Page 28 - Legal Aid CRP EJ Toolkit

II. Proactive Land Use Changes

Several areas of the toolkit study areas may have zoning that does not accurately reflect
the use of the property. These areas could be revised to not only reflect current use, but to
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determine the most appropriate future use to reflect the forwardDallas! and other
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relevant plans such as the Trinity River Corridor Comprehensive Plan and
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neighborhood-led area plans . The key examples highlighted in this research are the
homes that do not have residential zoning, the industries that are zoned at a higher
industrial use than they need to operate legally, large swaths of land that are planned
development districts, and the industrial activity in the floodplain.
Residential Use and Rights: In the case of Shingle Mountain, the residents did not have
residential rights because their homes were structures on agriculturally zoned land.
Homes can be on agriculturally zoned areas, but are not afforded the same oversight
process such as the direct impact review and residential adjacency review that purely
residential areas are afforded. Rezoning those homes to allow them the same residential
rights, or allowing for residential protections on agricultural land could mitigate that
issue. There are streets where several homes are zoned industrially, which puts them at
the same risk of having a major industrial operation operate in their backyard. Working
with homeowners that do not have the correct zoning for their home to determine
solutions could be a key first step in preventing the next Shingle Mountain.

Downzoning: Another proactive step that could shape future land use in an area is
downzoning industrial lots that are not using the maximum industrial use for the property.
An example would be a large plant and flower nursery operating in an industrial
manufacturing (IM) lot. The nursery can operate in IM, but could also operate at a lower
use such as light commercial. The purpose would be to ensure that after the nursery is
gone, another similar industry (CS) would come in, instead of increasing industrial use by
having the IM zoning. Areas that have industrial zoning are generally the areas where
more industrial activity will happen because zoning changes are a complicated and time-
consuming process. Therefore, decreasing the currently unused industrially zoned areas
could at least maintain the current level of activity instead of further industrializing
certain areas.

26 “Forward!Dallas.” Forward!Dallas Comprehensive Plan, City of Dallas, 2006,
https://dallascityhall.com/departments/pnv/strategic-planning/DCH%20Documents/pdf/Vision.pdf

27 “Trinity River Corridor Comprehensive Land Use Plan.” Trinity River Corridor Comprehensive Land Use Plan,
City of Dallas, 2009, www.trinityrivercorridor.com/resourcess/Shared%20Documents/clup-complete.pdf.

28 “Planning & Urban Design.” Neighborhood Area Plans _Adopted Plans,
dallascityhall.com/departments/pnv/Pages/Neighborhood-Area-Plans-_Adopted-Plans.aspx.

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