Council takes cautious steps on Stockyards

At the risk of sounding like Pollyanna herself, the view from here is that all sides benefited from Tuesday night’s City Council action on a huge new development plan for the Fort Worth Stockyards.

As with many other sensitive development proposals, they steered this one toward “planned development/mixed use with a site plan” zoning.

That means the developers will have to get city approval for individual elements of the development.

Opponents will have a chance to air specific concerns during future public hearings.

In a step that preservationists should consider significant, the council agreed to come up with detailed regulations for future development in the historic Stockyards.

No new permits will be issued until new zoning is in place.

In the universe of official City Council actions, it’s hard to see that anyone could have expected a better outcome.

Preservationists are right to emphasize that the Stockyards isn’t some fake western-themed amusement park.

It’s the real deal, and Fort Worth must make sure it remains authentic.

Still, no one should expect it to remain as-is forever.

It will either rot away or it will be developed in some commercially viable way.

Holt Hickman founded his company in 1964, and it owns most of the Stockyards land.

His son and daughter, Brad and Brenda, oversee daily operations.

They have a right to develop their property.

Concerned local residents and alert city officials can make sure it is done right.

This story was originally published June 11, 2014 at 5:36 PM with the headline "Council takes cautious steps on Stockyards ."