Texas Supreme Court weighs estoppel claim after Dallas approves then reverses permit for townhouse

The Supreme Court of Texas on Tuesday heard arguments about whether equitable estoppel can prevent the City of Dallas from enforcing a residential proximity slope (RPS) restriction that the city failed to disclose while approving plans and permits for a townhouse developed by Philip Thompson’s company, PDT.

At issue is whether a seven‑month course of interactions between PDT and city planning staff — which included pre‑purchase inquiries, issuance and reissuance of permits, an inspector’s stop‑work related to a parapet, and a later stop‑work tied to the RPS — supports the trial court’s equitable ruling that the city should be stopped from requiring demolition of the completed structure. Appellate counsel for PDT told the court the house, completed in April 2018 and valued at about $1.5 million, sits vacant and has attracted vandalism and trespass since the city declined to issue a certificate of occupancy.

The case turned on longstanding Texas precedents about when equitable estoppel may be applied against a governmental body. Counsel for PDT pointed to the trial record and argued the facts fit an “exceptional case” described in earlier decisions, including an alleged affirmative misrepresentation by city staff that the applicable height limit was 36 feet and repeated confirmations that…