Source: ZF 26-08 (enhanced by ChatGPT).
A zombie is shambling in Richardson, this time in the form of Zoning File 26-08. The City has a "Car Lots and Repair Shops District" that it insists on calling the "Interurban District" despite the fact that the City Council approves what feels like every zoning application for that district with an automotive use. The latest zombie incarnation is a property with three lots formerly owned by Clay Cooley Volkswagen. In 2024, the City Council, by a 4-3 vote, gave a special permit to Clay Cooley to operate a car repair shop there ("Council Recap: Sell Out for a Mural"). The question now is, will the City Council award a permit to another zombie? After all, zombies are notoriously difficult to kill.
In 2024, former Mayor Bob Dubey expressed his own support for the zombie automotive use by saying, "I don't think anybody on our council wants and supports vacant buildings." I called that defeatist thinking. Council Member Dan Barrios opposed the zoning request, using optimistic, can-do thinking. Barrios argued that the city should not simply accept the first automotive applicant that comes along and instead should seek out and hold out for development more aligned with the district vision.
Clay Cooley did not proceed with the car repair shop and has since sold the buildings. The buildings remain much as they were two years ago, with a fresh coat of paint but little else done to improve them. During the City Plan Commission (CPC) hearing on the application, the chairman called the auto storage lot a "junkyard." The new owners of it are now seeking a special permit to allow the same car lot to remain in operation.
The city staff report, Zoning File 26-08, says, "Businesses with subtenants are often unaware that each new tenant requires a separate C.O. As a result, businesses may operate as an unapproved, nonconforming use, or illegal use, for several years without the City's knowledge." The applicant admitted that instead of being unaware of this risk, he chose to go ahead with his purchase of the building anyway. In other words, he gambled. The City shouldn't make the public suffer for his own bad gamble.
Will denying this special permit help or hurt the district's transition into a form compatible with the vision? That's the Dubey-vs.-Barrios conundrum. In 2024, a majority of the council appeared to side with former Mayor Dubey's argument that a bird in hand is worth two in the bush. But what about three birds in the bush?
According to the staff report, "the applicant recently acquired three (3) other sites in the sub-district." He plans "to reposition these properties in a coordinated manner to transition the corridor from its current automobile-oriented character into a defined Design District." Maybe he really does want to "elevate the visual character and identity of the corridor," as he says. He argues that he just needs to get this car repair shop approved while he is getting started on his bigger vision. The applicant could be telling the truth. Or it could be wishful thinking. Remember, Clay Cooley VW never fulfilled the plans that they presented to council. We'd be fools to just take the word of a zoning applicant that this time things will be different. Who knows, maybe denying the permit will entice redevelopment by investors who have been put off by the repeated approvals of automotive uses.
The City Plan Commission wanted to believe. They passed this request 4-3 with "No" votes from Chair Bryan Marsh, Vice Chair Jeremy Thomason, and Commission Member Michael Keller. Their "No" votes aligned with the expressed goals that Richardson residents endorsed in planning documents going back roughly a decade. The four 'Yes' votes prioritized continued automotive use over the district vision.
So, which way will it go in the City Council? The council is not required to follow the advice of the CPC, especially on a close 4-3 vote. The 2026 council is made up of six of the council members that awarded Clay Cooley a special permit in 2024, with former Mayor Dubey part of the 4-3 majority. The only change in council from then is that Dubey has been replaced by new Mayor Amir Omar. Will Omar vote differently than Dubey did? In a 2025 candidate forum with Mayor Dubey at UT-Dallas, the 2024 decision to permit the car lot and repair shop was mentioned specifically by Amir Omar. He described the decision as "something that goes against the plan, like allowing the car dealership to go all the way to Interurban, messing up the walkability." I'd say the odds are good he'll be voting "No." Even if the other six vote the same way they did in 2024, that suggests a 4-3 "No" vote this time. But will the other six vote the same? I'd say the odds are better that a previous "Yes" vote will switch to "No" rather than the other direction. The arguments for 'No' are stronger now because the redevelopment plans presented in 2024 never materialized. That suggests a more decisive "No" vote against the zombie this time. Stay tuned.
Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
"Special permits bloom
like weeds through cracked parking lots.
Again and again."
—h/t ChatGPT
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