Westland residents want to maintain their neighborhood’s charm of historic buildings and popular restaurants.
The far west Fort Worth community, which opposed a plan to build an industrial warehouse complex at the southeast corner of Camp Bowie West Boulevard and Longvue Avenue, is celebrating after a win at a zoning hearing.
The Fort Worth Zoning Commission denied the proposed development on Sept. 10. The case goes before the City Council next month.
John Murrin Pritchett and other neighborhood advocates rejoiced at the panel’s decision.
“A win at zoning today,” Pritchett wrote in a Facebook post. “The commission voted to deny the application to change the zoning. Next stop is City Council in October.”
Pritchett was among those who spoke at the zoning hearing and urged commissioners to maintain their neighborhood’s character without large industrial projects. Single-family homes, some dating back 100 years, are off the busy road that has seen restaurants such as JD’s Hamburgers pop up in recent years.
“Cool stuff is happening,” Pritchett told commissioners. “Let us keep it cool.”
A group of 20 Westland property owners opposed the project, citing traffic congestion and safety concerns.
Developers want to build three warehouses at the corner, just down the street from All Saints’ Episcopal School. The site is west of an adjacent Amazon warehouse built off Camp Bowie West Boulevard, also known as Old Highway 80 since it was part of the old Bankhead national highway system.
Developer Brice Hafner told zoning commissioners the project is appropriate for the neighborhood “due to the amount of growth in this area.” There will be an eventual need for such structures, he said.
Truck traffic would not congest local roads since Longvue Avenue is planned to be widened from two lanes to four, he added. Truck parking would be located within the complex’s interior and hidden from the street.
Hafner said the development would provide space for small, local businesses and feature enhanced landscaping.
Amy Reed, president of the Chapin Road & Alameda Street Neighborhood Association,
said residents “don’t want anymore industrial” projects.
“Any industrial (facility) added to our neighborhood doesn’t fit our needs,” she told commissioners.
Added Judy Williams: “Keep the type of atmosphere we have now and expand it.”
Zoning commissioner Beth Welch agreed, saying the proposed development would not enhance the neighborhood.
Residents “should be able to rely on existing zoning,” she said.
Data center zoning
Commissioners also approved two additional zoning requests for a planned data center in a south Fort Worth neighborhood near Forest Hill and Everman.
The center, which received initial approval by the City Council on Jan. 14, required new Zoning Commission approval after developers added additional acreage to the project that will be built at the southeast corner of Lon Stephenson Road and Forest Hill Drive. That land had not been rezoned.
The project is supported by at least 43 neighbors and would provide about $18 million in tax revenue to the Everman school district.
Sue Weston and her son, Jackson, spoke against the zoning requests, saying the data center would disrupt the tranquility of their Weston Gardens operation at 8101 Anglin Drive. The business includes demonstration gardens that date back to several decades.
“A data center would totally change the atmosphere of the garden,” she said.
She said few opposed the data center since there are pending options to buy additional land in the area.
Zoning commissioner Matt McCoy said he wanted a site plan requirement for the project since it is “getting more complex.”
The two zoning requests are expected to be considered by the City Council on Sept. 30.
New southern Fort Worth hotel
Plans to build a new four-story, 105-room hotel in southern Fort Worth near Burleson were also approved by zoning commissioners.
Developer Arpan Patel, of SFW Hospitality LLC, said he and his father plan to build a TownePlace Suites by Marriott on a 2.37-acre site at 10824 South Freeway.
To build the hotel, Patel requested a zoning change from light industrial to planned development for all uses in intensive commercial because the project is within 1,000 feet of a single-family home neighborhood near the corner of McPherson Boulevard and Interstate 35W. The hotel will have limits on the building height and rear-facing windows.
“Currently, we are considering the area at the southwest corner of McPherson and I-35, between the Taco Bell and Caliber Collision and excitingly, a future McDonald’s restaurant and other potential businesses would also partner with our development to offer additional resources to the community,” Patel wrote in a zoning filing.
Bowie House plan revised
A revised site plan for the Bowie House hotel, which opened in 2023, was approved by commissioners.
The revision was needed because T-Mobile wants to install 15-foot cellular antennas on the hotel rooftop. The plan would add a small cosmetic addition to the roof to mask the antennas from the street. A shielding cabinet would match the facade of the building, officials said.
Eric E. Garcia is a senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org.
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