NIMBY or Not? What Pepper Square Says About Development and Distrust in Dallas

As the controversial Far North Dallas redevelopment plan known as Pepper Square approaches its final City Hall hurdle, proponents and opponents for the project tell the Observer that the case represents a deep “crossroads” dividing Dallas today. 

The 23-acre mixed-use plan was approved by the City Plan Commission earlier this month. If approved by the City Council, an old shopping center perched at the intersection of Belt Line and Preston Roads could be transformed into nearly 1,000 apartments, a green area and revamped retail spaces. 

Naysaying neighbors, of which there are many, have been labeled NIMBY’s by stewards for the project. “NIMBY” is a pejorative term that stands for “Not in My Backyard.” It comes up in Dallas’ most contentious development debates, and is often leveled at property owners fretting over what a project will do to their property values. 

In the case of Pepper Square, though, the accused NIMBY neighbors argue the plan underscores the community distrust that erupted during discussions surrounding ForwardDallas, a comprehensive land use plan adopted by the City Council last September. That distrust hasn’t been healed by city leaders in the months since, these North Dallas residents argue, it’s been exacerbated.  

The history of Pepper Square is years-long and personal; there have been court cases, combative community meetings and a failed effort to recall the district’s City Council member, Jaynie Schultz, all inspired by the redevelopment. A council vote on the plan was scheduled for today but was delayed. 

As both sides brace for a final showdown on Marilla Street, it’s worth pondering the question of NIMBYism. When it comes to debates surrounding development and dense housing, is Dallas really left with folding to the fray or ignoring the concerns of residents as the only two options? 

NIMBY or Not?

Matt Bach and Janet Marcum, presidents of the Save Pepper Square Neighborhood Coalition and Northwood Hills Homeowners Association, respectively,  say the “NIMBY” accusation is a misnomer being used to discredit their cause. Actually, Marcum concedes, there are a few bona fide NIMBYs who have made their way into the coalition opposing Pepper Square, but they don’t speak for the majority of neighbors who are upset with what the development could mean for their corner of Dallas. 

Nearby communities have vehemently opposed the plans for Pepper Square, citing fears of increased traffic that the apartment complex would bring to the area. In a community survey conducted by Save Pepper Square, 90% of more than 1,000 respondents said they opposed the high-density housing plan proposed by developer Henry S. Miller. What did gain local support was the coalition’s request for a mixed-use development modeled after Hillcrest Village, where green space and retail areas could exist alongside chic owner-occupied townhomes or condos. 

As developers initially planned for around 2,000 apartments, Save Pepper Square asked for 450 at most. 

“We’re saying put something in our backyard, just not this one singular option that you’ve given us,” Marcum told the Observer. “[Dallas] needs starter homes. We need senior living options. We need townhomes. So I think that’s where we saw a big opportunity to actually address some of the city’s needs at this site.” 

Marcum is a Realtor who says finding homes suitable for young families or seniors hoping to downsize has become difficult in recent years, but apartments are plentiful. 

She pointed to a recent Dallas Morning News article which found that while apartment rents in our city have held steady in recent years thanks to a fast-growing supply, single family homes are becoming more and more unaffordable for many residents. To Marcum, the report is evidence that an alternative housing type, like the ones Save Pepper Square had hoped for, would be appropriate in the space.

Save Pepper Square was also insistent on the development’s housing being owner-occupied, meaning that instead of renters, each unit would be owned by the person who lived in it. To Schultz, who announced last summer she will not seek reelection despite being eligible to serve two more two-year terms, this sticking point is where the NIMBY claim begins to take shape.

The conversation surrounding Pepper Square hasn’t been inclusive or considerate of renters, who make up more than half of Dallas’ housing population, she says. And while there are apartment complexes throughout District 11, it doesn’t mean upgrades are unnecessary. 

“What we have are 40-year-old places that are ‘market rate affordable,’ that are not any place you would want your children or family members or people you love, or anyone, to live,” Schultz told the Observer. “We have to invest in upgraded housing.” 

Schultz believes the city needs to create a better line of communication with renters, especially when it comes to projects aimed at them like Pepper Square.

In Save Pepper Square’s survey, a vast majority of respondents identified as being affiliated with one of more than 20 neighborhood neighborhood associations or HOAs; 90 of the more than 1,000 residents said their neighborhood was not an option on the survey. Two respondents identified as living in a nearby condominium community, and one individual answered “I’m not a homeowner.” 

Matt Bach, the leader of the group that ran the survey, said that it stands to show “an overwhelming majority of the neighborhood” doesn’t want Pepper Square. Schultz counters that not all neighbors have been asked, only the ones who own their property.

Bach added that he believes the passage of ForwardDallas helped fuel the Dallas HERO organization, which helped pass amendments to Dallas’ City Charter that call for increased police hiring and opened the city up to citizen lawsuits. While there is a “lot of good in ForwardDallas,” he believes that single-family neighborhoods ultimately did not get the protections they asked for during the community feedback window, leaving voters seeking change in City Hall.

“I would think at some point, and this does resonate with some of the City Council members, you have to say no (to Pepper Square.) I mean, we’re a democracy,” Bach said. “I mean, no one should be surprised that (Dallas HERO) is happening when council members, Dallas’ government, the City Plan Commission in particular, completely ignore the wishes of residents.” 

If Not Your Backyard, Then Where?

The community frustration surrounding Pepper Square has been especially targeted towards Schultz, who first took on a sort of mediator role between the developer and community before tensions reached an unnavigable fever pitch. She says the experience left her “disillusioned” with Dallas.

She never knew her constituents, her neighbors, had the capacity to be “so mean,” she said.     

Then she pauses, and thinks about Jennifer Staubach Gates, who sat on the council representing nearby Preston Hollow before Schultz was elected. Gates, Schultz recalls, received a wave of community vitriol and threats after supporting the city’s efforts to remove confederate statues. 

“I think that we are gonna have to gird ourselves if Dallas is going to be a sustainable city,” Schultz said. “We just have to forge on for what’s right for Dallas, and if (some residents are) disappointed or they’re sorry then that’s for them to work out with themselves.”

She has been left frustrated by the conflation of neighborhood self-determination – a buzzy phrase often used in zoning cases like conservation district applications or zoning overlays – and NIMBYism. When the Observer asked where, if not in someone’s backyard, developments like Pepper Square should go, she said the answer always seems to be southern Dallas. 

That answer doesn’t work for Schultz, but Bach offered a different idea.

“Everyone’s screaming Valley View,” Bach said, referencing the former mall that sits 2 miles south of Pepper Square. “I mean there would be no issue about 12-story buildings at Valley View. And I mean it’s just crazy that that property still lies sort of undeveloped.”

Full house tonight at Dallas Bible Church of citizens discussing neighborhood density issues most notably Pepper Square pic.twitter.com/gF0bQNltjD

— Candace Evans (@DallasDirtCandy) September 1, 2023

Plans were announced to develop the former shopping mall site around a year ago, after years of setbacks. The proposed first phase is luxury apartment buildings and retail areas, Beck Ventures CEO Scott Beck said.

The City Council is the last chance Bach and Marcum have to stop the Pepper Square redevelopment, and they don’t feel defeated yet. They each said they’re in talks with other council members besides Schultz, who they hope will side with them to deny the Pepper Square rezoning request. 

Or, they could hope the case gets delayed until after the May election. Schultz, though, said she will be voting on Pepper Square before her time at the horseshoe is done. 

Which brings us back to Dallas’ “crossroads” – Bach and Schultz both used that word. And the way forward, in both of their eyes, like so many other things, differs. 

“This is this tug of war between the urbanists at City Hall and the others that say, ‘No, one of Dallas’ greatest assets is its neighborhoods,'” Bach said. “You talk about the oceans and the coral reefs dying and people say, ‘Well, if they die, the ocean dies.’ Well, so too with Dallas. You kill their neighborhoods and you’re going to kill the city.”

Schultz, on the other hand, hopes the May election will offer her district the chance to extend a new olive branch to City Hall. And not just on the Pepper Square matter; like Bach, she believes the distrust between single-family neighborhoods and the local government is bigger than just this case. 

“What’s the go forward? How do we heal? How do we repair?” Schultz asks. “What we don’t want is that simmering anger in perpetuity. We do not want that. However the outcome of this is, I hope that people will choose with the next council member to do a reset that includes civility and kindness and listening and participation.”