The City asks West Dallas: What should happen next on land zoned ‘industrial’?

Much of the land south of Singleton Boulevard in West Dallas is zoned for industrial uses, despite the residential neighborhoods that exist amid and adjacent to plants that pollute the neighborhood’s air, soil and water. 

In 2022 District 6 Plan Commissioner Deborah Carpenter called for an authorized hearing to potentially rezone about 256 acres of land south of Singleton, and three years later, that process has finally begun. 

On Nov. 18, the City of Dallas invited residents to the first public meeting and asked for input on what they want to see in the future development of their neighborhood. The City’s Forward Dallas land use plan, adopted in September 2024, reflects neighbors’ feedback that the land should be rezoned to eliminate industrial plants.

For decades West Dallas residents who live near industrial plants like, GAF shingle factory, have experienced health and environmental concerns caused by pollution produced by industrial manufacturers. 

Seferinus Okoth, City of Dallas chief planner, led the meeting and overviewed the map of roughly 256 acres being considered for rezoning. The area stretches between Singleton Boulevard on the north and Union Pacific Railway to the south, and from Westmoreland road on the west to Borger Street and Burton Drive on the east.

“We have about seven different unique zoning districts in the area; most of it is industrial,” Okoth said. “The community has expressed concern to some of those, and that’s why this authorized hearing was initiated.”

The Forward Dallas vision for the Singleton corridor includes three placetypes — city residential, community mixed use and community residential — and no more industrial zoning. Okoth told those gathered that input received during the public meetings will shape city staff’s zoning recommendations to the City Plan Commission, who will review and vote on recommendations before they are sent to City Council, who ultimately will decide how the area is rezoned.

During the meeting, residents expressed concerns about how to prevent longtime neighbors from being displaced, how to preserve the community’s identity, and how to solve the problem of residential homes next to the GAF shingle factory.

The next public hearing will be on Jan. 13, 2026, 6-7:30 p.m. at the West Dallas Multipurpose Center.

Janie Cisneros, leader of Singleton United/Unidos, says her organization requested the authorized hearing three years ago. They collected petitions from residents who live on both sides of GAF requesting their single-family homes to be rezoned as residential instead of industrial. 

Most zoning change requests in Dallas are for a single parcel of land, and applicants pay the City thousands of dollars to request that zoning be changed. Cisneros says her neighbors don’t have that kind of money, and shouldn’t have to pay a fee to change “improper” zoning.

“The reason why we are living next to GAF is because of the zoning,” Cisneros says. “I want community members to come have a say, have a voice as to what they want to see, what they don’t want to see.”