A recent Keller ISD controversy has prompted Fort Worth to consider new zoning rules that would make it much harder for new hotels, motels and inns to be developed within 1,000 feet of schools.
The proposal, presented at an Aug. 6 Fort Worth City Council meeting, aims to enhance student safety across Fort Worth, council member Charles Lauersdorf told the Report. The proposed change comes in response to community concerns about the proximity of hotels to educational institutions, specifically highlighted by controversy in February over a planned Studio 6 extended-stay motel near Keller ISD’s Basswood Elementary School.
The proposed amendment would require a planned development district designation for any new hotel, motel or inn within 1,000 feet of public or private primary and secondary schools up to the 12th grade.
What is a planned development district?
- A planned development district is a special zoning designation that allows for a flexible mix of residential, commercial and industrial uses within a single development. The purpose of the designation is, generally, for “combinations of uses that are not otherwise attainable under conventional base zoning districts,” according to the Fort Worth Code of Ordinances.
- Developments under a planned development designation require additional approvals, including detailed site plans that are reviewed by City Council and planning commissions. Reviews consider factors like building layout, traffic impact, landscaping and overall community compatibility to ensure developments meet specific community needs and standards.
Source: Fort Worth Code of Ordinances
The changes would add another layer of approval aimed at ensuring the appropriateness of such developments near schools and assuring communities’ feelings of safety, Lauersdorf said.
Lauersdorf, who represents the area surrounding Basswood Elementary and requested the amendment be written by city staff, said he’s confident the proposal will eventually be approved by the City Council.
“We can go ahead and protect our schools,” Lauersdorf said. “We can make sure our schools and staff and our parents, who may not otherwise get the notice, are in the know about future planned developments.”
His request followed strong opposition from parents and school administrators who say they weren’t notified of any development until construction had started on a Studio 6 motel.
While developers did notify Keller ISD of the proposal, they sent notices to the district’s former Superintendent Rick Westfall and a former facilities manager rather than current district leadership.
Both parents and administrators feared the motel would attract crime and pose risks to students. If she had been notified of the development earlier, Superintendent Tracy Johnson said, she would have put a stop to it.
Eventually, Keller ISD bought the land for $3.2 million to prevent further motel development.
“We feel as passionate as you do about this,” Johnson told Basswood families during a February town hall. “Our first priority is to get it stopped.”
New hotels near residential areas already must be built within a planned development district in order to give community members a chance to weigh in on the proposal. Once council approves the amendment, new hotels near schools would be subject to the same public hearing process.
While frequently located in residential zones, schools are allowed to be built on land with other types of zoning, as seen with Basswood Elementary. In 2003, Home Depot bought about 40 acres and built a store at 7100 N. Freeway in Fort Worth. In 2007, Keller ISD bought the school’s land from Home Depot and, in 2008, built Basswood Elementary on the property, which was zoned light industrial.
The change ultimately aims to prevent future developments like the one near Basswood Elementary, Lauersdorf said.
The proposal does include exemptions for potential developments located within downtown Fort Worth and surrounding areas. New hotels in entertainment districts like the Stockyards, Near Southside and West 7th are already exempt from the requirement.
If the amendment is approved, existing hotels within 1,000 feet of schools would become nonconforming to zoning regulations unless they fall under those exemptions. While there’s only a handful of current hotels that would be affected, Lauersdorf said, they’ll be allowed to continue operating.
“Nonconforming just means if they ever do shut down, then they can’t operate a hotel if it’s vacant for more than two years,” Lauersdorf told the Report. “That’s when they would no longer be able to operate.”
Zoning commissioners are expected to consider the amendment for the first time Aug. 14, with council members slated to vote Aug. 27, according to a city staff report.
In addition to the text amendment, Lauersdorf has also begun the process to rezone industrially zoned properties south of Basswood Boulevard, between Sandshell Boulevard and the Interstate 35W frontage road — right where Basswood Elementary and Home Depot are located.
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @MatthewSgroi1. 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.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.