Judge to Rule Friday on Whether Pepper Square Rezoning Was Properly Advertised
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A district judge is expected to rule Friday on whether to uphold a temporary restraining order that blocked the Dallas City Council from voting last week on the controversial Pepper Square rezoning
The Pepper Square development, proposed by Henry S. Miller Company, calls for a mixed-use development at Preston and Belt Line Roads with a maximum of 984 housing units. Proponents of the plan say it could breathe new life into a once-thriving, now-vacant shopping center. Those against it are concerned about traffic, density, height, and aesthetics.
Residents calling themselves the Save Pepper Square Neighborhood Association hired Plano powerhouse attorney Anthony Ricciardelli and are reportedly spending about $75,000 in an attempt to halt the project.
The neighbors argued in a 117-page filing that the Dallas City Council shouldn’t be allowed to vote on the project because proper notice was not given about the proposed zoning change. Signs advertising the rezoning may have come down during a windstorm and were not replaced, residents told CandysDirt.com.
It’s also been suggested that the neighbors themselves may have removed the signs in an effort to thwart the zoning case, but an attorney for Save Pepper Square said there’s no evidence to support that.
The temporary restraining order granted last week by Dallas County’s 68th Civil District Court Judge Martin Hoffman prohibited the City Council from voting on the project as scheduled at an Oct. 23 meeting. Hoffman could rule Friday that the matter was in fact properly noticed and can proceed or he could ask that the project be re-advertised and go back before the City Plan Commission. The CPC voted 12-2 to recommend the project in August.
Another possibility is that the matter goes into “full-blown lawsuit mode” involving depositions and such, which could pause forward movement for several months. And if the judge doesn’t uphold the injunction it could be back on a council agenda as early as Nov. 13.
Neighbors Want to Negotiate With Developer
Matt Bach is treasurer of the Holiday Park Homeowners Association and a leader in the Pepper Square Neighborhood Coalition, which includes more than 20 HOAs from City Council Districts 11 and 12.
Bach was prepared to speak at last week’s City Council meeting but didn’t get to because the item was withdrawn. He shared his planned remarks with CandysDirt.com and spoke to us on Sunday evening.
“A week or so before the City Plan Commission hearing, there was a growing sort of rumbling that they hadn’t provided proper notification,” Bach said. “We raised that and [the CPC] even devoted the first 10 minutes of the hearing to addressing this question about the signage. They basically blew it off and said it wasn’t a big deal. We think it is a big deal.”
The project is spearheaded by Masterplan consultants Lee Kleinman and Andrew Ruegg. Bach says once Masterplan got the green light of support from District 11 Councilwoman Jaynie Schultz, the consultants didn’t bother spending much time negotiating with neighbors. But the developer did drop the number of housing units from 2,300 to 984, with 116 units designated for retirement housing.
“The fact is, they never really have negotiated with the neighborhood in good faith,” Bach said. “It was more of a, ‘Guys, this is the way it is, and you should be happy.’”
Kleinman responded to our request for comment by saying he would pass it on to the developers.
Bach, who has lived in the area for 32 years, said he’d like for representatives from the Henry S. Miller Company to “come to the table” and compromise with neighbors.
“We wouldn’t get everything we wanted; they wouldn’t get everything they wanted, but I think we could probably hammer out an agreement,” he said. “I’m hoping we prevail on Nov. 1 and the appropriate injunction would be granted … I hope by virtue of that we could work something out.”
The majority of residents originally didn’t want any housing but Bach said he thinks they’d now be agreeable to 400 to 500 units, with most of them owner-occupied, and a building height of five stories or less.
“Believe me, everyone wants to see Pepper Square renovated,” Bach said. “The reason it looks the way it does is that Henry S. Miller has not invested or worked hard at all to keep it up.”
Attorney for Pepper Square Neighbors Says Developers Must Follow Code
Plano attorney Anthony Ricciardelli, who is representing the plaintiff Save Pepper Square Neighborhood Association, said he believes that “rigorously adhering to notice requirements is important in an open and transparent process so that citizens’ voices can be heard.”
“I would distinguish what my clients want in terms of the outcome of this zoning case and what we’re asking for in this lawsuit,” Ricciardelli told CandysDirt.com. “They’ve expressed their position that they believe that the zoning case should be denied, but all we’re asking for in this lawsuit is for the court to order that the Dallas development code has to be rigorously followed.”
Gary Lawson, who lives near the proposed Pepper Square site, provided written comments to CandysDirt.com, criticizing what Lawson characterizes as a disregard for the law.
“The fact of the matter is that not only did the CPC utterly disregard their duty under the law to consider the community’s overwhelming request in opposition to the scope of the proposed zoning change and its impact on the neighborhoods, but the CPC blatantly and with utter disdain for their own laws, ignored the fact that the developer failed to in good faith attempt to maintain the laws required continuous posting of signs alerting all those who reside close to Pepper Square that the City would consider not only the developer’s request but also would then be obliged to hear what the neighborhood issues were,” Lawson said in an email to CandysDirt.com.
Personal Vendettas?
Is this really about the proposed plan for Pepper Square or do the neighbors just not like Jaynie Schultz and former Dallas Councilman Lee Kleinman? One of the loudest Pepper Square opponents is Damien LeVeck, an independent filmmaker who has made short videos for a YouTube channel criticizing Schultz and other elected and appointed officials.
Schultz has said she won’t seek re-election in May, which Pepper Square opponents see as all the more reason she’ll vote in favor of the mixed-use project. Full disclosure: CandysDirt.com publisher Candy Evans has made unsuccessful bids against Schultz for her D11 council seat.
So we asked Bach what he thinks about the politics behind Pepper Square.
“I won’t say there’s none of that,” he said. “We’ve worked hard to tamp that down and not fan those fires. I don’t think that gets you anywhere. There’s nothing to be gained by vilifying Jaynie or anyone else. We’re really trying to stay out of that.”
