Zoning change for used car lot denied by Fort Worth council after residents push back
The Fort Worth City Council denied a requested zoning change Tuesday that would have allowed a COVID-19 testing site to become a used car lot in the Jennings-May St. Louis neighborhood.
Some residents voiced concerns about displacement, gentrification, crime and the return of alcohol businesses if the zoning were to change. Other residents and neighborhood associations said they approved of the zoning change when the owner made sure to be actively involved in the neighborhood. Some residents have challenged development in the Hemphill corridor, challenging what they view as gentrification.
The nearly one-acre site is at the corner of Hemphill Street and West Morningside Drive. The proposal was to change the zoning from neighborhood commercial to a general commercial.
Fernando Florez, a member of the United Hispanic Council, said he feared gentrification would increase property values — and taxes — and displace residents.
He also told the City Council he was one of the volunteers who helped revitalize the Hemphill corridor in the 1990s to limit businesses — including those that sell alcohol — and clean up the crime in the neighborhood.
“I just want to keep it short here tonight and tell you we’re not in favor,” Florez said. “We’re not in favor of turning the clock back tens of thousands of hours of volunteer work.”
The property owner, Martin Quezada, said he attended meetings of the neighborhood association and the Hemphill Corridor Development Collaborative. He said he was shocked the zoning request was denied. He asked for better guidance from the city on the proper steps he should take when asking for a zoning change.
“We have support from community members and we got the vote from several members,” Quezada said. “But just because two people came here to talk about the case they made up their mind on that.”
Angela Blochowicz is the president of Jennings-May St. Louis Neighborhood Association. She was in full support of the car lot with no alcohol sales, as stated in the zoning request.
“This definitely wasn’t any intent to walk it backwards,” Blochowicz said. “It was so that they could bring up their space, and should they ever sell the property they would have to come back to rezoning and the communities would be informed and have been told of that.”
In March, a town home project planned for the same location in the Hemphill corridor was dropped after the developer revoked their request for a zoning change.
The request was dropped because of “timing delays,” according to an email to the city’s development services department.
This story was originally published October 17, 2023 at 10:55 PM.
