Housing Issues Dominate Discussions as ForwardDallas Workshops Kick Off Wednesday

It’s safe to say most homeowners don’t want a manufacturing plant in their backyard, but many Dallas residents have good ideas about the best use for a piece of property they drive past every day — and city leaders are taking to the streets to find out what residents want.

An intense, consultant-guided process of updating the city’s comprehensive land use plan, ForwardDallas, is underway, with a series of seven visioning workshops kicking off Wednesday, Oct. 19.

ForwardDallas was last reviewed in 2006. Director of Planning and Urban Development Julia Ryan said a lot has changed since then. 

“We’re really starting to get into the meat of ForwardDallas by looking at place types and future land use,” Ryan said. “We’re identifying and determining what those place types will look like. We’re taking them and spatially putting them on a map. We’re starting to work through existing land use with the public on what this means for their future.”

Missing-Middle Housing and ADUs

Dallas residents have proven they are knowledgeable on issues of zoning and land use. As they showed in the recent Shoreline and Elm Thicket zoning cases, and the crafting of the West Oak Cliff Area Plan, they also have opinions on technical things like roof types, building height, and density. 

In the process of developing smaller area plans and tackling controversial zoning issues, elected and appointed officials have repeatedly referred to the overarching ForwardDallas plan as a way to drill down to the highest and best future land use for the entire city. 

“Missing-middle” housing came to the forefront during WOCAP discussions but is better addressed on a large scale like ForwardDallas, said City Plan Commission Vice Chair Brent Rubin. 

Missing-middle housing is a concept that highlights the need for diverse, affordable housing choices in sustainable, walkable neighborhoods. 

“I don’t think the intent was for [West Oak Cliff] to be the guinea pig for missing middle,” Rubin said. “It’s just that it’s a critical issue and it happened to come up while we’re still in the ForwardDallas process. I look forward to continuing conversations about these very pressing issues related to housing availability, affordability, displacement, and gentrification that we are going to have to take a hard look at in the comp plan update.” 

CPC Commissioner Tipton Housewright, an architect, said he hoped the ForwardDallas discussions would shed more light on how the city can make missing-middle housing solutions “part of the toolbox.”

Housewright also highlighted the importance of accessory dwelling units to increase housing supply and density. 

“I think [ADUs have] real potential to slow gentrification through economic empowerment and the ability to have more extended families on the same piece of property,” he said. “I hope that we as a city can get behind a simpler and more generous application of ADUs. I feel like the ordinance we have right now is a little timid, a little tentative. It’s really not all-in on ADUs and what they could do for us.” 

ForwardDallas Visioning Workshops

Ryan said the workshops will be heavily focused on land use and place types, but they also will work with transportation officials on the city’s proposed bicycling network. 

“It’s a planning process,” she said. “We’re looking at the place types that we want in our vision for the future. We’re also coordinating with the transportation department on the bike plan.”

The following visioning workshops are scheduled: 

• Oct. 19, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Bachman Recreation Center
• Oct. 22, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Pleasant Grove Library
• Oct. 25, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Churchill Recreation Center
• Oct. 27, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Park in the Woods Recreation Center
• Nov. 1, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Hiawatha Williams Recreation Center
• Nov. 2, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at J. Erik Jonsson Central Library
• Nov. 5, from 10:30 a.m. to noon at Forest Green Library

Assistant City Manager Majed Al-Ghafry said ForwardDallas will put the city’s planning department in a more proactive role. There currently are 1,100 planned developments in the city and a queue of 17 neighborhoods awaiting authorized hearings for zoning changes. 

“The next stage of our land use and planning and zoning efforts will take place with ForwardDallas so we can combat those issues and be a lot more proactive,” he said.