TABC revives its undercover underage stings and more Dallas city news

This week's roundup of Dallas city news has a housing theme, with housing updates from the Dallas City Council and Airbnb. The TABC is reviving undercover stings and the city has a suggestion for a quiet Memorial Day observance.

Here's what happened in Dallas this week:

Housing challenge
At its May 26 meeting, the Dallas City Council approved a Housing Challenge that will add 1,000 housing units near DART light rail stations, aimed towards mixed-income residents. In a statement, Housing & Neighborhood Revitalization Director David Noguera said, "these hand-picked sites are the perfect locations for residents to be able to be able to access our public transportation system and engage with their community."

The city received proposals for three potential sites, all on City-owned land, a minimum half-acre, within half a mile of a DART station, and currently vacant or underutilized:

• 3015 Al Lipscomb Way: 2-acre site in South Dallas near the MLK Jr. DART rail station
• 6601 S. Lancaster Rd.: 10-acre site near the University of North Texas at Dallas campus
• 4515 S. Lancaster Rd.: 7.5-acre site located across from the Dallas VA Medical Center

The council authorized negotiations with three developers: Lavoro Acquisition, LLC; Brinshore Development, LLC; and Innovan Neighborhoods Consulting, LLC.

Airbnb party ban
In August 2020, at the height of COVID-19 spiking, Airbnb instituted a global ban on parties. Now they've extended that ban through the end of summer 2021.

Elements of that ban include:

• removing search filters such as "event-friendly" and "parties and events allowed"
• establishing a Neighborhood Support Line, a forum for neighbors to report issues or concerns
• restriction against guests under 25 from booking entire home listings in their local area under certain circumstances

Guests without a history of positive reviews on Airbnb will be prohibited from making one-night reservations in entire home listings in the United States during July 4th weekend.

TABC stings
As students across the state prepare to celebrate summer, agents from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission are here to ruin their good times. I mean, are ramping up efforts to prevent the sale of alcohol to minors. This involves underage compliance operations (UCOs) to identify retailers who violate the state’s age limit on alcohol sales.

During a UCO, a minor working for TABC attempts to purchase alcohol from a retailer while under surveillance by TABC agents. Sting!

Businesses found violating the law face fines or temporary suspensions of their license to sell alcohol, and the employee who makes the sale faces a misdemeanor criminal charge.

UCOs have been an important part of TABC’s toolbox for years, but the pace of operations slowed during 2020 as the agency observed COVID-19 safety protocols.

Memorial Day event
On May 31, Thanks-Giving Square is hosting a quiet Memorial Day reverie. It's kind of a non-event. The downtown Dallas space is designed to be an area of reflection and gratitude.

In the Square's Chapel of Thanksgiving, visitors can write notes of gratitude and remembrance to veterans, thanking them for their service. Ruthie's Fueled by Cafe Momentum will also be parked at the Square, if note-writing works up an appetite.

Early voting
It's the last weekend to vote early in the runoff election for six Dallas City Council seats still TBD. Wylie H Dallas, fictional character and city advocate, offers recommendations via this tweet. The early voting cutoff is June 1; election day is June 5.