Fort Worth City Council to decide fate of auto shop tucked between houses
The Fort Worth City Council will decide Tuesday whether an autoshop can open in the middle of a residential neighborhood. .
Lewisville-based Fifth Gear Automotive wants to open its 10th location at 3553 Loddick Lane in the Hutson Oaks neighborhood just north of the intersection of Alta Vista Road and West Keller Hicks Road.
The company initially got the go ahead from the city’s development services department in November 2025, however, that permission was revoked soon after questions from neighbors revealed the city staffers had incorrectly interpreted the site’s land use rules.
The city’s mistake has resulted in significant financial damages to Fifth Gear Automotive, the company’s business director John Miller said in an email to the Star-Telegram.
The company applied to rezone the property in December 2025, but ran into opposition from the surrounding neighborhoods and skepticism from Fort Worth’s zoning commission.
The company decided to lease the property in September 2025 after receiving assurances from the city in July 2025 it could operate an auto shop at the location.
Since executing the lease, the company has removed the old septic system, installed fencing, and added landscaping to improve the site, according to company consultant Wes Hoblit, who spoke at the March 11 zoning commission hearing.
The 2.15 acre parcel previously served as a temporary warehouse space for the Penguin Patch Holiday Shop in Keller, and sits between a day care and a landscaping company. It is bordered by single family homes on the north and south side of the property, and sits on a street that is roughly 30 feet wide.
A repair shop at that location will effectively shut down Loddick Lane, and will force the residents to use one street to get in and out of the neighborhood, Zoning Commissioner Jacob Wurman said at the March 11 hearing.
Fifth Gear has addressed residents’ concerns about traffic, and believes it will be a positive addition to the property and the neighborhood, business director John Miller said in an email to the Star-Telegram.
Miller noted many of the company’s other locations abut residential neighborhoods.
However, Wurman, speaking at the March 11 hearing, noted those other locations were accessible by wider roads rather than neighborhood streets.
The City Council will vote on the zoning change at its 11 a.m. meeting on March 31 at city hall.
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