Plan Commission OKs Revised 984-Unit Proposal for North Dallas’ Pepper Square
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The Dallas Plan Commission approved a revised plan Thursday for a controversial 15.5-acre mixed-use development at Pepper Square that includes 984 housing units. About 116 of those units will be designated for retirement housing.
It appeared the CPC vote was 12-2 with Commissioners Joanna Hampton and Tom Forsyth voting against it. District 12 Commissioner Aaliyah Haqq was not present. The CPC vote is a recommendation; the matter still must be considered by the Dallas City Council.
Opponents of the planned development district in Far North Dallas at Preston and Belt Line roads have expressed concerns about traffic, building height, and housing density. Concerns about crime also arose during Thursday’s meeting.
The reduced number of housing units — down from 2,300 originally and 1,550 proposed two weeks ago — was a compromise from developer Henry S. Miller and hired consultants from Masterplan, Andrew Ruegg and former Dallas City Councilman Lee Kleinman. At least 35,000 square feet will be dedicated to retail or “personal service businesses.”
Kleinman said Thursday the developer wants to “prevent a slow degradation into blight” and revitalize the property.
‘Let’s Do This Right; We Can Do Better’
Marc Lombardi, representing the Pepper Square Neighborhood Coalition, asked for more public engagement to create a plan that everyone can be proud of.
“We’re here to advocate for a revitalized Pepper Square, a development that would serve local residents, newcomers to the city, and the applicant,” Lombardi said. “However, we feel the proposal does not meet that standard.”
The overwhelming majority of residents in the surrounding neighborhoods believe the proposal lacks vision and creativity, Lombardi added.
“Let’s get this right; we can do better,” he said.
That statement was repeated by many of the more than 50 residents who spoke against the rezoning during Thursday’s public hearing.
Residents who live in the surrounding neighborhoods showed up in force, wearing yellow T-shirts expressing their opposition to the Pepper Square rezoning. Before the public hearing kicked off, they asked to have the case dismissed, saying proper notification was not posted. Commissioners determined that developer Henry S. Miller operated in good faith when displaying signs about the rezoning.
Developers said the project would be built in three phases and take about 10 years to complete.
Read the revised case report or watch the Aug. 8 CPC meeting online. Updated renderings and project specifics were posted this week to the Masterplan website.
Plan Commissioners Support Pepper Square Rezoning
CPC Chair Tony Shidid said he’d been troubled by this case.
“The process, to me … was off from the very beginning,” he said. “It put an extraordinary amount of pressure on the applicant, on my council member, and frankly on the public. I think a lot of that, unfortunately, was unnecessary. This case is one of those that was in search of equilibrium. [However] two weeks ago we found that. I think this is the best version of this case that could pass this body today.”
Commissioners repeatedly praised Brent Rubin, the panel’s vice chair, who took the lead on the case and met with developers and residents to try to find a compromise. The compromise wasn’t good enough for many of the residents, who said after the meeting they weren’t listened to and the rezoning was rubber-stamped.
The rubber stamp accusation is one that some plan commissioners likely would reject. They spent several hours Thursday being briefed on the project, asking questions, and getting in the weeds of the project details. The proposal has been deferred twice in order to gather more public feedback and negotiate a compromise with developers.
Density at Pepper Square
Commissioner Melissa Kingston said the additional approved housing would produce less traffic than the retail that already exists and “certainly less than the retail that could go there under its existing zoning rights.”
“If you want really nice retail and you want nice restaurants, the only thing that supports that is density,” Kingston said. “Greenville Avenue struggled for years with vacancies and a revolving door of closing restaurants because we just didn’t have enough density to support it. Then we got two big apartment complexes near Belmont and Greenville, and all of a sudden we had enough density, with a couple thousand more people living in the area to really make that area thrive. If you want the type of amenities that you say you want, part of that comes only with the type of density [that] developments like this are going to bring.”
Kingston also had some words for the opponents of the project who booed speakers and yelled at plan commissioners. That’s not effective advocacy, she said.
Resident activist Damien LeVeck, who has been at the forefront of the Pepper Square redevelopment opposition, had some parting shots for commissioners. He shouted after the meeting that the Commission is a disgrace to the city.
An anonymous social media account connected to LeVeck’s video archive and petition to recall District 11 Councilwoman Jaynie Schultz later declared, “A room full of opposition doesn’t stop the snakes at the CPC from showing up, minds made up, and rubber stamping Pepper Square.”
“We minions don’t matter to them,” Dallas Citizen wrote on X. “This is why local voting matters. I will stop at nothing to unseat these weasels and install [people] who truly represent us.”
