City of Grand Prairie has a Hoedown on SB840
City Council Meeting, October 14, 2025. The People Talk
William Roth, District 11 council member City of Dallas, spoke at the August 27th meeting about Agenda item 12 (having to do with SB 840 compliance). He made a point about “possibly taking legal action to contest this particular state law directly as a city in an effort to protect our home rule rights and that we’re protecting our neighbors, our citizens and our ability to control land use in our community.” He suggested this law could be overturned before the next legislative session.
What is “home rule” and why would a city care if the State of Texas started to push their power into new territory?
Home rule is the local governance way of setting up their entity to “do government” and by using home rule vs. general rule, it means more control for that city. By having the State of Texas impose its rules onto the city, it challenges the premise of home rule. And, what do they say about giving an inch and taking a mile? Why that could very well be what’s at stake here. For those subscribing to the housing prices being tied to zoning at the primary issue to fix, remember that other areas within your local government could also be changed by the State.
What do people pay for when buying something big and expensive? Quality, possibly convenience but definitely certainty and control.
Better to see and listen to than read.
Here's what we’re seeing
Austin is using SB840 on commercial locations, not “citywide” as are many other cities
Cities are “baking” the new rules into their zoning districts so you can’t tell changes were SB840 related
Texas cities impacted by SB840 are interpreting the rules differently
Plano has signage requirement
Every city required to perform under SB840 is acting - none want to have issues brought onto them for not complying. Business Court is used to dispute issues.
What This Means for You
If a city, like Dallas, challenges SB840 it will render a legal opinion and provide more insight into what SB840 was supposed to do or not. For now, if you live in Dallas, your city’s interpretation of SB840 is a “citywide” approach to applying SB840 which means, if your property is near any commercial property OR any multifamily with 3 or more units —your neighborhood is about to change. That quiet commercial street with the dentist office and the dry cleaner? In five years it could apartments with no end in sight except for market forces and changes in government subsidies as well as financing.
As far as being a resident with a voice? With SB 840 and SB 2477 there's nothing you or your city can do about it.
The logic of traffic, infrastructure pressures and noise are all “non starters” with the 2025 State of Texas Legislators who created a suite of housing laws without so much as a fiscal impact report pointing to the actual costs to be incurred.
