The Fort Worth City Council at its Aug. 25 Work Session will hear a presentation on a proposal from the Tarrant Regional Water District to revise its General Ordinance and Commercial Facilities Ordinance.
According to an informal report to the council, the City of Fort Worth staff became aware of these proposed ordinance revisions on Aug. 20 and began a review to determine the impact on the City of Fort Worth, the community and developers working in the city.
“The revised ordinances would greatly expand the authority of the District to regulate development in Fort Worth and surrounding cities and counties,” according to the report.
The Tarrant Regional Water District Board of Directors will consider adopting the revised General Ordinance and Commercial Facilities Ordinance at their Sept. 15 board meeting.
The General Ordinance regulates the water and land under District jurisdiction and the Commercial Facilities Ordinance provides minimum standards for the operation and maintenance of Commercial Facilities located on District land or waters to protect public use, access and safety and to maintain good water and environmental quality.
According to the city report, the most significant ordinance revisions include:
- The geographic impact of the ordinances is greatly expanded:
- The definition for District Land is expanded to include all land that drains to District Water.
- The definition for District Water is expanded to include all bodies or accumulations of water, natural or artificial, located within the District’s Service Area.
- The new definition of Service Area includes the area where the District provides raw water to customers. This includes all or part of 11 counties (Tarrant, Denton, Parker, etc.)
- The authority of the General Manager is expanded to:
- Create, set the amount of, and collect fees for licenses and permits.
- Promulgate, adopt and amend residential improvement permit guidelines.
- Adopt or amend any standards governing construction or maintenance of any improvement on or in District Land or District Water.
- Require the District’s customers (e.g. the City of Fort Worth) to adopt ordinances implementing the District’s master drainage plan and other plans for water quality, and preventing waste or unauthorized use of District Water.
• Development or use of land draining into District Water shall comply with TRWD’s Water Quality Guidance Manual.
The full ordinance revisions can be found here:
https://www.trwd.com/resources/board-of-directors/#public-comment
The council will also hear a request from Panther City Holding Company LLC for a zoning change at 2712-2724 Azalea Ave. in the Linwood neighborhood. The 0.79 acre site is currently zoned A-5 One-Family and the group is requesting a change to “UR” Urban Residential.
UR has a maximum density 40 units per acre with up to 60 units if a height bonus is obtained for structured parking. UR has a maximum height of three stories with a height bonus for an additional floor if the development incorporates structured parking. The surrounding multifamily projects in this area are within the range of units per acre associated with those maximums.
The zoning change request was the subject of several neighborhood comments opposing the zoning change during a hearing at the Zoning Commission, which approved the change.