Petitions are signed, and the Lakewood Conservation District is one step closer to including two additional neighborhoods.
Conservation districts, which have existed in Dallas since 1988, are designed to help communities protect certain neighborhood characteristics.
Lakewood’s Historic Origins
Developers Albert Dines and Lee R. Kraft bought 184 acres in the 1920s around what is now Lakewood Country Club.
The Country Club Estates neighborhood was built in 1923, and Monticello and Westlake were platted as separate developments shortly thereafter. When a conservation district was initiated in the late 1980s, it followed the boundaries for 323 homes in Country Club Estates. The expansion proposes that homes in the adjacent neighborhoods also be included.
Summer Loveland lives in a historic Clifford Hutsell home in Lakewood and got nervous when she saw another for sale sign on a corner lot home built by the legendary Dallas architect. Not a single one of the 50 Hutsells in the area is in the protected, existing conservation district, Loveland said, but all are in the proposed expansion area.
“I was concerned that the new owner might not see the value in the home but maybe look at it like, ‘How many square feet could I put on this lot?’” she said. “We want to protect against the ramp-up of teardowns that have happened over the past year and a half, and we have a desire to keep the historic character of the neighborhood — that’s what people fall in love with when they move to Lakewood.”
There have been five teardowns in the last year and a half in a neighborhood that’s known for its historic, elegant architecture, Loveland added.
7031 Tokalon Drive
“That might not sound like a lot but there have only been 12 teardowns in the last 10 years,” she said. “It’s ramping up and it’s being driven by the increased value of our real estate and builders seeing the value of putting more square footage on our lots. Some of the new homes are towering over their neighbors’ homes. The materials are not as high quality; vinyl siding is being used. It doesn’t fit [the character of the neighborhood].”
David Preziosi, executive director of Preservation Dallas, wrote a letter of support for the expansion.
“Conservation District status is one of the best tools to help preserve neighborhood character while allowing changes to take place to historic structures in an appropriate manner to suit modern needs,” Preziosi wrote. “The criteria crafted for a Conservation District can be tailored to the needs and wants of neighborhood residents so that it is a tool that works for the benefit of the entire neighborhood.”
The Process
Loveland called the city to find out what she could do to help preserve the neighborhood. A committee of 10 homeowners was formed and filed for determination of eligibility. Once that was approved, they began circulating petitions. They are required to get signatures from 58 percent of the owners of 275 homes in the affected area by June 27. They’ve done that, but continue to gather support and provide information to neighbors who have been out of town or have questions on what this means for their property.
“The homeowners who are not signing, they are concerned that it could diminish their property value if they were to sell their home and it has any restriction on it,” Loveland said. “Realtors would disagree with that. It’s actually a way to help retain property values.”
Realtor Nancy Wilson, who lives in the existing Lakewood conservation district, said she’s “highly in favor of it or I wouldn’t live in it.”
“I’ve done an addition to my house, torn down a garage, torn windows out — and worked within the guidelines,” Wilson said. “From a homeowner’s perspective, I don’t see any negative issues. As a Realtor, I believe in maintaining architectural integrity. What’s appealing about Lakewood is it’s not a homogenous market. That’s one of the reasons people move here.”
A typical one-story ranch home can become functionally obsolete when it’s nestled between two massive, towering homes with twice the square footage as the ranch. Then the ranch home loses value, Wilson explained.
“It’s truly about maintaining architecture,” the Realtor said of the quest to expand the conservation district. “There’s nothing political about it.”
What’s Next
The 10-person committee pursuing the conservation district will continue collecting signatures through June 27, then the city has 30 days to review and verify them.
Dallas officials then schedule a series of at least four neighborhood meetings to determine what residents want to see in an ordinance.
“As the city put it, now the fun part starts,” Loveland said.
The city then takes the feedback, crafts an ordinance, and submits it to the Dallas Plan Commission.
With the help of the new conservation ordinance and neighborhood support, Lakewood’s historic character will be preserved, Preziosi said.
“[It] is one of best areas of Dallas with its incredible collection of historic homes. We hope that the neighborhood will support the expansion of the Conservation District so that it will be protected well into the future and continue to be cherished for its historic charm,” he said.
Talking with neighbors and putting up yard signs in support of the conservation district has unified residents in the area, Loveland said.
“Of course, there’s some opposition, but that feels minor in the grand scheme of the process,” she said.
Neighbors will be able to give feedback, even if they’re out of town when the community meetings are held. Reply forms will be mailed out before the matter goes before the plan commission and city council so every neighbor can communicate their opinions and give feedback to the decision-making bodies.
“I feel confident there’s going to be an ordinance and there will be an expansion area,” Loveland said.
