City officials hope a new plan will help to keep Dallas鈥� history intact 鈥� while making sure neglected neighborhoods are protected from the city鈥檚 long history of racial inequity. The city council voted to approve a historic preservation strategic plan during Wednesday鈥檚 meeting.
The strategy aims to help answer two central questions: How can Dallas serve historically overlooked communities? And how can city officials preserve the history and cultures of the communities who have been 鈥渟ystematically erased by highway construction and blight removal鈥�?
The plan鈥檚 approval comes after the city council also decided to repeal a demolition ordinance that led to the destruction of 35 historic homes in the Tenth Street Historic District. The predominately Black community is in Oak Cliff and is historically recognized as a Texas Freedman鈥檚 Town.
鈥淭hank you council for taking this step to give us the opportunity, especially in the southern sector, to take care of our neighborhood, to fight for our neighborhoods,鈥� Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Carolyn King Arnold, who represents District 4, said during the meeting.
Currently there are 21 historic preservation neighborhoods in Dallas. Most of them are spread out in the central part of the city 鈥� like Downtown Dallas. City staff says to add more historic districts, residents must go through a zoning change.
The plan outlines the need to also recognize Dallas鈥� past when it comes to racial inequity.
A page from the draft strategy shows a black and white photo of Beaumont Barbecue鈥檚 packed dining room. Black guests smile into the camera. The restaurant was listed in the Green Book, a 鈥渢ravel guide that listed safe places for鈥� Black Americans to visit during the Jim Crow era from the early 1940s until 1967.
鈥淸Beaumont Barbeque] was demolished along with much of Freedman鈥檚 Town during the construction of Central Expressway and the expansion of Uptown,鈥� the plan says.
Staff and Dallas residents say that鈥檚 why it鈥檚 important to have a historic plan.
鈥淲hether it鈥檚 a building or church, or a park whatever it is that made us a little better,鈥� West Dallas resident Ronnie Mestas said during the meeting. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important to us.鈥�
Mestas told the council he supports the plan to make sure community members and neighborhoods are protected.
In the first year of the plan, city staff hopes to hire new staffers for the historic preservation team, gather data on historic districts and landmarks and start the process of surveying the city for possible new sites.
But all of that takes city funds at a time when elected officials are balancing a severely underfunded public safety pension, an upcoming budget process and issuing over $1 billion in bond funds.
鈥淚 think that the staffing recommendations鈥ere at best aspirational but problematic for me,鈥� District 12 Council Member Cara Mendelsohn said during the meeting. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have the budget to add in three additional staff in this area, and I鈥檓 not sure why it needs to be part of the plan.鈥�
Mendelsohn said the plan should be a framework 鈥� but how it is implemented should be a budgeting and policy issue.
Some council members wanted to know if this plan had anything to do with the Forward Dallas land use plan 鈥� that has gained considerable pushback from some residents. Planning and Urban Design Director Andrea Gilles said during Wednesday鈥檚 meeting that the plan doesn鈥檛 specifically tie into Forward Dallas because it is not zoning.
鈥淭hrough our engagement with Forward Dallas we鈥檝e been talking with a lot of these neighborhoods and they鈥檙e ready to implement鈥o get something done,鈥� Gilles said. 鈥淪o, part of that discussion was thinking about鈥hat other than zoning tools do we potentially have to help out some of these neighborhoods.鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 specifically one of the tenants and one of the reasons to have this strategy because there are a limited number of tools today. Zoning can鈥檛 solve everything,鈥� Gilles said during the meeting.
鈥淪o when we don鈥檛 have a zoning option for preserving neighborhoods鈥hat else can we add into the toolbox that gives some resources to some of these neighborhoods that are worried about change鈥r loss of history.鈥�
Got a tip? Email Nathan Collins at ncollins@kera.org. You can follow Nathan on Twitter .
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