Homes along Westlake Avenue in the Lakewood Conservation District expansion area. Photo by Renee Umsted.
Neighbors in the proposed expansion area of the Lakewood Conservation District spent this week’s meeting talking about lot size, drainage and slope.
They barely scratched the surface of the agenda items, since neighbors spent the first hour going over sidewalks, front-yard coverage, use and parking, density and lot coverage, which were all discussed at the Sept. 15 meeting. That left only 30 minutes to get to new topics, so building height and stories, floor area ratio and waterfall steps were all pushed to the next meeting.
The majority of meeting attendees said permeable pavers should be appropriate for driveways but not as a landscaping feature; this was brought up to prevent a homeowner from covering the front yard in permeable pavers.
Many also agreed that one parking spot should be required per accessory dwelling unit, and that each lot is allowed one dwelling unit and one accessory dwelling unit. Once the number of dwelling units on a property is voluntarily reduced, all rights to the previous number of dwelling units are forfeited. Of course, the homeowner would have the opportunity to go before the Board of Adjustment and request approval for a deed-restricted accessory dwelling unit.
At the end of the Sept. 15 meeting, neighbors agreed that lot coverage for new construction should be restricted to 40%. However, at the most recent meeting, the majority of neighbors wanted to reduce that percentage to 35%.
Trevor Brown, a chief planner at the City of Dallas, says most of the lots in the proposed expansion area are zoned R7.5(A), residential properties with a minimum lot size of 7,500 square feet. A few on Tokalon Drive and in the southern part of the expansion area are zoned R10(A), which have a minimum lot size of 10,000 square feet.
Neighbors agreed to follow the language in the Dallas Development Code, which requires 7,500-square-foot lots to be at least 55 feet wide and 100 feet deep.
Some neighbors requested Brown ask the City Attorney’s Office whether it would be possible to freeze lots as they are and prevent future replatting.
The current Lakewood Conservation District ordinance does not regulate drainage and slope. But the Dallas Development Code prohibits lot-to-lot drainage.
Because topography is important in Lakewood — there are noticeable slopes in the landscape — neighbors agreed that they wanted to avoid leveling off lots or building up lots, both of which would affect drainage. In other words, they wanted to maintain the existing topography.
The next meeting will be 6 p.m. Oct. 12 at Samuell-Grand Recreation Center.
If you’re in the proposed expansion area and you’d like to make comments about the items discussed at the meeting, email Trevor Brown at trevor.brown@dallas.gov, including your name and address in the subject line.
