Dallas Parkland-dedication ordinance revised to conform with HB 1526; commission approves amendments

The Dallas City Planning Commission on Feb. 13 approved changes to the city’s parkland-dedication ordinance to conform with Texas House Bill 1526 and to simplify the code used to generate funds for park acquisition and development. The commission approved staff and ZOAC-recommended changes with a small set of amendments, including limits on how much of the fund can be used for indirect or overhead costs.

Deputy Director Ryan O’Connor of Dallas Park and Recreation told the commission the state law passed in 2023 required changes for the five largest Texas cities and gave Dallas an opportunity to simplify a complex existing ordinance. “This is really one of the very few intersections of the Dallas Park System and the development code… the reason, of course, we’re here today is parkland dedication,” O’Connor said at the start of the presentation.

Park Planning manager Lakisha Gerter presented the draft ordinance changes, saying staff recommends a flat fee tied to median family income (MFI) rather than the state’s more complex “standard calculation.” Under the recommendation, the city would use a maximum 2%-of-MFI flat fee for most residential units, with differentiated rates proposed for one-bedroom multifamily units (1%) and hotel/motel uses (1%). Gerter said the five-zone map staff proposed replaces the seven-zone map to speed fund accrual and that staff prefers collecting fees-in-lieu rather than taking land dedications except in limited, high-need circumstances.

Commissioners pressed staff on details including the MFI basis (Gerter said the city is using the five-year American Community Survey average of $65,400, giving a 2% fee of $1,308), caps on administrative charges taken from the fund, and whether trail or on-site amenity credits would be allowed. City Attorney Daniel Moore answered a legal question about single-family authority, citing Texas Local Government Code §212.203 and saying cities can continue to require parkland dedication for single-family and duplex uses.

The commission approved the ordinance update with amendments to staff recommendations: members asked to retain a limit on indirect costs used for acquisition/improvement consistent with current practice and clarified visitor/administrative details discussed in the hearing. Commissioners asked staff to return with final ordinance language showing the exact fee table, zone map, and clarified caps on administrative costs so City Council can act.

The ordinance change also directs staff to update application and appeal procedures to meet state timelines (for example, a 30-day letter-of-determination requirement under HB 1526) and to work with Planning and Development on implementation and IT deployment in 2025.

What changed and what stays: the new draft - Moves Dallas to a simpler, MFI-based flat fee methodology consistent with HB 1526; staff recommended using the 2% maximum for most units and lower rates for one-bedroom multifamily and hotels. - Redraws dedication zones from seven to five to concentrate funds and allow faster accumulation for acquisitions. - Continues the city’s existing exemption for reserved/affordable units; staff recommended maintaining that exemption. - Retains staff discretion to seek land dedication in limited circumstances but said staff expects fee-in-lieu to be the common outcome because land acquisition in many parts of Dallas is financially impractical.

Next steps: staff will provide the finalized ordinance language for Council consideration, including an explicit administrative-cost cap and the exact fee table; the department will also publish a new parkland-dedication landing page on the Parks & Recreation website and coordinate internal IT changes for 2025 launch of the new workflow.

Commission action and context The commission voted to approve the proposed code changes as amended and directed staff to prepare a final ordinance and implementation plan for Council. Commissioners repeatedly asked for clearer language showing any caps on overhead and for a simple display of how the new fees compare to neighboring cities’ parkland fees.

Why it matters Parkland-dedication fees are an important, dedicated source of funds for acquisition and park development; staff says the city currently has roughly $12–13 million in the fund but has acquired only one property with those funds since the fee program began in 2019, largely because the previous seven-zone structure slowed fund aggregation. The proposed changes are intended to accelerate spending for acquisitions and improvements and to align Dallas’s code with recent state law while making the rules easier for developers, staff and community members to understand.

Closing note Commissioners asked staff to provide additional follow-up material requested at the hearing, including an estimate of fees the city did not collect during the time it took to prepare the ordinance update and more clarity on how downtown-generated fees would be treated if acquisition opportunities are limited there.