We started out being frustrated with the many huge, suburban-esque, homes that were replacing cute original Tudors in our neighborhood.  We knew we wanted to preserve the history and architecture of the neighborhood, but didn't know how to go about it. That led us to research our options, and we discovered that the local city code of Dallas provides for the creation of conservation and historic districts.  Conservation districts in Dallas are easier to attain and less restrictive than historic districts, so we decided to go that route.  (You can see a full explanation of the differences between historic and conservation districts at Historic vs. Conservation.)

Although there are national organizations for historic districts (the National Trust for Historic Preservation, for example), we have not discovered a comparable organization for conservation districts.  So we didn't have a lot of guidance starting out.

Step 1:  Educate yourself (i.e., keep reading!):
If you're thinking about making your neighborhood a conservation district, the first thing you need to do is educate yourself---get a general idea of the process and what becoming a conservation district will mean for your neighborhood.

Step 2:  Figure out if you've got neighborhood support:
Next, figure out if there is enough support in your neighborhood to make it through this arduous process of becoming a conservation district.  This is not a simple or quick process, and the vast majority of your neighborhood must at least be interested in exploring the possibility before you move forward.  Our motto was, "Either the support is there or it's not.  If it is, we'll move forward; if not, we'll drop it."

So how do you take everyone's temperature?  First talk to your immediate neighbors and see what they think.  I found overwhelming support---the most common response I heard was "Finally someone is doing something about the monster houses!" and "This is long overdue!"  If you get a similar response, you know your neighborhood is ripe for this.

You can also bring up the issue at a neighborhood association meeting.  However, I would suggest not officially working through your neighborhood association--just let 'em know what's going on and ask for volunteers.  My reasoning is, one, it's easier to control when there's not a committee that has to agree on everything and things move faster.  Two, the issue can be a little divisive, and I think neighborhood associations should be about bringing people together rather than controversy.

Step 3:  Figure out what area will comprise your conservation district:
Take a drive around your neighborhood and figure out what streets and blocks you want to include in your conservation district.  We worked from what blocks comprised our neighborhood association, and lopped off one street which was mainly post-war, multi-family rentals.  The smallest a CD can be is one blockface (that is, one side of a single block), but it must all be contiguous (no gerrymandering).  There is no maximum size, but you should keep it manageable.  Our area has 918 houses.  Gauging interest will also help you define your boundaries--if outer blocks or streets show little interest, lop 'em off.

Step 4:  Educate your neighborhood:
One of the first things we did was pass out flyers to each and every house explaining what a conservation district was, what we were trying to protect, what the process entailed, and what it would mean to current homeowners.  Please check out the flyers we passed out.

Step 5:  Get a petition signed by 75% of your neighborhood:
Now the hard work begins.  You've got to get a petition signed by 75% of the homeowners, requesting that the City consider the neighborhood for conservation district status.  Keep this foremost in your mind, and remind others of this often:  By signing the petition, you are not signing off on an ordinance.  You are simply asking the City to consider your neighborhood for CD status.  Developing of the ordinance comes later, and EVERY SINGLE RESIDENT has a say in its creation.

How do you go about getting the petition signed?  First, get a list of all the houses and homeowners in your neighborhood from the Dallas County tax assessor's website, www.dallascad.org.  Put this into a word processing program to create your petition.  Get a group of volunteers to walk the neighborhood, collecting signatures.  Be patient and persistent.

Somewhere around 50-60%--once there is significant and evident support--contact your City Council Member and let him or her know about your project.  Also contact the Dallas Dept. of Planning and Development.  They'll be in charge of running the show once you turn in your application.

Step 6:  File an application with the City of Dallas:
Once you've got all your signatures, file an application with the City of Dallas Dept. of Planning & Development.  You can check out our application and see what we put in.

The department will review your application, then pass it along to the Plan Commission.  If the Plan Commission approves it, that means the City will start holding neighborhood meetings to gauge support and develop an ordinance based on neighborhood concerns.

Step 7: That's It!
No, we're not saying your finished, we're just saying "Here endeth the lesson."  This is as far as we've gotten in the process, so until we're done, we can't offer much advice.  One thing you should do, though, is create a architectural study of your neighborhood.  Take your digital camera, take pictures of each house, and determine their style.  This will be a big help to the City.

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