Dallas residents and developers are one step closer to getting incentives to preserve and plant trees.
The Tree Preservation Task Force, working with the Zoning Ordinance Advisory Committee, unanimously voted in September to recommend a package of such incentives.
The Zoning Ordinance Advisory Committee was scheduled to debate and consider the provision. Some City Council members have asked the Planning Department to speed it through the process, so the City Plan Commission and the City Council should consider it soon.
The proposal has not received a lot of attention, yet. But the farther it gets into the adoption process, the more controversial it will become.
And, of course, it often happens that the original proposals are only vaguely recognizable by the time they make it through the Plan Commission and the Council.
If you are interested in this issue, contact your Plan Commission and Council representatives. More information on the proposal will be in next month’s column.
Residential Hotel Study
Some neighborhood leaders are concerned about residential hotels concentrating in East Dallas.
Residential hotels or single-room occupancy hotels, are a form of transitional housing. They are for people who are not eligible for a shelter, but are not in a position to lease an apartment. Dallas’ zoning ordinance does not address this type of housing.
The City Council is considering a moratorium on issuing Certificates of Occupancy for residential hotel uses.
The moratorium would last through March 23, 1994. It will give the Planning Department, the Zoning Ordinance Advisory Committee and the Plan Commission time to determine if additional zoning regulations are needed for this type of housing.
The city has not brought a proposal forward to deal with this issue, but you will be informed about it as soon as they do.
Less Awareness
Recent action by the City Council will change how the people learn about possible zoning changes.
State law requires that official legal notice of any zoning change application must be published in advance in a newspaper of general circulation within the city.
A recently adopted City Charter amendment changed the definition of a newspaper of general circulation. Using the new definition, the City Council decided that notices of zoning changes would not be placed in The Dallas Morning News, but in the Daily Commercial Record, a weekly publication of legal notices with a circulation of about 3,000.
This will save the city money. Plus, it will put the city in a better bargaining position with The Morning News for the cost of the weekly zoning notices.
However, it will drastically cut the number of people receiving advance notice of zoning changes in their neighborhoods. It will be limited to those within the legal notification area of 200 feet, and those on the city’s early warning list. There may be more developments on this issue. We’ll keep you updated.
More From Junius Heights
A consensus on future zoning for Junius Heights, embroiled in a controversy over apartment buildings owned by City Councilman Craig Holcomb, seems to be emerging from a series of exhaustive meetings of neighborhood leaders.
A draft proposal was presented at a general meeting of the neighborhood at Lipscomb Elementary School recently. The decision by the neighborhood will be reported to the City for appropriate action. The neighborhood’s progress in resolving this controversial issue will be reported in the next issue.
News & Notes
RETAIL ZONING APPROVED: The Plan Commission approved an application for retail zoning along both sides of Moser Avenue between Ross Avenue and Monarch Street in October. The area is the empty parking lot of the former Merchants State Bank building, behind the recently historically-designated Ross Avenue Baptist Church. The plan calls for closing Moser Avenue between Ross Avenue and Monarch Street. The property owner is talking with several large grocery chains as possible anchor tenants.
LANDMARK DESIGNATION: David Crockett Elementary School has been proposed as a landmark by the Dallas Landmark Commission. The school, 401 North Carroll in Old East Dallas, opened in 1903 and was constructed in Romanesque Revival style. It closed as a school in 1989 and is now DISD administrative offices. The school building is classified as a contributing structure in the Alcalde-Crockett National Register Historic District.
SINGLE-FAMILY HOUSING: The Plan Commission considered an application in October to allow single-family houses in some sub-areas of the Bryan Area Planned Development District, specifically along Roseland Avenue between Central Expressway and Carroll Avenue. The results of the meeting were not available when we went to press, but the area has been targeted for work by Dallas Habitat for Humanity, and the proposal has community support.
MICROWAVE TOWER: DART applied for a Specific Use Permit to replace a microwave tower near the under-construction rail line site on the north side of Mockingbird Lane. The new tower would help DART with communications and dispatching activities.
DISTRICT 99 STUDY: An ad hoc group has been formed to study possible changes to Planned Development District 99, which lies along Gaston Avenue between Fitzhugh and the Lakewood Shopping Center. This group includes property owners in the area, as well as participants in the Old East Dallas Coalition and the Junius Heights, Mill Creek, Munger Place, and Swiss Avenue neighborhoods. If you are interested in the affected area and want information, call me at 520-2040.
