James Armstrong: Can Dallas be pro-builder and pro-neighborhoods? We can, but we have to make sure our practice aligns with policy.
Multistory, new-build homes are seen from the basketball court at West Dallas Community Centers, Inc. in West Dallas on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. James Armstrong's nonprofit Builders of Hope is fighting displacement with a host of new tools in a once-redlined region of mostly Mexican-American and Black working-class neighborhoods.You can hear the most thought-provoking comments at your local diner.
But what happens when an ordinance is in place but there’s no process that fully vets all permits against the standard? You have developers bypass the system and build what they want where they want.Resident and nonprofit executive Cynthia Mickens Ross felt “a deep sense of frustration” about the 12 unfinished homes and described them as “a stagnation that is not just an eyesore but a symbol of the larger issues at play.
This month the case goes to the board of adjustments, a quasi-judicial body empowered by the state Legislature to decide on cases that are potentially nonconforming to the Dallas Development Code. If the board gives the builder a pass, residents will have 10 days to hire an attorney and appeal to the district courts.
Many years ago, residents in the La Bajada neighborhood of West Dallas established protective zoning in the form of a Neighborhood Stabilization Overlay, which also regulates front and side yard setbacks, garage placement and connection, and height. Despite the overlay, a builder was able to get a permit approved for a four-story house with an elevator that violated the overlay by three feet.
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