During the Feb. 25 meeting, District 4 representative Charlie Lauersdorf motioned to start the process of rezoning of 23 properties to a community facility zoning to reflect the properties being used for school and educational purposes, according to city documents.
What’s happening
With the council's approval, the Fort Worth Zoning Commission will look at the motion during its March 12 meeting, which will be held at the old city hall.
City Council would vote on the Zoning Commission's recommendation at the March 25 meeting—the first meeting in the new city hall.
Lauersdorf said this has nothing to do with the proposed Keller ISD split.
"The primary purpose is to align all the properties with their intended use and ensure it aligns with [the] comprehensive plan," he said Feb. 26. "With all the uncertainty around school funding across the state, Fort Worth is taking a closer look at school-owned properties around the city to ensure that the zoning in place is consistent with our comprehensive plan.
"Schools and churches are allowed to be built by-right on any property, regardless of zoning. Typically, you'd see that property rezoned to CF afterwards, but that doesn't always happen. So rezoning to CF just further protects neighborhoods."
What they’re saying
“Through hard work of city staff, numerous properties were found that are not currently zoned CF, which this action would change,” Lauersdorf posted on social media. “But it’s not as simple as City Council making the decision unilaterally behind closed doors and without the community input or due process. Any potentially affected property owners [those within 300 feet], not just KISD, will be notified and there will be opportunities for public input along the way.”
A closer look
Lauersdorf said he and council members Alan Blaylock [District 10] and Macy Hill [District 7] were behind the council-initiated rezoning of Keller ISD property owned inside Fort Worth city limits, according to a post on his Facebook page.
Community facility zoning is designed for places like schools, parks and other community-based facilities, according to the city's website.
The zoning for the KISD properties included:
- Agriculture
- One-family restricted
- One-family
- Two-family
- Low-density multifamily
- Neighborhood commercial
- Intensive commercial
- Light industrial
Lauersdorf referenced an issue last year when Basswood Investments LLC attempted to build an extended-stay motel at 3056 Clay Mountain Trail, next to Basswood Elementary. Keller ISD bought the land for $3.2 million during an April 2024 meeting, according to previous reporting.
Lauersdorf wrote that the land was zone light industrial, which is the proper zoning for a hotel.
“Although I can point out multiple points of failure and pass blame to many, I ultimately take full responsibility, as I am the councilman for District 4,” he said.
