The current zoning of the Casa Guanajuato/ South Edgefield/ Polk Vernon Authorized Hearing boundaries. Photo by Victoria Hernandez.
The first community meeting of the Casa Guanajuato/ South Edgefield/ Polk Vernon Authorized Hearing took place at the Casa Guanajuato Community Center on Tuesday, Sept. 8, giving a brief introduction of the next steps in the zoning and land use process.
The City Plan Commission authorized the hearing on March 8, 2024, in support of the implementations of the West Oak Cliff Area Plan (WOCAP), which was adopted in 2022. This specific area covers approximately 277.83 acres surrounding the DART Tyler/Vernon Station.
The boundaries include West Brooklyn and West Page Avenues to the north, South Tyler Street, West Clarendon Drive and South Vernon Avenue to the east, West Illinois Avenue to the south and South Polk Street, Wright Street and South Montclair Avenue to the west.
John Cervantes, part of the City’s Planning and Development Department and member of the Authorized Hearing Team, said that the purpose of the community meetings is to gain feedback from neighbors about what could be improved within these boundaries and bring that information to officials for the proposal at the end of the process.
“In this specific neighborhood, when this was authorized, it was actually requested with specific recommendations or considerations to be had, and that came specifically from the neighborhood associations that are in this part of Oak Cliff,” he said. “And some of the things that they wanted us to evaluate and to talk to y’all about and get feedback from y’all is evaluating whether any townhome district would be appropriate anywhere inside the boundaries that we have on the maps. Some other uses they wanted us to look at were duplexes, triplexes, and then ADUs (Accessory Dwelling Units).”
Additionally, there were requests to evaluate infrastructure regarding sidewalk and streetscapes.
“Because we’re looking at a smaller boundary, and from the West Oak Cliff Area Plan, for us in the Planning and Development Department, specifically on the authorized hearing team, what is very important to us is the land use and development focus of that area plan,” Cervantes said. “So what we have seen, what is written in the area plan … was that there is an interest in making sure that within half a mile of the DART Station, which in this case is Tyler/Vernon DART Station, we want to explore the possibility of new housing options.”
Within the authorized hearing, there is the capability of regulating design standards for these new housing options. Cervantes specifically mentioned the use of standards for front porch requirements and restrictions on drop sizes done recently for South Dallas.
Two more community meetings will take place for the Casa Guanajuato/ South Edgefield/ Polk Vernon Authorized Hearing in the coming months. For now, neighbors interested in giving their input can provide comments using this form or contacting john.cervantes@dallas.gov for any questions.
