People wearing TAMKO branded gear attend a Dallas City Council meeting on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at Dallas City Hall.
Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
Dallas City Council members refused to commit to shutting down two shingle plants, despite dozens of nearby residents urging them to do so. But that won’t stop them from looking into how much it’ll cost.
The City Council on Wednesday approved spending $200,000 to hire a contractor to determine the price tag of closing the industrial facilities in Joppa and West Dallas.
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Dallas City Council member Adam Bazuladua speaks during a Dallas City Council meeting on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at Dallas City Hall.
Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
The approval came after more than an hour of discussion, during which multiple back-and-forths occurred between council members who questioned the process and the funding and those who supported the vote, saying community members have been waiting for years.
“We have an issue identified, we have a community who has been advocating for themselves for years, and we have representatives who are willing to do what is needed for their constituency,” said council member Adam Bazaldua.
The city chamber was packed with residents supporting the hiring alongside representatives and workers from TAMKO, who opposed the closure.
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More than 45 people spoke on the item. Some of those included state Rep. Rafael Anchía, D-Dallas, and state Rep. Venton Jones, D-Dallas, who supported the closure of the two companies.
The first step
This is the first step the city is taking to possibly initiate the process of amortization — a tool that allows cities to close businesses that negatively impact the community — to shutter two shingle factories: GAF in West Dallas and TAMKO in Joppa.
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Bazaldua, whose district includes the area where TAMKO is located, said the city is moving forward with hiring a consultant to gather information, not to make any decision on the future of these plants.
Dallas City Council members Paula Blackmon (left) and Adam Bazaldua listen to public comment during a Dallas City Council meeting on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at Dallas City Hall.
Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
But Jennifer Oldvader, chief compliance officer with TAMKO, told The Dallas Morning News after the vote that the company was taking this action seriously as a first step for amortization.
“We’ve worked hard to be a good neighbor and a good employer,” said Oldvader. “…We’ve made sure to take steps and protect, not only our employees’ well-being but also the neighborhood’s well-being.”
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GAF, at 2600 Singleton Blvd., did not respond to request for comment.
Janie Cisneros, leader of Singleton United/Unidos in West Dallas, said council members had an opportunity to do the right thing for their residents, which was long overdue.
“This is a step in the right direction,” said Cisneros.
Council member Laura Cadena, who represents the West Dallas neighborhood, said this discussion has been in the works for years and it was time for the residents and the city to have the information necessary.
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Council member Paula Blackmon said the city has intentionally allowed industrial facilities to operate near residential areas and this needed to end.
Company histories
TAMKO has said an analysis by Nicholas Co., a Dallas-based firm, showed requiring the plant’s closure would force the city to pay more than $500 million to TAMKO and result in the loss of more than 100 employees.
TAMKO has operated for about 40 years at 7910 S. Central Expressway; its employees earn about $90,000 annually, and the facility contributes roughly $20 million to the Dallas-Fort Worth economy.
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GAF has said it would cease operations in mid-2029. Those plans are now in limbo after a rezoning petition initiated by the company was terminated by the city early last month due to inactivity in the process.
GAF has been in West Dallas for more than 80 years.
Residents petition
Residents from both communities have been asking the city for years to cease operations in these two industrial facilities located near residential neighborhoods. They have argued the industrial facilities are polluting their neighborhoods and harming their health and well-being.
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A 2023 study found West Dallas residents are exposed to 11 times as much air pollution and have asthma rates four to five times higher than the rest of Dallas County. A 2022 study showed Joppa residents were exposed to an average daily rate of particulate matter that was two to three times higher than the Dallas County average.
The two locations have existing land uses that don’t comply with today’s zoning regulations, but because the uses were legal when they began, they’re allowed to continue as “nonconforming uses.”
West Dallas advocate Janie Cisneros answers questions form a reporter following an Economic Development Committee hearing about whether to spend consulting money when it comes to buying out a pair of shingle manufactures. The Committee heard a consideration of a resolution directing the city manager to utilize contingency reserve funds to procure a consultant for GAF and Tamko shingle manufacturers to shut down during a meeting at Dallas City Hall, April 6, 2026.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
Last year, Cisneros and Emmanuel Davis from Justice for Joppa announced “The Toxic Twins: Fund the Fund Campaign.” They wanted the city to set aside funds to cover the costs of shutting down these companies.
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Amortization process
Almost five months after the campaign, council members Bazaldua and Cadena submitted a memo in November. The memo requested the city manager use contingency reserve funds to hire a consultant to review how much it would cost the city to shut down these two industrial plants.
In the past, Dallas used amortization on rare occasions. In 2016, the city shuttered a car wash where attempts to curb drug crimes repeatedly failed. In 2019, the city shut down a small auto-repair operation that had been at its location for years after city planners pushed through new zoning.
Before, cities across Texas didn’t have to pay businesses to shut them down. But the process of amortization was muddied in May 2023 after state legislators passed Senate Bill 929.
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The bill protects business owners and allows affected businesses to request compensation for their losses. Because of this, Dallas would have to pay GAF and TAMKO in order to shut them down. Activists estimate the cost at more than $50 million for both.
What’s next
The timeline for hiring a consultant wasn’t immediately clear as of Wednesday. Once the analysis is completed, it will be presented to the council’s Committee on Government Efficiency for discussion.