City Council members’ adopted redistricting map got the go-ahead today from the Department of Justice.

In the Preston Hollow area, this means (in brief) that Bluffview and Devonshire will have a single Council representative after the 2013 elections, and Midway Hollow neighbors will be united in District 6 — which will also absorb Highland Meadows, a neighborhood bordered by Forest Lane, Marsh Lane, and Interstate 635.

City attorney Tom Perkins said the DOJ’s pre-clearance indicates the plan doesn’t create a retrogression of minority voters’ rights to elect candidates of their choice, per the Voting Rights Act — a big point of contention, especially in South Dallas, when the majority of Councilmembers approved the map through in October.

Prompting legal action from civil rights groups such as MALDEF, it shows four Hispanic voting-majority districts, four black districts, and six white ones. Hispanic leaders have pushed for five, four, and five, respectively, in a city where 42 percent of residents are Hispanic, one-fourth are black, and 29 percent are white.

“I am pleased with the outcome,” Mayor Mike Rawlings said in today’s press release. “It is my belief in the future we will see a majority of minority council members sitting around the horseshoe.”

David Genecov has owned 6423 Prestonshire Lane since 2006, according to county tax records. Last July, he acquired the property next door. Genecov wants to replat the properties into one lot and “remove the existing front yard building line,” according to the agenda for Thursday’s meeting of the City Plan Commission. City staff is recommending approval of the removal but denial of the replat.

The U.S. Department of Justice has just been sent the City Council’s adopted redistricting map, says assistant city attorney Barbara McAninch.

The next step involves a 60-day window review — a clock that stops and starts again, essentially, whenever the DOJ has questions regarding the map.

If you’d like to share some thoughts of your own with the feds, here’s how (and yep, it has to be done by snail mail):

Via regular U.S. Postal Service, you can address comments to the  Chief, Voting Section, Civil Rights Division, United States Department of Justice, Room 7254–NWB, 950 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20530. If you opt for UPS or another means of delivery, the recipient and room number will stay the same, but the address differs: 1800 G St. NW, Washington, DC 20006.

All comments should be marked “Comment under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act,” and include “Dallas” and the Attorney General’s file number (2011– 4417) in the subject line.

The Park and Recreation Board’s Planning and Design Committee is scheduled to meet Thursday morning, when they’ll discuss how to fund the 6.5-mile section of the Northaven Trail between DART’s Green Line and Preston Road. The matter is on the consent agenda for the full board meeting the same morning.

A rendering of the 40-foot cross that will soon join Prestonwood's Campus.

Sometimes when I’m writing a story, everything goes as it should. People answer the phone. I get the information I need by deadline, and all is right with the world. Other times, the sources and photos come crashing in days after the article goes to press. And a slim percentage of the time, I never hear back at all. While it was too late to include in this week’s paper, I’m happy to report I have some new information on the plans for a cross on the Hillcrest Road campus of Prestonwood Baptist Church. Read More…

In a narrow vote (7-6), the City Plan Commission approved Prestonwood Baptist Church’s proposal for a 40-foot illuminated cross in the northeast corner of its property at 12123 Hillcrest Road. Four neighbors spoke in opposition to the plan, including former commissioner Carol Scott, who gave an impassioned defense of trees and darkness.

“I can’t understand the illumination and the massive tree removal only to show off a 40-foot cross,” Scott said. “I have it on good authority that this large cross … will make a terrific traffic and accident area.”

Pastor Chris Kouba said the lighting will face the building and is “not intended” to reflect on anyone’s home. He said it will be turned off at midnight, along with the rest of the lighting already on the property.

“The trees we have already done our due diligence on,” he said. “We do have the right to remove any trees as long as it’s tied to a permit, which it is.”

Despite this disagreement, Kouba said the church’s desire is to be “good neighbors.”

“We do not think [the cross] will affect in any way our relationship with the surrounding community,” he said.

Here we go. It’s just been posted, ready for the Department of Justice’s review.

Councilmembers Angela Hunt, Delia Jasso, Monica Alonzo, Pauline Medrano, Sandy Greyson, and Scott Griggs voted against the plan last night — 6 to 9 — with Ann Margolin, Carolyn Davis, Dwaine Caraway, Jerry Allen, Linda Koop,  Sheffie Kadame, Tennell Atkins, Vonciel Jones Hill, and Mayor Mike Rawlings in favor.

We’ll have locals’ input and a detailed breakdown in our Oct. 14 paper.

Those underthings still dangling in the trees outside City Hall this evening arrived with Preston Hollow resident Leslie Ezelle, the former Design Star contestant who’s “pinking” locations across town for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

“Anne-e Girl,” a giant metal bra sculpture by George Tobolowsky, has a temporary post on the plaza.

Check the jump for another photo.

Read More…

I’m here at City Hall, where councilmembers seem to be edging closer to a redistricting decision – one that will become effective in 2013, and determine City Council districts for another decade.

The group came down to two versions of the latest map  in executive session this afternoon, and you can have a gander at them here, as cPlan16d (Caraway, Davis, Hill, and DMPT Atkins) Amended Map and cPlan16d Combination (Jasso) Amended Map.

North Dallas districts, as you’ll see, are consistent in both maps.

Leading up to the council’s 3 p.m. recess (which is soon to end), the most debated areas were well south of Preston Hollow: split neighborhoods in Districts 1, 3 and 4, and proposed black voting majorities in Districts 3, 4, 7, and 8.

Stay tuned!

Friday update: A map was approved last night— a collage of revisions, some of them at the last minute — with four black and four Hispanic voting-majority districts, and relatively few changes (from previous drafts) to Districts 2, 6, and 13. “Any minute now,” a city employee said around 10:30 a.m., after many a tweak at the redistricting office, it’ll be finished and ready to post online.

Any minute now.

Clarice Tinsley, George Tobolowsky, and Leslie Ezelle outside City Hall with a Channel 4 cameraman.

On my way into City Hall yesterday afternoon for an Oak Cliff People story, I spied Preston Hollow resident Leslie Ezelle being interviewed by Channel 4’s Clarice Tinsley. Ezelle, whom we profiled in the paper as a contestant on HGTV’s Design Star, and George Tobolowsky are unveiling their new giant bra at City Hall tomorrow morning.