Photo by Emma Ruby.
Five Dallas City Council members are asking to consider new housing initiatives adopted by the city of Austin as a potential fix for the city’s affordable housing crisis.
District 1 representative Chad West filed a five-signature memorandum Nov. 8, requesting a staff briefing on the impacts of reducing minimum lot sizes in single family districts, definitions of new uses of “tri-plex” and “four-plex” and an amendment to single family and duplex district regulations to allow tri- and four-plex uses. West is also seeking to modify the Dallas Building Code to allow for three and four unit structures to be included in the one- and two-family dwelling code.
West said a “rethinking” of the suburban design of Dallas is necessary to “better accommodate for the growth that Dallas is experiencing, and the workforce housing we need for our teachers, healthcare workers, public safety personnel and many others.”
The memo was signed by council members Bazaldua, Blackmon, Resendez and Schultz.
In Austin, a recent measure shrunk minimum lot requirements down to 2,500 square feet. The change will allow for smaller units and greater housing density throughout neighborhoods.
But unlike Austin, West wants to go even smaller, adjusting the minimum lot size to only 1,500 square feet as it is in Houston, he wrote in an op-ed published in the Dallas Morning News. In Dallas, minimum lot sizes range from 5,000 to 7,500 square feet, depending on the specific zoning, Candy’s Dirt reports.Â
West said he believes that adjustment will allow the city to better accommodate Dallas’s population density.
And, allowing tri- and four-plex housing would be a start in addressing the “missing middle” housing that West has long called for. In his op-ed, West said that while he wants tri- and four-plex developments to be more accessible in the city, he does not believe they should be allowed on lots where a single family home already exists.
While West’s memo called for the briefing to take place within the next 30 days, today’s City Council briefing was cancelled, and next weeks meeting is cancelled for Thanksgiving.
