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Jimtown could become the first neighborhood in Dallas to legally allow accessory dwelling units

Jimtown could become the first neighborhood in Dallas to legally allow accessory dwelling units

West Oak Cliff Area Map

The residents of North Oak Cliffs Jimtown are saying “Yes in My Backyard” loudly. The 10.7-acre area — one of five neighborhoods targeted for zoning changes in the West Oak Cliff Area Plan — could become the first in Dallas to legally create an overlay zoning district for accessory dwelling units.

The Jimtown Focus Area as defined by WOCAP is bounded by Clarendon Drive, Hampton Road, Brandon Street and Franklin Road. The area includes 48 single-family homes, mostly built in the 1920s, and two apartment buildings built in 1984.

The Jimtown Focus Area should not be confused with the larger Jimtown neighborhood and Jimtown Neighborhood Association, an area generally bounded by Hampton Road, Clarendon Drive, Ravinia Drive and Wright Street, the plan states. The area is adjacent to the Hampton/Clarendon focus area and the potential land use changes recommended for this corridor will ultimately impact Jimtown.

West Oak Cliff Authorized Hearings

An approved hearing is a rezoning initiated by the city. WOCAP identified Downtown Elmwood, North Oak Cliff Neighborhood Center, Hampton-Clarendon Corridor, Jimtown and the Tyler-Vernon Station Area as areas that could benefit from zoning cleanup.

Elmwood’s zoning changes were approved in late February, including a “storefront overlay” to ease parking requirements and allow small businesses such as coffee shops to enter.

When WOCAP was unanimously approved by the Dallas City Council in October 2022, we learned that existing development in a portion of Jimtown was inconsistent with existing land use. The area plan specifically calls for sidewalks and “missing middle housing” such as ADUs in the area.

“In the Jimtown Focus Area, there are several narrow urban streets with sidewalks that are in poor condition and require improvements to bring them into ADA compliance,” the plan states. “In addition, the area has three alleys, two of which (in the Emmett/Brandon block and the Kingston/Emmett block) are undeveloped and require improvement based on current use.”

Regarding ADUs, the zoning plan recommends rezoning Jimtown’s existing multifamily zoning district to prevent multifamily development unless it already exists.

“A conservation district or other basic zoning category should instead legally permit only single-family and accessory dwelling units,” the plan states (page 93). “As part of this rezoning, explore urban design standards for new residential construction to adapt future designs to the surrounding neighborhood context.”

The Jimtown rezoning is expected to go before the city Planning Commission on Nov. 23.

How Jimtown could change

At an Oct. 3 meeting of the Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce, Chief Planner Sef Okoth and District 1 Councilman Chad West reviewed the process for the five approved hearings within the WOCAP zone.

Chief planner Sef Okoth

The WOCAP public engagement contribution was launched during the COVID-19 pandemic in a region where the majority of property owners speak Spanish and had not worked with city staff in decades.

“There was a lot of trust to be built with community members,” West said. “They’ve done a really good job of public relations. This area affected 40,000 people.”

Okoth said that when city planners began working specifically with Jimtown’s neighbors, residents “informed the city that they wanted to look at how to make this area more walkable and adaptable to the uses that were already there and to ensure that “Everything is there.” The move in was compatible with the surrounding neighborhood.”

“They wanted to protect the businesses that were already there,” he said.

Form-based zoning

City staff proposed a “shape-based zoning district” that uses physical shapes to promote predictable construction outcomes. Shape-based code addresses the relationship between building facades and public space, the shape and massing of buildings in relation to one another, and the size and type of streets and blocks, according to city documents.

“It’s neighborhood-friendly zoning that looks not only at what businesses and buildings are added, but also how they relate to what’s already there, to the stretches of street that are already there and to the surrounding community,” explained Okoth. “It also offers flexibility in a number of different, context-sensitive uses.”

Design zoning allows design standards to be set, the planner added.

Traffic changes to create safer streets — such as widening sidewalks or narrowing roadways — can be made once zoning is done, West explained.

But the big news is that Jimtown neighbors want the right to build additional housing units without having to go to regulators for a variance.

“They have a lot of outbuildings that are sometimes used for families or their guests [in Jimtown]Okoth said. “They asked if we would consider an overlay to allow ADUs as of right.”

The city Planning Commission could make a recommendation in late November, and then the rezoning will go before the Dallas City Council.

“The community had the foresight to decide they needed a roadmap to manage growth in their neighborhood,” West said.

The North Oak Cliff rezoning is also expected to be announced before CPC in November, with Hampton-Clarendon and Clarendon-Edgefield scheduled for December or January.