Why is it so hard to build in Dallas?
One thing you hear too often in Dallas is that its hard to do business  especially the business of building Dallas. Its hard to get permits. Its hard to get inspections. Its hard to get hearings. Its hard to get approval if you get a hearing. Every step of the process is a struggle. We watched this unfold in recent weeks with a plainly beneficial and important development called The Trailhead, along Grand Avenue near White Rock Lake. The mixed-use project does just about everything you could ask of a good development. It provides affordable housing. It creates a pedestrian link to the Santa Fe Trail. It mixes residential and retail uses. It is exactly the sort of forward-looking project that creates much-needed housing supply in a city desperate for more housing at every income level. And it does it in a way that encourages greater density and moves the city forward on reducing car dependence. This being Dallas, it almost didnt happen. And that needs to change. Lets walk through the nightmare. From almost its inception, the development has been subject to misleading and outright false information spread on social media and on a website calling itself Save the White Rock Skyline. Set aside that the development  even at its maximum proposed height  was always a midrise plan that wasnt wrecking anyones views. The answer appears to be a small group of well-off residents around Garland, Gaston and Grand who are known for digging in against change of any kind. The Trailhead development failed to win approval at the City Plan Commission, which has an unfortunate history of putting the interests of small bands of self-interested neighborhood activists over the larger needs of the city. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed at the city council, and the Trailhead project won unanimous approval Wednesday, after the developer, Mill Creek Residential, agreed to cap the height at 75 feet and increase the number of affordable units from 5% to 9%. That sounds like a huge win for Dallas residents. It sounds especially great for the young cop who wants to live in the city near her station. Or the teacher who wants to bike to his school every day. Or the nurse at Parkland who doesnt want to drag up to the suburbs after a 14-hour shift. Folks in those income brackets might enjoy living near White Rock Lake as much as many of the opponents of this project who live in homes most people cant afford. You might think the approval of The Trailhead was a cause for celebration at City Hall. No indeed. The council passed this with nary a word of discussion. Council member Adam Medrano, whose district the project is in, mumbled the proposed ordinance into his microphone, got a quiet second and a quick vote. No one on council, it seems, wants to be haunted by the NIMBY crowd that offers few solutions but plenty of complaints. It shouldnt be this hard. City Hall should have a clearer sense of what separates good development from bad. The good stuff offers options for lower-income residents. It is sensitive to its surroundings. It incorporates public amenities. It ensures that people have choices of transportation. It has self-sustaining elements like restaurants and retail. That precisely describes this project. The Trailheads developers have been on the edge of their seats for months in a political process that discourages all but the boldest and deep-pocketed companies from jumping in. That will damage this city in the long run if it doesnt change. Thankfully, this deal is, for the most part, through council. It does have to come back for what should be a pro forma approval of the ordinance language. Then, Lord help it, its on to the permitting office. But thats a story for another day.