Neutralizing NIMBYs? Dallas Could Close $150 Loophole Holding Up Zoning Cases For Months
The power of Dallas property owners to postpone controversial zoning cases by paying a paltry fee to the city may soon be prohibited.
The City Plan Commission has approved an amendment to the Dallas development code that would stop owners from automatically delaying zoning cases by a month or more after submitting a formal request and paying $150.
If approved by Dallas City Council, the amendment would require a public hearing be held to delay a zoning case, The Real Deal reported.
It’s a clause that is rarely used, but it is capable of causing considerable headaches for developers. The automatic delay is often implemented by community members opposed to zoning changes.
Wildcat Management President and CEO Tanya Ragan told TRD such delays can severely impact a project, especially in light of rising construction costs.
“Time is so costly and so critical,” she said.
City staff recommended the change “to increase procedural efficiency, reduce administrative costs, and enhance transparency and fairness,” Assistant City Manager Robin Bentley wrote in a memo.
The automatic delay has been used 25 times in the last four years, TRD reported.
City council is expected to consider whether to adopt the development code amendment next month.
Increasing the city’s housing supply is a priority for Mayor Eric Johnson, who said cities need to “cut the red tape” developers face when he testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs in March. Johnson said the government is far from an effective housing developer, noting cities should help make housing more affordable by slashing hurdles instead of funding affordable housing.
“In Dallas, we have shown that reducing barriers to home building works,” he said. “We have cut permitting times, streamlined zoning and worked with private developers to increase housing starts.”
Dallas simplified its permitting system in May with an online version designed to expedite the process for developers. City staff removed thousands of stale permits from the system and cut the median wait time for new commercial construction permits nearly in half.
That same month, the council passed citywide parking reform that will allow for greater densification in the city. The changes eliminate nearly all one-size-fits-all parking minimums, adopting a more flexible structure for required spaces off the street. The new regulations cut most minimum parking requirements by 50% in a bid to make way for more small businesses, cheaper housing and more walkable neighborhoods.
Eliminating waste and deficient policies has been a priority for City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, who suspended all Dallas real estate deals in April after a $14M office tower purchase from 2022 proved to be a major money pit for the city.
