Dallas City Council voted Wednesday to abandon a rule that made it easier for the city to demolish historic homes in predominantly Black neighborhoods.
Residents in Dallas’ historic Tenth Street have been fighting for the city to abandon a 2010 rule in the Dallas development code that permits the demolition of homes smaller than 3,000 square feet within a Landmark District, a geographic area with preservation guidelines and protections for structures that have historical significance.
Before a unanimous vote, Dallas City Council member Jaynie Schultz spotlighted Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Carolyn King Arnold’s efforts to help preserve Tenth Street, one of the few remaining intact freedmen’s towns in the nation, according to a lawsuit filed by residents.
“This is a victory over something that was so wrong for way too long,” Schultz said. “Thank you for leading this charge to get this ended… not just for the sake of historic Tenth Street — which has been abused for too long by too many people — but also for all of the historic structures that are small in our city that deserve to be protected.”
Demolition of dozens of homes
The 2019 lawsuit filed by the Tenth Street Residential Association claimed the “3,000-square-foot rule” has led to the demolition of dozens of the area’s 260 homes over a decade, disproportionately affecting mostly Black neighborhoods. The city says at least 30 homes have been demolished under this code.
Arnold shared her gratitude with council colleagues and city staff for supporting preservation efforts she championed over the years when residents brought concerns to City Hall.
“We thank all of you for that and just continue to need you as we continue to protect as much as we can that community from rapid gentrification,” Arnold said.
A handful of residents spoke in favor of rescinding the rule, including Carolyn Howard, the director of Preservation Dallas, citing the harm the rule has caused historic neighborhoods.
“There are way too many homes that have been lost that cannot be regained,” Howard said.
Tameshia Rudd-Ridge, a sixth-generation Dallas native, is co-founder of a digital genealogy service that helps Black people uncover and preserve family stories. Rudd-Ridge urged the council to land on the right side of history by repealing the rule.
“It’s vital and urgent that we preserve Tenth Street, Wheatley Place and other historic districts,” Rudd-Ridge said. “Failing to preserve these communities makes it difficult for descendants like me to trace our family histories and experience these sites firsthand.”
Evelyn Mayo, an educator and environmental justice activist, said she worked with the Tenth Street Residential Association for the past seven years to help preserve the neighborhood.
Racially disparate impact
The association “and allies have advocated for years to repeal this ordinance because of the racially disparate impact it has, enabling the destruction of one of the nation’s most intact freedmen’s towns,” Mayo said.
Dropping a rule that should have been repealed years ago is the first step in keeping homes in Tenth Street from experiencing further decay, Mayo said.
“City-owned land bank lots should be dedicated for the construction of new, historically compatible and affordable housing in collaboration with the community,” Mayo said. “And there’s a huge need for infrastructure improvements in the neighborhood.”
The Tenth Street Historic District, in southeast Oak Cliff, was founded when freed slaves settled there after the Civil War. The mostly Black neighborhood with late 19th and early 20th century homes has experienced decades of underinvestment and aging structures.
In 1993, the city of Dallas made the Tenth Street neighborhood a Historic District in an effort to stabilize the neighborhood’s decaying structures. In 2019, the district landed on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in the country because of the demolition of homes.
