Neighborhood hopes to stop hotel planned for Fort Worth’s Las Vegas Trail area
Neighbors are trying to block a proposed hotel in the Las Vegas Trail area, fearing that it will attract crime and unhoused people.
The owners of Americas Best Value Inn want to build a Best Western in a lot next to their property at 8337 West Freeway.
Hotel owner and developer Chetal Patel said the project is being unfairly maligned.
The Fort Worth City Council will decide at its meeting Tuesday whether to rezone the lot next to the Americas Best Value Inn to make way for the Best Western. The hearing is a continuation from the Sept. 14 council meeting, when the Western Hills North Neighborhood Association opposed the project.
Jim Gibson, a 33-year Western Hills resident and former president of the association, said Las Vegas Trail doesn’t need another hotel.
Police reports weren’t immediately available, but a crime map provided by the city didn’t show any reported crimes at the Americas Best Value Inn. It did show 46 reported violent crimes in the past three years next door at the Express Inn, formerly the Knights Inn.
The city filed a nuisance abatement lawsuit against the Knights Inn in 2017 over code violations. The court ordered the owners to crack down on criminal activity, hire security, fix lighting and perimeter fencing. The city dropped its lawsuit after the owner complied with court orders for several months, according to an email from the city.
Patel argued opposition to the project will end up hurting the neighborhood and the city by depriving the area of needed investment.
“We are willing to invest,” Patel said. He added that if the project gets denied, he plans to build the hotel elsewhere.
Plans submitted to the city show the planned Best Western franchise would include 65 rooms. Patel said the price per room will range from $75 to $110 per night.
District 3 council member Michael Crain wouldn’t say how he planned to vote on the zoning case at Tuesday’s meeting, but did say the city planned to hire Mosaic Strategy Partners to develop a comprehensive revitalization plan for Las Vegas Trail. Crain said he expects the plan to be completed by May 2022.
This story was originally published October 12, 2021 at 5:30 AM.
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