Dallas City Council unanimously denied Watermark Community Church the rezoning it needs to convert a South Dallas school into a development campus at Wednesday’s meeting, saying the church has been unclear in its vision for the property, aggravating the neighborhood.
The megachurch bought an old Dallas ISD school – Pearl C. Anderson Middle Learning Center – in 2019 in hopes to expand into South Dallas, but there has been much frustration from residents who say they were left out of the conversation.
Council member for this area of Dallas, Adam Bazaldua, proposed denying Watermark the rezoning it needs to carry out plans to build a church campus on the property at 3400 Garden Lane.
“There’s been way too much gray area,” he said in the Wednesday meeting. “There’s been way too many questions unanswered….I would say that there were several red flags that were brought up in the process.”
Watermark’s request asks to allow a portion of its property to be rezoned as a walkable mixed-use district, in order to provide “additional services,” according to the city agenda legislation. It is unclear what “services” the church intends to add.
In its rezoning proposal, Watermark said the proposed rezoning district “would allow office, medical and limited retail uses to allow for training, a medical clinic, and a possible grocery store.”
Watermark’s South Dallas campus pastor Marvin Walker told The Dallas Morning News that he did not want to comment on the rezoning process, but said the church is going to be in the neighborhood for the long haul.
“We’re just grateful to be a part of the South Dallas community and really do look forward to partnering with the community members and other local organizations for years to come,” Walker said.
While staff recommended approving the rezoning, Council disagreed.
Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Carolyn King Arnold said from the beginning she had concerns that the megachurch would come in and gentrify the neighborhood without community input.
“I’m still puzzled and troubled by the fact that we would have this blatant footstep moving into our communities in such a way that is distasteful,” she said. “As stated, you can’t come into communities with this whole imperialistic mindset, building your empire, and disrespecting the people.”
Council member Omar Narvaez said he wants to “hit the reset button,” so the community gets what it needs from Watermark.
“Actually what the vast majority of community members and black and brown neighborhoods believe is that you don’t want to get to know us and you want to shove something into our communities without making us a partner,” Narvaez said. “They don’t need saving. They need partners to bring into the communities what they need.”
Some residents told Council they feel the nondenominational church has not been honest with the community.
Todd Atkins, who represented the South Dallas Fair Park Faith Coalition, said locals have not gotten clear answers on the vision or goal of Watermark’s campus in their neighborhood.
“We remain unclear which Watermark entity we should be engaging: Watermark South Dallas LLC, Watermark CDC, Watermark Community Church,” he told the council. “This lack of a clear partner makes it difficult to determine who the decision makers are, and who has all the information regarding Watermark’s desired uses of this property.”
Michael Sneed said he was a Watermark parishioner and he loves the services, but he doesn’t think the church is ready for this rezoning or willing to work with South Dallas.
“We don’t need you to call us over to the church for a dinner. We need you to come up with a strategy to make something better, to help us get the homeless off the street, to help us do something for the kids. That’s what we need. We need a change in South,” he told the council. “Nobody in my neighborhood trusts them.”
The church was the sole bidder on the school, buying the 9-acre property for $211,111.10.
Residents called the school a “legacy” and “historic” in a January community meeting to discuss the property and its rezone. They shared that the middle school was the only option in the area for 50 years, and it served as a cornerstone of childhood memories for those who grew up in South Dallas.
Walker apologized to residents and asked for forgiveness at the community meeting, saying he wants to build trust with the locals and listen.
Some residents shared that Watermark’s presence has been a good thing for the old DISD school, where it had become a blighted property with an unkempt lawn and litter. The church has since cleaned up the property, and residents say they have offered free meals and afterschool programs for kids.
Bazaldua said in the council meeting that he encourages Watermark to go back to the community to have a conversation about the future of the property.
“I am encouraging the applicant to get back to the drawing board and to do what it takes to earn that trust,” he said. “So that ultimately, an approval is something that everyone can be excited about. That’s not the case now.”
