Too Close For Comfort: North Dallas Residents Protest Proposed Lighted Pole Sign on Forest Lane

To say the intersection of North Central Expressway and Forest Lane has deteriorated is an understatement. The highway underpass continues to be a favored camp for Dallas’ burgeoning homeless population, though the city has fenced off and rock-filled much of the underpass.

Reports of homeless interactions here fill the neighborhood app NextDoor, and another encampment is brewing behind the Starbucks in the southwest shopping strip. About a week ago, a resident on Malabar Lane recorded a homeless man crawling out of a storm drain at 4 a.m., walking the JanMar neighborhood to the south. Stay tuned for more on that.

Last December, a road rage murder left one man dead at this intersection.

Businesses at this intersection are also changing hands as encounters with the homeless have increased. Dickey’s Barbecue is gone. There are rumors that Starbucks may be relocating to the Schlotsky’s space to facilitate a drive-through.

Now a car wash, Carmel, is being built on the former Dickey’s site at 7770 Forest Lane. And they want to erect a large pole sign to advertise it. Because of its proximity to the White Rock Trail (considered a city park), the sign is now prohibited. Thus the owners are seeking an exemption from the Dallas Board of Adjustment.

Hillcrest Forest and JanMar residents say not so fast and are signing opposition letters to the exemption. Though there are other pole signs in the area, they were erected prior to the creation of the trail, and are grandfathered in.

“This is not allowed since it’s within 250 feet of city trail/park,” says Hillcrest Forest resident Kenny Steinhart. “The Board of Adjustment is looking to approve the owner’s request for an exception on October 19. I have contacted our District 11 council member, Jaynie Schultz, asking her to please help observe the sign restriction.”

The owner of the property is GARTNER PLANO CO PS ETAL, which offices at 8525 Ferndale Road, Suite 204. Also in that office suite is Agnich Ventures. Robert Agnich is vice chair of the Dallas Board of Adjustment, re-appointed by Schultz after her election last year. He will not be sitting on this panel.

Steinhart has been gathering signatures to keep the sign restriction in place. As he’s gone about collecting signatures, he’s found that few homeowners had any idea this was happening — according to him, only four were notified.

Steinhart, like many in the area, feels this intersection is the gateway to their homes and they do not want big, flashy signs or tacky lights, or at least fewer of them and less visual clutter. Of note, the owner of the property, Gale Gartner, lives on nearby JanMar Drive. Some neighbors even offered to pay for the sign, already in production before the Board of Adjustment hearing, but the owner declined in an email after Steinhart contacted them, Broderson Enterprises, Inc.

the signs on the building are just like frisco 
this pole sign is way lower than the existing sign and smaller and 20’ south of the pole sign that is currently there.

i would have been glad to do a monument sign closer to the street but the city pushed us south of forrest which made things very difficult.

the signs are in production now

– an email from John Broderson of Broderson Enterprises, owner of the Carmel Car Wash

Steinhart contacted Schultz and her three assistants and was told nothing can be done from her office. Because the Board of Adjustment is a quasi-judicial function, the only appeal of the decision would be to a state court, not to the Dallas City Council, which is a political body, not a judicial entity. 

I spoke with Charles Trammell, Chief Planner/Board Administrator for the Adjustment Board, who said the City Attorney’s office deems no conflict of interest. It seems that if the city wants to promote walkability, sustainability, and dishes out millions for green spaces, they would also want to minimize tacky sign intrusion. The Taco Bueno on Forest was rebuilt with the pole sign removed. Carmel Car Wash will be visual enough without a sign — three signs, actually, which the applicant proposes.

It is also interesting that the applicant ordered the sign without permission from the Board of Adjustment or knew of the prohibition. According to the docket material, the Board must determine if the sign constitutes an adverse effect on the neighborhood. Any citizen can protest the pole sign, not just the immediate neighborhood. All you have to do is send a short letter stating your opposition to the signage to Charles Trammell.

Charles Trammell, Chief Planner/Board Administrator
[email protected]
320 E. Jefferson Blvd., Room 210
(214) 948-4618