In a surprise to developers last week, the City of Dallas issued stop-work orders on at least a couple dozen home building projects, according to a recent report by Candy’s Dirt.
Apparently, the City issued a number of permits that should not have gone out due to issues having to do with zoning.
Permitting has always seemed to trouble City staff, with numerous efficiency issues and high-profile blunders leading to scrutiny at the Development Services Department (DSD) under former City Manager T.C. Broadnax. DSD logged quite the embarrassment earlier this year when it improperly issued a permit to itself before moving staff to a new building. Staff had to be evacuated following numerous code violations, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Here’s some of what Candy’sDirt published on the latest permitting fiasco:
The Elm Thicket/Northpark neighborhood — where residents mobilized almost two years ago to protect the former Freedman’s Community from displacement and invasive construction — was peppered recently with more than two dozen “stop work” orders telling home builders that their projects don’t comply with the area’s approved zoning requirements. That’s a problem because some projects are already complete.
Although recipients of the dreaded “red tags” didn’t have the proper zoning, the City of Dallas erroneously approved their plans and issued permits anyway. City officials admit this in emails, encouraging builders — some of whom had already completed construction on these homes — to tear down and start over or make an appeal before the Board of Adjustment.
The rezoning stems back a few years when developers first took notice of the Love Field neighborhood and began building modern monstrosities like the much-panned $3.96 million Tron House. After neighbors fought to preserve the character of their Elm Thicket/Northpark neighborhood, the area was “downzoned” in October 2022 and designated as Planned Development District 67 (PD-67), restricting things like lot coverage and roof construction.
Builders who had already filed permits before October 2022 would be grandfathered in to complete construction. More than 85 permits have been issued for the downzoned area since October 2022, according to city records filtered by the advocacy group “Save Elm Thicket.” Some of those projects are in compliance; some are not.