Dallas City Council approves new housing policy

Dallas Business Journal
By Plamedie Ifasso  –  Staff Writer, Dallas Business Journal
Apr 13, 2023 
Updated Apr 13, 2023, 9:10am CDT

Dallas City Council voted to approve a new housing plan Wednesday aimed at increasing housing affordability and equity.

The new framework of Dallas Housing Policy 2033 will replace the Comprehensive Housing Plan. 

Through quality affordable mixed-income housing initiatives, the city wants to provide greater fair housing choices, advance racial equity, address equity blind spots and overcome patterns of segregation and concentrations of poverty.  

The policy consists of seven pillars: Equity strategy targets; citywide production; citywide preservation; infrastructure; collaboration and coordination; engagement; and education. Each pillar is intended to have specific, relevant and measurable goals that show how the strategy will be used to revitalize neighborhoods and create more housing options. 

The framework is designed to work across city departments, leverage expertise and resources for residential communities and align with current city initiatives such as the Racial Equity Plan and the Economic Development Policy.  

“If you’re looking at the Economic Development Policy (and) if you’re looking at ForwardDallas, we'll have to have agreements that we devise with those departments to look at where we have overlap,” Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization Director David Noguera said. “Where can we coordinate our efforts? Then we'll bring that to (the council).” 

The city council also voted to approve the adoption of the Dallas Resource Catalog, a companion document to the housing policy. The catalog consists of housing programs including approved programs from the Comprehensive Housing Policy, corporations and compliance and funding resources that will drive the city’s investments in mixed-income housing. The resources in the document will have annual goals, so the city can measure and adjust plans as needed.  

The vote to approve the policy will be followed by a six-month to 12-month implementation plan that includes establishing a sustainable community engagement structure that will inform the development of a housing task force, selection of equity strategy target areas and developing agreements with external and internal partners who will work alongside the Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization Department.

Staff envision the housing task force will consist of community, staff and council appointments who will provide guidance on recommended policies, programs and projects.  

“The bottom line is we don't have enough affordable housing,” Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax said. “We don't have enough places where people are willing to accept affordable housing, whether it's single-family or multifamily, and this policy sets out goals to try to accomplish that.“