The Dallas City Council Wednesday greenlit the rezoning of a 3.7-acre site at the corner of Walnut Hill Lane and Betty Jane Lane to allow for a residential development after the developer made additional concessions to neighbors.
Ahead of the Sept. 23 City Council meeting, the developer, Centurion American, reduced the number of patio homes proposed to 37, of which 12 would be three stories, according to plans filed with the city. When the zoning case was most recently deferred on Aug. 23, the proposal called for 41 patio homes. Initially, the plan had called for 60 patio homes.
The development is proposed on a vacant site that was previously home to a church that was damaged in the 2019 tornado.
The site was the subject of a similar zoning change request last year, which was voted down, and the developer has since reduced the number of houses proposed and “increased minimum lot size, and increased open space requirements,” according to the documents.
At the Sept. 23 city council meeting, some nearby residents had called for the development to be limited to two stories and remained concerned about the increased density.
“It’s too much, too dense, too high,” neighbor Kathryn Rafter said at the meeting.
District 13 Dallas City Council member Gay Donnell Willis, who represents the area and made the motion to approve the zoning change, said she had worked with the developer to reduce the height and density proposed and the project offers “missing middle housing” options.
“If … we sit with vacant land and no houses on it, I’m not sure how that helps us meet our goals,” Willis added.
The final 9-5 vote to approve the patio homes came after Dallas District 12 City Council member Cara Mendelsohn had moved to try to cap the height of the project at two stories.
Author
