A proposal under consideration by the Dallas City Council would end a trigger that automatically postpones zoning cases.
Property owners near a proposed development can delay a zoning case by four weeks or more by paying a $150 fee and submitting a formal request under the Dallas Development Code.
An amendment to the development code would end this automatic process and require a public hearing to postpone zoning cases.
“The proposed amendment aims to increase procedural efficiency, reduce administrative costs, and enhance transparency and fairness,” Assistant City Manager Robin Bentley said in a memo.
The trigger mechanism can considerably disrupt projects after long periods of planning and community input, said developer Tanya Ragan of Wildcat Management in Dallas.
In most contested zoning cases, community members are involved early on with their council members, and developers are often engaged with the community in advance, she said.
“To the best of my knowledge, it doesn’t happen very frequently,” she said of the trigger.
Just 25 zoning cases have been postponed under the rule since 2021, according to Meetings of Interest, a newsletter by former Mayor Mike Rawlings’ policy chief Scott Goldstein.
The postponement mechanism is a last resort for neighbors who might oppose an upcoming zoning change.
“In a system that can often feel stacked against average residents, this section of the Dallas Development Code can offer a path to reset negotiations on what may or may not be acceptable to a neighborhood,” Goldstein wrote.
Weeks of delay can hobble a development, especially as construction costs rise, Ragan said.
“Time is so costly and so critical,” she said.
The proposed amendment has been approved by the City Plan Commission and the Zoning Ordinance Advisory Committee, and the city council is expected to take it up in August..
Mayor Eric Johnson has made it a priority for the city to facilitate new housing supply. When he testified in Congress in March, Johnson called for cities to “cut the red tape” for developers in order to make housing naturally more affordable, rather than funding low-income housing.