A city panel last week sided with Danny Le and Akber Meghani, two builders whose permits Dallas officials pulled after the builders constructed non-complying structures in the Elm Thicket-Northpark neighborhood. The panel acknowledged the city’s role in the permitting mistake and weighed violations concerning height restrictions, roofing standards, and land use.
The panel rescinded Meghan’s permit revocation, citing the city’s role in the permitting error. The city did not act quickly enough on the violations and allowed construction, referencing documentation that showed the site’s land use did, in fact, originally allow for duplexes. The board members voted to hold the case until the next meeting in November, showing they want to review documents again. Thirteen of 172 permits were still out of compliance, and six property owners have not taken any action.
Community residents asked the board of adjustments to uphold the city’s decision, citing that the builders, in particular Le-, knew full well the constructions were illegal. The City Council voted in 2022 to change zoning in order to prevent displacement and preserve this area’s legacy as a historical black neighborhood.
For more than five years, legacy residents in the Elm Thicket/Northpark neighborhood in Dallas had fought to cap the size of new builds in the historically Black community. The city passed rules in 2022 to limit home size but appeared to fail to update the zoning information in their system when approving those construction permits. Preliminary fact-finding showed that permit applications for projects in the Elm Thicket-Northpark neighborhood reviewed between October 12, 2022, and June 2, 2023 used outdated zoning information, and some permits may have been approved in error.
Staff identified 29 homes to investigate; 19 violated the new zoning. Those developers are appealing the orders to the Board of Adjustments. One said it could cost another $100,000 to bring his construction into compliance. Interim City Manager Kim Tolbert is looking at larger systemic changes to ensure this type of error does not happen in the future.
The Dallas Board of Adjustment has scolded city officials for issuing permits and plans using outdated codes that resulted in 14 stop work orders and 17 more letters advising builders in the Dallas Love Field-area neighborhood of Elm Thicket that their projects didn’t comply with updated zoning passed almost two years ago.
The call for a decision delay or disapproval elicited disappointment from residents who spoke on behalf of the Save Elm Thicket activist group, as little precedence exists in the city to preserve historic neighborhoods and said progress comes at the expense of Black and Brown neighborhoods. The Elm Thicket/Northpark neighborhood is an old Freedman’s Community that is important for its character to be preserved, displacement, and gentrification.
