Chad West

Dallas Looks at Merits of Artificial Intelligence to Improve Efficiency in Development Services Department

By April Towery / November 22, 2023 /

Altamonte Springs, California, recently became the first U.S. city to implement artificial intelligence for site plan reviews, and the initiative has caught the attention of Dallas leaders looking for ways to improve the permitting process in the Development Services Department.  It took Development Services Director Andrew Espinoza over a year to clear a permit backlog…

Three Panels Are Reviewing Dallas’ City-Owned Real Estate, But There’s no Strategic Vision

By April Towery / November 21, 2023 /

City officials have again promised a “deep dive” into plans for repurposing 50,000 acres of city-owned real estate, but they don’t have a strategic vision, and three different panels are evaluating the assets.  Those three panels — the Trust for Public Land, the Ad Hoc Committee on Pensions, and the Dallas Economic Development Corporation —…

Study Shows That Dallas Has a Lot of Housing, But it Also Has a Lot of Poverty

By April Towery / November 18, 2023 /

Following a Tuesday review and discussion of the Child Poverty Action Lab’s study on the Dallas rental market, members of the Dallas City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Solutions Committee came to a couple of conclusions. The city has a lot of housing opportunities, but it also has a lot of poverty.  The committee, chaired by…

Dallas Could Follow Austin in Reducing Minimum Lot Size to Accommodate More Housing

By April Towery / November 9, 2023 /

The City of Austin recently approved a measure that reduces the residential minimum lot size to 2,500 square feet, making way for smaller units and greater density. Could such a change be an answer to Dallas’ affordable housing crisis? A handful of Dallas City Council members say they want to discuss its merits.  District 1 Councilman Chad…

South Polk Street Homeless Veterans’ Rezoning Case Deferred to January

By April Towery / November 9, 2023 /

The Dallas City Council on Wednesday deferred a rezoning decision on a  multifamily development for homeless veterans that has been operating under the radar in a single-family neighborhood on South Polk Street for eight years.  A code complaint was filed by a neighbor over the summer, prompting operators of the “dwelling unit” to request a…