The City Plan Commission approved the conditions of the Little Forest Hills conservation district, with a few changes to the submitted ordinance — for example, commissioners removed certain commercial and multi-family properties from the zoning boundaries. This means the conservation district request will move on to the Dallas City Council within the next few weeks. I just spoke to Dist. 9 Plan Commissioner Bob Weiss who reminded me to remind everyone that the recommendation is simply that: a recommendation, and that Dist. 9 Councilman Sheffie Kadane will essentially make the final call.
During interviews for a recent story about Little Forest Hills, Kadane said neighborhood support would weigh heavily when it came to making a decision about the new building restrictions, and that he'd need to see about 65 percent of the property owners — at the time of the City Council meeting — voting in favor of the ordinance.
There have been residential zoning cases around here in the past in which neighborhood input/opinion shifted in between the plan commission hearing and the council hearing, causing the council to vote opposite from the plan commission recommendation. Meaning, if you feel strongly either way, you need to follow the thing all the way through the city council hearing.
I'll let you know when I hear the item has been scheduled for a hearing at City Council.
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