Zoning vs. small business: Three South Dallas stories

By |Published On: December 3, 2020|Categories: South Dallas|

Newly relocated South Dallas resident Cassandra Laster and her family moved to the neighborhood hoping for a shorter commute and to give back to the community. They own a home-run dog breeding business, inspired by her son, that has been gaining traction. The Laster family has big plans to move their venture to a larger facility they believe will spur economic growth in South Dallas.

“We had already started looking into having a dog breeding business because we had bought female rottweilers to start breeding, because that’s [my son’s] passion,” Laster explains. “But then we had started watching dogs at home last summer, and he had more dogs than we needed to have — like, I had to start giving him a limit.”

Cassandra Laster works with Balto, Zee and Yogi at her proposed doggy day care site in South Dallas on Logan Street. Photo by Sierra Medlock.

South Dallas was at the top of Laster and her family’s list as they searched for a location for a doggy day care facility. They hope to change the neighborhood’s business landscape by opening a business that accepts unwanted dogs and also hires people with a criminal history struggling to find employment.

“We want to be in South Dallas,” Laster says. “We want to be close to our home, we want to stimulate the economy, I want people to work that may have a background that, maybe they were in trouble with the law, but nothing that they can’t be rehabilitated.”

Over the last few months working from home and having more time on their hands, courtesy of the current COVID pandemic, Laster and her family began their search for leasing opportunities. They were turned down by their first prospective site, but then Laster came upon a family-owned business looking to lease part of its 44,000 square foot building on Logan Street. The owner was very supportive, Laster says, and the only thing standing in the way of the Laster family and their doggy daycare business was zoning.

What is zoning, and why does it exist?

The entire City of Dallas is divided into zoning districts that determine where homes, industrial uses, stores and other uses can exist. The general purpose of zoning is to ensure that a city will grow and evolve in a way that benefits the general public’s safety and wellness. The zoning process in the City of Dallas operates out of the sustainable development and construction department in Dallas’ current planning division.

As required by the zoning process, if you want to develop land, you must obtain proper zoning prior to starting construction. If the land doesn’t already meet proper zoning requirements, the owner must file an application for a zoning change for the proposed development. The three types of zoning changes are: 1) general zoning change; 2) planned development district (PDD); and 3) specific use permit (SUP), each with their own processes and requirements.

(Read the Inclusive Community Project’s guide to Planned Development Districts (PDs).)

Each zoning proposal lasts approximately 10-14 weeks from filing the application to City Council approval, according to the City of Dallas’ zoning change information packet. The process includes two public hearings where people can speak for or against a zoning change, first to the City Plan Commission, whose commissioners are appointed by the City Council, and then to council members themselves.

Rezoning for a doggie daycare

Laster’s first step was contacting the city to see if the property’s zoning for industrial improvement uses could be changed to commercial improvements, allowing for a doggy daycare with grooming, boarding, training and other pet services.

“I first reached out to a city employee to ask, could this be rezoned? What did they think?” Laster says.

The response was not what she had expected. Recalling the experience as “discouraging,” Laster says the city employee told her the city would not support her proposal for rezoning.

“So if somebody said that to you who works for the city, and you’re a mere mortal, what would you do?” Laster says. “You would say, OK, let me go find another spot.”

Despite there being plenty of other warehouses available for lease in places like the Design District or Oak Cliff, Laster says she wanted her business to stay in South Dallas because there aren’t many like it in the neighborhood.