City Hall

No Pitchforks in Sight at District 1 Councilman Chad West’s ForwardDallas Meeting 

By April Towery / June 26, 2024 /

All the elements were in place for a perfect storm of a town hall meeting Monday evening. More than 100 people gathered, many wielding signs displaying their aversion to the Dallas comprehensive land use plan known as ForwardDallas. The meeting was called by District 1 Councilman Chad West who, with his appointed Plan Commissioner Christian…

Development Services Director Andrew Espinoza Ousted, Permitting to Combine With Planning And Urban Design

By April Towery / June 21, 2024 /

In a memorandum filed Friday afternoon, Interim City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert announced that the Planning and Urban Design Department and Development Services Department will combine as the Planning and Development Department. Under Emily Liu‘s leadership, new assignments include Planning Deputy Director Andrea Gilles, Zoning Deputy Director Andreea Udrea, Permitting Interim Deputy Director and Chief…

Tiny Homes, Cottage Courts, And Multiplexes, Oh My! ForwardDallas Debate Rages On 

By April Towery / June 21, 2024 /

A casual observer at Monday’s City Plan Commission meeting might think the panel’s compromise — an agreement of sorts to discourage developers from building multiplexes in the midst of single-family neighborhoods — would be met with cheers from the crowd so adamantly opposed to previous iterations of the ForwardDallas comprehensive land use plan.  They’d be…

Dallas Plan Commission Says No to Multiplexes as a Primary Use in Single-Family Neighborhoods

By April Towery / June 18, 2024 /

Dallas plan commissioners on Monday voted unanimously to recommend changing multiplexes from a primary to secondary use in the “Community Residential” — or single-family neighborhood — placetype of the ForwardDallas comprehensive land use plan.  A new draft of ForwardDallas was posted last week — billed as a compromise with a preference toward greater density on…

‘The Lemon on Stemmons’: Employee Emails Allege Fraud, Safety Concerns, Oppressive Work Environment at Stemmons Freeway Building 

By April Towery / June 17, 2024 /

An investigation into why 70 Dallas Development Services employees were forced to work in a building with three dozen fire code violations is underway, and city officials responsible for the building purchase and occupancy have said there were no “life and safety” matters to be concerned about. Employee emails obtained last week by CandysDirt.com tell…