Earlier this month, Mayor Eric Johnson told a group of U.S. senators that the solution to the housing shortage in Dallas and elsewhere is to cut bureaucratic red tape and make it easier for builders to build.

A dispute over Dallas park fees will give the mayor an opportunity to show he means it.

In February, the City Plan Commission considered a request to increase the fees that developers must pay to Dallas in lieu of dedicating parkland as part of their projects. City staff brought the proposal forward in light of a state law that caps how much large cities can demand in parkland or charge in park acquisition fees.

Under the state law, cities can charge a flat fee per dwelling unit of no more than 2% of the median family income. Dallas city staff proposed raising the park fee to the maximum 2%. Most developers opt for paying this fee rather than building parks themselves.

Currently, a developer must pay $1,165 in park fees for a single-family home. Raising the fee would take that number to $1,308. Apartment builders, however, would feel the increase more acutely. A developer building a complex with 250 apartments of two or more bedrooms would go from paying $229,250 in park fees to $327,000. That’s an increase of 42.62%.

The plan commission wisely interrogated the park fee increase and decided it would be better to halve it instead.

At least two park board members have blasted the move, one calling it “appalling.” They framed it as a setback, and one noted that Dallas’ park fees are among the lowest in the region.

That may be the case, but Dallas is also trying to dig itself out of a reputational hole for being a bureaucratic nightmare for developers. Keeping its fees low where it makes sense should be its strategy.

The use of the park development money collected so far doesn’t make a compelling argument for raising the fees, either. As our colleague Devyani Chhetri reported, the park acquisition fund has collected $17 million since it started in 2019 but has only used about $2.3 million to acquire land in northern Dallas.

Part of the problem has to do with rules about how the money is allocated among seven different zones. City staff is proposing reducing the number of zones to five to make it easier to acquire parkland, which makes sense.

Raising the fee, however, is another matter. Dallas voters approved $345 million in bond money for parks last year. There’s no need to be appalled about a move to lower park fees.

The matter is now expected to move to the City Council. Members should take a measured look at the facts and make a decision consistent with their stated commitment to build more housing in Dallas. It’s not a zero-sum game. The city can make life easier for housing developers while working with the private sector to expand and improve parks.

We welcome your thoughts in a letter to the editor. See the guidelines and submit your letter here. If you have problems with the form, you can submit via email at letters@dallasnews.com

Julia is a breaking news reporter with the Dallas Morning News. She is a Louisiana native and a graduate of the University of Mississippi where she studied journalism and public policy. She previously covered education for Mississippi Today in Jackson, Miss.

Associated Press

Dallas Mavericks (34-37, 11th in the Western Conference) vs. Brooklyn Nets (23-48, 13th in the Eastern Conference)

New York; Monday, 7:30 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Dallas will try to end its three-game road skid when the Mavericks face Brooklyn.

The Nets are 11-22 in home games. Brooklyn is fourth in the Eastern Conference in team defense, giving up only 111.4 points while holding opponents to 47.8% shooting.

The Mavericks have gone 14-21 away from home. Dallas has a 15-19 record in games decided by 10 or more points.

The Nets are shooting 43.8% from the field this season, 3.0 percentage points lower than the 46.8% the Mavericks allow to opponents. The Mavericks average 12.9 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.1 fewer makes per game than the Nets allow.

TOP PERFORMERS: Nic Claxton is averaging 10 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks for the Nets. Cameron Johnson is averaging 15.9 points over the last 10 games.

Kyrie Irving is scoring 24.7 points per game with 4.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists for the Mavericks. Naji Marshall is averaging 22.2 points and 8.3 rebounds while shooting 51.5% over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Nets: 2-8, averaging 107.9 points, 42.3 rebounds, 26.3 assists, 7.5 steals and 4.6 blocks per game while shooting 44.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 110.5 points per game.

Mavericks: 2-8, averaging 115.6 points, 37.9 rebounds, 25.4 assists, 7.0 steals and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 48.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 127.6 points.

INJURIES: Nets: D’Angelo Russell: day to day (ankle), Ziaire Williams: day to day (hamstring), De’Anthony Melton: out for season (acl), Cam Thomas: out for season (hamstring).

Mavericks: Anthony Davis: out (adductor), Daniel Gafford: out (knee), Kessler Edwards: day to day (not injury related), Dante Exum: out (hand), Kyrie Irving: out for season (knee), Caleb Martin: day to day (hip), Dereck Lively II: out (ankle), Olivier-Maxence Prosper: out for season (wrist).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.