Building a community: The Cedars, Dallas

by Blake Ramick

Early in the new Millennium, the City of Dallas recognized the need for developing areas adjacent to downtown. We have all seen great examples of success such as Uptown and the Arts District. Without this continued development around the city, the revival of the downtown Dallas district will stall and diminish hopes of vibrant city life for all socioeconomic types of people.

One of the main areas of focus is the Cedars – an eclectic community of artist studios, businesses, residential homes and lofts – loosely bordered by I-30 to the north, Grand Street to the south, I-45 to the east, and I-35 to the west.

In 2002, the Cedars Area Plan was passed, rezoning many sections of the community from industrial use to residential or residential and mixed-use areas. Industrial zoning was relegated to the outlying areas of the community, allowing the central corridors on the community's main streets to be developed into residential-friendly areas. The Cedars Area Plan gave the community a clear plan to progress the neighborhood and offered the zoned-out businesses a generous 10 years to relocate in 2012.

Blake Ramick

A threat to this plan has now emerged, and on November 10th the Dallas City Council agenda includes a vote to approve or deny a Special Use Permit (SUP) for Texas Nameplate. This is an industrial company currently located in a mixed-use and residential zoned area of the Cedars. The request is for a 15 year extension of Texas Nameplate's use of their land. The SUP would grant Texas Nameplate the ability to continue current operations for an additional 15 years beyond the original agreement. If this permission were to pass through Council, it would allow an industrial business to operate across the street from the over 25 homes, lofts and townhouses until 2027.

As citizens living in the Cedars, we are concerned about the fate of this Special Use Permit. If the City Council passes the request, the land would be rezoned according to the needs of the current company. However, the permit stays with the land – not the company. If the company chooses to close or leave the Cedars, they can sell or rent the land to another company who can also operate a commercial business. There are serious concerns about this permit holding up progress for the area. Currently, Texas Nameplate is vacant after normal business hours, leaving the southeast corner of Ervay and Hickory vulnerable to loitering, drug dealing and other crimes. Redeveloping this land in accordance with the residential and mixed-use zoning would discourage this activity, removing yet another barrier for more homeowners to move into the area.

Moreover, the biggest concern is one of property value. Many residents in the Cedars purchased a home within the last two years based on the information that the Cedars Area Plan provided about rezoning. Most understood that many businesses would have to relocate by 2012 and made investments based on that data. If the City Council approves the Special Use Permit for Texas Nameplate, progress in the area could slow or, worse, come to a halt. If the City Council is willing to approve one industrial use permit, what would stop them from approving more? And what developer would take the risk of purchasing land in the Cedars, knowing that the City Council could approve a SUP request for an industrial property on a neighboring lot?

A downward spiral would certainly occur if this SUP were to pass. Property values would drop, real estate sales would falter, current residents would move away, and once again, the area adjacent to downtown Dallas would become a ghost town.

Residents have not been quiet about their opposition. Fifty-nine affidavits (See Google Map for Details) were submitted to the City of Dallas opposing this request. Only 11 were submitted in favor – not surprisingly, nine of which were from other area businesses that are not currently compliant with the new zoning. The numbers prove that the residents are not in favor of this request. Many of them have spent time writing emails, making phone calls, and visiting their elected Councilperson office, but shockingly have received no response regarding their opinions on the issue from the very people they elected to represent them. The agenda item has been delayed twice, the first time at the September 24 council meeting and the second at the October 22 council meeting.

The residents are asking for the Dallas City Council to stand by their promise. After all, the residents and the Council are aiming for the same goal – to make our city a viable place to live, work and play. With a full decade of notice, the businesses in the area have had their time to voice opinion, and the decision was made years ago. It's time to fulfill the commitment to Dallas.

This article was submitted by a member of the Pegasus News community.

Staff
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Anonymous

Mike Orren, says:

For those too lazy to click through Blake's link, here's the Google map with red indicating against the SUP; green for the SUP; the yellow rectangle is the business. Click through for the full legend

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I was also copied on the following email yesterday:

<i>Dallas City Council:

This submittal is in opposition to Texas Nameplate Company's request for a waiver or variance, in the form of a supplemental use permit ("SUP"), from the City's Plan for the Cedars District, under which Plan, industry must be re-located to the sides of the District and not left in the middle of residential, and supporting commercial, establishments. This submittal supplements the Affidavit and letter in protest and opposition that my wife, Belinda Thomas, and I submitted on September 18, 2008, and my remarks at the October 22nd hearing at which this matter was postponed.

We moved to 1803 South Ervay St., Dallas, from Southlake a year ago because we wanted to be part of an economically and racially diverse, inner city area with a good plan for the future, and near downtown where I have worked for 10 years as an attorney (having previously practiced for 15 years in San Francisco). When we were deciding where to live, the developer of Millers Ferry Row gave us a copy of the relevant parts of the City's 2001-2 Plan and explained that the industrial businesses, including Texas Nameplate, near the Millers Ferry Row Townhouses on S. Ervay were required to move in a few years, so that the area would develop as a residential and mixed-use area (including commercial but not industrial uses). We relied on this Cedars Area Plan in making our important, life-changing decision to purchase our townhouse and move to the Cedars District, a depressed area where many of our friends are afraid to visit us but which we enjoy and intend to help improve, while helping it retain its diverse, eclectic residential nature.

We are working with our home owners' and neighborhood associations and the police, and volunteering at The Bridge, in order to try to do our part to help this wonderful, but long neglected, part of Dallas.

Having industry mixed in with residential, and supporting commercial, uses has obvious, and long understood negative consequences for the development of a residential neighborhood. Texas Nameplate does not somehow escape from the normal pattern. As reflected in the City's Cedars Area Plan, regardless of the current quality of an industrial business, it should not be next to and across the street from residential development. For instance, Texas Nameplate uses toxic chemicals extensively in its industrial processes. In addition, at night drug dealers and prostitutes hang out around the Texas Nameplate building because no one responsible for the property is nearby. Millers Ferry Row is diagonally across the street from Texas Nameplate. There are other residences and, significantly, two schools nearby.

We expect the City Council to do its part to help the Cedars District, as the Council said it would when it passed its Cedars Area Plan.

Here are some additional points to consider from the Millers Ferry Row Home Owners' Association, of which we are active members (Belinda is the current Secretary and I am a former Vice President):

a. No Prior Notice to Us -- Millers Ferry Row residents never received notice of the City Plan Commission hearing on this matter, though we have lived here for a year. All notices were sent to the prior owner, Bennett Miller Homes, and the notices and ballots were never sent to the actual homeowners.

b. Reason for Purchase -- We purchased and invested in the neighborhood in reliance on the City's Cedars Area Plan, which gave us the understanding that the industrial uses have been zoned out of the discrete area into which we moved.

c. City Plan -- Nothing has changed to cause a deviation from the City of Dallas' development plans for the Cedars as embodied in the Cedars Area Plan. There is overwhelming support for the Cedars to change and change along the lines adopted in the 2002 Cedars Area Plan. Development will occur and the tax base will rise, if people are confident that the City Council is committed to the Cedars Area Plan.

d. Upholding the City Plan Will Improve Quality of Life -- Removal of non-conforming properties will reduce crime and environmental issues.

e. Long Term and Unstable Effects of Requested SUP -- Texas Nameplate's re-zoning application is to create a 15 year Special Use Permit (SUP), allowing the business to remain at its present location, even when the current owner and managers leave. The SUP would go with the property, not the owner.

f. Broad Opposition to SUP -- Once we finally obtained notice of the matter, affidavits in response to the requested SUP totaled 59 against, and 11 for, the re-zoning. Nearby Opposition is largely residential and also includes land-owners who have stated they want to build residential housing and have relied on the City's Cedars Area Plan in that regard. Opposition is multi-cultural. 48 additional Cedars homeowners, outside the 500 ft radius, signed the opposition petition, which we submitted to Council Member Pauline Medrano. Residents want changes that will improve life in the heart of the Cedars.

g. Narrow, Largely Non-conforming Support for SUP -- 9 of 11 supporters of the SUP are non-conforming businesses themselves. We have received reliable reports that these other businesses intend to seek similar waivers if Texas Nameplate is successful. Texas Nameplate's support is from a few corporate individuals with multiple votes.

h. Extensive Notice to Non-conforming Properties -- Owners of non-conforming properties have had years of notice of the need to move.

For all the above reasons, I respectfully submit that the Dallas City Council should maintain its commitments and keep its promises concerning the City's Cedars Area Plan, and specifically with regard to its provisions concerning industrial uses, in order to move forward into a better future for all residents of Dallas. Accordingly, I request that you oppose this request for a SUP, which would be in direct conflict with the City's Cedars Area Plan.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Thomas</i>