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Preston-Royal Zoning Hearing Postponed, Neighborhood Group Says

The full Dallas City Council hearing for the contentious Preston-Royal zoning case is postponed, Preserve Preston Hollow says
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Credit: Burk Interests

The neighborhood group Preserve Preston Hollow says it has secured a postponement of the Dallas City Council zoning hearing on the possible rezoning of the southwest quadrant of Preston Road and Royal Lane.

Preserve Preston Hollow says the contentious zoning case was set for a hearing before the full City Council on Sept. 9, but the hearing is now postponed until Oct. 14.

“The postponement provides additional time for Preserve Preston Hollow and area residents to review the proposed zoning change, supporting documents and other information related to the case,” Preserve Preston Hollow said in a statement on its website.

District 13 Dallas City Council member Gay Donnell Willis, who represents the neighborhood, briefly addressed the zoning case in an interview on WFAA’s Inside Texas Politics this week.

“We are still working with the applicant. I’m still having meetings with residents, so we are still in a listening mode as that moves closer to council,” Willis said.

People Newspapers has reached out to Willis’ office for additional comment on the postponement.

The project at the southwest quadrant of Preston and Royal proposed by developer Leland Burk involves building 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. The maximum structure height allowed by the area’s current zoning is 54 feet. The developer had previously reduced the maximum height proposed for the project.

Chief among the concerns of some nearby residents regarding the Preston-Royal project, including members of groups like Preserve Preston Hollow and D13 Together, is the height of the proposed towers.

The City Plan Commission recommended approval of the rezoning on Aug. 6, but it still needs to be approved by the Dallas City Council before it can proceed.

“The neighborhood is supportive of the developer’s uses, just not at the height he wants,” Margaret Chabris, who is involved with Preserve Preston Hollow and attended the D13 Together news conference Aug. 4, said at the City Plan Commission 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.

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Rachel Snyder

Rachel Snyder

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Rachel Snyder, managing editor at People Newspapers, first joined the staff in 2019. She's covered everything from Dallas and University Park municipal government to business. Rachel began her journalism career at the daily newspaper The Express Star in Chickasha, Okla. She went on to work for the daily Duncan Banner in Duncan, Okla. the weekly Sand Springs Leader, and WFAA-TV in Dallas. She’s a fan of puns and community journalism, not necessarily in that order.
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