The Greenville Ave. site is between Bending Oaks High School and the Markville Post Office

When 2019 began, the City of Dallas announced plans to freshen up its schedule to increase access for working residents. The first meeting of each month was moved from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and zoning discussions those days were pushed to 6 in the evening. The council also opted to move 4 meetings from city hall to locations in the community, a change which garnered lots of attention on the first off-site meeting day when then-councilman Kevin Felder arrived at the Park in the Woods Recreation Center after allegedly having a hit-and-run altercation on Malcolm X Blvd. with a young man on a scooter. The incident cost Felder re-election after he was charged with a third degree felony, but off-site council meetings continued.

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The Aug. 14 meeting will be held at the Lake Highlands North Recreation Center, and Deputy Mayor Pro Tem McGough says timing couldn’t be better. In addition to showcasing his beloved District 10, he’s anxious for fellow council members to hear from his constituents. If and when real estate developers submit RDI (Request for Developer Interest) proposals to develop affordable supportive housing for homeless persons at 12000 Greenville, McGough wants his colleagues to understand the depths of opposition in his district. It’s not just residents saying NIMBY (Not in My Backyard), McGough says. Persistent crime and hundreds of public housing units just a stone’s throw from the proposed site make the city-owned vacant land on Greenville the wrong location at the wrong time.

After a contentious introductory meeting with the community Wednesday night, the Dallas Office of Homeless Solutions (OHS) extended the deadline from Aug. 15 to Sept. 19, giving developers more time to submit proposals and residents more time to learn about the work of the OHS.

If you’d like to rise and speak at the Aug. 14 meeting, you’ll need to call City Secretary Bilierae Johnson at 214-670-3738 or email CitySecretary@dallascityhall.com by 5 p.m. Aug. 13. The usual limit is 3 minutes per speaker, but, judging by the overflow turnout Aug. 7 at the Audelia Road Library, speakers will likely be given just 2 minutes to make their point.

The LHN Rec Center is at 9940 White Rock Trail. The council meeting begins at 2 p.m.