Planning commission continues hearing on new Mixed Use zoning, asks staff for clearer street, parking and node rules

The Dallas Planning Commission on Dec. 11 held a Type 4 public hearing on a proposal to add a mixed-use zoning district to the Dallas Development Code and voted to continue the hearing to Jan. 8, 2026 so staff can address multiple clarifications.

Chase, the city planner presenting the staff report, said the proposed chapter 2.11 creates a compact MU district that mostly points back to commercial and residential standards in other chapters. "Residential uses that are part of a mixed use development in which nonresidential uses occupy at least the floor area equivalent to the entire ground floor area of the development are permitted," Chase said, summarizing the code's Section A limitation; residential uses that do not meet that standard would be conditional or prohibited.

Commissioners pressed staff on where the new zone would apply. Chase said the MU chapter was drafted primarily for the Lockrail (LaCreal/Lock Real) node south of Ellendale but was written to be generally applicable if the city later chose to apply the zone elsewhere (the mill site and future annexation areas were discussed as possibilities). He noted the consultant prepared the draft as part of the Lockrail master-plan work and that the grant that funded the hearings-ready documents has been closed out.

The commission identified five directions it wants staff to address before a recommendation to the city council: make the MU zone an implementing zone tied to designated nodes rather than a free-standing, broadly available zone; specify minimum street classifications (collector or arterial) that a MU designation should front on; align language with the development-code definitions chapter; add explicit references to off-street parking standards (staff pointed commissioners to section 3.303); and simplify the Section A residential-use limitations for clarity.

Commissioners also asked staff to confirm technical details called out in the packet: setbacks and table entries, parking applicability (the code points to Article 3 for parking standards), and height limits (Chase noted the MU district allows primary buildings up to eight stories or roughly 100 feet by right). A minor typographical error in an exhibit table ('font' instead of 'front') was flagged and will be corrected.

Following deliberations, Commissioner Scott White moved to continue the public hearing to the date certain of Jan. 8, 2026, "with the understanding that staff is to return with the respective changes that we've identified," and the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. Staff said Charlie Mitchell, the project lead on the Lockrail master-plan effort, will be available at the January meeting to answer technical questions.

Next steps: staff will return with revised language and the specific edits requested by the commission for further deliberation at the Jan. 8, 2026 hearing; any formal recommendation to the city council will follow that hearing.