​ForwardDallas 2.0 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

On September 25, 2024, ForwardDallas 2.0 was adopted by Dallas City Council !
Read the press release here. See below for frequently asked questions.



The City of Dallas needs an update to its comprehensive plan. It was originally developed in 2006 and is the blueprint for how the City should look and grow for the long term.

ForwardDallas 2.0 is a refreshed guide that takes into account how our City has evolved over the last nearly two decades and how we should plan for what is on the horizon – from our continued economic growth to our long-term social vibrancy. It identifies opportunities to support the City's growth in a way that makes sense while at the same time, considering residents who have made Dallas their home for decades.

With that growth, we must also be mindful how vital it is to separate residential from industrial, so our communities have healthy environments across all geographic areas of the City. ForwardDallas 2.0 tackles this proactively and strategically.

Finally, ForwardDallas 2.0 creates connectivity. It fosters collaboration…and most importantly, it encourages thoughtful and meaningful communication so we can collectively build a better City for all, for many more years to come.

See ForwardDallas 2.0 Facts vs Myths 

 


How do you respond to opponents who believe ForwardDallas 2.0 will ruin single family neighborhoods?

  • That is NOT true!  ForwardDallas 2.0 does not change the zoning process or rules on land use.
  • ForwardDallas 2.0 is only a planning guide, not a zoning tool.
  • Each zoning case will still be filed with the planning department, will be reviewed by staff, reviewed by the CPC and if recommended, will move to the City Council for review and final vote.
  • On average, the CPC handles only 200 zoning cases per year.

 Many residents are concerned about the prospect of multiplexes in single-family neighborhoods. What has been done to address those concerns?

  • The CPC voted unanimously on June 17th to classify multiplex use as a secondary use in the Community Residential and Small Town Residential Placetypes.
  • This means those two categories in ForwardDallas 2.0 will predominantly be single family.

 Why do some groups continue to oppose ForwardDallas and claim it will ruin the City?

  • We can't speak for them, but many of their claims are false and misleading.
  • ForwardDallas 2.0 is a long-term planning document to guide future development throughout the City.
  • It is not a zoning document.

 What does it mean for residents to live in healthy environments across all geographic areas of the City?

  • ForwardDallas 2.0 has identified and is addressing geographic areas where existing residential is still zoned for industrial uses and/or where harmful industrial uses are next to or nearby residential uses. This promotes "environmental justice", or the fair treatment of all residents, regardless of where they live or their socio-economic standing.
  • ForwardDallas 2.0 prioritizes future land use in areas that historically have borne the brunt of environmental burdens, particularly in or near communities of color. 

 What other guidance has CPC recommended? 

  • An update to the multiplex definition as having 8 or fewer units.
  • Design Standards: priority for adding design standards into the Development Code and strengthening the Neighborhood Stabilization Overlay ordinance to provide greater predictability and sensitive design for new housing.
  • Location: preferred locations for different housing types such as near transit stations and along corridors, in transition areas between non-residential and existing residential areas, on former civic/institutional properties, and possibly on corner lots.
  • ForwardDallas 2.0 does not change Historic Districts, Conservation Districts. Neighborhood Stabilization Overlays and Neighborhood led Planned Developments.

What if residents have concerns about ForwardDallas 2.0?

  • The ForwardDallas 2.0 team is listening and will continue to receive feedback from residents.
  • Residents still have an opportunity to submit questions and comments to the to City Council using this form.

 What type of outreach and engagement has the ForwardDallas 2.0 team pursued?

  • Over the past three years, the team has hosted more than 200 in-person events, and more than 70 virtual events.
  • The ForwardDallas 2.0 website has seen 25,000 site visits.

 What is the timeline?

  • July 25, 2024: City Plan Commission (CPC) finalized their recommendations and moved to forward the draft plan to the City Council for their review and consideration for adoption.
  • August 5 and August 27: Briefings to the Economic Development Council Committee
  • September 3: Third briefing to the Economic Development Council Committee
  • September 25, 2024: City Council Public Hearing - ForwardDallas 2.0 ADOPTED by Dallas City Council


Have more Questions? See below for additional FAQs

What is ForwardDallas 2.0?  
ForwardDallas 2.0 is a comprehensive land use plan that lays out a long-term future land use vision for the city. Its purpose is to guide future development and infrastructure investment in an intentional, equitable and sustainable manner. ForwardDallas 2.0 is an update to the 2006 ForwardDallas plan. Land use plans are high-level policy guides that provide a range of options for future development. They are not legal regulations, like zoning.

Why is a comprehensive plan important?
To date, the city’s planning has been largely piecemeal and reactionary, without a citywide policy to guide growth and change. The plan establishes a framework, grounded in equity, for how Dallas should grow, preserve and transition. It is critical that the City have an intentional, long-range plan to manage that growth while also establishing policies for areas and uses that should be preserved. The plan also addresses areas with land use incompatibilities and provides a roadmap for transitioning from one mix of uses to another. 

How will ForwardDallas 2.0 be used and who will use it?
The plan is a guide used by City Boards and Commissions; City Council; City Plan Commission; City departments, City and County agencies; residents; employers; developers and other stakeholders to inform decisions about development, infrastructure and code regulations.  Most specifically, when a new application for a zoning change goes before the City Plan Commission and the City Council, the application will be reviewed based on whether the zoning change “is in accordance with” the comprehensive plan.  The Texas Local Government Code, the City Charter and the Local Development Code lay out the authority of a comprehensive plan, which is guidance for development application and does not constitute zoning.   

The ForwardDallas 2.0 comprehensive land use plan is one of several factors taken into account when reviewing development proposals.  ForwardDallas also identifies areas where there are inconsistencies between the current use on the ground today, the desired future vision for the area, and the existing zoning needed to implement the vision. Specifically, ForwardDallas has identified environmental justice areas where incompatible uses and zoning exist (commonly residential next to industrial) and recommends an updated future land use vision for those areas to guide future zoning efforts. 

What are the biggest changes from the 2006 ForwardDallas plan, and why is it important? ForwardDallas 2.0 includes a future land use map to guide future growth, whereas the 2006 ForwardDallas Plan stopped short of a land use map and included a “Vision Illustration.” Most cities in the country have a future land use map to help guide future development, preserve existing communities and sensitive environmental areas, and set priorities for infrastructure. 

-ForwardDallas 2.0 prioritizes environmental justice as it relates to future land use.  The 2006 plan largely recognized the existing land use patterns where industrial uses are located.  ForwardDallas 2.0 recommends a change in future land use for several areas where incompatible land uses (example, industrial near residential) were identified.  By identifying these areas on the future land use map, land use guidance is established to prioritize and inform potential future rezonings in these areas.  

-ForwardDallas 2.0 recognizes the change in the office and commercial markets since 2006 and recommends more targeted focus on Dallas’ corridors and allowing a mix of uses (commercial/residential) along those corridors, particularly in areas where the zoning only allows a single, such as only commercial or only office.

-ForwardDallas 2.0 includes a manageable and more actionable implementation framework to guide the next steps after adoption and establish accountability. 

What are the plan’s themes and how were they developed? 

ForwardDallas 2.0 is rooted in five overarching themes. These themes are based on thousands of comments and conversations over the course of 2+ years of community engagement throughout Dallas. The themes serve as the foundation for the plan’s goals, objectives, and actions steps: 

- Environmental Justice and Sustainability; 
- Housing Choice and Access; 
- Transit-Oriented Development and Connectivity; 
- Economic Development and Revitalization; and 
- Community and Urban Design

What is a placetype?
A placetype is a description of places within the city—neighborhoods, mixed use areas, employment and industry centers and open spaces—that incorporates a desired mix of land uses, design and the recommended intensity and scale of the different uses. Placetypes are similar to future land use descriptions but are broader in scale and are used more commonly for large, citywide plans. 

Why isn’t there a single-family placetype?
The term “single-family” in land use planning refers to one (1) use, similarly to how a church or a coffee shop is one (1) use. All placetypes in ForwardDallas include multiple uses or activities that characterize the broader types of places common in Dallas. These places are typically larger than a single-family only neighborhood and include a range of uses to meet the various needs for a diversity of people. Future land use generally describes a range of uses for an area while zoning prescribes the specific use for a property. Not every property will be appropriate for the range of uses described by the placetype. ForwardDallas has three (3) primarily residential placetypes: 1) Small Town Residential which is largely rural in character 2) Community Residential, which is predominantly traditional single-family homes and 3) City Residential, which is predominantly multiple-unit buildings.

Does the 2006 ForwardDallas plan include a single-family land use designation?
No, the 2006 plan utilized “Building Blocks” to establish the citywide vision and grouped residential areas into the “Residential Neighborhood” building block.  The plan acknowledged that change in these areas was expected to be limited and that the City would work to maintain the stable character of these areas while accommodating new development and redevelopment. The plan also included an implementation policy about creating housing opportunities throughout Dallas, similar to the draft plan update.  The 2006 plan also included implementation measures that recommended different avenues for creating diverse housing types throughout Dallas.  

What kind of community engagement has occurred?
Since launching in Fall 2021, the engagement for ForwardDallas has included in-person and virtual workshops, pop-up events, neighborhood association meetings, email blasts, social media posts, online and paper surveys, online mapping and comment platforms, and public speaking engagements throughout the city, both in English and Spanish.  200 + events were held, 22,000 web map visits were made, 1,600 web map comments were provided, and over 1,000 surveys were received. 

Who is reviewing the draft plan and where is it at in the process?
The various drafts of the plan have been made available to the public via the project website.  The first full draft of the plan including the themes, the placetype (future land use) map, and implementation matrix was published in September 2023.  Since publishing the plan, the project team has continued meeting with neighborhood associations and other stakeholder groups to discuss potential changes to the draft. 

In addition to community comments, the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) Committee, a committee established by the City Plan Commission, met bi-monthly between September 2023 and January 2024 to review and recommend edits to the first draft. Public testimony was also part of the meetings. On January 9, 2024, the CLUP recommended an updated draft of the plan move forward to City Plan Commission to begin its review and discussion. The plan is now currently under review by the City Plan Commission.  Public hearings to take community comments began in April. 

Is there still time for me to provide input?
Yes.  CPC finalized their recommendations and voted to recommend the plan to the Dallas City Council. Public meetings at which individuals may sign-up to speak either in person or virtually will be scheduled at City Council.

What concerns has staff heard since the first draft, and how does staff plan to address it?
Staff has heard the concern about the residential placetypes, particularly the Community Residential Placetype.  Workshops began on March 28, 2024 with City Plan Commission (CPC) to review the plan and address ongoing concerns.  To specifically address the residential plactypes, staff plans to: 1) bring forward a discussion about placetype names; 2) discuss the mix of primary and supporting land uses within the placetypes; 3) further discuss the language around accessory dwelling units/granny flats; 4) discuss added language about historic and conservation districts, language that provides greater clarity about the locational recommendations for any new development, and re-emphasizing the statement from the 2006 plan that change in predominantly single-family areas is expected to be limited; 5) facilitate discussion regarding any other suggestions offered by the City Plan Commission. 

How does ForwardDallas 2.0 relate to other adopted citywide policies?
The ForwardDallas 2.0 project team coordinated with the applicable City departments to review and discuss recently adopted citywide policies and plans to ensure that ForwardDallas aligned with the respective policies including the 2020 Comprehensive Environmental & Climate Action Plan (CECAP), 2021 Racial Equity Plan, the 2021 Connect Dallas Strategic Mobility Plan, the 2023 Economic Development Incentive Policy, the Dallas Housing Policy 2033.  The project team also reviewed all previous adopted area plans, vision plans and strategy documents.  These plans established the baseline for the initial ForwardDallas 2.0 draft. 

Will ForwardDallas 2.0 rezone my property?
No. ForwardDallas is a land use guide and does not result in a rezoning of any part of the city. Any rezoning requires notification and a separate public process including public meetings at City Plan Commission and final decision with City Council. 

Does ForwardDallas 2.0 recommend eliminating single-family zoning?
No. ForwardDallas does not recommend eliminating single-family zoning. ForwardDallas does encourage more housing options throughout the City, with focus at key intersections, activity centers, local commercial areas, along corridors and within ½ mile of DART transit stations. Even with that recommendation, a separate public process, CPC review and City Council adoption is required. 

Will ForwardDallas 2.0 make changes to my historic district or my conservation district?
No. ForwardDallas will make no changes, nor does it recommend, any changes to historic or conservation districts. 

What does the plan recommend for Accessory Dwelling Units (granny flats/in-law suites)?
The current recommendation in the draft plan reads: “Explore updating the development code to allow Accessory Dwelling Units in residential districts and incorporate design standards to ensure neighborhood compatibility.”

This recommendation, if adopted as is by City Council, would NOT automatically change the current process to allow Accessory Dwelling Units, which requires either 1) a neighborhood “opt-in” on a larger scale, or 2) an individual may request approval from the Board of Adjustment.  Any change to the process would require a change to the City’s development code which includes public meetings with the Zoning Ordinance Advisory Committee, the City Plan Commission, and City Council. 

Does ForwardDallas 2.0 recommend eliminating parking requirements?
No, the plan does not make this recommendation.  There is a zoning code amendment under consideration where parking requirements are being discussed, but that is a separate public process that began over four years ago.  ForwardDallas does recommend minimizing the visual and environmental impact of parking, shared parking where feasible, the orientation of parking lots in relation to the building, and reducing parking through the code amendment process to increase the feasibility of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) projects.  

What is the approval process?
In January 2024, the Comprehensive Land Use Plan Committee (CLUP) completed its review and recommendations of the draft plan. The City Plan Commission (CPC) is now reviewing the draft plan. CPC will hold public hearings to hear from the community April - July 2024. CPC will then provide a recommendation to City Council. Once CPC recommends an updated draft to City Council, City Council will also hold a public hearing(s). City Council is the final decision maker for the plan. 

Can the plan be changed once it is adopted?
After adoption, a formalized process is recommended for reviewing and updating the comprehensive land use plan every ten years. At mid-cycle, in the fifth year, a review and report of the plan is recommended to evaluate progress and maintain relevancy. Annual reports and briefings will be provided to the City Plan Commission (CPC), applicable committees and sub-committees, City Council and to the general public. 

Is there still time for me to provide input & how can I stay involved?  
Dallas City Council held a Public Hearing on September 25, 2024. At the Public Hearing, City Council voted 11-4  adopt ForwardDallas 2.0 and update the 2006 Comprehensive Plan.

- Review online map: bit.ly/fdcommentmap
- Review latest ForwardDallas draft update: Here
- Review ForwardDallas materials: bit.ly/forwarddallasresourcepage 
- Subscribe to ForwardDallas notification list: bit.ly/forwarddallasnotifyme 


Don't see a question that you have, email it to pud@dallas.gov.

 Revised May 2024