A development fight in North Dallas is moving beyond neighborhood complaints and into organized politics.
Under the banner D13 Together, residents are pressing for key zoning decisions to be postponed and say their council member could face a recall push if they continue to feel as if their concerns are being brushed aside, CBS News reported.
What happened?
Residents from multiple Dallas City Council District 13 neighborhoods have joined forces as D13 Together to oppose several prominent development plans.
At the center of the group's agenda is a vote on an $800 million redevelopment of a vacant strip mall at Preston and Royal that includes a 19-story hotel and an 18-story apartment building.
The coalition is also fighting a proposal for dozens of patio homes at Walnut Hill and Marsh and a possible relocation of Dallas City Hall.
Residents filled a North Dallas church for D13 Together's first meeting, where they gathered to vent frustrations and plan a response.
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Why does it matter?
Doug Hazelbaker, a D13 Together coalition member, said: "When you have a meeting with [councilmember Gay Donnell Willis], you leave feeling dismissed and marginalized. So, this group is going to start changing that right now."
The coalition has paired its organizing effort with an electoral warning.
"If she does not agree to these three conditions, we will initiate a recall and we will replace [Willis]," said Dallas resident Katherine Seale.
D13 Together says more than 4,000 constituents have signed a petition, roughly half the number of registered voters needed to trigger a recall election.
Locals are concerned that new towers and townhouse-style homes would strain traffic, reduce privacy, clog infrastructure, and alter the character of the surrounding neighborhoods.
Backers of the proposals say the projects would add housing, hotel capacity, and economic activity.
What's being done?
The coalition is attempting to channel scattered neighborhood opposition into a single campaign, with its focus on getting Willis to postpone votes on the contested proposals.
In a statement, the developer for the Preston and Royal project said the plan had already been revised after community input.
"We have hosted numerous neighborhood meetings with hundreds of residents participating. As a result of listening to extensive neighborhood input, we have significantly reduced the height of our proposed development," the statement read in part.
Willis also defended the process.
"Across these two cases, there have been over 22 meetings and calls and hundreds of emails exchanged, and all of those requests have shaped the projects into what they are today," she told CBS News.
For North Dallas homeowners Richard and Mary Jane Cox, who have lived near the site for 47 years, the proposed towers feel especially close to home.
"The hotel will be overlooking our house," said Mary Jane Cox.
"And it's not compatible with the neighborhood," Richard Cox added.
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