During a meeting of the City Plan Commission, Dallas residents criticized the idea of building multifamily housing units in areas currently designated for single-family homes.
As mentioned before reported by The Dallas Express, the City plans to update its comprehensive land use plan this year, also known as ForwardDallas. The plan is meant to be a long-term vision for how the city uses land, guiding its growth over the next few decades and describing how to achieve that vision.
However, residents in single-family home neighborhoods are concerned about the possibility of allowing developers to build multifamily housing units in areas where it was not allowed before, as part of an effort to increase affordable housing. They worry that this approach could lead to rezoning changes.
At a recent meeting, many people signed up to speak against the proposal, arguing that the belief that multifamily housing always means lower costs is not true.
Patricia Simon stated, "In East Dallas, we're seeing large multifamily townhomes encroaching on the area, driving up land prices and making building expensive. This is not resulting in affordable housing; instead, developers are making profits by increasing density. As a result, our taxes are rising, making it unaffordable for long-time residents."
Jose Rivas also spoke out, urging city leaders to protect single-family neighborhoods.
Jose Rivas mentioned, “The current ForwardDallas plan seems to ignore the negative effects on our established neighborhoods in the name of affordability. We need a balanced approach that protects existing homeowners while still promoting responsible growth and density around our community through an open and transparent process.”
While the ForwardDallas plan itself would not bring about zoning changes, rezoning could likely be used by City officials to achieve the plan’s goals.
While most speakers at the meeting were against any potential changes to single-family zoning, some residents showed support for the plan and its aim to address affordability issues.
Brenda Grimworthy said, "We need more housing options, with a variety of choices that are diverse in types and size and are affordable. Many Dallas neighborhoods used to have multifamily homes as a norm, and today, those structures can’t be replaced or replicated due to zoning restrictions. For Dallas to grow, we need more middle housing available for sale and rent across the entire city."
City Plan Commission members will have a full-day public workshop on June 17 to talk about suggested changes to the ForwardDallas plan before giving any official suggestions to the Dallas City Council.
