Can this South Dallas land use plan jumpstart economic growth while preventing ‘incompatible’ housing?

A new City of Dallas plan for how land can be used in South Dallas aims to welcome more small businesses while limiting “grossly incompatible” housing that doesn’t reflect the neighborhood’s character.

At a January City Plan Commission meeting, senior planners Lindsay Jackson and Patrick Blaydes briefed the commission on the South Dallas Fair Park Area Plan, which was curated by South Dallas community members over the past four years through the South Dallas/Fair Park Area Planning Task Force.

The plan provides guidelines for homes to make sure they blend in with the neighborhood. It would also allow commercial areas to shift from being just for businesses to “mixed-use corridors” where people can shop, live and work.

Additional recommendations include modifying the strict parking requirements to encourage more businesses to move into the area and help the community flourish economically.

Residents can voice their opinions on the plan as early as March 6 during a scheduled City Plan Commission public hearing. South Dallas District 7 Plan Commissioner Tabitha Wheeler-Reagan, who also co-chaired the task force, says it’s been a long journey for this plan.

“We are near the end, and we’re ready,” she says.

Goal No. 1: Protect characteristics of South Dallas homes

Most of the South Dallas/Fair Park neighborhood is part of the City’s Planned Development District 595, or PD 595. While all land in the city is zoned for some sort of use, such as residential, business or industrial, a PD adds additional requirements.

Former Dallas Council Member Diane Ragsdale, who is part of the task force, oversaw PD 595’s creation in 2001 and has said that it worked to police alcohol sales and prevent gentrification. But two decades later, some of the requirements are hindering the neighborhood’s economic growth and simultaneously are too relaxed in terms of what new homes can look like. 

The area plan aims to modify PD 595 in ways that would attract local businesses while protecting the community’s character, Jackson says. Neighbors point to newly built homes with three stories, flat roofs and large driveways as examples of “grossly incompatible” housing. Such homes have been the typical model of redevelopment throughout the city, and South Dallas residents say that’s the type of housing they don’t want, according to Blaydes.

Blaydes says in conversations with neighbors over the past several months, they have emphasized five housing elements that reflect the design of current and historic South Dallas homes:

• Porch in the front
• Garage in the back 
• Maximum height of two stories
• Pitched roof (angular, not flat)
• Narrow driveways

The plan prioritizes these design elements and would require new single-family homes constructed in existing neighborhoods to maintain this architectural integrity. It would also restrict multi-story and multi-family housing in these neighborhoods.

Duplexes and “accessory dwelling units” — an additional living space that includes a kitchen, living space and bathroom on the same property as the primary house — could be allowed if they follow the prioritized design standards and fit the aesthetics of existing single-family homes. 

No single-family zoning subdistrict in PD 595 will be changed to allow duplexes or multi-family, however, so a property owner would still need to apply for a zoning change to build a duplex or accessory dwelling unit.

Goal No. 2: Bring more businesses to South Dallas

Another focus of the area plan is turning commercial corridors into “mixed-use” areas, which would allow for businesses, office spaces and eateries to exist in close proximity, and would create hubs for people to work, shop and live, all in one area.

Right now, several areas in South Dallas are zoned solely as commercial corridors, which allows only retail stores or warehouses.

The Dallas South Shopping Center on Elsie Faye Heggins and Second Avenue, for example, is a commercial corridor that currently has a Family Dollar, a dentist’s office and a beauty supply store, among other retail shops. Changing this to mixed-use zoning would allow office space, restaurants and even residential units in this corridor.

Task force members saw that another thing holding South Dallas back from economic growth was the strict parking regulations small businesses have to follow. Currently, the City Plan Commission and the Dallas City Council are looking to eliminate parking minimums. But even if the City doesn’t change parking requirements citywide, the proposed South Dallas plan would seek to remove or reduce the location and amount of parking mandated in PD 595.

Other recommendations for community growth include allowing restaurants in South Dallas that offer only to-go food, which currently aren’t allowed. Additional recommendations include moving vape shops under the “tobacco store” category, and keeping convenience stores subject to specific use permits (SUPs), which would require them to go through the process of getting special permission to be in an area where zoning typically doesn’t allow them.

All of these recommendations align with the recently approved citywide ForwardDallas 2.0 plan, Blaydes says. 

Goal No. 3: Design a plan with the South Dallas community

During the briefing, Jackson said South Dallas has seen a lot of plans over the years, such as the Economic Development Corridor Plan in 2001, the Hatcher Station Plan in 2013, and the Fair Park Master Plan in 2020.

“So there’s all this planning that’s been going on,” Jackson said, “and there has been a lack of implementation.”  

South Dallas has seen its fair share of people coming in and bringing their ideas to “better the neighborhood,” Blaydes says.

After seeing numerous grand plans fall short, Adam Bazaldua, city council member for District 7, initiated the South Dallas Fair Park Area Planning Task Force in 2020, banding together South Dallas neighborhood associations and community organizations to create a cohesive vision for land use, to guide neighborhood growth and investment, and to bring pressing neighborhood concerns to the City.

Blaydes said it’s important to know the plan’s recommendations came from South Dallas neighbors and the task force, not just City of Dallas staff. He said his team didn’t want to show up and tell neighbors what to do to improve South Dallas.

“This is not us parachuting in,” Blaydes says. “This is us standing in that room or sitting in that room listening to what those community members said they wanted, and then figuring out ways to achieve those things.”

What’s next for the South Dallas area plan?

The purpose of the January briefing was for the City Plan Commission to provide feedback on the task force’s land use and zoning recommendations. 

A public hearing, currently scheduled for the Thursday, March 6 City Plan Commission meeting, will allow neighbors to voice their opinions. There may be more plan commission meetings before the area plan reaches the city council, Blaydes says.

If the city council approves the plan, an “authorized hearing” will be held as another chance for South Dallas neighbors to provide input on the proposed rezoning of PD 595, and make their voices heard before city council members vote on whether to officially change it to reflect the plan.

The task force hopes to bring together community members by summer to update them on what has been discussed at the hearings and next steps, Blaydes says, while Wheeler-Reagan hopes the January briefing sped up the process so that an updated PD 595 will be in place by May.