Razing Hopes (Part I)

Developer Harvey Giddens says he ran straight into Dallas' one-track strategy for urban rehab when he tried to buy some condemned properties on Dixon Avenue.

"I think more can be done with existing properties in Dallas than what is being done right now," he says. "In Los Angeles, a property could be standing and get ordered demolished...but if someone comes in and says, 'I am going to buy this property,' the City of Los Angeles is always in a position to allow them to do that. They don't tell a person to go see a lawyer, that 'this is on the demo list--try and stop it.' This is the kind of attitude I have found in Dallas."

Giddens adds, "Any developer who runs up against this kind of resistance with the city...is apt to get frustrated. The result is that the city is creating problems for itself."

Because of criticisms that the city was demolishing too many homes in poor minority neighborhoods, the city council issued a moratorium on demolitions of single-family, owner-occupied homes in October 1994. The moratorium, however, does not apply to vacant homes or those occupied by renters. And from October 1994 through August 1995, the URSB ordered another 322 homes demolished.

In principle, the city seeks to demolish dangerous homes--urban nuisances that the owner cannot or will not repair to meet city codes. Even so, a house can have several code violations and not be considered a nuisance. Most homes in Dallas, in fact, contain at least one code violation.

If a home has visible code violations, such as a broken window pane or sagging roof, an inspector, usually acting on citizen complaints, gives the owner a notice of violation, and follows up until the house is fixed or its status forwarded to the URSB.

But in Dallas, many citizens complain that it doesn't always work that way.

Continued...