Dallas Planning and Development Department Rebounds with Improved Permit Turnaround

Writing about the Dallas Planning and Development Department is tricky. We frequently hear readers say that morale is low, many good employees have departed, the leadership doesn’t listen, and no one wants to do business here. We hear from builders who actually do business in Dallas and want to give staff the benefit of the doubt. They say things like, “There’s room for improvement but it has drastically upgraded.” And then we see a presentation like the one delivered last week before the Dallas City Council that makes it appear as though the once-fledgling department is a phoenix rising from the ashes. 

So what’s really happening in the Dallas Planning and Development Department? 

Emily Liu was hired in May to oversee what was then called Planning + Urban Design. Interim City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert merged PUD with the Development Services Department in June and now Liu is in charge of planning, zoning, permitting, and building inspections, among other things.

Liu and several department directors presented an update on “how it’s going” at a Jan. 15 City Council briefing and released the department’s 2024 “New Beginnings” annual report last week.

“The merger was a success,” Liu said. “This has already created some tremendous benefits that we can see, including improved efficiency, enhanced collaboration, and stronger communication within the department. Also we have a better relationship with our customers.”

Permitting Updates

In 2024, Dallas issued 48,134 building permits, conducted 14,671 building plan reviews, and conducted 232,424 inspections, highlighting an “on-time inspection rate” of 97%. 

Liu acknowledged that the department has had difficulty hiring and retaining plumbing inspectors, which is one of the specific complaints we’ve heard from CandysDirt.com readers. 

“We are very short-staffed in that area,” Liu said. 

Chief Building Official Sam Eskander explained how his team collaborated with the Toyota Production System Support Center to apply Lean Six Sigma technologies.

“This process allowed us to analyze our processes in depth and identify areas for improvement, particularly in engineering and zoning,” Eskander said. 

The process identified 35 bottlenecks, the building official added, and Toyota has suggested solutions that staff is reviewing for implementation

Eskander’s division closed out stale permits, created a new predevelopment process, launched virtual inspections, and updated a public-facing commercial permitting dashboard. 

In 2023, the median time to issue a permit was 276 days, and in 2024 the number dropped 32% to 189 days. Residential permitting times saw even greater improvement numbers, Eskander explained. 

North Oak Cliff Councilman Chad West said the permitting office is the “heart and the engine for the City of Dallas for property taxes … for tens of thousands of construction jobs in the City of Dallas, and last but not least, for the creation of new housing in the city, which we so desperately need.” 

West commended the staff for its progress, noting he would not have done so a few years ago. 

Development Code Reform

Deputy Director of Zoning Andreea Udrea said the city launched a contract with Chicago-based Camiros Ltd. in the fall to overhaul the Dallas development code. 

Staff worked with the consultant to review the existing code and the consultant did a first round of stakeholder interviews. A draft code analysis is underway and Camiros will ultimately produce a comprehensive code reform draft. 

“The next step is to be very transparent and bring it to the public,” Udrea said. “We plan to launch a project website with all the information and put it in front of the public for debate and discussion. Right now we are working to finalize the brand.” 

Udrea highlighted the increasing number of zoning cases with a housing component in every council distinct and Liu emphasized the importance of moving forward quickly with code reform. 

“We did not waste a day,” Liu said of the efforts to begin code reform. “The day after ForwardDallas was adopted by City Council we got together with the consultant to get this project moving.”  

Planning 

Liu highlighted the passage of ForwardDallas 2.0, an update of the City’s comprehensive land use plan, in September 2024. 

“This year we’re switching to implementation of the ForwardDallas plan, including a focus on authorized hearings or zoning reviews in environmental justice areas,” she said.”We’re looking at the possibility of residential design standards, especially in infill situations and also mixed-use along aging commercial corridors as well as transit-oriented development.” 

Liu mentioned that the Lakewood Conservation District expansion is slated to go before the council in February. She added that there is one conservation district in the pre-application phase and four in the queue.

Goals for the New Year

While streamlining the permitting process and getting ForwardDallas to the finish line were the major goals of 2024, the Planning and Development Department has its eyes on zoning for the current year, Liu said. 

Liu said the zoning process must be more efficient. It currently can take over a year for a zoning case to go from application to council adoption. 

“Our zoning has been so outdated. That’s why we have so many [planned development districts], because people are trying to get around it. As I said when I first came to Dallas, that is your biggest barrier. Parking came up as a big barrier. Generally speaking, the zoning code is a big barrier. That is our No. 1 priority for this year. I would also say we’re going to continue to work on the zoning process this year.”  

Preston Hollow Councilmember Gay Donnell Willis suggested that the Economic Development Committee could be tasked with exploring ways to improve the public engagement process on zoning cases.

Parking reform is currently at the City Plan Commission, with a vote anticipated on Feb. 13 that will send the matter to council for consideration. 

“I love that you mentioned parking reform,” West told Liu at last week’s meeting. “I’ve heard staff a couple of years ago say that 60 to 70% of the time spent at the permitting office is figuring out the parking for any given project. If we can fix that and streamline that, it will solve so many problems.”