More development in north Fort Worth: Housing, commercial coming to ‘Decatur cutoff’ area
More commercial development will be coming to land south of the Presidio Town Crossing in far north Fort Worth along with high density housing.
The City Council on Tuesday approved a rezoning request that will open the vacant tract of land just north of the Interstate 35W/U.S. 287 “Decatur cutoff” to new development. That’s near the site of the proposed IKEA that fell through in 2018. The council also approved a similar rezoning request for a large vacant swath to the south of U.S. 287 in the same area.
Meanwhile, the council continued a rezoning case that would have brought more housing to a narrow road near Business 287.
In the vacant triangle-shaped area at North Tarrant Parkway and I-35W, the rezoning allows NTP35 LP, the same developer behind the IKEA plan, to develop commercial property on about 41 acres facing North Tarrant Parkway and on 31 acres facing North Freeway and I-35W. In between, about 38 acres will be zoned for “urban residential.”
The area is south of a future development called the Citadel at Heritage Trace. Managed by DuWest Realty, the Citadel will eventually span over the land between Heritage Trace Parkway and Presidio Towne Crossing.
On the south side of U.S. 287, the council approved rezoning a more than 150-acre patch of agricultural land for commercial and light industrial use. NTP35 LP had wanted to rezone the entire area for industrial, but neighbors to the south and west voiced concerns about the type of industry and increased traffic, according to zoning documents.
On about 20 acres in the southwest corner of the land, at Horseman Road, NTP35 LP plans 230 housing units in a “cottage community.” A site plan calls for one to three bedroom duplex-style houses surrounding an open space and pool. Traffic would enter off Horsemen Road or the U.S. 287 service road.
The development saw no public protest Tuesday night. Earlier this year a plan for a dense housing development at Bonds Ranch and Willow Springs roads to the northwest brought dozens of residents to the council chambers. They argued city streets in this part of far north Fort Worth can’t handle more growth.
Councilman Carlos Flores said several meetings were held between the developer and the surrounding neighborhoods and he acknowledged the lack of roadways in the area. Horseman Road and Harmon Road don’t connect on the west side of the property.
“There are a lot of needed road infrastructure improvements in that area,” he said. “We’re already making strides towards that.”
Councilman Dennis Shingleton moved to continue a separate development farther west off Wagley Robertson. He said the developer needed more time to meet with a larger portion of surrounding neighborhoods.
Wagley Robertson is one of dozens of narrow roads in the north that have not been widened to accommodate new development.
Shingleton told the Star-Telegram last week that the city needs to be more critical of high density housing in areas where the streets were narrow or sidewalks weren’t available.
