On Wednesday, City Council finished a six-year long process of approving new zoning for the Elm Thicket-Northpark neighborhood. Some say the changes, restrictions on height and lot coverage of new homes, will help preserve the history of the neighborhood.
Elm Thicket-Northpark residents hope the zoning changes will keep their neighborhood from being overrun by homes like this $4 million mansion known as the Tron house.After three hours of public comments and discussion Wednesday, Dallas City Council members approved new zoning restrictions for theneighborhood. The changes prevent new homes from exceeding 25 feet in height and 40% of lot coverage.
Property taxes and home prices have shot up in the area in recent years, pricing legacy residents out of the neighborhood. About six years ago, Elm Thicket-Northpark, a former Freedman community, was chosen as part of the city’s Neighborhood Plus program in an attempt to help prevent such displacement. This led to the changes City Council approved Wednesday.
While the City Council ultimately approved the new zoning, some members, such as District 11’s Jaynie Schultz, said the time it took to get to the horseshoe may have diminished the returns. Schultz said she didn’t think the zoning was perfect, but that it was nonetheless time to take a vote. "I’m not supporting this overlay because of a belief in the perfection of this zoning,” she explained. “The compromises included actually dilute some of the 2016 protections that were asked for by the neighborhood back then and the city couldn’t address. That’s why we must vote now to preserve the remnants of the original homeowners who are fighting for their identity and their history.
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