Dallas, TX
Dallas committee divided on zoning reform to add housing density
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Members of Dallas’ housing and homeless solutions committee on Tuesday discussed broad options to reform the city’s zoning and building codes to increase the housing supply, most notably one that would allow development of multiplex units in single-family neighborhoods without neighbor review or approval.
Before a small gathering of residents, city staff presented a briefing explaining how the zoning reforms could include reducing the minimum lot size requirements and allowing accessory dwelling units to be built without neighbor input.
“I can’t emphasize enough that this is just a conversation,” said Andrea Gilles, the city’s interim director of the planning and urban design department. “There is no proposal on the table, but it is an intent to start the conversation around these issues.”
Gilles said Dallas is behind other cities across the nation in expanding housing options, which is needed to accommodate the housing needs of hundreds of thousands more residents in the next decade.
“We are late to the game on this conversation to be perfectly frank,” Gilles said. “There are cities that have addressed this 10 years ago.”
Andreea Udrea, assistant director of planning and urban design, said the current code has many barriers to allowing more “gentle density” in a manner that’s sensitive to and fits within the current neighborhood context.
“Any type of change, any touch to the code when it comes to housing, it’s going to have to include context-sensitive design standards,” Udrea said.
Any potential change to the city’s code about housing would still have to get through several community input opportunities, the city’s zoning ordinance advisory committee, the city plan commission, a committee and the full city council.
Meeting’s timing
Dallas City Council member Jesse Moreno, who chairs the committee, called the special meeting to fulfill a request by council member Chad West in a Nov. 8 memo signed by four others on the council.
Those signees — Chad West, Jaime Resendez, Jaynie Shultz and Paula Blackmon — were absent from the discussion. Council member and memo signer Adam Bazaldua condemned the timing of the meeting before a major holiday.
“Scheduling a special called meeting, knowing the writer of the memo wasn’t even available ahead of time, to me that’s disingenuous,” Bazaldua said.
Of the council members present, Bazaldua was the lone cheerleader for reform, although a handful of residents spoke in support of adding different housing types to the city.
“Historically minimum lot coverage size was also used as an alternative to redlining that perpetuated segregation,” Bazaldua said.
Dallas resident Elizabeth Markowitz said the reforms would help bring the American dream of homeownership within reach.
“I’m raising my son in an apartment right now,” Markowitz said. “I would love to be able to live in a home. We know reforming our minimum lot size requirements works to lower the price of housing, and it also works to reduce the displacement of Black and Latino residents.”
Most other council members present weren’t opposed to multiplexes developed on vacant land but strongly condemned allowing them in single-family neighborhoods.
Moreno said by-right development — which allows developers to build without neighbor review or approval — is a nonstarter for his district.
“I support density,” he said “I support having more people to live in our city of Dallas. But it has to be in the appropriate place.”
Council member Cara Mendelsohn spoke out against the potential reforms and asked Gilles if she believed the by-right reforms would effectively end single-family zoning.
Gilles denied it would, adding that a single family could live in a particular unit of the multiplex.
Council members who represent underdeveloped southern Dallas said their residents need more single-family homes following decades of underinvestment, which has left the area without robust infrastructure.
Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Carolyn King Arnold called the reform a bait-and-switch scheme for homeowners who bought into the promise of single-family neighborhoods.
“If the house burned down next door to us, we’re not looking for a duplex up next to us,” Arnold said.
‘Blunt force approach’
More than a dozen residents who spoke in opposition to the zoning reform ideas echoed concerns that the lack of neighbor input on zoning decisions would disrupt the quality of life of residents.
“A blunt force approach of allowing by-right development of duplex, triplex, fourplex housing units or accessory dwelling units in single-family neighborhoods rings favorably only to developers,” said Greg Estell, who lives in Old Lake Highlands. “Too much of this unproven concept is in the hands of developers whose interests are more financial than altruistic.”
Anga Sanders, a District 3 resident, asked the committee members to “stop this blatant attempt to destroy our single-family neighborhoods.”
More than 40% of the city is zoned for single-family housing with less than 5% zoned for multifamily housing.
Gilles said the city’s efforts to finish its first comprehensive Forward Dallas land use plan, which have included discussions of increasing types of housing across the city, are top priority.
After Forward Dallas is adopted, the city plans to formally begin reforming its development code, which would still need City Council approval.
“We need to break each of the issues down and have conversations that everyone can kind of digest and then make an informed decision,” Gilles said.
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Dallas, TX
Bo Dallas Opens Up About Losing Bray Wyatt In Promo On 6/24 WWE RAW
![Bo Dallas Opens Up About Losing Bray Wyatt In Promo On 6/24 WWE RAW](https://www.wrestlezone.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/06/Bo-Dallas-WWE-RAW.jpg?resize=1200,630)
Bo Dallas says all he ever wanted was to be like his brother.
It was widely been known that Bo Dallas was the man under the Uncle Howdy mask. As Uncle Howdy, he briefly worked with his brother, Bray Wyatt, at the end of Wyatt’s time in WWE. Howdy was then absent for over a year, as Wyatt passed away in August.
Uncle Howdy returned on the June 17 episode of WWE RAW, and the Wyatt Sicks made a violent first impression as they laid out everyone backstage. The following week, Nikki Cross of the Wyatt Sicks gave Michael Cole a VHS tape. WWE played the tape, and Uncle Howdy was shown talking to someone, who was revealed to be Dallas.
Howdy asked Dallas what it felt like when his brother died. Dallas said that all he ever wanted was to be like his brother, and he wanted to be him. He said that they were going to rule together, and they finally made it, but it was taken away. Dallas said that nobody felt what he did from this loss.
Howdy asked Bo Dallas if he felt like he was exposing his brother’s legacy. Dallas said that they wanted to forget about him, and the rest of the group, but they made everyone remember. Howdy said they did, and the two of them were shown sitting together.
WWE Raw Results (6/24/24)
Dallas, TX
Building futures: Dallas ISD WorkReady Program prepares students for life after graduation
![Building futures: Dallas ISD WorkReady Program prepares students for life after graduation](https://thehub.dallasisd.org/newsroom/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/448360418_495353756179617_8560677374007417942_n.jpeg)
Dallas, TX
Dallas Cowboys have NFL’s best offensive guard duo, per PFF
![Dallas Cowboys have NFL’s best offensive guard duo, per PFF](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_2738,h_1540,x_0,y_28/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/cowboys_country/01j152kmasc9zbar0gdz.jpg)
The Dallas Cowboys have a number of question marks on their roster, but one area there is no reason for concern is in the trenches.
Dallas has future Hall of Famer Zack Martin and former first-round pick Tyler Smith, who has blossomed into one of the best at his position, as starting offensive guards.
The Martin and Smith duo has been so impressive, in fact, that Pro Football Focus ranks them as the top offensive guard duo in the NFL.
MORE: Zack Martin, Dallas Cowboys’ 9x All-Pro, could be making farewell tour in 2024
“Martin over the past two seasons hasn’t been at his previous level of earning 90.0-plus PFF grades, but he has still been one of the top pass-blockers at the position. His 75.1 PFF pass-blocking grade in 2023 ranked 10th after he allowed just 24 quarterback pressures from 655 pass-blocking snaps,” Gordon McGuinness of PFF writes.
“Left guard Tyler Smith is ascending, coming off a season in which he ranked eighth among guards in PFF run-blocking grade (80.7).”
Throughout his NFL career, Martin has been a nine-time All-Pro and nine-time Pro Bowler. He was named to the NFL’s 2010 All-Decade Team.
In his 152 career starts, Martin has allowed only 16.5 sacks. Last season, Martin allowed four sacks in 908 snaps played.
Smith, meanwhile, is a two-time Pro Bowler and was a second-team All-Pro in 2023. He was the Cowboys’ first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Tulsa. Smith played primarily as a tackle in his rookie season but moved to a full-time guard in 2023 and proved why he was a first-round talent.
Because of the dominance of Martin and Smith in the trenches, the Cowboys should be able to make up for the lack of a star running back leading the backfield.
— Enjoy free coverage of the Cowboys from Dallas Cowboys on SI —
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