South Winnetka Heights proposed conservation district boundaries. Courtesy of Dallas Planning and Urban Design.
Residents of South Winnetka Heights may soon have the neighborhood development protections they have been seeking since 2019 written in ink.
A draft of the Conservation District ordinance that would cover around 95 residential homes is expected to land on the City Plan Commission’s agenda on either May 7 or May 21, according to city documents. If all goes according to plan, the City Council could be asked to approve the ordinance in late April or early May.
The timeline should help some residents who fear incompatible aesthetic changes to the neighborhood rest easy. Neighbor Kathi Kibbel told the Advocate last year that she hoped the drafted regulations would promote individuality while still “preserving the look of the neighborhood,” as it exists now.
“If you look at the front of my house, the colors, it’s obvious we don’t care what color you’re painting,” Kibbel, whose home is turquoise blue and trimmed in orange, said.
Rather than nitpicking individual aesthetic choices like paint colors, neighbors have taken a bigger-picture approach that would prevent modern developments from encroaching on the pre-1940s neighborhood, which is full of Arts and Crafts and Craftsman Bungalow style homes.
The draft of the ordinance was presented to community members in two meetings in January, significantly later than expected after the process was delayed during last year’s ransomware attack, which “disrupted server access for a month,” according to Trevor Brown from the City of Dallas Planning and Urban Design office. The ordinance was originally expected to be finalized by late summer 2023.
“While we found ways to operate and keep things moving, the interruption created a backlog of plan reviews for Conservation Districts which we were clearing for several weeks after server access was restored,” Brown told the Advocate.
Once ratified, all work done to the homes within South Winnetka Heights will be required to comply with the Conservation District ordinance, which details acceptable building materials, accessory structure heights, setback distances, architectural styles and development standards for the neighborhood.
