The Dallas City Plan Commission deferred the decision on Watermark Community Church's zoning change application to April 20. 

According to a report, Dallas City Councilman Adam Bazaldua wants more time to consider the church's proposal. 

Zoning Change Application 

The evangelical megachurch in North Dallas said it wants to build a youth center, health clinic, and community kitchen. 

According to Candy's Dirt, the church has owned the Pearl C. Anderson Middle School and its surrounding 9.8 acres of land for the past four years. The original application was for a walkable mixed-use development. Still, the developers later altered it to a "Special Use Permit."

Meanwhile, District 7 CPC Commissioner Tabitha Wheeler-Reagan stated that the final analysis of the case revealed complications with the suggested zoning adjustment from staff regarding permitted uses, so the said zoning matter has been put on hold until April 20. 

According to Wheeler-Reagan, during that period, they will make the appropriate changes so that the permitted uses in the zoning case are consistent with the area's existing and future goals.

Before making any decisions, Bazaldua thinks it's important to hear from the people living in his South Dallas district. 

The councilman also said that the congregation had discussed potential uses for the land with neighbors but is awaiting assurances that any proposed developments will be carried out with the neighborhood's best interests in mind.

"Pushing back the hearing of the case will allow residents more time to gain critical awareness of what is going on with the development and how it will affect their neighborhoods," he said in the report. 

The City Plan Commission (CPC) is tasked with advising the City Council on planning and zoning issues and enforcing the provisions of Chapter 212 of the Texas Local Government Code relating to the platting and registering of subdivisions and additions. 

They offer in-person and remote participation in the City Plan Commission's deliberations.

About Watermark Community Church

The Dallas-based congregation Watermark Community Church has been allowed to expand its ministry throughout the rest of the Dallas-Fort Worth area by planting new congregations there. 

The website shows three Watermark locations have begun functioning as autonomous congregations. 

The congregations became self-sustaining with their own elders and leadership teams after beginning as satellite campuses so that they could establish themselves and secure permanent locations.

People at Watermark give themselves over completely to the control of God's Spirit. They develop genuine friendships, actively practice their faith, and use their talents to benefit others and spread the gospel.

The Story of the North Dallas Megachurch

In 1998, a group of friends in Dallas began meeting regularly to pray about what it would mean to devote their lives to Christ in a way consistent with the Bible's teachings. 

By the end of the following year, the little group of believers had grown to a congregation of 150 individuals called Watermark Community Church. 

Over the next few years, the congregation met in various temporary settings before the Lord provided the means to buy land to construct their current structures.

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