In the last few years, the City of Dallas has witnessed a substantial increase in the level of citizen participation in land-use decisions. A little known provision of the Texas Civil Statutes allows cities to divide their town into 'Neighborhood Zoning Areas' to provide another method for citizen review of zoning applications. The purpose of this thesis is to examine present methods for soliciting citizen comments, examine the quality of land-use decisions and to determine successes and failures 'Neighborhood Councils' have had in three other cities.The literature concerning present neighborhood involvement in the zoning appeals process is sketchy and somewhat contradictory. Therefore, the experience of Portland, Oregon; Dayton, Ohio; and Washington, D.C. was analyzed to determine how well subordinate governmental units function in other cities. The information received in the case studies was limited due to several factors, but all three city staffs gave hearty endorsement to their particular systems. No negative consequences of using this particular system was noted.A review of Plan Commission voting records revealed that the quality of land-use decisions made through the zoning appeals process needs to be improved.Citizen attitudes were examined to determine whether a neighborhood advisory council would increase citizen input or merely interject an anti-development bias into the zoning appeals process. Three neighborhood representatives were interviewed and all demonstrated that they were capable of negotiating and possessed a good perspective of neighborhood planning issues. Creation of neighborhood advisory councils would possibly correct the existing imbalance between developer interests and neighborhood interests.Whether neighborhood advisory councils will ever be initiated in Dallas is difficult to predict. One recent City Council recommendation directed the staff to explore ways to encourage negotiations between neighborhoods and developers. A proposal to form neighborhood advisory councils could grow out of this recommendation. / Department of Urban Planning