Dallas Zoning Committee Directs Staff to Gather More Information For Short-Term Rental Code

Dallas’s Zoning Ordinance Advisory Committee talked in a two-plus-hour workshop Tuesday about code violations, nuisances, party houses, specific use permits, and “putting teeth” into the city’s development code governing short-term rentals. 

The panel was slated to review the development code and define a new use called “short-term rental lodging.” Committee members agreed to direct staff to do the following prior to ZOAC’s next meeting Aug. 16:

• Distribute a map of locations identifying listed, registered, and known STRs.
• Bring forth the proposed language for a multi-family cap of six units or 10 percent of the development, whichever is less, designated for STRs. 
• Provide owner-occupancy guidelines to include typical provisions from other municipalities, metrics that would establish occupancy requirements, and how owner-occupancy would be considered under state law.
• Review definitions within zoning regarding occupancy and/or parking.
• Review potential elimination of non-residential districts for allowed uses, including industrial areas.
• Include proposed language defining a purpose for such properties.

Reviewing The Regs

This isn’t the first time the panel has reviewed the matter — and it won’t be the last. 

Tuesday’s discussion was a workshop and Q&A session for ZOAC members, not posted for public comment. Individuals who wish to speak on the matter of STRs are invited to do so at the Aug. 16 meeting.

Ultimately, the Dallas City Council will decide whether STRs will continue to be allowed in residential neighborhoods and how they’ll be regulated. 

The preferred consensus of the Dallas City Council is the “Keep It Simple” solution, proposed by District 14 Councilman Paul Ridley, which defines STRs as a lodging use and limits them to areas only where lodging uses are allowed. This would eliminate STRs in residential and multi-family areas. 

Watch the complete ZOAC meeting here.