North Dallas Coalition Threatens Recall of Council Member Gay Donnell Willis Over Zoning, City Hall
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Tensions in North Dallas appear to be coming to a head with the launch of a coalition specifically targeting Council Member Gay Donnell Willis and threatening to pursue a recall effort if she does not delay a number of contentious zoning cases and abandon her perceived support for relocating City Hall.
At a Tuesday morning press conference attended by at least several dozen people at Northaven United Methodist Church, speakers representing the new D13 Together Coalition expressed frustration with what they described as a pattern of neighborhood concerns being sidelined in favor of developer interests.
“District 13 has one of the most engaged electorates in the city of Dallas,” said coalition member Doug Hazelbaker. “Many of us supported Councilwoman Willis, and she promised to support the neighborhoods and protect them. That promise is unfulfilled.”
Hazelbaker is also a leading member of the nonprofit Preserve Preston Hollow, the neighborhood group advocating against rezoning for Burk Interests’ proposed $800 million mixed-use project at the southwest corner of Preston Road and Royal Lane. Residents in the vicinity of the site have been vocal opponents, criticizing the height request in the zoning application and potential traffic implications. The City Plan Commission will consider recommending rezoning on Thursday.
“We support controlled development, but not growth at any cost,” Hazelbaker said. “These developers, they have lobbyists, consultants, and attorneys, and now we have this group here, so our voices hopefully will carry much further now.”
The coalition says more than 4,400 constituents have signed petitions opposing proposed developments in District 13. Other current zoning applications highlighted by the group include cases affecting the Walnut Hill/Marsh area and Melshire Estates. Members argue the Walnut Hill proposal would allow denser, taller housing incompatible with the surrounding neighborhood, while the Melshire Estates amendment would grant additional concessions to a development they say residents overwhelmingly opposed when it was originally approved.
According to organizers, the coalition includes residents and neighborhood representatives from Preston Hollow, Bluffview, Melshire Estates, and Wimberley Court, as well as other areas just outside the district. There are also preservation advocates who have been campaigning to prevent a relocation of City Hall functions from 1500 Marilla St.
In a statement to CandysDirt.com, Willis pushed back on the notion that she has been ignoring neighborhood concerns, pointing out that two of the cited zoning applications have changed substantially after roughly two dozen meetings and hundreds of email communications that resulted in the applicants conceding some ground to neighborhood concerns and revising their projects.
She also pointed to SB 840, a state law that significantly limits municipal zoning authority. She argued that the law has complicated the consequences of simply rejecting zoning requests and made continued negotiation more important.
“I listen to and respect each viewpoint — there are those in opposition and those who support — and all of these voices must be considered,” Willis said. “Sadly, some neighbors have not been made to feel comfortable in sharing their opinions, so I fear that some may not be speaking up, but they should.“
While neighborhood zoning issues may have been the impetus behind the new coalition, another local force is also throwing its weight behind D13 Together. The Save Dallas City Hall Coalition is aligning with the group.
Katherine Seale, former executive director of Preservation Dallas, told CandysDirt.com that Save Dallas City Hall’s involvement makes for a natural coalition. Willis has been consistently open to the prospect of relocating City Hall, voting along with the majority to advance exploratory work to that effect.
Seale called on Willis to oppose three key actions: eliminating the Financial Management Performance Criteria’s supermajority requirement for opening city facilities, relocating the city’s 911 and Emergency Operations Center from City Hall, and abandoning the I.M. Pei-designed building altogether.
In her statement to CandysDirt.com, Willis noted that maintaining emergency operations in the same building as City Hall is not in line with existing best practices, pointing to the disruptive potential of protests, festivals, and gatherings interfering with dispatch and emergency personnel’s access to their workspace. She also said the city council will continue examining its options.
“Leadership means making decisions based on the long-term stability of Dallas, not short-term pressure,” Willis said.
D13 Together Coalition is demanding that Willis seek 120-day delays on the three highlighted zoning cases to allow neighborhood groups to further negotiate compromise solutions with the projects’ respective developers.
Coalition leaders warned that if Willis declines to pursue the delays and continues supporting measures that will facilitate City Hall relocation, they will begin the process outlined in the Dallas City Charter to pursue a recall election. They say they have already assembled a sizable network of supporters and are prepared to launch the effort if their demands are not met.
Under the Dallas City Charter, recalling a council member is a multi-step process that begins when five registered voters from the council district notify the city secretary of their intent to circulate a recall petition. Organizers then have 60 days to collect signatures from qualified voters equal to at least 15% of the voters who were eligible to vote in the district during the last general municipal election.
If the city secretary certifies the petition, the city council must call an election on the next available election date allowed under state law. Voters then decide whether to replace the incumbent, with the winning candidate serving the remainder of the unexpired term.
“When thousands of engaged voters speak with one voice, that voice cannot be ignored,” Hazelbaker said. “That’s why we’ve formed D13 Together. We’re building a permanent coalition that will hold our elected leaders accountable. We will ensure that District 13 residents finally have the representation they were promised.”
The first of the zoning cases (Preston-Royal) will be heard by CPC on Thursday, August 6. The full city council will take a vote on the Melshire Estates case on August 12 and the Walnut Hill/Marsh application on August 25. Council members will discuss the supermajority rule change on August 19 and might vote on it on August 26.
