The Dallas City Council has delayed action on two controversial North Dallas zoning cases but given the greenlight to construction of a third project.
The potential changes sparked heated discussions during summer meetings. A Dallas City Council hearing for perhaps the most contentious case involving the southwest quadrant of the Preston Road and Royal Lane intersection has been pushed to October 14, according to the neighborhood group Preserve Preston Hollow.
The City Plan Commission recommended approval of the zoning change on Aug. 6.
District 13 Dallas City Council member Gay Donnell Willis said she is continuing to meet with neighbors, the developer, and city staff about the case.
“We all want to have the facts in front of the Council before this decision is made,” Willis added.
If approved, the zoning change requested by developer Leland Burk would allow for construction of a hotel/residential tower up to 240 feet, or about 19 stories, another residential tower up to 210 feet, or about 18 stories, and an office building up to 190 feet. A point of contention for some neighbors has been the project’s height.
“The uses are fine. The height needs to come down,” Doug Hazelbaker, who is involved with Preserve Preston Hollow, said at the City Plan Commission meeting.
Other neighbors said they’re hopeful about the project and its additional housing options.
“The project will bring new energy, new people, jobs to our neighborhood, not to mention the millions it will add to the affordable housing fund,” Anne Johnson said at the Aug. 6 meeting.
Burk attended the City Plan Commission meeting and said, “meeting with our neighbors and sharing our vision has been a priority from day one.”
“We have listened, and we have made significant changes to our original design,” Burk said. He reduced the project’s maximum height last summer after residents aired their concerns. The area’s current zoning allows a maximum structure height of 54 feet.
A Dallas City Council vote on a zoning change that would allow 41 patio homes to be built on a 3.8-acre site at the corner of Walnut Hill Lane and Betty Jane Lane was also recently delayed.
The site was the subject of a similar zoning change request last year, which was voted down. The developer has since reduced the number of houses proposed and increased minimum lot size and open space requirements, according to the documents.
Lastly, the Dallas City Council voted 8 to 4 in August to allow the construction of covered patios for homes within five feet of the alleyway in the new Melshire Park development along Forest Lane.
Previous zoning for the area between Quincy Lane and Nuestra Drive had called for a minimum setback of 21 feet from the alleyway, with a three-foot setback allowed for garages.
The developer agreed to the larger setbacks as a concession to neighbors concerned about increased density and traffic when the city council voted in 2021 to more than double the development’s maximum number of homes.
“Those setbacks were key provisions intended to lessen the impact of the development on the surrounding neighborhood. Now, after four homes have already been built, we discover that the developer violated the development plan,” Richard Brown said at the Aug. 12 meeting. “Keep the promise that was made to the neighborhood five years ago. Keep the protection of this 21-foot setback in place.”
Tommy Mann, who represented the applicant at the Aug. 12 City Council meeting, said the patios “don’t add any density” and “none of this was done in violation.”
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