Members of the Greater Fort Worth Sierra Club and other residents are asking city leaders to delay their vote on the city’s 2023 comprehensive plan – and revise it to include more parkland and open space in industrialized areas of southeast Fort Worth.
Fort Worth City Council members are set to finalize the plan during their March 21 meeting, following a public hearing.
In early March, the environmental advocacy group issued its first-ever local action alert as part of a collaboration with the Echo Heights and Stop Six Environmental Coalition. More than 40 people have sent emails to City Council members as part of the campaign, said John MacFarlane, who serves on the executive committee of the Greater Fort Worth Sierra Club.
“The comprehensive plan is just something that’s been rubber stamped over the last 20 years. No one really takes a look at it – no citizen involvement,” MacFarlane said. “We’re asking them to delay the vote on the 21st to allow more public involvement.”
MacFarlane worked alongside Echo Heights activists last summer to oppose an industrial facility across the street from Fort Worth ISD’s W.M. Green Elementary School. City Council members eventually denied that proposal with prejudice, citing its potential impact on traffic and industrial pollution.
“We want to keep industrial zoning in check and allow for some green space around W.M. Green and more green space as a buffer zone between industrial zones and residential,” MacFarlane said.
Residents of Echo Heights, which sits south of U.S. 287 near Loop 820, gave a presentation at the Sierra Club’s February meeting, where members learned about how the comprehensive plan influences zoning and land use across the city, MacFarlane said. Since then, Sierra Club members have been vocal at the city’s public comment meetings and now through the action alert.
City planning leaders have vowed to launch a major public engagement campaign, including a series of listening sessions, later this year to shape the 2025 comprehensive plan.
Until then, city staff expects to make minor changes in the 2023 and 2024 plans, according to previous Fort Worth Report coverage. The 2023 plan includes new maps reflecting the location of federal floodplains as well as new city master plans, such as the Fort Worth Botanic Garden’s 20 year-strategy.
“I don’t think it hurts anything to wait five to six months to do that public involvement that you’re promising in the future now,” MacFarlane said. “I don’t believe they want to do much to this year’s plan before the vote on the 21st, but I think it’s a good step in the right direction that now they’re seeing people wanting to be involved with this process.”
Residents can weigh in on the 2023 comprehensive plan and other agenda items during the Tuesday, March 21 meeting, which begins at 6 p.m.
To sign up to speak, access the meeting agenda here and search for the item you would like to comment on. Click on “Speaker/Comment Card” to indicate whether you would like to comment in-person, virtually or in writing.
Street sweeper contracts, $1.5M incentive package round out agenda
Council members also will consider a contract to purchase 12 street sweepers from Industrial Disposal Supply Co. for up to $3.75 million.
The street sweeper purchase comes as the city commits more resources to clean up litter. As part of the 2023 budget process, Fort Worth increased its monthly environmental fee for the first time in 26 years. Residents now pay $1.50 per month, up from 50 cents. Commercial, industrial, nonprofit and municipal customers also saw their monthly fees increase.
Brandon Bennett, the city’s code compliance director, said in August that the larger fleet of street sweepers will run regular routes through the city’s most-littered neighborhoods and cover about 6,380 miles of road each month. That’s up from the 580 miles cleaned without the new street sweepers.
“The city of Fort Worth, historically, has not been engaged in street sweeping and that fits with our very conservative, smaller government footprint,” Bennett said. “But we are now the 13th-largest city in America. We have lots of streets that need to be cleaned … and using street sweepers is one of the most efficient ways of doing it.”
The council will also vote on contracts with TRP Construction Group and Traffic Highway Maintenance for pavement markings. Both contracts will cost the city about $6.1 million. The increased budget for pavement markings comes from the city’s PAYGO fund. Fort Worth increased funding to the fund by a half-cent, allowing the city to invest more in projects like pavement markings.
City Council members will also consider a $1.5 million incentive package for video game startup ProbablyMonsters Inc. Over five years, the company would be expected to establish a new office in Fort Worth with 300 jobs averaging a $75,000 salary, according to previous Fort Worth Report coverage.
Thirteen zoning cases are on the agenda for Tuesday. Two cases were recommended for denial by the zoning commission. Both cases are in southeast Fort Worth.
The first case, at 4309 Village Creek Road, proposes changing the zoning of 2.3 acres from one-family to light industrial. The other, at 5024 Collett Little Road, proposed changing the zoning from neighborhood commercial to light industrial.
Another case, at 18242 S. Farm Road 156, was continued from a previous meeting and recommended for approval by the zoning commission. The case would rezone 20 acres from unzoned to light industrial.
Haley Samsel is the environmental reporter for the Fort Worth Report. You can reach them at haley.samsel@fortworthreport.org.
Rachel Behrndt is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at rachel.behrndt@fortworthreport.org or via Twitter.
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