City Hall Roundup: Election Results, Permit Ruling, DallasNow
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There’s going to be some new faces at City Hall next month after Saturday’s election, but a couple of Dallas City Council races have yet to be decided.
Runoff elections are scheduled for June 7 in District 8 and District 11, everything else about the city council’s makeup has been decided by voters, barring some significant issue with the official tally. Here’s what we’ve got:
Incumbents Reign Supreme
Two guys we are going to be seeing for the next two years are Mayor Eric Johnson and Council Member Paul Ridley (District 14). The mayor won re-election two years ago and has two more left in his four-year term. Ridley ran unopposed this go around.
In District 1, incumbent Council Member Chad West prevailed in a three-way race, dodging a runoff with more than 50% of the vote, according to the unofficial results. District 2 Council Member Jesse Moreno is also coming back to the horseshoe after easily cruising back into office. The incumbent in District 3 won too, with Council Member Zarin Gracey earning another term. Same for Council Member Jaime Resendez of District 5.
District 4 was an open seat, and Dallas ISD Trustee Maxie Johnson ran away with it, avoiding a runoff against one of his two competitors.
As of late Saturday night, Council Member Omar Narvaez’s staffer Laura Cadena was poised to eke out a majority of the vote to replace him in District 6.
Council Member Adam Bazaldua is set to clock another two years in District 7, ending the night comfortably over the 50% mark.
District 8 is going to a runoff, with a one-on-one matchup between Erik Wilson and Lorie Blair.
Incumbents won in both District 9 and District 10, so the horseshoe will see Council Members Paula Blackmon and Kathy Stewart, respectively, back in their seats.
District 11, a race animated by the Pepper Square controversy, is heading to a runoff between Bill Roth and Jeff Kitner.
Council Members Cara Mendelsohn and Gay Donnell Willis of District 12 and District 13, respectively, clocked decisive wins against their opponents.
For more on who else was running in these races, check out last night’s coverage, which includes links to the responses we received from candidates to our questionnaire on the real estate-related issues.
SCOTX Says Dallas Can’t Enforce Building Height Rule After Permit Error
The Texas Supreme Court ruled on Friday that developers who were erroneously issued a permit by the Dallas City Hall do not need to tear down a nearly completed 36-foot-tall residential structure that violates area height restrictions.
In a nutshell, the state’s highest court said that the city can’t enforce zoning rules it failed to apply in time, at least in the case of a three-story duplex in Knox-Henderson that was signed off on in 2017. City Hall officials caught up with Phillip Thompson Custom Homes and PDT Holdings the following year and told them their build violated the city’s “residential proximity slope” ordinance, which limits height to 26 feet in certain areas.
The city ordered them to stop construction, and the builders sued after failing to secure a variance.
“Cities and local governments have a right to enforce their ordinances. However, they have to do so with reasonable promptness, and they can’t come around when a structure is 95% complete, attempting to enforce an ordinance that they’ve never mentioned before,” the builders’ attorney, Christopher Kratovil, speaking with KERA News.
It’s unclear what the implication will be for the more than two dozen residential projects in Elm Thicket/NorthPark that were issued stop work orders last year after the city discovered permits based on outdated zoning were issued to the developers.
The Dallas Board of Adjustment has since been dishing out variances to some of the impacted builders, which has prompted lawsuits by residents in the neighborhood.
DallasNow Platform Launch Imminent
On Monday, City Hall will be launching its new online land management system, which will serve as a digital one-stop-shop for permit applications and other development-related services.
The Planning & Development Department (PDD) instituted a suspension of most services between April 25 and May 4 to prepare for the launch so that staff could migrate all of the necessary data to the new system.
Once it’s up and running, DallasNow will deliver “real-time notifications that can include confirmations, permits, inspection status and/or itemized fee descriptions; ability to apply, review, and track progress electronically; submit online payments; and notifications to all contacts in record.”
PDD staff conducted some live demonstrations last week so that stakeholders could begin to familiarize themselves with the new platform. You can read some more about that on Monday.
Similar in-person help will be provided between May 5 and May 16 at the Oak Cliff Municipal Center where staff will conduct hourly applicant and contractor guidance sessions. Virtual options will also be available through the DallasNow website. Sessions will run between the hours of 8:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
“These sessions will help customers set up accounts, submit applications, and navigate the new system. Additional sessions will be added weekly based on demand,” said Assistant City Manager Robin Bentley in a memo.
