Dallas Leaders Tasked With Tackling Comprehensive Housing Policy ‘One Bite at a Time’ 

Dallas leaders are restructuring the city’s housing policy while weaving in facets of the Racial Equity Plan, and the process has been likened to eating an elephant one bite at a time. 

Officials discussed during a Dec. 13 Housing and Homelessness Solutions Committee meeting what’s being done to revise the existing policy and how it will be executed.

The committee, chaired by District 3 Councilman Casey Thomas, heard from consultants with Community Equity Strategies. The full city council will hear the presentation, which they’re calling Dallas Housing Policy 2033, on Jan. 18. Consultants plan to deliver a final product in late February and present it to the council for adoption in March. 

David Noguera, director of Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization, said the policy is the North Star, a foundation to holistically address the city’s housing needs. It’s separate from the housing plan, he explained. Housing programs are folded into the plan. Got all that?

“In terms of how we get there, it’s the programs and annual goals,” he said. “You’ll see us — I like to use the term ‘eating the elephant one bite at a time’ — bringing forward projects at a citywide level. You’ll see us growing our home repair program. You’ll see us working with Planning and Urban Design to identify areas of the city where we can be building new communities.” 

Dallas Housing Policy 2033

Consultants said they heard during community engagement sessions that residents are tired of planning and want action. They want parity, choices, and the ability to stay in their family homes in their current neighborhoods. 

“I’d like for us to actually address the frustrations instead of continuing to come up with policies that circumvent the actual issue,” said District 12 Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn. “We’re hearing over and over the same frustrations. We’re missing what the actual problem is.” 

The revised policy is focused on creating a vibrant vision for developers while ensuring that housing units are spread more equitably across the city, said CES consultant Christine Campbell. 

“The policy needs to really look at racial and ethnic disparities and the root causes,” Campbell said. “It needs to increase equity in housing outcomes. This is about making sure people can thrive within their community and the outcomes match their ability to thrive.” 

Mendelsohn took issue with some of the wording in the new policy framework.

“What’s going to happen is the words that are written will be weaponized later,” she said. “I reject the idea that it is the city’s mission to provide equity in outcomes. That statement needs to be reworked. This is not our job. Our job is to provide opportunity for everybody.”

A lot of buzzwords were used in the hour-long committee presentation — words like equity, accountability, collaboration, and engagement. Committee members, however, seemed more interested in learning what the policy would accomplish and how it would be executed. 

There’s concern from committee members that the current Comprehensive Housing Policy is ineffective, and that the seven pillars outlined in the Racial Equity Plan could be used to dismantle existing policy for the sole purpose of ensuring that staff meets guidelines set forth by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

“I hope that when you present to council you’ll bring to us the actualization of a policy, not just the policy,” said District 11 Councilwoman Jaynie Schultz. “I’m very worried that we’re going to be overstretched in some of the aspirational goals that are in these seven pillars.”

District 1 Councilman Chad West said he thinks the focused 2033 framework is a “great first step” in addressing problems with the flawed original policy.

“Everyone that I’ve talked to on city council wants to see some revisions to the Comprehensive Housing Policy,” he said. “The document was created as something to help staff avoid HUD issues and for us to facilitate programs. There’s no vision to it, no dynamic plan for the future.”

Density And Affordable Housing

Mendelsohn said her district has an “overabundance” of concentrated multifamily units and she’s concerned about the policy framework’s goal of increasing density in all districts. 

“We have 65 percent multifamily units in District 12,” she said. “We’re at a tipping point. We cannot have more. We have more than 700 units being built right now. If all of the districts get to 65 percent or more, it’s a problem. We do not want more density [in District 12]. We’re done.”

She further critiqued the language in the policy framework identifying a need for dedicated affordable housing units in all districts, asking that market-rate units also be included. 

District 2 Councilman Jesse Moreno, vice chair of the housing committee, advocated for empty nesters and senior citizens. 

Noguera said his staff looks at the neighborhood, including places of worship, places for socializing, or arts and culture when determining housing sites for specific demographics.

“When we’re looking at affordability for a variety of demographics, we’re not just looking at the cost of the home or the rental unit,” he said. “We’re also looking at some of those placemaking factors that make it home to them. When you take those things away and you just have an affordable unit, you lose that sense of home.” 

The Clock’s Ticking

West pointed out that there hasn’t been much talk about the financial resources needed to facilitate goals outlined in the proposed Housing Policy 2033. The city’s contract with CES ends in February.

“I’m a little concerned about just having a consultant for that one piece versus helping us fully stand it up,” West said. “We’ve seen in this city time and time again — when we try to go it alone in creating plans and implementing them and keeping them running — once the champions of that plan leave, the plan gets shelved.” 

The revised policy also does not reference zoning reform, market value analysis, short-term rentals, or best practices from other cities, he added.

“The biggest miss, that I don’t see here, is how we’re going to work with the private industry moving forward to get them to build all this housing that we want,” West said. “I don’t believe we should let perfect be the enemy of good. We certainly don’t want to work on this forever and not have a plan, but I’m not comfortable today based on what I’ve heard so far.”