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CPC May 16, 2024
District: 3 | Mountain Creek
234-Unit Multifamily | 8410 W Camp Wisdom Rd | Approved
District: 1 | Oak Cliff
200-Unit Multifamily | 4710 W Illinois Ave | Approved
ForwardDallas | Discussion
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DISTRICT: 3
Mountain Creek Apartments 8410 W Camp Wisdom Rd
Mountain Creek | 12.88 Acres | 234 Units | Approved
This 12.8-acre site in Planned Development District No. 521 complies with the PD standards, so City Staff recommended approval of the development plan for a 234-unit multifamily product at 18.17 DU/Ac . No zoning change was requested - the purpose of the Plan Commission hearing was only to determine if the development plan met existing PD-521 regulations.
Notably, this property falls within the "Community Residential" Placetype in the City's draft revised ForwardDallas comprehensive plan. The Community Residential category represents a significant portion of Dallas' land area and allows a range of housing types including single-family homes, duplexes, townhomes, and small-scale multifamily, especially near transit stations, activity centers, and commercial nodes. Spoiler alert: this Placetype is highly contentious.
Owner: Unified Housing Foundation, Inc., Neil Crouch Phone: (214) 750-8845
Case Report: D223-010(TB)
Project Plans: D223-010(TB)
DISTRICT: 1
HiLine Illinois 4710 W Illinois Ave
Oak Cliff | 6.55 Acres | 200 Units | Approved
Generation Housing Partners is set to turn an Oak Cliff church into 200 affordable units with the help of a fresh $35,000,000 in Dallas Housing Finance Corporation-issued Multifamily Housing Mortgage Revenue Bonds.
The rezoning from R-7.5(A) Single Family District to MF-1(A) Multifamily District was approved by CPC with no discussion.
Developer: Generation Housing Partners, Adrian Iglesias Phone (Mobile): (512) 971-9127 Phone (Office): (214) 613-6569 Email: [email protected], Chris Applequist Phone: (817) 501-9577 Email: [email protected]
Owner: Templo de Alabanza Church, Brian Sandoval Phone: (214) 333-2147 Email: [email protected]
Case Report: Z234-154(MB)
ForwardDallas
Citywide | Discussion
The Dallas City Plan Commission discussed the ForwardDallas Comprehensive Plan update which aims to guide Dallas' growth and development for the next decade. A key topic was whether to designate multiplexes (duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes) as a primary or secondary use in the "Community Residential" place type, which covers many of the city's single-family neighborhoods.
Allowing multiplexes as a primary use would make them one of the main, encouraged housing types in these areas, on par with single-family homes. This could influence zoning change decisions that make it easier to build multiplexes. However, the Plan would likely include design standards and location criteria to ensure compatibility with neighborhood character.
Commissioners expressed a range of perspectives on this issue. We’ll move from those most in opposition to those most in support.
‟Folks in single family neighborhoods feel like they are being shut out and just forgotten and ignored, and this Plan and this is just another example of that.
Commissioner Forsyth's stance was unambiguously negative. Forsyth framed development as a threat to single-family neighborhoods, something to be defended against at all costs. He warned that neighborhoods will have to "be on edge all the time" and that the "onus is going to be on them to protect their neighborhoods" if the plan allows more density.
‟In this day and age where developers are greedy, it becomes me sitting on the fence saying we could really use that - I know people who probably don't want to buy homes or can't afford it, they want to live in their community. But they can't even afford it because we have houses getting so expensive.
Wheeler-Reagan expressed significant concern about the impact of new development on gentrification and affordability, particularly in southern Dallas. She highlighted the challenge of balancing the need for more housing with the risk of driving up prices and displacing current residents and criticized developers’ use of current Dallas affordability policies like the fee-in-lieu.
Words like "greed" and "expensive" houses suggest concern that development is contributing to affordability challenges rather than solving them.
At the same time, Wheeler-Reagan does acknowledge the need for more affordable housing options. Her comment that "we could really use that" suggests she sees value in some forms of development to address housing needs.
Wheeler-Reagan's focus on the impact of rising prices on current residents suggests a protective stance towards existing communities, expressing concern for people who "want to live in their community, but they can't even afford it."
Other commissioners were more conflicted. Commissioner Blair said she was "on the fence" and leaning towards keeping multiplexes as a secondary use until seeing more details on design standards and location criteria.
‟The whole reason that this is being proposed is to solve what is growing to a housing catastrophe in five years.
Commissioner Chernock urged the City to allow multiplexes in Community Residential areas to address the housing affordability crisis - the dominant issue at a national planning conference he recently attended. He argued that the solution begins with increasing the housing supply by "loosening up on zoning restrictions."
Ultimately, the Commission reached a tentative consensus to keep multiplexes as a primary use in Community Residential areas in the next draft, but to include more robust language around urban design, community integration, and appropriate locations. The next draft of ForwardDallas, due out in late May, will provide more details on how the Commission chooses to thread that needle through specific policies and placetype definitions.
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