Photo by Scott Dorn

The Dallas City Council approved a “legacy” parking reduction for the 107-year-old house on Zang at Neely so that a restaurant could occupy the space.

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The property has enough room for 22 parking spaces, about eight fewer than would be required for a restaurant under the city’s code.

So the owner, Jim Lake Cos., requested a parking reduction based on the building’s age and its proximity to the streetcar. The City Plan Commission declined to approve the reduction in September, as neighbors in the adjacent Kidd Springs neighborhood testified that parking already is very tight on their streets.

But the request moved to City Council, where it was approved.

Jim Lake Jr. says the company plans to begin working on the building in January, and it could be ready by summer. He hopes to have a restaurant tenant by winter 2018.

If the parking reduction hadn’t been approved, Lake had said he would move the house to land he owns in Waxahachie. The house was built around 1910 by George Sergeant, the first mayor from Oak Cliff, and it’s thought that President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visited the home when they were in town for the 1936 Texas Centennial.