A newly formed political action committee Friday formally submitted notice of intent to circulate a recall petition against District 13 Dallas City Council member Gay Donnell Willis.
The notice is the first formal step before collecting petition signatures in a bid to place the recall question on the ballot in May 2027. The next Dallas City Council election is November 2027.
The notice was signed by Doug Hazelbaker, John Wimberley, Victor Vescovo, Margaret DiFrancesco, and Margaret Chabris. Following the notice, organizers have 60 days to acquire signatures from 15% of registered voters in Dallas City Council District 13 to get the question placed on the May ballot. For District 13, organizers say that’s around 9,500 signatures needed.
Residents behind the petition drive have cited three contentious zoning cases, predominantly one that would rezone the southwest quadrant of the retail center at Preston Road and Royal Lane to allow for three buildings for hotel, residential, and office use, the tallest of which is proposed to be up to 240 feet, or about 19 stories. The maximum structure height allowed by the area’s current zoning is 54 feet. That project got the OK from the City Plan Commission Aug. 6.
Willis announced later in the afternoon of Oct. 9 that the Dallas City Council hearing on the case will be postponed from Oct. 14 to Nov. 10, citing traffic concerns.
“Traffic is the number one concern neighbors of this project have encouraged me to address. Additional traffic improvements will reduce wait times at the lights and ensure an improved flow of vehicles. I am pushing for a solution that extends beyond the immediate intersection and encompasses more of the east and westbound traffic to make a greater overall impact on traffic flow,” WIllis said in an Oct. 9 statement. “The engineers at Kimley-Horn need additional time to recommend meaningful and effective plans to do this. Hopefully, this additional time will result in recommendations that can be incorporated into the zoning requirements for the developer, who will bear the expense. This postponement also aligns with the delay some neighbors have requested for further study of the project.”
Residents have expressed concern about the height of the buildings, the potential traffic impacts of the project, and its proximity to schools like St. Mark’s School of Texas, while others have said it would add needed housing to the area.
Aside from the Preston-Royal zoning case, organizers of the recall effort have also cited Willis’ support for a residential development with 37 patio homes at Walnut Hill and Betty Jane Lane, which was approved Sept. 23, and a planned development district amendment for a controversial Melshire Estates development, which was approved Aug. 12.
“The goal is simply to get representation in District 13, and we just feel like we don’t have any representation from Gay Donnell Willis right now. We’ve tried to be included in three different zoning cases, and we’ve been excluded,” said Neighborhoods First co-chair Doug Hazelbaker.
People Newspapers has reached out to Gay Donnell Willis for additional comment and will update this post as additional information becomes available.
Previously, though, Willis has said that “public engagement has already influenced” the zoning cases, and she’s willing to facilitate discussions between residents, developers, and city staff.
“Residents should have meaningful opportunities to engage with applicants, developers, City Staff, and their elected representatives as zoning cases move through the public process. I remain willing to help facilitate additional discussions where they may be productive. I do not however, believe it would be responsible to impose a blanket 120-day delay on three separate zoning cases simply because they have become the subject of political disagreement,” Willis said in August after the D13 Together group called for a 120-day delay on movement on the zoning cases and threatened to initiate a recall effort. “Public engagement has already influenced these cases. Residents have participated through meetings, calls, emails, public hearings, and direct discussions with me, City Staff and applicants. Proposals have changed substantially as a result of that input.”
(Editor’s Note: This post has been updated to reflect that Willis asked for the postponement of the Dallas City Council hearing on the case until Nov. 10, and with her statement on the postponement.)
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