When the owner of 41 acres off Randol Mill Road in east Fort Worth sought a zoning change last year to allow a huge natural gas compressor station on the property, surrounding homeowners asked that it be denied, and the city's Zoning Commission did just that.
Chesapeake Energy says it is no longer interested in putting a compressor station on the property. But representatives of hundreds of residents around the site say they're concerned that such a facility would still be allowed under a second zoning request, and they plan to ask the City Council to make sure that doesn't happen.Dallas-based Two Ponds Inc., owner of the property at 7429 Randol Mill, is asking the council to overrule the Zoning Commission's 9-0 denial last month of an agricultural zoning designation, which would allow for a compressor facility.Compressor stations are located at intervals along a pipeline to ensure that the natural gas remains at high pressure.Thad Brundrett, representing Two Ponds, told zoning commissioners that his client wanted to return the land to agricultural uses. He said the change is not being driven by Chesapeake's Texas Midstream Gas Services.The item is on tonight's council agenda.Bob Horton, president of Historic Randol's Mill Valley Alliance, created in response to the compressor station case last year, said Monday that District 4 Councilmember Danny Scarth has assured him that he opposes the zoning request and will speak against it.Scarth confirmed that, saying he will ask council members to deny Two Ponds' appeal."It's fairly common for other members to defer to a member on a zoning case in the member's own district," Scarth said, and he expects that to be true in this case.Julie Wilson, Chesapeake's top officer in the Barnett Shale region, said in an e-mail Monday that the company is not involved "in any way, shape or form" with the property. She said the producer instead has "other options," which she did not detail, for moving gas from its wells to a pipeline, commonly done with compressor stations.Scarth said Two Ponds can pursue agricultural uses on the vacant land under its current zoning, which is for planned development.Horton and other homeowner representatives say they would like the city to consider changing its ordinances so that gas compression or processing facilities aren't eligible uses for agricultural zoning."That will be a long and drawn-out process," but it's a change worth pursuing, said Jackie Barnd, a board member of the homeowners alliance who lives about 1,500 feet from the Two Ponds property.Scarth said that's worth talking about. But he said he wouldn't ban such uses on agricultural zoning, which generally is not adjacent to residential areas and, thus, can be a preferable location for gas processing facilities, he said."We'd be hesitant to completely rule it out," he said. "I might consider that it could require a special exception" or larger setbacks from residential areas before being allowed.Jim Fuquay, 817-390-7552Twitter: @jimfuquayHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
