The Dallas City Council might have engaged in a lively discussion today about the Comprehensive Housing Policy — but Thundersleet Icepocalypse 2023 had other plans.
The council meeting was canceled, and the CHP briefing and another agenda item on the 2024 bond program will likely be heard at the next council briefing Feb. 15, sources at City Hall say.
The slides from the CHP presentation were provided to daltxrealestate.com ahead of the council presentation, so we might as well get started breaking down this complex matter. It could take a while to digest.
Comprehensive Housing Policy
The 107-slide presentation includes background on the CHP process and why it’s back before elected officials just months after it was adopted.
Director of Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization David Noguera recently explained why the policy agreed upon in May already needs an overhaul.
“The Comprehensive Housing Policy was adopted in response to compliance challenges, concerns with the growth of Racially/Ethnically Concentrated Areas of Poverty (RECAP), and the need for more affordable housing,” Noguera said. “Unfortunately, this policy has fallen short in some areas.”
The CHP outlined a goal of generating 20,000 new housing units, but that’s another area of the plan that fell short.
District 1 Councilman Chad West has expressed concern that addressing “housing racial equity blind spots and overall housing policy in one process, and in one policy document,” might not do justice to either one.
City Manager T.C. Broadnax responded to that concern, and several others, in an email to the full council dated Jan. 23.
“The City of Dallas is in the business of housing to address a public purpose, which is to provide affordable housing,” Broadnax said. “Our federal grants, general funds, and bond funds are all required to achieve this purpose. However, they are not deployed in any coordinated fashion, hence the housing racial equity blind spots. Developers and residents apply for City funding, which is allocated in a reactionary manner. The proposed policy deploys funds on a proactive basis using Pillar No. 1, equity strategy target areas, allowing the City to be more deliberate and impactful in the areas staff serves.”
Going Forward
City leaders, with the guidance of Community Equity Strategies consultants, have identified some initiatives to meet their “big audacious goals.” For example, the ForwardDallas comprehensive land use plan is currently under review. Zoning changes identified in the ForwardDallas process could pave the way for affordable housing.
Broadnax said in a memo that the presentation originally scheduled for Feb. 1 would incorporate information heard at a December Housing and Homelessness Solutions meeting and introduce enhancements made since late last year based on council feedback.
This includes a six-to-12-month implementation plan to build a sustainable community engagement structure that will include a housing task force, select equity strategy targets, complete agreements with internal and external partners who will work alongside Housing Department staff to achieve the Seven Pillars of Housing Equity, and establish SMARTIE (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound, Inclusive, and Equitable) goals that will help calibrate the Seven Pillars of Housing Equity, thereby aligning them with the Dallas Housing Policy objectives over the next decade. City Council Member engagement is critical as staff works to finalize the housing policy recommendation and move into the implementation phase.
Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax
An implementation timeline dictates that after the council adopts what’s now being referred to as “Dallas Housing Policy 2033,” the plan will be available to the public through social platforms and community engagement opportunities. A revamped Housing Policy Task Force is needed, Noguera said last month.
“The Housing Policy Task Force has evolved since 2018,” he said. “It started out as a handful of individuals who reviewed and advised the City on policies and programs and then it became a listserv of more than 600 individuals who engaged on topics of interest through large meetings, emails, and follow-up conversations. Neither structure was impactful in generating inclusive community engagement. The proposed policy recommends developing a sustainable community engagement structure that will be used to inform an inclusive housing task force.”
The new policy also calls for the identification of equity strategy target areas and the creation of a Housing Data Dashboard to supplement and replace monthly performance reports.
