There seems to be some confusion in the community as to the Fort Worth Avenue Development Group’s position on the Sylvan/Thirty development, which we all as a community are eager to see launched.

The Sylvan/Thirty project has the potential to be a flagship development for our neighborhoods, and FWADG has worked very hard alongside the Oaxaca team for several years to bring this project to fruition. FWADG worked diligently to assist in the land parcel acquisition and was a primary player alongside Oaxaca Interests in the 2009 charrette that helped define a new look for Sylvan Avenue from the I30 intersection to Singleton Ave. and the adjoining properties to the north, south, east, and west of Sylvan.

View the Sylvan/Thirty Project Site Plan.

In February of 2005, the Dallas City Council approved and passed a new PD for the area bordering Commerce Street and Fort Worth Avenue along the north and south of these thoroughfares. This Special Purpose District, PD 714, was conceptualized and created over a period of several years by some truly visionary individuals—all members of our North Oak Cliff/West Dallas communities. The PD was created in an effort to redefine the area and open the door for mixed-use development in a safe, pedestrian-friendly, and bike-friendly manner including residential, retail, office, and light industrial business applications. The PD defines zoning and code issues such as building setbacks on properties, height restrictions, sidewalk widths, landscaping requirements for new and existing development, residential proximity slopes, parking, and a vast array of other topics most of the general public cares little about at face value, but these issues have a crucial role in defining the character of any given development and its effect on the surrounding neighborhoods.

By law, PD 714 disallows massage parlors, dance halls, tattoo parlors, body piercing establishments, cell towers, outdoor amusement parks, bingo parlors, and other land uses that the community does not wish to see along the corridor.

We at Fort Worth Avenue Development Group are the stewards of PD 714. FWADG does not dictate who can move into our community or how their development or site plan should be organized provided that their development is compliant with the zoning, code, and form concepts outlined in PD 714. Just as with the U.S. Constitution, occasional amendments are created to PD 714 when new, intelligent, urban ideas are created, and we feel that it is clearly in the best interests of the community to allow these changes. We have a very good track record of discussing potential projects with developers who are interested in bringing their visions to our community, and when applicable, we assist the developers in promoting these innovative concepts and ideas.

PD 714 was in place years before the Sylvan/Thirty land parcel was acquired; in this case, the developers were well aware of the PD’s urban-form requirements. FWADG has every hope that the developers of Sylvan/Thirty will comply with the requirements, form, and spirit of PD 714. We continue to stand ready to listen to all sides of the issues at hand and are willing and ready to negotiate a positive outcome that will benefit our community provided that the developers of Sylvan/Thirty are willing to sit down and address these issues and follow the form and spirit of PD 714.

FWADG and the community at large have a tremendous interest in seeing the Sylvan/Thirty development thrive and become a model for future development within our boundaries and perhaps greater Dallas.

Sincerely,
David Lyles, President, Fort Worth Avenue Development Group