Photo by Victoria Hernandez.

The Dallas City Council voted Wednesday to remove the deed restriction for an undeveloped lot on West Davis Street.

Located between North Vernon Avenue and North Van Buren Avenue, developer Rick Garza submitted a request to terminate a deed restriction at the back of the site. The restriction had been in place for nearly five decades and previously applied to a warehouse, parking or office development at the location. The deed restriction also required an 8-foot solid concrete fence along portions of the property.

With the zoning and development regulations established in support of the Bishop/Davis Land Use and Zoning Study by the committee known as PD 830, warehouse development is no longer available for the property. Additionally, the implementation of Senate Bill 840 in September now allows for the site to have an apartment building.

Both city staff and the City Plan Commission had approved the request to remove these requirements. At the March commission meeting, a representative for Garza presented a site plan of the development of a five-story apartment complex, which would include first-floor retail, underground parking and public green space.

Before the council vote of approval, District 1 Council member Chad West said that by denying this case and using SB 840, the developer could build seven stories without the parking or pedestrian amenities, adding that the restriction would still bring a three-sided “ugly, non-transparent wall.”

“So this is a question of whether we should remove some old deed restrictions from 1978 by approving this item and removing the deed restrictions, we can allow this District 1 resident and architect to build a thoughtful, mixed-use project with five stories on Davis,” West said.

Public comment on the matter included those both for and against the removal. Michael De Los Santos, a resident of Oak Cliff for over 30 years, said that he sees the vision Garza has for the project.

“I’ve seen what he’s done for the community and I see how active he is in our community,” De Los Santos said. “And I really support the removal of this deed restriction and would love to see his project get started for not only his benefit, but the benefit of our community.”