South Dallas, Fair Park area zoning to be considered by City Council after plan commission vote

Twenty-seven-year-old Jamecia Johnson waited in City Hall’s cold chambers for over three hours, hoping to learn about rezoning in her South Dallas neighborhood, where generations of her family have lived.

“I just want to know if what they’re trying to do is going to bring more jobs and more help in the community, or is it going to end up pushing the community out,” Johnson said. “I don’t want anyone to be pushed out. This is where we live.”

She was one of more than 15 people there for a meeting Thursday where the city’s plan commission approved a recommendation for rezoning more than 3,300 acres. The move was a major step toward realizing a community vision aimed at embracing needed growth while preserving the area’s character as new, modern houses fill vacant lots in historic neighborhoods. 

Dallas City Council last year approved a long-term area plan, after years of community advocacy. The new zoning measures could strengthen those recommendations into enforceable policy that presents opportunities for housing, infrastructure and investment. Residents have voiced concerns about displacement, business support, new home designs and losing cultural identity that sets South Dallas apart.

Related: Could Dallas’ Fair Park get a hotel, other amenities in plan to generate revenue?

More than 200 meetings have gone into this plan and its zoning, Scottie Smith II, a developer and landmark commissioner, told the plan commissioners.

“We made certain that we heard from the community,” he said, adding that the rezoning is meant to ensure community feedback is outlined as much as possible. Smith and Tabitha Wheeler-Reagan both led the group that formed the area plan.

Wheeler-Reagan, now the area’s plan commissioner, wiped away tears as several speakers praised her efforts to sort out land-use issues in the area. Many attendees were community advocates in support of the plan, waiting for the zoning to be heard as the last agenda item.

“I have watched South Dallas go from what it was to what it wasn’t,” said Eva Jones, longtime president of the Queen City Neighborhood Association. “With your help, with your votes, we as a neighborhood will be able to relish in all of the things that other neighborhoods have right now.”

No one spoke in opposition, though one resident, Donald Alexander, voiced his displeasure after the opportunity to speak had passed, frustrated with decades of inconsistencies and efforts to change the area.

The new zoning would re-map which areas have what uses, and mainly impact future development, not existing structures. Changes would direct growth to thoroughfares like Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. For example, a stretch of South Fitzhugh Avenue, near Fair Park, could become mixed-use.

Related: With FIFA Fan Fest set to hit Fair Park, will South Dallas businesses be involved?

Some new, modern buildings cropping up have been called incompatible with historic areas. With the new zoning, residential areas could see more protection, like design standards that require pitched roofs and porches. Diane Ragsdale, a former City Council member, has advocated for these protections.

“These standards are intended to preserve the look and feel of the community while also allowing for additional housing opportunities … or additional options are townhomes, condos, fourplexes.”

Ragsdale advocated for the new zoning and is credited for a zoning change roughly 25 years ago. Wheeler-Reagan said previous zoning addressed issues that South Dallas was facing at the time, such as an abundance of businesses selling alcohol, or lodging associated with drug activity and prostitution. Now, it’s encouraging growth.

“A lot of people forget that kids had to walk past liquor stores, drunks, in order to go to their elementary schools. They don’t have that today,” said Zac Thompson, who owns property in the area and is part of the Pointe South Business Group, a community organization.

Ken Smith, president of the Revitalize South Dallas Coalition, said previous zoning “helped to curtail some of the negative influences,” but also hampered development and growth. He listed the many aspects of the plan that he liked.

“As a lifelong South Dallas, Fair Park resident, I’ve experienced the area during segregation, desegregation, white flight, Black flight, economic vibrancy, economic stagnation, but gentrification and uncertainty,” Smith said.

However, he added, “one thing I am certain about” is his support for the area plan recommendations set in motion last year. Before the vote, commission chair Brent Rubin said he was pleased with the progress made on the yearslong effort.

“I think it’s going to give us a lot to think about, of how we approach the process of reforming our development code,” he said.

The plan commission’s approval of staff recommendations Thursday was a major step toward rezoning. Next, it’ll head to the City Council for consideration, where property owners and residents will also have an opportunity to voice their opinions. The next meeting is expected in June.

If you’re a South Dallas resident and have thoughts about how your neighborhood is changing, email aria.jones@dallasnews.com. 
 
This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Lisa and Charles Siegel, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.