10 June 13 - 19, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents changes were “inevitable.” “Some attrition will occur during major executive staff changes of this type. I can’t speak for my colleagues, but from my per- spective, I assumed that some senior mem- bers of staff would depart,” West said. Similar executive shake-ups are “quite common and expected” in the private sec- tor, West said, and seem to be par for the course when it comes to the city manager’s office as well. In 2014, Broadnax’s prede- cessor, A.C. Gonzalez, made several major hiring decisions shortly after taking Dallas’ helm. One of those high-profile hires, Mark McDaniel, was a finalist along with Broad- nax for the city manager position in 2016; he left the city staff in early 2017. Another former assistant city manager, Eric D. Campbell, was with the city from 2014 through 2017: in with Gonzalez and out with Broadnax. Tolbert did put up a fight last month when it appeared that Police Chief Eddie Garcia’s tenure in Dallas was threatened. Tolbert responded to a report that Austin and Houston were interested in hiring the chief for the same role by telling the cities to “Turn around and go back home.” In one of the fastest City Council turnarounds on re- cord, an “agreement” (not a contract, be- cause the city charter does not allow for police chiefs to be offered contracts) was reached that Garcia will stay in Dallas through at least 2027. West said he is “not aware” whether sim- ilar efforts were taken to keep Fortune, Ga- vino, Al-Ghafry or Perez in Dallas. As Tolbert works to fill their vacant positions, he has stressed the importance of city per- mitting being a “top priority” for the next Dallas city manager administration. ▼ NEIGHBORHOODS THIS OLD HOUSE LITTLE USED RESOURCE COULD SAVE HISTORIC NEIGHBORHOODS. BY EMMA RUBY I t’s no secret that in Dallas old things get knocked down and replaced with new ones. With that trend in mind, the city is currently updating its guidelines for how public and private land should be used through ForwardDallas, and the city council has recently adopted a plan to preserve local history. Still, some historic neighborhoods don’t want to wait for protections. Many neighborhoods, especially in Oak Cliff and East Dallas, are showing a renewed interest in becoming conservation districts, Chief City Planner Trevor Brown told the Observer. Brown handles the application process for all neighborhoods looking to pursue the zoning tool that can be used to identify key architectural characteristics of a neighborhood and prevent nonconforming developments from moving in. While conservation districts in Dallas date back to 1988, the city plan commis- sion and city council recently approved the first new district in 13 years: Oak Cliff’s South Winnetka Heights. In the time between districts being created, city staff turnover resulted in a Planning and Urban Design department whose mem- bers were all completely new to navigating the lengthy process. Pre-application meetings for South Win- netka Heights began in late 2020 — although the pandemic kept the ball from really roll- ing for a few years — and the ordinance was ratified earlier this year. Ongoing efforts to expand the Lakewood Conservation District were started in 2022, and neighbors met 17 times to discuss their architectural self-de- termination standards. A draft ordinance will be released sometime in the next month, Brown said. “Forming a conservation district is more like a marathon than a sprint,” Brown said. “I think one of the biggest takeaways for me, now that I’ve been through 1¾ of these pro- cesses, would be that I now can see potential pitfalls early in how neighbors are being en- gaged and getting their information. Every neighborhood will be different, but I also believe we will be better prepared.” Because the application process is an in- tensive one, the city decided to limit new ap- plication processes to just a few neighborhoods at a time, staggering the starts to keep the months of neighborhood meetings and ordinance drafting from tak- ing place at the same time as another dis- trict. But after 13 years of no new districts, that decision seemed like a practical precau- tion rather than a necessary one. But when things finished up in South Winnetka Heights, a handful of neighbor- hoods all jumped to take the empty spot. Keeping It Quaint Less than three miles north of South Win- netka Heights sits Stevens Park Village. Made up of small, cottage-style homes with Austin stone siding and hipped and gabled roofs, the neighborhood is cozy, traditional and quaint. David Preziosi, who moved into the neighborhood in 2013, was working for Preservation Dallas and sitting in on Zoning Ordinance Advisory Committee (ZOAC) meetings in 2015 when the group reworked the conservation district process guidelines. Overly familiar with the process, he and a neighborhood committee started working on determination of eligibility in 2022 to be next on the list for a conservation district spot. According to Brown, it was a position “several neighborhoods” — many of which are in Oak Cliff — were vying for. “We’ve seen in Oak Cliff that there are certain areas where houses are being de- molished and new ones are being put up. They’re larger in scale, they don’t match the architectural style of what’s in the neighborhood,” Preziosi told the Observer. “I think people are concerned about that happening in their neighborhood, and this is a way to help control development.” Stevens Park Village is currently host- ing pre-application meetings to educate the neighborhood about the process. Those meetings also give residents the chance to decide what types of features they want to regulate in the neighbor- hood. Anything from home color to height limitations to how windows are framed can be on the table. After the city receives signatures from a majority of residents agreeing to undergo the process, months of meetings held by Brown are used to de- velop a governing ordinance that, if ap- proved by the city plan commission and city council, will limit any future develop- ment to conforming standards. Brown believes that the “explosive growth” throughout DFW and Texas could be contributing to the sudden interest neighborhoods are showing in becoming conservation districts. “Another factor could be these estab- lished neighborhoods are beginning to see some turnover as longtime residents begin to move out and new owners aren’t living in these homes to get a feel for the neigh- borhood before making significant changes to their new house,” Brown said. “Some neighborhoods are deciding to be proactive, instead of reactive, to maintain the character of their neighborhood after seeing what has happened in other parts of the city.” Other Texas cities are jumping on the conservation district train, too. Last spring, Houston approved a pilot program for the city’s first six conservation districts. San An- tonio has 10 districts dating back to 2002. South Winnetka Heights marked Dallas’ 21st district. For a city that hasn’t been known for its historical preservation efforts, Dallas has done fine when it comes to conservation dis- tricts, Preziosi thinks. “Dallas has really been doing conserva- tion districts for a long time. ‘88 was the first one, with Kings Highway in Oak Cliff,” Preziosi said. “We’ve been doing it a lot lon- ger than other cities have.” ▼ CANNABIS BUT WHAT DOES KEN THINK? THE PUSH FOR MARIJUANA DECRIMINALIZATION IN DALLAS JUST GOT A LITTLE STRONGER WITH THE BACKING OF SOME KEY CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS. BY JACOB VAUGHN D allas City Council member Chad West says he will be propose a City Charter amendment this month to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. Supporting his efforts are his fellow council members Adam Bazaldua, Jaime Resendez and Zarin Gracey. West will propose the amendment at the June 26 City Council meeting, he said in a press release Friday. If passed by a majority of the City Council, it will go on the Novem- ber 2024 ballot along with other proposed city charter amendments. The proposal mirrors efforts of the Dallas Freedom Act, which seeks to place Unfair Park from p8 Holly LaFon Conservation district guidelines can help protect neighborhoods. >> p12 dallascityhall.com Two high-level city hall staffers resigned to follow former city manager T.C. Broadnax to Austin.
