Front yard signs seem to be how East Dallas conveys important messages. Case in point: Signs planted neighborhood yards that are near White Rock Lake often tell you to “Keep Little Forest Hills Funky,” demand that Dallas Arboretum traffic find somewhere else to park, and admonish passers by to “Save The White Rock Lake Skyline” with a caricature of a high-rise building crossed out.
The last on this list, however, is the most immediate cause for action for East Dallas neighbors.
At 1:30 p.m. April 22, the City of Dallas Plan Commission will hold a public hearing on Z201-139, which is regarding the proposed rezoning case for the Trailhead development brought by Mill Creek Residential‘s representative Rob Baldwin of Baldwin Associates. The deadline to register for public comment at this hearing is 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 20. You can register to speak by using this form.
Return Trip to P&Z
Mill Creek has been busy at City Hall, as the company just got the thumbs up from the Plan Commission for their Oak Cliff apartment building located on the Trinity last November. This project, though, could prove to have more stumbling blocks. However, one organization — the Friends of the Santa Fe Trail — has already voiced support for the mixed-use rezoning that would take over the tracts that once were home to The Lot and Local Traveler, two local businesses that were early casualties to the pandemic.
If you recall, two years ago one particular District 9 candidate made the madness of the Garland – Grand – Gaston (3G) intersection their campaign issue. Sarah Lamb, a commercial real estate broker at the Retail Connection and founder of Lakewood Citizens for Responsible Traffic, said in an 2018 interview with NBCDFW:
“We worry about the people who live and work off Gaston. Our neighborhood can’t hold all of the additional drivers. It’s just not safe.”
Sarah Lamb
However, according to several posts in the “Save White Rock Lake Skyline” group, members of Friends of the Santa Fe Trail didn’t consider traffic when they threw their support behind Mill Creek’s development, dubbed The Trailhead because it sits at the start of the Santa Fe Trail.
Proposed MU1 Rezoning
The proposed rezoning for The Trailhead is a mixed-use designation. According to the City of Dallas Department of Sustainable Development, MU1 zoning allows up to 80 percent lot coverage with maximum heights between 90 and 120 feet. That could allow for seven to nine stories depending on whether retail is a component of the development. The site is currently limited to four stories or 80 feet in height.
Is There Precedent?
The building’s not the first swanky apartment development in the area. The Drake, a luxury building just up East Grand at Coronado Avenue and has seven stories with 85 units overlooking the area where The Trailhead is proposed. However, Mill Creek wants to build a seven-story, 305-unit apartment building next to the Santa Fe Trail, which could ostensibly affect the views of nearby homeowners in communities that border White Rock Creek just past the spillway.
Deed Restrictions
There’s an additional wrinkle for Mill Creek: There are deed restrictions in the books for this site, limiting lot coverage to just 60 percent. If there’s no mitigation in place, additional lot coverage could possibly result in more runoff in an area that, in extreme circumstances, has some flooding and fast water.
With so many factors at play, it’s sure to be an interesting public hearing on April 22. Tune in here, and don’t forget your popcorn.
