Planning and Development on April 21 updated the Quality of Life, Arts and Culture Committee on implementation of the city's historic and cultural preservation strategy and said it will move toward a fuller preservation plan, targeted district surveys and code amendments to strengthen protections.

"City council unanimously adopted the historic and cultural preservation strategy just over one year ago as a comprehensive citywide plan to guide the identification, protection and celebration of Dallas' historic and cultural assets," Assistant Director Arturo Del Castillo told the committee.

Progress reported
Staff described several accomplishments in the past six months: the department drafted and advanced a demo‑delay code amendment that would use completed historic resource surveys to define demo‑delay areas; the repeal of a 2010 ordinance that had allowed demolition of smaller historic homes; nominations for Mount Pisgah Missionary Baptist Church (founded 1864), Colonial Theater on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and a nomination for City Hall; and completion of fieldwork for a Colonial Hills and Wheatley Place historic resources survey.

An economic impact study of the city's preservation programs is in data collection and expected to finish in September, staff said. The department also plans an October National Alliance of Preservation Commissions training tailored to landmark commissioners, task force chairs and staff, expanding training capacity beyond the small number that could previously attend national conferences.

Next steps and policy work
Del Castillo said staff will reconvene the preservation steering committee to develop criteria for cultural districts and will pursue funding — including matching funds for Texas Historical Commission grants — to permit a citywide resources survey and an updated preservation plan. Staff also said they have begun preliminary research into a deconstruction program (salvaging materials as an alternative to demolition) and anticipate bringing code amendments recommended by an ad hoc Landmark Commission committee to council.

Council reaction
Committee members urged the department to pursue a district‑by‑district approach and to incorporate culturally significant places not captured by a narrow technical definition of 'historic.' "We don't have a definition [for cultural districts], and we want to figure out what it is," Del Castillo said. Landmark Commission chair Evelyn Montgomery and staff emphasized that preservation plans typically should be updated within about 10 years; the commission and staff noted the importance of consistent criteria and clearer ordinance language for emerging issues (solar panels, new materials) and for incentives that encourage designation.

Ending: Staff said the demo‑delay amendment will be taken to City Council on May 14 and that a fuller preservation plan and related code updates will be developed over the next 12–24 months with additional public outreach and district‑level engagement.