Here’s What Went On Inside the Pepper Square Meeting That Has Some Calling for Jaynie Schultz Recall
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From Staff Reports
This story has been updated to clarify that the recall of Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson produced zero signatures.
It was billed as a community meeting to discuss proposed development at Preston and Belt Line, but became a contentious volley between Jaynie Schultz, the second-term Dallas City Council Member for District 11, and an organized group of Far North Dallas residents who packed the meeting, armed with leaflets that plainly read, “‘No.”
Meeting Turns Contentious
On March 5, approximately 350-plus residents filled Dallas Bible Church on Hillcrest to hear and discuss plans to bring 1,550 apartments to a mixed-use redevelopment at Pepper Square, the aging shopping center located at Preston and Belt Line.
Opposing North Dallas homeowners in the area — there are 19 associations total — say the current Pepper Square redevelopment plants too much density in a congested area that is already dense and getting denser with apartments already underway.
However, the meeting turned acrimonious shortly after it began as one vocal resident — Damien LeVeck who has called for Schultz’s recall — interrupted the presentation to poll the audience, and residents shouted their agreement with his statements and questions.
Disclosure: CandysDirt.com publisher Candy Evans ran against Jaynie Schultz for Dallas City Council District 11 in 2021 and 2023.
As CandysDirt.com reported Wednesday, Williamsburg resident Damien LeVeck, an award-winning horror film and documentary director, filmed and posted the community meeting sponsored by Schultz on his newly created YouTube channel. He’s now launched a website RecallJaynieSchultz.com where supporters can sign up for email updates, and donate to the recall campaign.
LeVeck’s Reason for Recall
LeVeck and other residents say they support the shopping center’s redevelopment, but remain opposed to the number of apartments proposed on the site and feel frustrated their opinions are not being heard. This is the 10th community meeting held on the proposed redevelopment, some of which have been similarly contentious.
LeVeck argues that Schultz is representing the developer Henry S. Miller and its land use consultant firm Masterplan more than the voters who elected her.
“Her attitude was so condescending and elitist,” LeVeck said. “She honestly didn’t want to hear from anyone in her district. That’s not representation.”
Schultz Says the Development Is Still in Negotiation
When reached on city council break Wednesday, Schultz said she had no comment on LeVeck’s recall efforts. However, regarding the redevelopment of Pepper Square, she said, “The meeting, while challenging, was equally informative. As I shared in the meeting, I am still in negotiation with the developer.”
Henry S. Miller is proposing a multi-phase redevelopment of Pepper Square, rezoning its existing retail to mixed-use development that would include restaurants, boutique shopping, public park space, and two large residential additions — mid-rise buildings with 350 and 450 apartments in different phases and a high-rise building with 750 luxury condos. At build-out by 2033, Pepper Square would house 1,550 multifamily units, according to Masterplan’s proposal.
What is Pepper Square?
Pepper Square Shopping Center was developed by Ben McCutchin and his brothers in 1978 long before the area became awash with single-family homes and roads. The property is now owned by the iconic Henry S. Miller family, run by Henry S. Miller Sr’.s great-grandson, Greg Miller. The family owns shopping centers, offices, residential development, and investments across the state. Most famously, Henry S. Miller acquired Highland Park Village in 1976 for about $5 million, which they sold to a Ray Washburne/Stephen Summers partnership in 2009 for more than $170 million.
The corner commercial development is along one of the busiest thoroughfares in the city, Preston Road/Highway 289. According to a Kimberly Horn 2022 traffic study done at Masterplan’s request, 50,014 vehicles per day traveled on Preston Road and 23,303 traveled on Belt Line Road.
Why Redevelop?
Pepper Square is an aging retail shopping center reeling from the ravages of changing consumer shopping habits post-COVID-19. The 43,581-square-foot SteinMart store has been shuttered since 2020. Despite busy Trader Joe’s and Hobby Lobby big box stores, about 84,000 square feet remain empty at Pepper Square.
“Schultz and [Masterplan consultant Lee] Kleinman both said residential development actually reduces traffic over retail development, which led to ‘boos’ from the audience,” said Natalie LeVeck, whose husband, Damien is leading the recall efforts. ”
On a recent episode of Dallas Dirt, Masterplan President Dallas Cothrum echoed this fact, telling host Candy Evans that apartments produce less drive-in and out traffic than retail does.
Heated Exchanges
During the meeting, things got a little heated between LeVeck and Kleinman, the former city council member who is now a consultant for Masterplan. LeVeck says Kleinman called him, in so many words, stupid
“When we go on our morning walks, we have cars pull over and shout at Damien, ‘Thank you for speaking up at the meeting!’ One lady yesterday told us she is embarrassed she voted for Jaynie,” says Natalie LeVeck.
What Else is Being Developed in the Area?
Two other significant apartment communities are under development in the immediate area, adding to homeowners’ concerns. Tonti Properties is developing the vacant property southeast of Preston and Alexis as a multi-family complex with apartment units and townhomes. On the northwest corner of Preston and Beltline, the City already approved the redevelopment of Terra Cap’s Preston Del Norte, an adult community, from 358 garden-style apartments to more than 1,500 units in taller buildings.
Public Sentiment
Recalls have not been successful in Dallas. A recent recall of Mayor Eric Johnson over his switching political parties ended about a week ago when the petitioner could not collect 15 percent of all eligible voters in the district in the most recent election, or 105,595 signatures. Though they claimed they collected roughly 13,000 signatures, in fact because “Mr. Peters failed to submit the “Recall Dallas Mayor Eric L. Johnson” petition within the required deadline, I am not able to confirm if the required number of valid signatures were secured. Therefore, Mr. Peters’ petition has been deemed unsuccessful,” wrote City Secretary Billierae Johnson.
“They didn’t collect 13,000 signatures. They submitted zero signatures and claimed without any proof that they collected thousands. Below is additional information from the City Secretary and the mayor’s communications team about this,” wrote Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson to CandysDirt.com.
To recall Schultz, Damien et all will need about 7,200 signatures.
But Damien and his wife, Natalie LeVeck, who was born and raised in Northwood Hills, are resolute. The professional filmmaker cut short clips for X (formerly Twitter) as he took the story to social media. LeVeck is a writer/producer/director/editor of feature films and TV who started his career at TMZ and E! News.
Chatter on Next Door, too, turned contentious.
“Jaynie Schultz shows her true colors — and only cares about one thing — Jaynie,” wrote Northwood Hills resident Ed Balsmann, an attorney, in a NextDoor post that generated hundreds of comments in agreement.
Other Next Door users chimed in their support.
“Commercial properties result in more traffic than residential ones,” Adam Davies wrote. “We need more housing, some new apartments or townhomes is desperately needed in North Dallas. Add in mixed use areas and it would be absolutely fantastic, I wish we had more of that! This project sounds great to me, let’s get more desperately needed housing in! I’m her constituent and I support this.”
Natalie LeVeck is sentimental and concerned about her long-time home.
“I attended Parish Episcopal down the street. This is my stomping ground,” says LeVeck, a technology lawyer who lives around the corner from Pepper Square. “My parents have lived here almost 50 years, and now I’m raising my young children here. My 73-year-old father tried to engage with Jaynie at a smaller community meeting, saying that we should make Pepper Square like Hillcrest Village, a great retail spot. She was combative and dismissive to him.”
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We get the politicians we deserve and vote for .. Jaynie Schultz provably lied to my face during a homeowner’s meeting for Northwood Hills residents. She is not representing us. Giving unchecked power to politicians to act in our best interest without a referendum is insane. We see the problems coming to large cities around the country that have suffered precisely as a result of politicians making decisions that are presumably motivated by self-interested agendas. Keep Texas Texas yourtruthmaynotbemine.com
Well done article Candy! Keep the information flowing. I’m appalled at, apparently, how many people are behind on this info and wonder how neighborhood leaders communicated with their residents the past two years about this and did they ask for specific recommendations from them to present back as alternatives. With so many against this, I wonder, as one lady said after the meeting, “HOW did we get HERE?” Thanks for such a comprehensive page here. That’s a lot of work!
To clarify, the location for this meeting was the Dallas Bible Church on Hillcrest and not the Dallas Baptist Church as stated in your article.
Yes, thank you for that clarification. We will update the story.