Featured Citizen Action

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  • Dear ZOAC members,

    Don't Rollback Residents' Rights! I want to express my strong opposition to the proposed code change under consideration regarding the amortization, or scheduled closure, of Non-Conforming uses, like the GAF asphalt shingle factory in West Dallas. Specifically the language robbing Dallas residents of this tool to address industrial polluters and other harmful land uses that burden Dallas neighborhoods, especially predominantly Black and Brown neighborhoods.

    We understand that the City is reacting to the passage of a new state law, SB 929, i.e. “the GAF bill,” which requires more notification and compensation for non-conforming uses that are compelled to come into compliance. However, the City Attorney is proposing something FAR BEYOND WHAT STATE LAW REQUIRES - ELIMINATING THE RIGHT OF A RESIDENT TO FILE AN AMORTIZATION PETITION. This is a right Dallas residents currently enjoy and have had for decades. Amortization was used to hasten the closure of Dallas’ lead smelters. Don’t deny Dallas residents this same right when it comes to an 80-year old asphalt shingle factory in West Dallas that causes constant nuisance conditions and release tons of hazards air pollution everyday. The state law GAF lobbied to pass doesn’t require revoking this residential right. The City Attorney is using this change in state law to take that current right out of the Code.

    Besides reinforcing Dallas’ institutional environmental racism, denying this right to residents will have a damaging impact on the City’s of Dallas’ Forward Dallas Comprehensive Land Use Plan, the entire point of which is to identify incompatible, and therefore, Non-Conforming uses. Don’t let the City Attorney’s overreaction blow up this important planning process.

    Please vote with the residents who are fighting for their neighborhood. Support neighborhood self-determination.

    Sincerely,