Despite pushback from liquor stores, Fort Worth City Council passed a zoning ordinance to limit certain new businesses.

During the Jan. 27 City Council meeting, all 11 council members voted in favor of the change to help limit the proliferation of certain businesses such as vape stores, liquor stores and payday loan businesses.

The change also provides clarification on what is deemed a bar and what is considered a restaurant, based on the percentage of sales reported.

A closer look

Distance requirements are now mandatory for smoke shops, credit access businesses and liquor stores, according to city documents. Council looked at the changes at the Jan. 6 work session meeting, according to previous reporting.

Staff first presented the proposed amendments during a Dec. 2 meeting, and the follow-up came after receiving feedback from business owners and additional research.

The presentation on Dec. 2 stated the new ordinance was to protect neighborhood vitality and balance land use, along with proper zoning restrictions. According to city documents, existing businesses may become nonconforming, or grandfathered in, by zoning changes. Any new business must meet the updated requirements, the ruling states.

The changes approved include:

  • Removing liquor stores or package stores as permitted use in neighborhood commercial zoning and mixed-use zoning
  • Establishing a 1,000-foot distance separation requirement between liquor stores, up from 300 feet
  • Adding “Credit Access Business” as a new land use in the zoning ordinance uses
  • Establishing a 1,000-foot separation distance between credit access businesses and other establishments, up from 500 feet
  • Amending the definition of retail smoke shop to state “stores that derive 51% [currently 90%] or more of their gross annual sales from the sale of tobacco, cigarettes, smoking and electronic smoking devices or related products and accessories and do not sell alcoholic beverages for onsite consumption”
  • Establishing a 1,000-foot separation distance requirement between retail smoke shops
  • Increasing the distance requirement from current sensitive uses, or schools, universities and hospitals, from 300 feet to 500 feet for liquor and smoke shops
  • Expanding the list of sensitive uses to include public parks, places of worship and day care centers

The wording for a bar was established to show a business that derives 75% or more of its gross revenue quarterly for sales or service of alcoholic beverages, as defined in the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code, for on-premise consumption, according to city documents.

The fine for violations would be $2,000 for each offense, according to the Jan. 6 meeting presentation.

What they’re saying

Austin Rankin, regional director of operations for Specs Liquor, said he was speaking on behalf of his employer and the Texas Package Store Association, which represents more than 3,700 liquor stores in the state.

“The ordinance that would severely impact the liquor store industry in Fort Worth by limiting the distance between liquor stores in certain zones, while running counter to the state alcohol laws, came in the middle of the game after we legally entered the Fort Worth market,” he said. “This proposed ordinance is anti-competitive and anti-business. The mere suggestion that the products that we sell are problematic within a certain geographical area is ridiculous.”

Business owner Danielle Tucker said she had seven commercial properties and that this ordinance further creates stereotypes in low-income communities.

“This justification for this ordinance focuses on low-income areas, suggesting children walk past certain businesses and may be influenced by them. That framing unfairly stigmatizes entire communities and ignores decades of disinvestment,” she said. “If children are being failed, it’s not because of neighborhood-serving businesses, it’s because of systematic issues zoning alone cannot fix.”