Fort Worth City Council will vote on several zoning cases and approve funding for several large infrastructure projects.
Council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 13, at City Hall, 200 Texas St.
Fort Worth City Council will vote on:
- Amending a zoning for the Stockyards to prohibit multifamily housing in certain districts.
- Authorizing the sale of the Central Library to Dart Interests, LLC.
- Approving an architectural agreement for the Stop Six Community Hub.
- Approving the Historic Marine neighborhood for a targeted neighborhood improvement project.
- Authorizing a contract to reuse food waste at the city’s Village Creek Water Reclamation Facility.
- Approving a contract to begin widening project for Cromwell Marine Creek Road.
The city recently changed its rules for commenting at public meetings. Residents may sign up to speak through the posted agenda. Any public comment on a consent agenda item will be heard before the consent agenda is voted on. Speakers will have a maximum of three minutes to comment on every item they signed up for.
Any public comment on the non-consent agenda will be heard before the agenda item is voted on. People commenting will have a maximum of three minutes to comment on every item they signed up for.
What is the difference between the consent and non-consent agenda?:
The consent agenda includes agenda items that council votes on all at one time. The non-consent agenda includes items that council votes on individually, item by item.
Stockyards rezoning
The Fort Worth City Council will vote on banning multifamily developments in certain areas of the Stockyards.
The change is meant to preserve areas of the Stockyards for commercial development. City staff requested the change to encourage job creation, tourism and entertainment.
The rezoning, if approved, will no longer permit multifamily developments east of North Main Street, between 28th Street, Stockyards Boulevard, and Exchange Avenue, the Fort Worth Report previously reported.
Carlos Flores, who represents the Stockyards, is in favor of the change.
“The redevelopment is exceeding expectations and going in directions that we certainly did not perceive. All positives,” Flores said. “But with those positive trends come challenges, like (entering and exiting) the Stockyards, parking, traffic congestion.”
Read more about the Stockyard rezoning
- Stockyards zoning change moves forward to council vote
- Fort Worth wants to keep tourists coming to the Stockyards by limiting multifamily developments
Central Library sale
The City Council will vote on the sale of the Fort Worth Library to Dart Interests, LLC, for the price of $18 million.
The purchase includes 2.32 acres of downtown property. Dart Interests is required to develop the property as a mixed-use project including office space and high-rise residential. The listing also requires the developer to lease space, with an option to purchase, for a new library within the redeveloped property.
The offer from Dart Interests was the highest cash offer received by the city. Dart also agreed to lease the property back to the city for one additional year. The base rent for the first year will be $400,000.00 with the City also being responsible for all taxes, insurance and operational costs.
Read more about the sale of the central library:
- City of Fort Worth prepares to sell Central Library for $18 million to national investment firm
- Book it: Here’s why Fort Worth’s Central Library is for sale
Stop Six Community Hub
The council will consider amending an agreement with Harrison Kornberg Architects LLC, for architectural services. The amendment will bring the total value of the contract to $2.3 million.
The Stop Six community hub will include a new multipurpose community center, new aquatics center and new early learning center in the Stop Six community. The $31.6 million community center will replace the community’s current community center, which was constructed in 1973.
Other sources of funding come from the Amon G. Carter Foundation, Fort Worth Housing Solutions and allocations from the American Rescue Plan Act.
The amendment designates Harrison Kornberg Architects LLC for the design and construction management of the Stop Six Hub.
Read more about the Stop Six Community Hub
Historic Marine neighborhood designation
The council will vote to invest $3.8 million to support projects to the Marine neighborhood in fiscal year 2023.
The neighborhood falls into the city’s Northside neighborhood near circle park and North Main Street. The area recently also received investment through Fort Worth’s partnership with Main Street America.
The funding will be used for projects improving public safety and attracting private investment.
The neighborhood improvement program is a project designed to improve the quality of life in designated neighborhoods. The city’s neighborhood services department uses data to identify neighborhoods in need of improvement based on inadequate public infrastructure, persistent public safety issues and low educational attainment
So far, the program has been used to invest millions of dollars into neighborhoods such as: Stop Six, Ash Crescent, Northside and Rosemont.
Read more about the neighborhood improvement program
- Leadership prepares for next round of investment in Las Vegas Trail
- Watch: Council member talks about challenges of representing growing, economically diverse West Fort Worth
Village Creek Water Reclamation Facility
The council will consider approving a $39.7 million contract with Eagle Contracting, LLC.
The contract will pay for improvements to the city’s digester improvement project, which turns waste into natural gas that could power city facilities. The city previously approved a $920,000 contract with Hazen and Sawyer, Inc. to evaluate and design improvements to the city’s digester systems.
Some of the gas will be used to power the city’s new biosolids facility. A pipeline to transfer the biogas from Village Creek to the biosolids plant is scheduled for completion in April 2024, the Report previously reported.
Read more about the city’s digester project:
Widening Cromwell Marine Creek Road
The council will vote on contracting with a construction manager for the widening of Cromwell Marine Creek Road. The project was included in the recently approved 2022 bond program.
The city will contract with Sundt Construction Inc. to manage construction phasing and sequencing of the project.
The $39.7 million project will improve the road located in the far north reaches of Fort Worth near Saginaw. The road intersects with Parkview Elementary School. The road received renewed attention from the city after a person was killed in a head on collision in Oct. 2017.
The contract will allow one construction manager to oversee the entire project. The total construction budget is $24.1 million.
Read more about the 2022 bond program
- Explainer: What’s in Fort Worth’s 2022 bond package and how could it impact residents?
- What you need to know about the city of Fort Worth’s 2022 proposed bond package
Rachel Behrndt is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at rachel.behrndt@fortworthreport.org or via Twitter. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, by following our guidelines.
