Dallas Plan Commission to Review South Winnetka Heights Conservation District in March
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Almost three years after South Winnetka Heights neighbors petitioned for a conservation district, a draft ordinance is set to go before the City Plan Commission in March.
The South Winnetka Heights Conservation District process ran parallel to that of the Lakewood Conservation District expansion, where neighbors also went through a long, arduous process, claiming delays in getting the ordinance passed ultimately allowed the teardown of a historic Clifford Hutsell-designed home on Lakewood Boulevard.
Neighborhood meetings to review the South Winnetka Heights draft ordinance were held Jan. 16 and Jan. 23. Michael Evans led the charge for the neighborhood.
“Everyone appears excited to see this nearly three-year process completed,” Evans told CandysDirt.com. “It will help protect the character, charm, and historical architecture of our few blocks by limiting new development and promoting conservation and restoration.”
Chief Planner Trevor Brown, who oversees the 20 Dallas conservation districts, said if all goes well at CPC, the ordinance could go before the Dallas City Council in May.
“Most of the feedback we got during the [ordinance review] meetings related to how relieved they are to be nearly finished with the process,” Brown said. “A recent flip brought up some discussion on materials used for remodeling, but in general I believe that they felt like their input was reflected in the draft ordinance we presented.”
South Winnetka Heights Conservation District
South Winnetka Heights in North Oak Cliff doesn’t have a lot of multimillion-dollar homes, but it does have historic homes, and the neighbors would like to keep it that way. Conservation districts preserve an area’s distinctive character by protecting or enhancing its physical attributes, Brown explained.
Once the conservation district is approved by the Dallas City Council, a developer can’t build a home within that district that doesn’t conform to the conservation district guidelines.
South Winnetka Heights was platted in the first decade of the 1900s as Winnetka Heights. It is bordered on the west by South Edgefield Avenue, the south by Brooklyn Avenue, the north by 12th Street, and the east by South Polk Street.
It is similar in character to the community’s namesake to the immediate north, which already has a conservation district designation.
Read the South Winnetka Heights Conservation District draft ordinance here.
Building a Draft Ordinance
Brown told CandysDirt.com back in December 2022 that South Winnetka Heights neighbors reviewed development standards and typical zoning items like setbacks, lot coverage, and height when providing feedback on the draft ordinance. The neighborhood has a mix of Craftsman homes and transitional bungalows from the 1910s and 1920s, Brown said.
“Conservation districts … are unique zoning tools that are meant to safeguard the physical attributes of established neighborhoods from incompatible development, while still allowing the area to evolve and change in ways that are consistent with the historic development of an area,” Brown said at the time. “Unlike historic districts, CDs are not meant to freeze a neighborhood in a certain period so there is more flexibility in the remodeling of existing structures, like allowing the use of modern materials like cement siding and clad insulated windows.”
As homogenous architecture becomes the norm across the country it is important to protect and enhance the neighborhoods that provide an identity unique to Dallas, Brown added.
“Transformation is important, and inevitable, in a growing metropolitan city and conservation districts are a way of managing change in a way that ensures harmonious, orderly, and efficient growth in the neighborhoods that shape and inform the Dallas we know today.”
