Plan Commission Approves 60-Foot-Tall Apartment Development on Shoreline City Church’s Garland Road Campus

The Dallas Plan Commission voted unanimously on Thursday in favor of rezoning the Shoreline City Church property on Garland Road, making way for a four-story apartment complex adjacent to the Lochwood neighborhood. The project will go before the Dallas City Council in late October.

Plans presented by Ojala Holdings have changed dramatically since discussions about the development began in January. The Standard Shoreline project includes a revised development plan submitted Wednesday, a tree protection plan, and conditions and amendments — including an extended 15-foot landscape buffer — introduced by Plan Commissioner Michael Jung, who represents District 9. 

“This is the end of a long road,” Jung said. “The original plan for this project has changed radically based on the comments, desires, and suggestions of the public, the staff, the Garland Road Vision Task Force, and several members of this commission. The project is a much better project because of that participation.” 

Shoreline City Church Redevelopment

The 300-unit development will provide much-needed housing and serve as a catalyst for improvement to an area of Garland Road that needs investment and renewal, Jung said. 

“It will make a small but important move toward greater pedestrian orientation in this corridor in the form of the public art park and creative office space envisioned as a cooperative artists’ studio.” 

While the measure is expected to go before the Dallas City Council in late October, it’s rare for a CPC vote to be overturned, Jung has said. 

Seventeen residents, including some affiliated with the pro-housing group More Neighbors Dallas, registered their support for the project at Thursday’s public hearing, while 16, many of whom are members of Lochwood Neighborhood Association, voiced opposition.

Standard Shoreline

Ojala representatives say they’re planning to build 282 apartment units, 18 lower-density townhomes, an enclosed parking garage, 3,000 square feet of creative office space, an art park, and 25,000 square feet of open space. 

Daniel Smith, managing director of Ojala Holdings, said developers will ban short-term rentals and are planning to offer 51 percent “attainable housing.” 

Residents of the Lochwood neighborhood have raised questions about the project financing, stormwater retention, traffic, and 60-foot height. Jung pointed out that the Plan Commission does not address financing. 

“The site is on a commercial corridor along a six-lane state highway that is a major arterial thoroughfare,” he said. “It is long and narrow, and I think multi-family use is a reasonable and appropriate use for the property. I commend the neighborhood for its many creative suggestions for alternative uses, but what we have before us is not those alternative uses, but a proposed use, and to turn down that proposed use because of what might, potentially someday otherwise go there, I think invokes the principle that the perfect is the enemy of the good.” 

A traffic study submitted by Ojala showed that the project will not degrade roadways or intersections, Jung said. 

A Tall Order

Commissioner Jung acknowledged that the building’s proposed 60-foot height is a problem for many of the adjacent neighbors. 

“Early in the process, I asked the applicant to consider a three-story project,” he said. “Their response was that the project would not be economically viable at three stories. I then asked the applicant to approach the property owner about a renegotiation of the land sales price that would make a three-story project viable. The applicant did that but was unsuccessful. The question is not three versus four stories. The question is four stories versus denial.” 

Height intrusion on the single-family neighborhood on Yorkmont Circle is a valid concern, the commissioner added, and the applicant agreed to a 3-to-1 residential proximity slope.

“I made clear to them that to do otherwise would be a dealbreaker,” he said. “I’ve said many times that the RPS is a minimum requirement and does not necessarily solve all issues of height intrusion. We start with the proposition that this neighborhood will receive the same basic height protection that is afforded to every neighborhood in the city.” 

Six two-story townhomes between the main building and the neighborhood will serve as an additional buffer preventing views from the fourth floor of the main building and the backyards of Lochwood homes, except in narrow gaps. Additionally, existing trees will be protected and new trees that reach 40 to 80 feet at maturity will be planted. 

“The result of all this is an extraordinary package of height intrusion protections, far greater than we normally see in a typical case and sufficient in my view to adequately protect Yorkmont Circle from what would otherwise be the height intrusion of the project,” Jung said. “I realize there are many who disagree. I respect that disagreement. I invite those people to continue to express their views as the case moves forward. This motion represents my best judgment as a plan commissioner about what is best for this site, for District 9, and for the city.”