The Hollywood Overhead Door Co. property sits along White Rock Trail off Walnut Hill Lane in Lake Highlands. Photography by Liesbeth Powers.
A unanimous vote supported a zoning change to the old Hollywood Overhead Door Co. property along White Rock Trail.
The approval by City Plan Commission serves as a recommendation to Dallas City Council to rezone the land for a planned development district.
Land use planning and zoning consultants Baldwin Associates submitted the request and are working with Stillwater Capital to develop the 8-acre piece of land into a 34 single-family homes, as previously reported by the Advocate.
This zoning request received much of its support on the basis that it would be downsizing the building permissions on the land in anticipation of what might come after Hollywood Overhead Door Co. Any kind of warehouse use is currently permitted on the land.
“We’re frequently asked to look at these types of projects and it’s not a binary answer here—construction, [or] no construction—something is going to happen on this site and I think when [we were] walked through the possibilities of what could happen there by right, this is a much better solution,” commission chair Tony Shidid said at a July 15 meeting.
Discussions on traffic were similarly future focused, noting that a single-family development would have about a third of the traffic impact that typically comes with manufacture uses. Smaller vehicles would also be accessing the roads.
City staff also shared that they support infill development projects that create an in-city alternative to the suburbs.
Developers have been asked to make an investment toward the cost of a traffic signal upgrade at the intersection of Walnut Hill Lane and White Rock Trail as part of city staff revisions. A portion must be paid to the city before building permits for new construction are issued.
During the meeting, a neighbor of the property asked for additional habitat protections to be included in the development plan. City staff shared that the first step to introducing those types of changes would be to move away from the current zoning, which allows for harsher treatment of the property.
Control of building materials was also addressed: since legislation passed in 2019, the city can only control building materials used on historic sites.
Additional details on plans for property were shared during the meeting. Developers plan to include a 15 feet landscape buffer along white rock trail and 5,200 square-feet of open space for a dog park. Developers also expect that within two years of getting permits, the land could be fully built out and sold.
