Dallas Zoning

Dallas Development is a Strange Dichotomy of Tall Buildings Built in All The Wrong Places

By Jon Anderson / June 4, 2021 /

Last week I was sickened to read about Spectrum Properties’ plans for the North Texas Food Bank headquarters bound by Pearl Expressway, Cesar Chavez Blvd., and Farmers Road in the Farmer’s Market area of downtown Dallas. Not because the Food Bank will be displaced – it won’t. But because Spectrum, who purchased the land from…

Read More

Cole Avenue Lots Show How Dallas’ Wimpy Zoning Process Has Become A Selling Point

By Jon Anderson / January 19, 2021 /

Why is it so rare for Dallas to ever truly say “no” to developer-led upzoning? It always seems most often to be “yes, but …” And while I’m all for a good negotiation, if you enter a negotiation where the other side knows you’re unlikely to really say “no,” then it’s not really a negotiation,…

Read More

Mill Creek’s Trinity River Project Presented To City Peer Review Panel

By Jon Anderson / October 25, 2020 /

Two weeks ago, I wrote a pair of immensely popular columns about Dallas not taking care about how the city evolves. One talked about how views of the classic Dallas skyline had been largely covered by newer, blander buildings that took away from the city’s beauty. The second column concerned a proposed project by developer…

Read More

PD-15: City Staff Overrules Plan Commission To Rewrite The Rewrite

By Jon Anderson / August 7, 2019 /

Will the city stop playing politics and do what’s right to help the Pink Wall’s PD-15 get the update it deserves?  Beginning in April 2018, city staff ran the Authorized Hearing process working with the Pink Wall’s PD-15 committee. The Authorized Hearing process, whereby the city oversees a community response to zoning changes, was kicked…

Read More

Losing Amazon HQ2 Gave Dallas Time To Figure Out Zoning Policy

By Jon Anderson / July 23, 2019 /

One of life’s joys is the “I told you so,” because it is so often precluded by a period of scorn and disbelief. Last week I had a bumper crop, but let’s talk about Amazon’s HQ2. You remember that? The corporate welfare pageant where municipalities fell over themselves, checkbooks flailing in the breeze, trying to…

Read More