History
Becoming a Conservation District
“We just wanted to stabilize the neighborhood,” said Don Lawrence, a resident of the Kings Hwy Neighborhood, back in 1988 when questioned by a reporter with the Dallas Morning News.
He had bought a 1918 prairie-style house around 1983, spent a lot of time, effort, and money in renovations, when a large 3-story apartment complex was built across the street from him. It did not fit in and was the first step toward compromising the neighborhood’s integrity. Many other neighbors who had also extensively renovated their turn-of-the-century houses, wanted to protect the look of the area from new development that did not fit in.
In 1986, a new classification of neighborhoods was adopted, known as the conservation district. The neighbors of Kings Highway petitioned the city to have their area classified under this new designation, which would restrict the type of development allowed.
When the Dallas City Council approved their designation, Kings Highway became the first conservation district in the city of Dallas, and the second in the state of Texas.
Since then, many other neighborhoods have seen the value in this designation, and have followed suit. Some neighborhoods are currently waiting their turn for city approval, while others are still in the process of gathering signatures required for submittal. It is a long process.