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ORDINANCE NO. ________
An ordinance amending CHAPTER 32, “PARKS AND WATER RESERVOIRS,” of the Dallas
City Code, by creating a new Article VII, “Trinity River Greenbelt,” comprising Section 32-84
of said chapter; prohibiting certain roadways within the Trinity River levees; prohibiting the
expenditure of funds for certain roadways within the Trinity River levees; providing for
enforcement by suit for injunctive or declaratory relief; providing a penalty not to exceed $500;
providing a saving clause; providing a severability clause; and providing an effective date.
WHEREAS, the Trinity River Corridor is among Dallas’ greatest natural assets; and
WHEREAS, in 1998 voters approved $246 million in City of Dallas bond funds to
improve the Trinity River Corridor, including transforming the Downtown portion into a premier
urban park, improving floodway protections, and constructing the Trinity Parkway; and
WHEREAS, the Trinity Parkway was envisioned as a low-speed reliever route that would
provide direct access to the park and would be built within the Trinity River levees; and
WHEREAS, the Trinity Parkway has changed significantly from what voters approved in
1998, to wit: it has become a high-speed toll road, direct access to the park has been eliminated,
it is nearly $600 million over budget, its proposed location has been moved farther into the park
area thus eliminating substantial amounts of parkland, and its location in the floodway would
make it susceptible to flooding; and
WHEREAS, locating such a toll road in the Downtown Trinity Park would have a
significant, damaging effect on the quality of the Downtown Trinity Park for generations to
come; and
WHEREAS, this ordinance was submitted by petition to the City Council, and was
passed by the City Council or was submitted to the voters of the City of Dallas at an election
held pursuant to Chapter XVIII, Sections 11 through 15, of the Charter of the City of Dallas, and
was duly adopted by the voters at said election;
Now, therefore, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OR CITIZENS OF THE
CITY OF DALLAS:
SECTION 1. That a new Article VII, “Trinity River Greenbelt,” comprising Section 32-
84, “Road Construction, Improvement, and Maintenance Within Trinity River Levees,” is added
to CHAPTER 32, “PARKS AND WATER RESERVOIRS,” of the Dallas City Code, to read as
follows:
"ARTICLE VII.
TRINITY RIVER GREENBELT.
SEC. 32-84. ROAD CONSTRUCTION, IMPROVEMENT, AND
MAINTENANCE WITHIN TRINITY RIVER LEVEES.
(a) No person shall construct, maintain, or improve any roadway, or portion thereof,
horizontally situated between the respective crests of the Trinity River levees, including those
levees in the Dallas Floodway Extension Project, between Westmoreland Road/Mockingbird
Lane on the north and Interstate 45 on the south.
(b) No person shall directly or indirectly expend funds of the City or of any person
for the construction, improvement, or maintenance of any roadway, or portion thereof,
horizontally situated between the respective crests of the Trinity River levees, including those
levees in the Dallas Floodway Extension Project, between Westmoreland Road/Mockingbird
Lane on the north and Interstate 45 on the south.
(c) Subsections (a) and (b) do not apply to:
(1) a roadway that crosses the entirety of the Trinity River floodplain between
the crests of the levees and that was fully constructed and open to the public on or before the
effective date of this ordinance;
(2) a roadway that perpendicularly crosses the entirety of the Trinity River
floodplain between the crests of the levees;
(3) a roadway consisting of no more than two travel lanes in each direction,
used for access to points within the Trinity River levees, and having a maximum speed limit not
to exceed thirty-five (35) miles per hour; or
(4) a roadway consisting of no more than two travel lanes, situated at or
within fifty (50) feet of the crest of a levee, used solely for maintenance purposes, and not open
to the general public for vehicular use.
(d) In this section:
(1) a roadway crosses “perpendicularly” when the straight line between the
point of intersection of the roadway with the crest of one levee and the point of intersection of
the roadway with the crest of the other levee bears at an angle of at least seventy (70) degrees to
the line tangent to the crest of each levee at the point of intersection of the roadway with the crest
of that levee;
(2) the term “person”
(i) means any individual and any corporation (including any nonprofit
corporation), estate, partnership, trust, unincorporated association, or other legal entity
organized under the laws of any state or country; and
(ii) includes the United States of America or any agency thereof and
the State of Texas or any agency thereof, and any person acting under the authority thereof, but
only to the maximum extent that the City of Dallas may lawfully regulate the activities of such
persons or entities occurring on the property subject to this ordinance;
(3) “roadway” means any street, alley, road, highway, tollway, turnpike,
parkway, boulevard, avenue, bridge, viaduct, tunnel, underpass, overpass, or causeway open to
use by motor vehicles; and
(4) “agency” means a board, commission, department, officer, political
subdivision, or other agency or instrumentality in the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of
government.
(e) In addition to all other enforcement mechanisms authorized by law, this ordinance
may be enforced by a suit for injunctive or declaratory relief brought by any registered voter of
the City of Dallas."
SECTION 2. That a person violating a provision of this ordinance, upon conviction, is
punishable by a fine not to exceed $500.
SECTION 3. That CHAPTER 32, “PARKS AND WATER RESERVOIRS,” of the
Dallas City Code is unaffected by this ordinance except insofar as said chapter is explicitly
amended by this ordinance.
SECTION 4. That the terms and provisions of this ordinance are severable and are
governed by Section 1-4 of CHAPTER 1 of the Dallas City Code, as amended. If the application
of this ordinance to any person, entity, or circumstance is invalid, the invalidity does not affect
other applications of the ordinance that can be given effect without the invalid application, since
the same would have been enacted by the City Council or the citizens of Dallas without regard to
any such invalid application.
SECTION 5. That in the event this ordinance is adopted by the City Council, it shall take
effect immediately from and after its passage and publication in accordance with the provisions
of the Charter of the City of Dallas, and in the event this ordinance is adopted by the citizens of
Dallas in an election called for that purpose, it shall take effect immediately after the canvass of
the election in which it is adopted, in accordance with the provisions of the Charter of the City of
Dallas, and it is accordingly so ordained.
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