Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity’s proposal to construct 30 new homes in the southern Dallas neighborhood of Joppa was rejected by the Dallas City Plan Commission earlier this month.
The nonprofit sought to transform four acres of what used to be the historic Melissa Pierce School’s athletic field into low-income housing lots, reported Fox 4 KDFW.
Potential home buyers were to be offered 0% financing and tax-payer-funded down payment assistance of up to $10,000 in exchange for committing to at least 350 volunteer hours with Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity, according to WFAA.
During the commission’s meeting on July 6, Commissioner Melissa Kingston motioned to deny the approval of the lot platting due to it not conforming “with lot pattern in adjacent areas,” Fox 4 reported.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Dallas’ planting regulations, and its relatively slow permitting process under City Manager T.C. Broadnax, have been issues affecting builders in the city for quite some time.
Still, the commission’s ruling is not the final word on the project, as Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity CEO Bill Eubanks noted in a statement that his organization plans on “working with all parties” to build the 30 homes, according to Fox 4.
In late June, Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity received a $1.6 million grant of taxpayer money from the Dallas County Commissioner’s Court to develop the land and build corresponding roads.
Some Joppa residents, however, have been opposed to the project, voicing their concerns at public meetings.
“It doesn’t benefit the community,” said Shalondria Galimore, president of the South Central Civic League Serving Joppa, the Dallas Observer reported. “We need to stabilize what we have. Just continuing to pile families on top of families … creates more problems.”
Others still support the project.
“I feel like [Habitat for Humanity] is revitalizing Joppa because when I moved there in 2006, it was a no man’s land down there,” explained Temeckia Derrough, a Joppa resident, according to the Dallas Observer.
Among several Dallas ZIP codes seeing record increases in home prices over the past several years, 75216 in the Joppa and Cedar Crest neighborhoods logged an astounding 230% increase, rising from $51,256 in 2016 to just under $170,000 by 2023, as reported in The Dallas Express.