Mike Harper and his fellow Oak Lawn neighbors, the voices behind the RezoningDHA website, worked hard to raise awareness among homeowners when the Dallas Housing Authority submitted a rezoning request for its Kings Road project. And thanks to their persistence and the hard work and consensus building of Dallas City Councilman Adam Medrano, DHA officials were able to work with neighbors to reduce the size of the development and decrease the impact of the public housing project on nearby properties.
So what started out as a clash between homeowners and bureaucrats has ended with true compromise: DHA will construct 366 units on the Kings Road property instead of the initially planned 408, and the parking allowance was reduced to accommodate the greater density of housing on the site. Still, neighbors will be happy to hear that the development’s access point on Kings Road will be switched to exit only, and a good neighbor agreement will help keep the property from falling into disrepair and ensure a more involved community.
According to Harper, the good neighbor agreement provides for Dallas Police to install department-monitored security cameras on site, a free apartment for a DPD officer, admission preference to those with jobs, the elderly, and disabled residents, as well as several provisions for landscape maintenance and facilities upkeep.
“To help ensure follow through of the aforementioned provisions and help bring the community together on other projects, efforts are now underway to create a neighborhood association/community group,” Harper said via email. “This will assist in organizing community input on other projects in the area and aid in continuing to ensure that the best for the neighborhood is kept in mind for future developments. Council Member Medrano has already committed to utilizing this group as a way to gain community insight and ensure he is appropriately representing area residents.”
Find out more about the new neighborhood group at its first meeting on Thursday, April 10, at 6:45 p.m. inside the clubhouse at Lure Apartments, 2929 Kings Road.
