Last night, the Dallas City Council voted 11-4 to update its 2006 comprehensive land use plan with ForwardDallas. 2.0.
ForwardDallas. 2.0 is the refreshed long-range guide for how and where the City of Dallas should sensibly grow over the coming decades. The plan was built around Environmental Justice and Sustainability, Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) and Connectivity, Housing Choice and Access, Economic Development and Revitalization, Community and Urban Design.
The plan was approved after an 11-4 vote, with District 1 Councilmember Chad West voting to approve. The vote took place after several hours of community input — over 50 people spoke both for and against — and council debate. Two amendments, one put forward by D12 CM Cara Mendelsohn and the other by D14 CM Paul Ridley, were voted down before the plan was approved. Both amendments dealt with townhomes and duplexes in single-family neighborhoods.
First put forward in 2023 after several years of development, ForwardDallas 2.0 is a long-term comprehensive land use plan which “establishes guidelines for how public and private land should be used and what the city should look like,” as its text reads. The plan is not a zoning ordinance, and does not set concrete zoning requirements going forward. However, it is intended to guide zoning decisions on new development going forward.
ForwardDallas 2.0 is an update to the original ForwardDallas plan, approved in 2006.
“ForwardDallas 2.0 is a collaborative effort that could not have been achieved without the hard work of City of Dallas staff, elected and appointed officials, and our many residents who participated through feedback,” said Mayor Pro Tem Tennell Atkins, who also serves as the Chair of the Economic Development Committee. “This critical and much needed update creates a path forward for our City while addressing decades long, systemic land use issues. It considers the City’s future growth, provides protection for existing neighborhoods, and addresses head on historic environmental and social inequities.”
Much of Oak Cliff falls under the “Community Residential” placetype, while areas like Bishop Arts and Trinity Groves are classified as “City Residential” and “Community Mixed-Use.”
Facts regarding ForwardDallas that are listed on the plan website are below:
- ForwardDallas 2.0 does not allow multiplexes on any single-family zoned property in Dallas.
- ForwardDallas 2.0 does not, and legally cannot, eliminate single-family zoning.
- ForwardDallas 2.0 is a land use planning guide and does not rezone any part of the city. If a property owner applies for a zoning change, each case will still be filed with the planning department, will be reviewed by staff, reviewed
by CPC, and if recommended, will move to the City Council for review and final vote. - ForwardDallas 2.0 cannot be used to apply or obtain a building permit.
- ForwardDallas does not call for the reduction of lot sizes.
The plan will be implemented over the coming months, and will be reviewed every five years.
