Posts by Dan Koller

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• • Dan Koller
  • Managing Editor
  • Though he's never lived in Oak Cliff, Dan has deep roots there. His mother grew up in Westmoreland Heights, where his grandmother still lives. His wife grew up in Winnetka Heights. His little brother spent five years crossing the Trinity for DISD's arts magnet programs at Sidney Lanier and Greiner. And his dad once owned and operated a Baskin-Robbins on Fort Worth Avenue.

• Could Jason Roberts Be Your Congressman?

  

  Jason Roberts

  Before Jason Roberts and Amy Wallace Cowan ever officially announced the creation of their community relations firm, I would get emails from her that ended with “cowanroberts.com” and assume that the domain name was reserved for a future presidential run by some combination of Jason, Amy, or their respective spouses, Andrea and Eric.

  Since then, Eric has thrown his hat in the political arena, winning a seat on the DISD Board of Trustees. Later, their buddy Scott Griggs ousted Dave Neumann from the City Council.

  Well, this afternoon, Jason tweeted that he is exploring a run for Congress. “With redistricting up in the air, it’s going to be an incredibly short campaign for the primary,” he wrote. As the current districts stand, the Robertses live in Pete Sessions territory.

  By Dan Koller Feb. 2, 2012 | 4:05 pm | No Comments | Comments RSS

• City Staff Wants Miranda-Schenkel to Wait Awhile

  I’m not smart enough to know why someone would want their property’s zoning switched from Planned Development District No. 830 to Conservation District No. 7. But, according to the agenda for today’s meeting of the City Plan Commission, that’s what Mark Miranda and Craig Schenkel want for a property on the southwest corner of Bishop and Neely.

  The problem is, it’s been less than two years since PD 830 was created, as a result of the Bishop-Davis Land Use Study. And any zoning changes within that PD aren’t supposed to happen until after Aug. 11 — the second anniversary of its creation. That’s why city staff is recommending that the commission deny the developers’ request.

  “The test is ‘change of circumstance’ to warrant a new hearing,” city planner Neva Dean told me, “and we’re very conservative when it comes to change of circumstance.”

  Read More…

  By Dan Koller Feb. 2, 2012 | 11:21 am | 2 Comments | Comments RSS

• Eat Your Heart Out This Month

  The Sanchez family has decided to make February a benevolent month. Today through Feb. 29, a portion of the proceeds from specific dishes at La Calle Doce and El Ranchito will be donated to Promise House and Genesis Women’s Shelter. At La Calle Doce, the dish is pescado a la parrilla (grilled whole catfish marinated in a blend of herbs and spices, served with grilled vegetables and rice). At El Ranchito, it’s guiso norteño (beef tenderloin or chicken stew in roasted tomato salsa, topped with cheese and served with refried beans).

  By Dan Koller Feb. 1, 2012 | 8:08 am | No Comments | Comments RSS

• Sylvan Thirty Seeks $3M in TIF Funds

  Brent Jackson is seeking up to $3 million in tax-increment financing for Sylvan Thirty, according to the agenda for tomorrow’s meeting of the Fort Worth Avenue TIF District Board of Directors.

  By Dan Koller Jan. 31, 2012 | 11:35 am | No Comments | Comments RSS

• Young Professionals to Mix It Up Tomorrow

  Do you live or work in Oak Cliff? Are you young(ish)? Are you professional? Then you should be at Bar Belmont tomorrow evening for the Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce’s Young Professionals Happy Hour Mixer. The networking begins at 5:30 p.m.

  By Dan Koller Jan. 16, 2012 | 10:58 am | No Comments | Comments RSS

• Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge to Get Lit Tonight

  Representatives of the City Council, the Trinity Trust, and the West Dallas Chamber of Commerce will flip the switch on the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge this evening. There’s a ceremony scheduled from 5:45 to 6:15, so look for the bridge to brighten up somewhere in that span. The lights will stay on for 14 days, with subsequent intermittent tests leading up to the opening celebration the first weekend of March.

  By Dan Koller Jan. 10, 2012 | 9:26 am | No Comments | Comments RSS

• Oak Cliff Gateway TIF District … Yawn … to Meet

  The board of directors of the Oak Cliff Gateway TIF District is scheduled to meet Wednesday afternoon. The agenda isn’t exactly titillating; it sounds as if they’ll be doing little more than pushing papers around a desk. Nevertheless, we’ll be there to report on whatever exciting stuff goes down.

  By Dan Koller Jan. 9, 2012 | 8:15 am | No Comments | Comments RSS

• Cultural Center Extends Guadalupe Exhibit

  The Oak Cliff Cultural Center announced today that its “La Virgen de Guadalupe” exhibit has been extended to Jan. 20, when the Jefferson Boulevard facility will host a closing reception from 6 to 8 p.m. The exhibition is curated by Jose Vargas and features a variety of artistic depictions of the virgin of Guadalupe, including the one seen here by Genaro Hernández.

  Meanwhile, I got Oak Cliff Cultural Center manager Rafael Tamayo on the phone to ask whatever happened to the “Tiny Spokes” exhibit of bicycle art that was supposed to open this evening. He told me it’s been pushed back to the spring.

  By Dan Koller Jan. 6, 2012 | 2:12 pm | No Comments | Comments RSS

• Store Needs Variance to Sell Alcohol

  Mark your calendar for Jan. 11. That’s when the City Council will conduct a public hearing regarding the sale of alcohol near Louise Wolff Kahn Elementary School as well as a hearing on changes to the Beckley Avenue portion of the Dallas Thoroughfare Plan. The hearings are the second-to-last and third-to-last items on the council’s 39-item agenda:

  37. A public hearing to receive comments to amend the City of Dallas Thoroughfare Plan to change the dimensional classification of Beckley Avenue from IH-30 to West Main Street from a six-lane divided roadway M-6-D(A*) within 120 feet of right-of-way to a special four-lane divided roadway (SPCL 4-D) with bicycle lanes within 100 feet of right- of-way; and at the close of the hearing, authorize an ordinance implementing the change.

  38. A public hearing on an application for and a resolution granting a variance to the alcohol spacing requirements from the Louise Kahn Elementary School required by Section 6-4 of the Dallas City Code to allow a wine and beer retailer’s off-premise permit for a general merchandise or food store greater than 30,000 square feet [El Rio Grande (Maya Foods)] on property on the north side of West Jefferson Drive, west of Hampton Road.

  See you there?

  By Dan Koller Jan. 3, 2012 | 8:51 am | No Comments | Comments RSS

• Bishop Arts Parking Situation Improves

  Forgive me if I’m late to the party on this, but I parked in the lot next to Oddfellows over the weekend, for the first time in a long time, and was pleasantly surprised to see that the spaces’ configurations had been changed. The lot is now much easier to navigate. When did this change happen? Way back when they installed the electric vehicle charging station?

  By Dan Koller Jan. 2, 2012 | 10:10 am | No Comments | Comments RSS