Lowering the cost of housing is the problem of our time, and every level of government needs to do its part. Today, Dallas City Council members should keep that front-of-mind as they discuss the steep park land fees developers pay to the city.
In February, the City Plan Commission wisely voted to recommend halving the fees developers must pay to Dallas in lieu of dedicating parkland as part of their projects. City staff, however, are recommending a framework that would raise them.
It won’t surprise us if the council agrees to keep fees high. That’s too bad. Council members ought to be laser-focused on helping bring down the cost of housing.
We think the plan commission is on the right side of this debate even as we’ve consistently supported smart investments in Dallas’ parks, including a massive $345 million bond package voters approved last year. But we don’t think the revenue gained from high fees warrants the added cost for housing developments.
Opinion
The upcoming changes to the park land fee process has been brought on by a state law that caps how much cities like Dallas can charge in park acquisition fees. It sets a per dwelling unit maximum of 2% of the median family income.
This year, the maximum fee would come out to about $1,355 per unit, according to city documents. Under city staff members’ proposed framework, developers would be charged the maximum fee for single-family units and multifamily units with two or more bedrooms. The fee would be half that — roughly $678 — for one-bedroom multifamily units and hotel or motel units.
In each category, staff’s recommendation represents an increase in varying degrees over current fees, while the plan commission’s proposal lowers them across the board.
Another problem the city has to solve is how the money generated by these fees gets spent. Our newsroom colleague Devyani Chhetri reported in March that the city collected some $17 million since the fee went into effect in 2019. A small amount of that was used to buy land on Webb Chapel Road along the Northaven Trail. But making major purchases with the money has been challenging due to strict limits on how it can be used, Chhetri reported.
There is little point in collecting a park fee if the city can’t effectively use revenue from it. Staff has proposed rule changes that should simplify things, but council should keep a close eye on these fees to ensure the money is put to good use.
Dallas has a bad habit of drowning development in a sea of fees and forms, some of which are not necessary, discourage investment in the city and contribute to high housing costs. We need to trim them back where we can.