John MacFarlane believes residents have too long dealt with various forms of pollution in underserved neighborhoods, particularly in the east Fort Worth and Northside communities.
These areas of the city have been burdened with a number of issues, such as gas drilling emissions, poor air quality, water contamination and noise pollution, said MacFarlane.
The city has never made environmental justice a goal or priority — and the Fort Worth Environmental Coalition of Communities is working to change that, he said.
The coalition has been trying to host conversations between the group and city leaders, but have yet to hear back, according to MacFarlane, an executive committee member of the Greater Fort Worth Sierra Club.
After no response from the city, the coalition decided to move forward with a petition that has attracted more than 2,000 signatures. The group, consisting of neighborhood and environmental activist groups across Tarrant County, demands the city schedule a public meeting — with the coalition’s members as co-hosts — to discuss how the comprehensive plan will serve environmental justice goals across Fort Worth.
Outreach to the city started with sending a letter to the City Council and members of the FWLab, the city department that oversees citywide planning and data analytics in respect to improving government organizations.
In the Sept. 18 letter, the coalition asked the city to host public meetings where residents can discuss issues surrounding environmental justice and how it relates to Fort Worth’s 2050 comprehensive plan, which hasn’t seen a major update since 2000.
The comprehensive plan is a several hundred-page document that acts as the guide for reviewing zoning cases, identifying budget and expense priorities, preparing capital improvement projects, documenting annexations and establishing development standards. The plan also discusses the city’s goals, objectives, policies, strategies and programs.
A June 18 “vision summit” was the city’s latest event where community input was welcomed in the comprehensive plan’s development. At the summit, residents asked for additional engagement opportunities, especially in neighborhoods with people of color and other marginalized groups.
Eric Fladager, the assistant director of planning and data analytics, says the city is aware of the coalition’s concerns and requests. FWLab members and other officials plan on meeting with coalition members and residents soon.
“There’s a lot of work going on related to the comprehensive plan,” Fladager said.
In regard to the comprehensive plan, the city is discussing future community engagement opportunities and possible roundtable discussions with particular stakeholders or interests. Those discussions would include the environmental services department established in 2023, which is actively engaged in the city’s planning and comprehensive plan, he said.
“Environmental issues are not necessarily tucked in one little corner of the cover,” Fladager said. “It’s a plan. (Environmental issues) relate to a lot of different things. They’re really a key component to quality of life.”
Prioritizing goals around environmental justice could help address issues in low-income and communities of color, such as poor road conditions, industrial zoning and pollution, said MacFarlane. Members of the coalition previously fought for the reduction of polluting facilities near the southeast Fort Worth neighborhood of Echo Heights, which resulted in several properties no longer being slated for industrial use.
“We are looking for specific action from the city to work with those types of communities,” said MacFarlane. “We just want to see environmental justice included in every aspect of city government.”
One of the coalition’s biggest fights includes the city’s approach to zoning, in an attempt to keep industrial sites and plants as far away as possible from neighborhoods and residential areas.
Environmental justice topics can also include the quality of parks, bringing more flora and enforcing code compliance issues in underserved communities, MacFarlane said. Preserving open space and creating parks is one of the common suggestions the city received from resident feedback in June, according to previous Report coverage.
“Environmental justice needs to be a part of every division or department of the city,” said MacFarlane.
The open space conservation program, Mayor Mattie Parker’s Good Natured initiative, and the city’s focus on the Trinity River are all indicative of city staff’s environmental efforts to improve the quality of life for communities, said Fladager.
Environmental justice is not new to the comprehensive plan, he said, and its importance grows not only in Fort Worth, but on a regional and national level.
“We certainly intend to keep environmental quality and environmental justice as key components of the comprehensive plan,” he said.
Future community engagement opportunities will be posted on the city’s website. City Council is expected to consider adopting the 2050 comprehensive plan by fall 2025.
Nicole Lopez is the environmental reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at nicole.lopez@fortworthreport.org.
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This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.