Board of Adjustment grants variances for Jordan Valley property; reimburses applicant’s filing fees after finding financial hardship

On Feb. 20, 2025, the Dallas Board of Adjustment Panel C granted multiple variances and approved reimbursement of filing fees for a homeowner seeking to legalize and modify an accessory dwelling at 2172 Jordan Valley.

The board voted to grant variances to floor-area, building-height, side-yard setback and rear-yard setback rules and a special exception to single-family use rules in the Dallas Development Code for the application docketed as BDA245-010. The approvals were granted on the consent agenda; the board recorded a unanimous vote for the consent approvals. The board later approved a separate reimbursement request for filing fees associated with the same application after hearing testimony that payment of the fees would cause the applicant a substantial financial hardship.

The applicant, Alejandro Arroyo, told the board he had paid $3,200 in project-related costs and was requesting $2,400 be reimbursed to cover property taxes that were due. “We’re requesting this really just to pay for the property taxes,” Arroyo said, and described reduced work hours and an expected child as factors in his household’s finances. Staff confirmed members of the permit review team had provided supplemental documentation about Arroyo’s circumstances to the board during a break in the hearing.

The board imposed a condition on the variances that the applicant deed-restrict the property to prevent use of the accessory dwelling unit as a rental accommodation and must comply with the most recent version of submitted plans. The fee reimbursement motion was made and seconded on the record; the board found that the applicant had demonstrated that payment of the fee would result in substantial financial hardship and approved reimbursement by a recorded 4-0 vote.

Board staff and the board discussed redaction of personal financial documents before they are added to the public record. The board secretary said the city would attempt to redact personally identifying information before it appears in the public file.

The Dallas Development Code was the governing authority cited in the board’s review. Letters documenting the board’s decisions will be mailed to the applicant by the board administrator and will become part of the public record.

The board’s actions on the Arroyo application consisted of two formal items recorded in the hearing minutes: the consent agenda variances (BDA245-010) and the fee-reimbursement action (BEA245-010FR1). The consent-approval vote was recorded as unanimous; the fee-reimbursement vote was recorded 4-0.