On Christmas Eve, the owner of Hinga Auto Repair at 3516 Ross Avenue made a zoning request with the City of Dallas to create a new sub-district within the Bryan Place Special Purpose District, encompassing only his property, which would allow automotive repair via a 10-year SUP (Special Use Permit).
This is a very similar request to the one approved by the city in late 2010 for Woodard’s Paint & Body, with the much-less-than-enthusiastic support of the Bryan Place Neighborhood Association.
This request is problematic, as auto uses were legally required to have been discontinued along that section of Ross Avenue in April 2010, and at that time Hinga sought and secured a three-year extension to April 2013 based on needing that additional time to cover his investment in the property. To now come and request a permanent zoning change – after testifying in 2010 that three years would be all the additional time needed to wrap up business at that location – is likely to stir some debate in the neighborhood.
While Hinga did clean up its lot when the extension was granted, the fact remains that the Bryan Place Neighborhood Association, and our then city council representative Veletta Forsythe Lill, fought hard in 2005 to create rules that would clean up Ross Avenue and remove the pervasive used car lots and auto service shops. The plan was debated by all stakeholders, and agreed to by the city council. To allow individual pieces of property to
be carved out of the plan, a process referred to as “spot zoning”, we believe is not a step in the right direction.
The Bryan Place Neighborhood Association board has always supported enforcing the regulations of the Bryan Place Special Purpose District (PD 298), and strongly opposed any changes to it that are not neighborhood friendly.
At the monthly board meeting in January, the board voted to oppose the SUP.
The public hearing on this matter is tentatively scheduled for February 7th in front of the City Plan Commission. We encourage residents to attend and speak – regardless of whether they are in support or in opposition of the request.
We also encourage members to provide feedback to the board at the next BPNA Board Meeting on Monday, February 4th, just before that hearing.