Dallas OKs zoning changes to protect Elm Thicket

The Dallas City Council just pushed through several hardline zoning changes to preserve one of the city’s historically Black neighborhoods.

The controversial vote aims to protect the long-term residents from displacement by gentrification, the Dallas Morning News reports. The zoning changes approved by the City Council include height restrictions for new homes — reduced from 30 feet to a maximum of 25 feet — and a 40 percent limit on lot coverage, which is 5 percent below the city’s average.

“While what is being proposed is not a save-all, fix-all solution, it’s a step in the right direction,” said Councilmember Jesse Moreno, who represents the Elm Thicket-Northpark neighborhood. “It’s a nod to the history of Elm Thicket.”

Founded as a Freedman’s Town in the 1940s, Elm Thicket-Northpark spans a more than 500-acre area east of Dallas’ Love Field airport. Today, the neighborhood is made up of a mix of Black, Hispanic and white residents.

Median real estate tax bills in the area have reportedly increased at least 33 percent between 2005 and 2019 due to increased valuations. While prospective home buyers see a perfect investment, others are reminded of the legacy of gentrification that’s plagued the neighborhood for decades.

“At this point, we have to deal with the fact that this is an African-American neighborhood that wants to maintain its integrity and that wants to keep our children, grandchildren living in an area that our foreparents fought for,” said Zac Thompson, who owns his childhood home in the neighborhood.

Thompson says his family was forcibly displaced from their original home in the area via eminent domain by the city for the expansion of Love Field more than 60 years ago. He told DMN that the home where they moved, once worth $6,000, is now valued at $400,000.

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Residents have been fighting with the city for decades over rising property values forcing out families who’ve lived there for generations. Things came to a head last month when developers erected a garish movie-themed mansion, dubbed the “Tron house” and listed it for almost $4 million. Psychologist Myrna Dartson, who lives in the same home her family has owned since 1947, called it “the worst example of our neighborhood being destroyed.”

“This zoning vote is very important to us because we are trying to preserve the integrity of our neighborhood,” Dartson said. “We feel almost bullied by what’s happening here.”

Leading up to the vote, the city sent nearly 2,400 notices to area property owners about the proposed changes. Of the 901 who responded, 285 property owners said they were in favor and 616 replied in opposition.

Vocal opponents of the zoning changes argued that it infringed on property owners’ rights. However, assistant city attorney Bert Vandenberg told council members that it was a vote “just changing the development standards of the property.”

“There’s nothing retroactive about this,” said Andrea Gilles from the planning and urban design office. “Nobody needs to conform to the standards after the fact.”

— Maddy Sperling