Hampton Hills Neighborhood Association, Dallas, Texas HHNA Calendar and News HHNA Comments HHNA Gardening

Protecting the Neighborhood

Exceprts of this content were taken directly from resources published by the City of Dallas

Background
Three years ago, Hampton Hills began the process of pursuing a Conservation District designation for the neighborhood. Unfortunately, we were unable to clear some of the required hurdles necessary to begin the process - namely getting 75% of homeowners to sign the petition. This was due in part to some owners being hesitant on what restrictions would be put in place and partly due to the difficulty in locating some of the actual owners (there are a number of rental homes in Hampton Hills). With the recent construction on Montreal, some new residents in the neighborhood, and a new - less intensive - designation now available through the City, we believe the opportunity is ripe to proceed in establishing some guidance on new construction and additions in Hampton Hills.

Neighborhood Stabilization Overlay Defined
On November 9, 2005, the Dallas City Council adopted Ordinance No. 26161 which established the NSO Neighborhood Stabilization Overlay for single family neighborhoods. This was done in response to concerns by neighborhood organizations that the process for initiating, processing and public hearings to create protective zoning for neighborhoods could take as long as three years. They also felt that many neighborhoods did not need the multiple regulations involved in an Historic District or a Conservation District. The NSO was created to speed up the process and to provide minimal restrictions to ensure that neighborhood character would not be violated.

The Neighborhood Stabilization Overlay, or NSO, is just that; an overlay. It overlies the base zoning and adds additional restrictions to that zoning. Those additional restrictions are listed below. There are currently two Neighborhood Stabilization Overlays approved within the City of Dallas and 18 others in the process of completeing the neccessary requirements.

What Can Be Regulated
  • Front Yard Setbacks
  • Side Yard Setbacks
  • Garage Location & Placement
  • Height (based on slope line model)

    • Note that these regulations include no comments on architectual style or design, but merely serve to regulate the sizes of homes allowed within the neighborhood (to avoid the encrochment of McMansions as other neighborhoods have seen). The NSO can be further refined based on the type of lots within the neighborhood - meaning corner lots can have a seperate set of requirements.


    Signature Requirements
    There are three levels of signature level requirements available for getting an NSO designation.
  • 50% of homeowners - All regulations except height requirements can be mandated. Application fee of $2,400 required.
  • 60% of homeowners - All regulations can be mandated. Application fee of $2,400 is required.
  • 75% of homeowners - Application fee is waived


    • We will be having an informational meeting with a person from the City of Dallas Planning Department to discuss this opportunity further. If you have questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.