Imagine West Davis lined with five-story buildings from Zang to Adams, from Haines to Tyler and from Oak Cliff Boulevard to Plymouth.
That’s what currently is allowed, and changing it won’t come without a fight from developers and property owners.
Heritage Oak Cliff raised $10,000 to reopen part of the Bishop-Davis zoning, known as PD 830, which was approved in 2010.
The nonprofit formerly known as the Old Oak Cliff Conservation League used crowdfunding to raise the money after outrage spurred by Alamo Manhattan’s original development plants at West Davis and Zang.
These are the points Heritage Oak Cliff wants to change:
Building height — Allow a maximum of 36 feet, about three stories. Five stories currently are allowed.
Building mass — The proposal calls for requiring building facades to be broken up design-wise so that they appear to be multiple buildings.
Lot size — The current zoning puts no limit on lot sizes, so developers may compile as many adjacent lots as they could buy and have them replatted as one property.
Residential proximity slope — This is the height that a building can be in relation to the buildings around it, and it’s a ratio. The proximity slope currently allowed is 1:1, and the group is asking for 1:3 (see below).
More than 1,400 people donated to the campaign to reopen the case, but fewer than 100 turned out to Tyler Street United Methodist Church Tuesday night to hear Heritage Oak Cliff’s overview of the case.
“The public paid for this, and we want you to be involved,” said Michael Amonett, a Heritage Oak Cliff past president who also sits on the Dallas Landmark Commission.
Several developers and property owners — Rick Garza, Craig Schenkel, Jane Bryant and Alamo Manhattan’s Wade Johns — expressed opposition to the changes.
Amonett says the proposal is not antidevelopment.
“We want development that’s compatible with the built environment that we all love,” Amonett said.
The City Plan Commission will hear the case first, and it could go to the full City Council sometime in June.
Check out the city’s website for PD 830, which includes contact information for the Amonett and city planner Jennifer Muñoz. We will keep you update on the process.
