Page 4 - Legal Aid CRP EJ Toolkit

toolkit provide data-driven best practices for better protecting neighborhoods that can be used for
education and advocacy efforts.

Case Study: Shingle Mountain

Blue Star Recycling began operating on the two tracts of land it rented in November 2017.
One of these tracts was zoned Industrial Research (IR) and the other Industrial Manufacturing
(IM). Blue Star did not have a certificate of occupancy (document needed for any operation),
and did not have a specific use permit to allow it to grind shingles on the IR tract of land. In
January 2018, residents in the community grew concerned about the ever-growing pile of shingles
that did not appear to be in the grinding process for recycling and resale.
A portion of Five-Mile Creek runs between the two tracts of land and behind the homes of
residents in the community. In fall 2018, fallen shingles blocked the creek’s water flow, which
caused flooding. It wasn’t until December that the City of Dallas instructed Blue Star to remove
the shingles from the creek and seek the proper permits from the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality. The operators did not have the state-mandated permits. After this new
scrutiny by the City of Dallas, Blue Star applied for a certificate of occupancy, but it was for
“trailer repair shop.” Clearly, that described use does not reflect the actual use of the site.
As the “Shingle Mountain” grew, the City’s zoning regulations were steadily violated. For
example, recycling operators must have certain amounts of input of raw materials and output of
recycled materials to be in compliance. Similarly, there are regulations regarding the height of
waste, its proximity to the property fence line, and the type of fencing required. It was clear that
Blue Star violated the zoning regulations outlined for its use of the property.
Despite their concerns, residents living along the street adjacent to Shingle Mountain did
not receive an adequate response to their complaints or see any action from the City until March
2019, when Dallas filed suit against the illegal operation and called for operations to be ceased.
Industrial zoning was allowed to be adjacent to residential structures because those residential
structures did not have the protection provided by residential zoning. Instead, because the
area was zoned Agriculture, the residential adjacency protections that require additional oversight
from the City were not triggered, leaving the residents to live in the shadow of the growing
mountain of shingles.
The factors highlighted above in red caused the perfect storm that led to the creation of
Shingle Mountain. Because Blue Star lacked the permits needed to operate legally, nearby
residents were not afforded protective residential rights, and zoning regulations were violated.

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