The City Plan Commission could vote today on a compromise that would help residents in the Floral Farms community avoid future environmental problems like Shingle Mountain that once towered over their neighborhood.
The City Plan Commission meets at 9 a.m. and is expected to vote on rezoning 522 acres in the southern Dallas neighborhood. The vote was twice-delayed in March.
Community members in the area desire zoning changes that would eliminate all industrial uses in the area and will spur construction of residential units and a community park in the neighborhood, said Marsha Jackson, whose backyard was next to Shingle Mountain.
However, that zoning request has encountered opposition from industrial businesses in the area that say they are being penalized. District 8 Commissioner Lorie Davis Blair said new recommendations from staff are a “compromise that satisfies the betterment” of every side, including the residents and the businesses operating in the area.
Jackson said she will be at the meeting to speak up about why the city should listen to residents and change the zoning to prevent future environmental injustices.
In the past two meetings, city staffers told commissioners they were trying to find a balance between the residents and industrial companies. Because most of the area is in a flood plain, staff members recommended an agricultural use for undeveloped land west of South Central Expressway. They also suggested establishing residential zoning for existing residences to prevent nonresidential development.
Staff members diverged from residents’ desires by recommending a “light industrial district” on the north and east side of the expressway.
The compromise would create a Planned Development District instead of a Light Industrial District. The district would not allow intensive commercial and industrial uses such as concrete or asphalt batching plants, commercial motor vehicle parking, large warehouses, outside storage or recycling facilities.
Currently, the area’s zoning allows “heavy industrial manufacturing” and “industrial research” in a historically agricultural neighborhood. Rezoning for agricultural uses would affect heavy industrial businesses operating in the area, forcing many to shut down.
The issue first came to light in January 2018, when Jackson, a longtime resident, reported to the city of Dallas that air quality in her neighborhood declined as the nearby mound of shingles grew.
The city began removing the pile of roofing debris in 2020 and, in October, completed its $2 million plan to clean up and remediate soil polluted by the mountain of debris left by Blue Star Recycling.
Davis said she was optimistic about the rezoning vote.
“It’s past time for resolution to occur, and it’s not something that I, as a commissioner, intend to put off,” Blair said.
