Phil Crone

Dallas, We Have a Plan: Zoning Could Get Easier And Faster, Says Director of Planning and Urban Design

By April Towery / August 31, 2022 /

Dallas leaders recently took on the tasks of overhauling a 35-year-old development code, drafting a comprehensive future land use map, and digitizing boxes of paper records. It’s a long, arduous process, but the end result will be well worth it, according to the city’s director of planning and urban design.  Julia Ryan has worked in…

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Dallas To Offer Same-Day Building Permit Option Starting Sept. 1

By April Towery / August 30, 2022 /

Dallas builders have high hopes that a new program will get them in and out of the city permitting office and back to swinging a hammer in a 24-hour period.  The early response to a new program offering “walk-in permits,” set to launch Sept. 1, is a far cry from the highly-criticized permitting debacle that’s…

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Struggle to Clear Dallas’ Building Permit Backlog is Far From Over, But at Least There’s Progress

By April Towery / August 11, 2022 /

It took a village — and a new permitting chief — to make a dent in the backlog of paperwork as Dallas builders try to get their permits processed. But the problem is far from solved, officials said this week.  And along the way, builders have shed light on another problem that’s plagued Dallas for…

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Dallas Builders Lobby Legislators to Create Housing Market Change During Trip to Capitol Hill

By April Towery / July 1, 2022 /

As housing affordability and attainability slip farther out of reach for American families, a contingent of building industry professionals took their concerns to Capitol Hill in mid-June.  David Lehde, director of government affairs for Dallas Builders Association, led the group, which included Dallas Builders Association members who also participate in coinciding meetings at the National Association…

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Chief Building Official Andrew Espinoza Pledges to Fix Permitting Mess

By April Towery / June 22, 2022 /

The City of Dallas has a new chief building official who acknowledges there’s a permitting mess to clean up and says he’s the man for the job.  After nearly two years without a director and thousands of backlogged building permits, Andrew Espinoza was selected in May to become director of Development Services and officially began…

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