A clearer picture has emerged of the Cowboys nightclub’s proposed rezoning.
Cowboys, the large country and western night club on the northwest corner of Gaston and East Grand, has applied for a change from community retail to regional retail.
The club applied for rezoning because community retail now carries a Specific Use Permit requirement for businesses making 75 percent or more of their gross revenues from alcohol sales. Under this City ordinance, Cowboys is non-conforming until it obtains an SUP or change in zoning.
Cowboys is in the process of “going public,” that is, preparing to issue and sell publicly traded stock. Having its flagship property remain non-conforming and subject to termination is not something Wall Street would look upon with favor.
However, Cowboys’ representatives recently attended a Gastonwood/Coronado neighborhood meeting to discuss the rezoning, which was to be considered by the City Plan Commission Sept. 29. Cowboys appears to have made sincere efforts to be a good neighbor to Gastonwood/Coronado.
A possible compromise would entail the neighborhood supporting the granting of an SUP for either a permanent time period or at least a period of time that would coincide with or exceed Cowboy’s long-term lease on the property.
This compromise would allow the club to become conforming and proceed with its public offering, while giving the neighborhood protection that a zoning change wouldn’t provide.
Moreover, with an SUP the City can enforce requirements such as lighting, screening, landscaping and other specific items, which are not possible with a straight zoning change.
However, there is an added complication in the area. Fiesta Bazaar, Cowboy’s neighbor, has applied for a Class A Dance Hall License, the same type held by Cowboys. Fiesta doesn’t have the zoning required for that type of license.
The fact that the application was filed so close in time to Cowboys’ request added to the neighborhood’s concerns, although Cowboys took great pains to disassociate itself from Fiesta.
It seems likely that a consensus on the Cowboys’ application will be worked out with the neighborhood and adopted.
More Controversy in Junius Heights?
Just when we thought things had settled down in Junius Heights, it looks like another, if somewhat smaller, controversy may be on the horizon for the long-suffering, Old East Dallas neighborhood.
During the long battle to establish a Planned Development District in Junius Heights, the City Council voted to make properties with six units or less conforming. Those with seven or more units would have one year to apply for a Specific Use Permit, with the application fee waived.
The first such Junius Heights property recently applied for its SUP.
The property, located at 5510 Junius at the corner of Augusta, has 31 units and is by far the largest multi-family property in Junius Heights.
So far, little has been heard from neighborhood residents about the application, either pro or con. This rather surprising state of affairs can be expected to change as the hearing date approaches.
Munger Place Zoning Battle
The Plan Commission was scheduled to hold a hearing in late September to determine proper zoning for properties at the corner of Collett and Reiger.
The intersection, which has been the subject of heated controversy for several years, is mostly zoned single-family and contains a car wash and a small grocery store, which are non-conforming.
The car wash is subject to a Board of Adjustment termination order that its owners are fighting in court, while the grocery store has a termination case pending with the Board.
The Munger Place Historic District Association recently took a stand in favor of retaining the existing zoning and even changing the two lots on Collett that are zoned for retail back to single-family zoning.
The City’s planning staff will likely take a similar position, while the businesses have an active and vocal group of their own who are expected to argue for changing some of the lots to retail zoning.
Given the history of the controversy, odds are that the zoning will stay the way it is, with the ultimate fate of the non-conforming businesses being decided at the courthouse rather than at City Hall.
