Fort Worth pushes decision on permanent concrete batch plant in Diamond Hill
The Fort Worth City Council voted 10-0 at its April 28 meeting to delay a decision on whether to allow a permanent concrete batch plant to operate near homes and an elementary school.
A subsidiary of Farmers Branch-based Centurion American Development Group wants to build the plant at 3800 Deen Road, next to BNSF’s North Yard, in Diamond Hill.
The property line for the four-acre plant would be 335 feet to the east of the nearest single family home and 1,126 feet north of Cesar Chavez Elementary School.
The company, MM 28 Deen, is asking the city for a special zoning permit. The conditional use permit would allow the plant to operate on the site for five years before forcing the company to come back to the city for a renewal.
Concrete batch plants are usually built close to construction sites and make concrete through mixing cement with sand and gravel. They’re regulated by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to ensure proper safeguards are in place to prevent microscopic cement particles from causing health problems in nearby residents.
They’ve faced stiff opposition in the past over concerns about health impacts and air quality, which led the Fort Worth City Council in June 2024 to require the plants to get conditional use permits to operate.
District 2 city council member Carlos Flores, whose district includes the plant, pushed for the delay to give city staff more time to review a revised site plan required by Fort Worth’s zoning commission.
MM 28 Deen submitted the site plan late, so staff didn’t have time to review it, Flores said.
Community activist Adrian Smith called for more input from the surrounding neighborhood and school district, speaking at the council meeting.
“If those babies could vote, which I know those elementary school kids can’t vote ... I’m sure it would be a no vote,” he said.
Flores said the nearby communities have been notified as required by city ordinance. The city mails notifications to every property owner within 300 feet of a proposed zoning change, and posts proposed zoning changes on its website.
The TCEQ typically requires a batch plant’s central bag house to be 1,320 feet from schools and homes. However, that rule only applies to areas that aren’t covered by city zoning rules.
The City Council will vote on the conditional use permit at its 6 p.m. meeting on June 9.
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