At last fall’s ArtsGoggle festival in the Near Southside, Fort Worth residents had the chance to answer a question on everyone’s lips: What do you want the future of America’s fastest-growing large city to look like?
Visitors to the FWLab booth placed colored stickers next to images of different kinds of development they would like to see more of: everything from open space and pedestrian areas to restaurants and housing. Created last year, the FWLab oversees budgeting, comprehensive planning and data analytics for the city.
The sticky dot “votes” will help inform city officials reenvisioning Fort Worth’s comprehensive plan for the first time since 2000, said FWLab assistant director. Typically updated with minor revisions each year, the plan shapes zoning decisions, budget priorities, infrastructure improvements, annexations and development standards.
Starting April 11, residents will have a chance to participate in shaping the 2050 comprehensive plan through a series of “Help Plan FW” meetings at community centers, schools and City Hall.
Attend a Help Plan FW workshop in April, May
The city of Fort Worth will host a series of workshops to shape the 2050 comprehensive plan. Here’s where you can attend:
- 6-8 p.m. April 11 at Handley Meadowbrook Community Center
- 6-8 p.m. April 15 at Chisholm Trail Community Center
- 6-8 p.m. April 18 at Fort Worth City Hall
- 6-8 p.m. April 22 at Leo Adams Middle School
- 6-8 p.m. April 25 at Riverside Community Center
- 6-8 p.m. April 29 at location TBD
- 6-8 p.m. May 2 at Victory Forest Community Center
- 6-8 p.m. May 6 at Arlington Heights High School
- May 21, Vision Summit, location and time TBD
The workshops are designed differently than typical public meetings, where staff give a presentation and residents step up to a microphone to provide input, said city spokesperson Michelle Gutt.
“If someone’s not really comfortable with standing up and asking their question or making a public comment, they really don’t get to share their input,” Gutt said. “The way these meetings are being designed, we have stations around the room. They’re prompting questions, and people don’t have to stand up and make a speech.”
The comprehensive plan revamp follows more than a year of activism by members of the Fort Worth Environmental Coalition of Communities, which protested outside Mayor Mattie Parker’s State of the City address in October to draw attention to the placement of industrial facilities near homes in majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods.
Last spring, City Council members voted to delay adoption of the 2023 comprehensive plan until resident concerns about air quality and torn up streets were addressed. Eight months later, council members approved a document that projected fewer industrial businesses near homes in southeast Fort Worth.
John MacFarlane, a leader of the Greater Fort Worth Sierra Club and a coalition member, said in November that activists will hold the city’s “feet to the fire” on creating buffer zones between residential areas and industrial commerce.
“We’ll be at every meeting,” MacFarlane told council members.
City staff, who have hired two consulting firms to assist with the comprehensive planning process, say they are seeking input from a wide range of community representatives. Two committees, one focused on technical expertise and the other on neighborhoods, will meet regularly to shape the plan before it goes before council in fall 2025.
Council members will nominate representatives for their districts, Fladager said, and the technical advisory committee features leaders of business districts, government agencies, housing groups, chambers of commerce and nonprofit organizations.
Beyond the open houses over the next month, Fladager wants to reach young people and other communities who aren’t likely to attend a public meeting. Some surveys and activities will be offered online as well as in person through workshops and pop-up events like ArtsGoggle.
“We want to be able to get comments and feedback and engagement and interest from diverse populations since the city of Fort Worth is a very diverse place,” he said.
While this round of public input will culminate with a May 21 “Vision Summit,” Fladager said community members will have a chance to review consultant reports summarizing what residents had to say about their goals for the 2050 plan. This is phase one of the process, Gutt added.
“Once we get all of this information together, there’ll be an opportunity to re-engage with a lot of the people that contributed to their ideas and to get their feedback on: ‘This is what you told us. Did we get it right? Is this what you said to us?’” Gutt said. “We’ll be able to do that in phase two.”
Haley Samsel is the environmental reporter for the Fort Worth Report. You can reach them at haley.samsel@fortworthreport.org.
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