An application to rezone the site of a controversial shingle factory in West Dallas set a 2029 deadline to officially shut down operations on the property.
But records obtained by KERA show the application was terminated this month due to inactivity — and community members say there are no other documented exit dates guaranteeing the factory will shut down.
The application to rezone the nearly 80-year-old GAF shingle factory into a planned development district was filed in September 2022. It set "sundown conditions" on the property, located at 2600 Singleton Boulevard, and permitted industrial use on the property until the end of 2029.
West Dallas residents have fought for more than five years to shut down the GAF facility because of air pollution concerns. The rezoning process would have created conditions for winding down the plant's operations.
But a letter from the city sent earlier this month terminated that rezoning application, citing six months of inactivity with no recent legal documentation submitted.
GAF previously told KERA it planned to close the West Dallas facility in July 2029.
But Janie Cisneros with the neighborhood group Singleton United/Unidos, which has pushed for the factory's shutdown, said the community cannot rely on the company's word.
"When people say that, they assume that it's already been kind of set in stone or that it's legally binding — it never has been," Cisneros said. "It's just a promise and at this point it's an empty promise because there is nothing holding them to that date."
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality renewed GAF's air permit last year, which lasts for 10 years from the date of renewal.
GAF did not respond to KERA's requests for comment.
Cisneros said the community has faced negative health impacts while GAF continues to operate the facility, and said neighbors are committed to shutting down the factory sooner rather than later.
That would have been possible through amortization, which is a scheduled closure, but the city ended residents’ ability to initiate that process last year. Cisneros sued the city of Dallas in December 2023 over blocking that process.
She previously told KERA that they want the plant to close as soon as possible to address heavy contamination on the land, which could take several years.
The city will hold its third public hearing on March 31 for West Dallas residents to say what they would want to see on the property. It is the last of the three scheduled hearings that community members spent years fighting to get.
Cisneros expects the Economic Development Committee to hear the cost of hiring a consultant to research the cost of shutting down the facility next month. Once voted on, it will move to the full council and, if approved, it would start the cost research process.
Although city processes have changed and years have passed, Cisneros said her West Dallas community is still trying to get out of the same position its been in since day one.
"We're hoping that this authorized hearing does not take long and they prioritize that and we can get the neighborhood the protections that it's been asking for for years, that's been due," she said.
Got a tip? Email Megan Cardona at mcardona@kera.org.
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