Former City Planner Criticizes $2 Million Expense to Overhaul Dallas Zoning Code: ‘It’s Not Enough’

A former Dallas city planner came out swinging last week at a $2 million consulting contract to overhaul the city’s zoning code.

Properly-executed code rewrites cost up to $25 million, District 14 resident and former Dallas planner LaKisha Girder told the City Council at a June 14 meeting. A halfhearted, piecemeal approach won’t work when managing the document that dictates local development, she explained.

Director of Planning and Urban Design Julia Ryan has publicly stated that the city has a lot of work to do when it comes to overhauling antiquated policies, managing 1,100 complicated planned developments, and implementing a new plan governing future land use. 

Ryan told CandysDirt.com in August that it can take up to nine months for a zoning application to be approved after it’s been filed.  

The city’s two-year contract with Chicago-based Camiros Ltd. calls for the “comprehensive reform” of Dallas development codes, chapters 51, 51A, and 51P, for the Department of Planning and Urban Design. Two one-year renewal options are built into the contract. 

Because the resolution was on the City Council’s consent agenda, it was approved June 14 without further discussion. 

Concerns With Zoning Code Overhaul

Girder said the consulting contract falls short of what actually needs to be done in Planning and Urban Design. 

Girder moved to Dallas three years ago from Indiana and worked as a staff planner from June 2020 to November 2021. She told the Dallas City Council that she’d reported on more than 70 zoning cases to the City Plan Commission during her time as a member of city staff.

“I have intimate knowledge of the code,” she said. “I have grave concerns about the amount of money being allocated … as it relates to the zoning code rewrite in the amount of approximately $2 million. In my personal and professional experience, this is not enough money to undertake a major rewrite of the code that is 35 years old and will require integration of [code chapters], 1,100 [planned developments], various subdistricts, and provide new and updated codes that allow for development in the City of Dallas.”

Zoning Code Rewrite

The zoning code rewrite will be incorporated into the ForwardDallas comprehensive land use plan, for which the city hosted numerous public workshops in the spring to gather resident feedback. 

The Comprehensive Land Use Committee will continue meeting over the summer to provide oversight on the ForwardDallas update and monitor the implementation of the comprehensive plan. 

Girder said because the zoning rewrite will be tied to future land use and development within Dallas borders, it’s worth spending time and money to get it right. 

“To my knowledge, no cost comparison has been provided from other major cities that have gone through this process in the past 10 years, which is reasonable information to ask for when making a major decision like this,” she said. “The current amount [budgeted] will result in change orders and increased costs over the life of this project. Code revisions typically take three to five years. Based on the complexities of Dallas’ code, this revision can cost anywhere between $10 [million] to $25 million. I ask that the council press the proposed consultant on the real costs of a zoning code revision of this magnitude.” 

Urban planners are always asked to consider the long- and short-term consequences of their decisions, Girder added. 

“I respectfully ask the council to do the same,” she said. “I ask the council to take the time and allocate the proper resources to ensure that Dallas has a zoning code that helps it reach its potential of being a world-class city so it can live up to the city’s Racial Equity Plan, create and maintain affordable housing across all races and socioeconomic statuses, and create measures to address and enforce environmental justice within its African American and Hispanic communities.”