Over the years, Dallas' city code has allowed residents who could pay a $1,000 filing fee to initiate amortization proceedings against a business that was not in compliance with its zoning and causing harm to their community. Amortization is a financial process that allows the city to force a formerly compliant business to close without paying the business owner any compensation if the city calculates that the owner has already earned back its investment in the property.
It’s one option on the table for shutting down a shingle manufacturing factory in West Dallas, operated by GAF, that’s been in operation for nearly 80 years. The company has a plan to leave town in 2029, but some West Dallas residents, like Janie Cisneros, leader of the West Dallas neighborhood group Singleton United/Unidos, want the factory gone sooner. Amortization could help make that happen.
But Senate Bill 929, which was passed in the last legislative session, makes it harder for cities to carry out amortization proceedings. Specifically, the bill requires the city to provide a written notice of each public hearing to property owners regarding any zoning change that could result in their property being considered a nonconforming use.
If a property is made nonconforming by a zoning change and forced to cease operation, the property owner must be given a choice of remedy under SB 929. The property owner is entitled to either a payment from the city equal to the cost of ceasing operation or the option to continue operation until those costs are recovered. The costs would be determined by considerations such as demolition and relocation expenses, the property’s market value and other factors. The property owner gets to choose which remedy to take.
With the proposed city code amendment, Dallas is trying to become aligned with the new law. However, the code amendment goes a step further than the new law, removing residents' ability to file for amortization. Under the proposed change, only the City Council member for the district the property is in could file for amortization. The thinking behind this, according to the city attorney’s office, is that the potential for costs to be incurred by the city is too high to leave the decision solely in the hands of residents who can fork over $1,000 to file for amortization. “This could put taxpayer funds at significant risk,” Casey Burgess, a city attorney, told the committee.
But members of the Zoning Ordinance Advisory Committee and residents alike questioned whether such a change was a good move for the city.“What are we doing, Dallas?” – Janie Cisneros, Singleton United/Unidos
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“It seems to be a drastic change that we would eliminate the right of a resident to seek a compliance date for a nonconforming use,” committee member Brent Rubin said at the meeting. Rubin asked if the code amendment could be changed so that residents could seek amortization by collecting signatures from people in the area. The city attorney said this is something they could explore.
Cisneros and other West Dallas residents also spoke out against the proposed change.
“What are we doing, Dallas?” Cisneros asked the committee. “You have a neighborhood, my neighborhood, fighting with all its might for residential rights and here you are redlining one. The new bill doesn’t require you to do so. Why would you remove a powerful tool that residents could leverage to help our communities thrive, to take action to protect our families from harm?”
She said people in West Dallas have paid a hefty price after generations of living next door to big polluters. “There are lifetime costs that we have incurred,” she said. “You’d rather us start with the City Council person for amortization. If the City Council person is not aligned or willing to fight for his constituents, residents are left to fend for themselves, as is the case with Singleton United/Unidos.”
She said she adamantly opposed the proposed change and had recently tried filing for amortization of the GAF factory but was been denied by the city in the face of these proposed changes.
“What is more insulting is that these code changes haven’t been approved yet and the city is already blocking from filing for amortization of GAF,” she said. “You are violating your own code. You are violating your own process. What faith or trust can residents in the city of Dallas have in you when you interfere with the democratic process that is meant to inspire civic engagement?”
She implored the committee not to adopt the code change in its current form.
Jim Schermbeck, director of the environmental group Downwinders at Risk, said SB 929 was hastily passed and the proposed zoning change was hastily written. “It’s a rush job to kill the resistance in this neighborhood that’s seeking amortization despite the evidence that supports that case,” Schermbeck said. “The city attorney is clearly now on GAF’s side in this matter just by the language that’s been introduced.” He advised the committee not to adopt the changes.
“Do not become a co-conspirator in this attempt to silence residents of Dallas," Schermbeck said.
The committee ultimately decided not to vote on the changes yet, but will bring them back for consideration in November.
