chagrin of dozens of residents who turned out to voice opposition to the document’s emphasis on density and the potential impacts on single-family zoned neighborhoods.
The plan was adopted in an 11-4 vote during Wednesday’s Dallas City Council meeting, with Mayor Eric Johnson and Council Members Jesse Moreno (District 2), Carolyn King Arnold (District 4), and Cara Mendelsohn (District 12) voting against.
The adoption of the plan followed passionate public testimony from dozens of residents. Those opposed to the plan claimed that without explicit protections for single-family neighborhoods that bar duplexes and triplexes, the plan would allow developers to swoop in and build housing existing homeowners do not want in their neighborhoods that could be put on the rental market.
“I’ve attended countless meetings … that were sponsored by many of you sitting at the horseshoe, and I heard over and over again how residents in this town are scared to death of ForwardDallas,” Jack Kocks said. “It’s not because of misinformation, as some on staff would like you to believe, it’s because of the reality that there are land uses in this plan that are problematic for the future of our single-family neighborhoods.”
While ForwardDallas is essentially a guidance document and does not expressly open the door for rezoning, critics of the plan have noted that the City Plan Commission would reference the document when considering rezoning applications, a potential threat many single-family homeowners have been sounding the alarm about in community meetings over the last year.
“ForwardDallas has always been a document with the intent to destroy single-family. Call it a vision, call it a land use tool, but call it like it is, a developer’s dream,” Ed Zara said.
Housing activists were also in attendance and voiced their support for the update to the City’s comprehensive land use plan, citing a need for different housing options and increased housing stock.
“We all know that we cannot have a one-size-fits-all solution to the housing issues that we face because the needs of our city and our neighborhoods are varied. But we can’t go backwards and adopt a version of ForwardDallas that excludes housing options everywhere just because they don’t fite everywhere. Instead, we need a plan that protects single-family neighborhoods — like the current draft does — while allowing flexibility to meet the needs of our growing city with housing options we don’t currently have that make sense in areas where it makes sense,” said Leslie Vruggink.
Amendments to the plan were adopted by the Economic Development Committee on September 5, which were touted by Council Member Paul Ridley (District 14) as a compromise that balances the interest of stakeholders, as reported by CandysDirt.
Despite the purported compromise, many in attendance and some at the horseshoe felt the document, even as amended, leaves the door open to zoning challenges in the coming years.
Additionally, the changing nature of the plan’s development and intense disagreement over its alleged intended purpose has left a wake of resident distrust in City officials. Many expressed frustration at a community meeting hosted by The Dallas Express last Wednesday, claiming officials have limited the input of homeowners and were siding with developer interests.
Perhaps knowing that a majority of council members were going to adopt the plan, Mendelsohn addressed its critics:
“I’m not going to say to the residents ‘thank you for being here.’ I’m going to apologize to you for putting you through this process. And I think there’s a big distinction there, and if people dont recognize what that distinction is, they’ve actually missed what youve been saying. And you’ve been saying it in person, at meeting after meeting, you’ve been saying it here in these chambers, not just at council meetings but at CPC meetings, and you’ve been saying it all throughout at these neighborhood meetings, which sometimes have been a little bit unruly, frankly, because you have been so frustrated and angry, and that’s why you deserve an apology.”
Mendelsohn had proposed an amendment that would bar townhomes, duplexes, and triplexes from single-family zoned neighborhoods, but the amendment was voted down by a majority of council members.
An amendment requiring the plan to be reviewed within five years and leave it open to be revised in 10 years was adopted by the council.