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CHAPTER 4

LAND USE

Land use refers to how land is currently used and how it should be used in the future. Population and economic trends help predict future needs for various land uses. The City of Fort Worth guides land use to ensure that land resources appropriately encourage economic development, promote a variety of housing choices, preserve natural and historic resources, and accommodate transportation routes and public facilities, in order to protect and improve Fort Worth’s quality of life.

EXISTING LAND USE

An understanding of Fort Worth’s land use and zoning puts into perspective the City’s development history and how Fort Worth may continue to develop. Single-family housing, and manufactured housing occupies the greatest amount of developed land area in Fort Worth. In recent decades, development has often occurred in a leapfrog fashion, leading to a pattern of land uses that is irregular, non-contiguous, and less efficient and cost-effective to serve than is desirable.

EXISTING LAND USE BY PERCENTAGE*

*City limits only.

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Source: City of Fort Worth, Planning & Data Analytics Department, 2022.

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FUTURE LAND USE

Fort Worth is one of the fastest growing amongst the 20 largest U.S. cities. From 2010 to 2020, Fort Worth permitted almost 44,000 new single-family housing units, with slightly over half of that total occurring just since the beginning of 2017. During the same period, Fort Worth permitted over 34,000 multifamily units, with over 57 percent of the total occurring within the last four years.

While a wide variety of residential units are essential to accommodate future population growth, the 2017 Economic Development Strategic Plan highlighted that Fort Worth is continuing to grow more single-family suburban housing than jobs, and Fort Worth is at risk of becoming overly dependent on low density residential uses to support its tax base and pay for services. Together with a focused business development effort, sufficient land must be planned for increases in job creation, mixed-use development, and appropriately located higher density housing, all which support a more balanced tax base and improved return on public investment.

FUTURE LAND USE BY PERCENTAGE*

*City limits only.

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Source: City of Fort Worth, Planning & Data Analytics Department, 2023

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CURRENT ZONING

The land within the city limits of Fort Worth is divided into zones that permit certain land uses and prohibit others. Zoning regulations also include development standards such as those addressing building height and setbacks. Zoning districts can be identified in these general categories: Residential

• One-family detached
• One-family and two-family, detached and attached
• Multifamily Mixed-Use/Form-Based
• Low and high intensity mixed-use
• Six form-based code areas Commercial
• Neighborhood, general, and intensive commercial Industrial
• Light, medium, and heavy industrial Special Districts & Overlay Districts
• Agricultural, community facilities, manufactured housing, and planned developments
• Eight overlay districts

CURRENT ZONING BY PERCENTAGE

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Source: City of Fort Worth, Planning & Data Analytics Department, 2022.

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LAND USE & ZONING CONFORMANCE

FUTURE LAND USE AND ZONING CLASSIFICATIONS

Zoning implements the Future Land Use Map, which guides the location of appropriate places to live, play, and conduct business. The future land use maps and policies are used by staff, appointed comissioners, and elected officials when making decisions regarding zoning, annexation, budgeting, and major public facilities expenditures.

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE LAND USE

Population Growth and Housing Demand As the population grows, the demand for residential units will increase. Higher-density housing types will respond to changing demographic and popular market trends, reflecting a greater preference for walkable urban neighborhoods.

Economic Growth Due to continued population and employment growth, Fort Worth will see a significant amount of land developed for new businesses and industry. Assuming current land use proportions remain consistent over time, approximately 2,000 new acres of commercial and industrial land use could be developed by 2032.

Market Demand Depending on several related variables, market demand will impact the amount and location of land uses. The future supply of any land use should not exceed the anticipated demand. Reliance on current market demand can unnecessarily restrict future development. For example, the multifamily market Downtown was untapped until multifamily zoning was introduced and found to be successful.

Transportation Access and Infrastructure Availability Land use decisions, such as the siting of offices, housing, and industry, are influenced by access to transportation and other public infrastructure. Despite the significance of mobility, investment in transportation infrastructure may follow land use decisions, particularly where rapid development occurs. Coordination of future land uses and zoning districts with the Master Thoroughfare Plan helps plan the correct location, classification, and desired capacity of roadways.

Development Regulations A property's location within or outside the city limits influences how the land is used:

Environmental Constraints Environmental conditions impact the type of land uses that develop. These constraints include floodplains, soils, slope, gas wells, odors, and noise pollution. A specific example of an environmental constraint impacting land use is airport noise surrounding Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base.

NOISE CONTOURS AND LAND USE EXAMPLE:

NAVAL AIR STATION FORT WORTH JOINT RESERVE BASE

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Source: City of Fort Worth, Planning & Data Analytics Department, 2022.

VACANT LAND

According to 2015 estimates from the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), Fort Worth has more vacant developable land (over 66,000 acres) than any other city in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. Fort Worth has more than twice as much vacant land as Dallas and more developable acreage than the four largest cities in Collin County combined (Frisco, McKinney, Plano, and Allen). Fort Worth’s vacant developable land provides a unique opportunity for the city to accommodate a significant amount of future growth. Innovative and sustainable strategies such as multiple growth centers, mixed-use and urban residential development, and transit-oriented development will help to ensure that future growth contributes to a strong, financially healthy, and highly livable community.

ACRES OF VACANT LAND IN METRO AREA CITIES WITH POPULATIONS OF 100K+

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Source: NCTCOG, Existing Land Use, 2015.

LOCATION OF VACANT LAND

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Source: City of Fort Worth, Planning & Data Analytics Department, Existing Land Use, 2022.

HOUSING PREFERENCES

Development patterns, since about 1950, have preferred strictly single-family homes or large multifamily complexes creating a large physical, social, and economic gap in housing choices. Smaller homes and multifamily dwellings are less costly to rent, purchase, and maintain for consumers. Historically, the limitations to smaller scale multifamily housing included zoning barriers, difficult financing, and the production scale not being as profitable as large multifamily or single-family developments.

Changing market demands for walkable, compact communities can be addressed by providing smaller scale multifamily housing projects, dispersed within and compatible with single-family housing. Walkable, compact communities provide common destinations within walking and bicycling distance, increasing transportation choices.

MARKET SUPPLY & DEMAND

Source: National Association of Realtors, Community and Transportation Preferences Surve, 2017.

MISSING MIDDLE HOUSING TYPOLOGIES

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Copyright: 2015 Opticos Design, Inc.

WHERE DO PEOPLE WANT TO LIVE?

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WHERE DO PEOPLE LIVE IN FORT WORTH?

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Source: Source: National Association of Realtors Community Preference Survey, 2011.

GROWTH CENTERS

The multiple growth centers concept promotes compact urban land use within designated areas and lower intensities of land use elsewhere. As an alternative to the typical urban/suburban pattern, Fort Worth’s Comprehensive Plan advocates for the development of multiple growth centers.

Growth centers are located along highway or rail corridors to facilitate transportation linkages to other growth centers. A network of growth centers can accommodate citywide growth with fewer environmental impacts, less land consumption and traffic generation, and less pollution than a dispersed development pattern. The North Central Texas Council of Governments is also promoting this growth strategy in response to growing concerns over traffic, pollution, and reduced funding for transportation infrastructure.

URBAN DEVELOPMENT PATTERNS

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INDUSTRIAL AND MIXED-USE GROWTH CENTERS

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Source: City of Fort Worth, Planning & Data Analytics Department, 2022.

INDUSTRIAL GROWTH CENTERS

An industrial growth center will primarily consist of industrial and commercial uses, with a high concentration of jobs, mostly industrial in nature. Other related and supporting uses include office space and services. Residential uses are generally discouraged within industrial growth centers.

Criteria for designation include:

• A high concentration of employees — 10,000+ employees per square mile, and
• The location nearby one or more major transportation facilities, such as an airport, railroad, highway, public transit station, and/or arterial roadway.

MIXED-USE GROWTH CENTERS

Mixed-use growth centers are highly urbanized places containing many characteristics of a downtown including a high concentration of jobs and housing, schools, parks, and other public facilities, public transportation hubs, and pedestrian activity. Its predominant land uses are residential and commercial. Within a small geographic area, different land uses are found side by side or within the same building. These places tend to be bustling and diverse, with a sense of place.

Criteria for designating new mixed-use growth centers are listed below, with centers often having (or planned to have) three or more of the following characteristics:

• A high concentration of employees — 10,000+ employees per square mile.
• A high concentration of residents — 10,000+ residents per square mile.
• One or more major transportation facilities — an airport, railroad, highway, public transit, or arterial roadway.
• An existing or planned transit-oriented development (TOD).
• Major institution(s) — a university, government facility, or hospital.
• Major tourist destination(s) — 100,000+ visitors per year.

Some mixed-use growth centers serve a large region, while others serve local residents. The functions and characteristics of the two different growth center concepts are generally the same, with variations in the size of their service areas and intensity of development.

*Indicates growth centers that do not currently meet the criteria, but have the potential to do so.

BENEFITS OF MIXED-USE AREAS

Urban Villages and Mixed-Use Growth Centers support the concept of sustainable development, seeking to balance access, mobility, affordability, community cohesion, and environmental quality.

The potential benefits of mixed-use growth centers include:

• Additional economic development opportunities
• Protection of single-family neighborhoods
• Development of multifamily housing at appropriate locations
• Convenience for residents and workers
• Reduced reliance upon automobile usage
• Efficiency in the provision of public facilities and services
• Protection of the environment
• Improved health due to increased opportunities for pedestrian and active transportation activities
• Creating a sense of place; fostering community

Return on Public Investment Prioritizing development within mixed-use growth centers is critical to building a financially sustainable future. Urban infill development uses existing public infrastructure (roadways, water, and sewer) making it less expensive to build and maintain the development long-term. Population density, encouraged by mixed-use centers, allows for the efficient use of public services (police, fire, public transportation); which improves quality of service while reducing expenditures. Overall, mixed-use growth centers and urban villages generate more tax revenue than they consume through use of city services and infrastructure.

CORE PRINCIPLES OF MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT

Connected Development

vs. Disconnected Development

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Compact development allows for a more efficient use of land, natural resources, and existing infrastructure.

Integration of Land Uses

vs. Separation of Single Land Use

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A mix of uses increases economic and community vitality, and reduces the need to travel longer distances for everyday needs.

Pedestrians, Bikes, and Public Transit

vs. Only Automobiles

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Active transportation alternatives are healthier for residents and cleaner for the environment.

Street-Facing Buildings

vs. Buildings Facing Parking Lots

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Buildings set close to the street define the public realm and engage with citizens.

ZONING FOR MIXED-USE AREAS

Mixed-use, multifamily, and commercial zoning classifications are most desirable for mixed-use areas because they provide the density of jobs and residential units needed to create a vibrant urban sense of place. Townhouse, duplex, and similar residential zoning classifications are usually acceptable in appropriate locations on the periphery of the mixed-use core.

Urban Residential (UR) Zoning The City's Urban Residential (UR) zoning classification provides an appropriate transition zone between higher and lower density residential areas. Inappropriate zoning districts for Urban Residential:

• Single-family Residential (less than four units per acre)
• Industrial
• Agricultural

Form-Based Codes A form-based code is a land development regulation that uses physical form as the organizing principle for the code. A form-based code differs from a conventional zoning regulation by allowing a mixture of appropriate uses within a single district or building. Form-based codes address the relationship between building facades and the public realm, the form and mass of buildings in relation to one another, and the scale and types of streets and blocks. Form-based codes are usually implemented as component of a community-sponsored regulating plan that designates the appropriate form and scale of development within a specific area.

The City of Fort Worth has adopted the following form-based districts:

• Camp Bowie District Inc.
• Berry/University Form-Based Code District
• Stockyards Historic and Form-Based Code District
• Near Southside
• Trinity Lakes

APPROPRIATE ZONING CLASSIFICATIONS FOR MIXED-USE GROWTH CENTERS

*H, NS, PI, CB, BU, TL, and SY are only allowed in Downtown, Near Southside, Panther Island, Camp Bowie, Berry/University, Trnity Lakes, and the Stockyards, respectively.

MIXED-USE ZONING WITHIN URBAN TRANSECT

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Image Source: Congress for the New Urbanism

ZONING FOR PUBLIC TRANSIT

A transit-oriented development (TOD) is a mixed-use area, such as an urban village or mixed-use growth center, but designed to incorporate and support a major public transportation connection. Maximizing the concentration of residential, commercial, and recreational uses near the public transportation connection promotes ridership and lowers automobile dependence for people who live and/or work in proximity to the development.

Mixed-Use (MU-1&2) and Urban Residential (UR) zoning, or an appropriate form-based zoning classification, benefit a TOD particularly within one-quarter mile of the public transportation connection. These zoning classifications allow for the development of a higher-density "transit core" that is the primary source of ridership to and from the connection. Within one-half mile of the connection, referred to as the "transit neighborhood," compatible higher-density residential should be encouraged as a means to promote housing affordability and variety in available housing types.

SUGGESTED ZONING AROUND PUBLIC TRANSIT

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MAJOR COMMUTER RAIL LINES

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Source: City of Fort Worth, Planning & Data Analytics Department, 2020.

In 2015 the North Central Texas Council of Governments conducted a survey of residents regarding public transportation:

67%

Percent of residents would like their community to add or improve access to public transportation.

72%

Percent of residents would consider options besides driving alone to work if it were more convenient.

$10K

The amount individuals could save per year using transit in place of car ownership.

Source: North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), 2015 Transit Survey

GOALS & OBJECTIVES

Fort Worth demonstrates how the annexation process can be administered as a positive tool for guiding development in its ETJ. The strategies listed below should help the City achieve its strategic goal of promoting orderly and sustainable growth.

GOALS & OBJECTIVES

1 Multiple Growth Centers

Achieve a multiple growth center development pattern by encouraging higher intensity residential and commercial uses within mixed-use growth centers, and higher intensity industrial and commercial uses within industrial growth centers.

• Increase new residential units in mixed-use growth centers, urban villages, and transit-oriented development areas so that at least one-third of new residential development occurs in these locations.

2 Direct Connections

Improve land use efficiency, mobility, and air quality.

• Encourage developments that create a network of interconnected local streets and trails that facilitate more direct pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicle access between nearby uses and destinations.

3 Zoning Conformity

Ensure that the City’s zoning regulations and districts generally conform to the adopted Comprehensive Plan.

• Improve the percentage of zoning decisions that are consistent with the Comprehensive Plan (80% in 2017).

POLICIES & STRATEGIES

POLICIES

• Identify and designate on future land use maps regional and community mixed-use growth centers in rapidly developing areas, based on proximity to future rail transit and key transportation intersections.
• Accommodate higher density residential and mixed uses in transit-oriented developments, urban villages, and designated mixed-use growth centers.
• Include projects in future Capital Improvement Programs that support the growth center concept, transit-oriented development, and urban villages.

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Multiple Growth Center Development Pattern

• Adopt a sustainable development policy that promotes the following:

  1. Land use and transportation practices that promote economic development while using limited resources in an efficient manner;
  2. Transportation decision-making based on land use, traffic congestion concerns, vehicle miles traveled, and the viability of alternative transportation modes; and
  3. Balance among accessibility, affordability, mobility, community cohesion, and environmental quality. (For more information, see Chapter 11: Transportation and Chapter 18: Environmental Quality.)

• Link growth centers with major thoroughfares, public transportation, trails, and linear parks.

• Locate multifamily units within walking distance of public transportation, employment, recreation, and/or shopping to increase accessibility and decrease vehicular traffic.

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Distance from Public Transit

• Encourage Urban Residential and Low Density Residential as transitional uses between Single-Family Residential and high density uses.
• Encourage small-lot single-family zoning districts (i.e. AR and A-5) on the periphery of mixed-use growth centers, where the City seeks to concentrate employment and public services.
• Coordinate future land uses and development types and intensity with the Complete Streets policy, Master Thoroughfare Plan, Active Transportation Plan, and Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Plans.
• Provide interconnectivity of streets and trails, especially within residential subdivisions, to reduce vehicle trips on arterial streets, increase efficiency, reduce air pollution, distribute traffic, improve access to public places, improve efficiency in providing services and deliveries, and ensure access for emergency services.
• Encourage clustering of development sites within new subdivisions to avoid steep slopes (greater than 15%) and to conserve 100-year floodplains, existing tree cover, wildlife habitat, storm water detention areas, riparian buffers along natural waterways, and archeologically significant sites.

POLICIES & STRATEGIES

POLICIES (CONT.)

• Encourage the use of parallel local access streets along collector and minor arterial roadways to allow the front façade of homes to face the street without the need for multiple driveway curb-cuts on the main street, thereby preserving traffic safety while increasing the pedestrian friendliness of the collector or minor arterial.
• To protect water quality and provide for connected green spaces, encourage parks, bike trails, and open space within floodplains and along adjacent water bodies.
• Encourage the provision of open space within new developments, with the goal of linking open spaces within adjoining subdivisions.
• Locate public neighborhood parks within easy access of residents (less than one-half mile).
• Promote appropriate infill development of vacant lots, old commercial centers (greyfields), and contaminated sites (brownfields) within developed areas, particularly in the central city.
• Provide for and maintain interconnectivity of streets and trails, especially within residential subdivisions, to reduce vehicle trips on arterial streets, increase efficiency, reduce air pollution, distribute traffic, improve access to public places, improve efficiency in providing services and deliveries, and ensure access for emergency services.
• Promote appropriate infill development of vacant lots within developed areas, which will efficiently utilize existing infrastructure, particularly in the central city.
• Identify and designate on future land use maps new industrial growth centers in rapidly developing areas, based on proximity to existing infrastructure and key transportation intersections.
• Promote appropriate uses within the NAS-JRB Overlay.
• Encourage urban agriculture with the purpose of increasing access to fresh food, providing income for people who want to grow and sell produce, and contributing to urban food security and nutritious, especially for residents within food deserts.
• Encourage new development adjacent and connected to previously developed or platted areas in order to utilize existing utility and road infrastructure and services, thereby optimizing public and private investments and discouraging sprawl development.
• Preserve the character of rural and suburban residential neighborhoods.
• Support zoning changes that accommodate multifamily residential development within urban villages, transit-oriented developments (TOD) and designated growth centers.

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Parallel Local Access Streets along Collector and Minor Arterial Roadways

POLICIES (CONT.)

• Do not locate residential uses or schools in areas adjacent to airfields having a noise level of 65 or more decibels DNL (average Day or Night Level)

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Fort Worth Alliance Airport Noise Contour

• Shelters for persons experiencing homelessness may generally be appropriate in general commercial and light industrial areas and in regional mixed-use growth centers. Shelters are not appropriate in industrial growth centers and heavy industrial areas.

• Locate large commercial and institutional uses adjacent to arterial streets, preferably at the intersections of other arterials and highways.

• Locate large industrial uses along freight rail lines, highways, or airports within industrial growth centers and other appropriate locations.

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Alliance Industrial Growth Center

• Separate incompatible land uses with buffers or transitional uses. Some land uses have attributes such as height, proportion, scale, operational characteristics, traffic generated, or appearance that may not be compatible with the attributes of other uses.

POLICIES & STRATEGIES

STRATEGIES

• Promote traditional neighborhood and other pedestrian-oriented developments, which encourage human interaction, walking, bicycling, mixed uses, slower traffic, public places, and attractive streetscapes.
• Plan for, facilitate, and aggressively pursue appropriate transit-oriented development (TOD) at existing and future transit station locations. A TOD encourages compact urban development adjacent to transit stations. Mixed uses in a single building, minimal setbacks, and taller structures help achieve the higher densities necessary to support transit. Retail businesses and services for commuters should be located adjacent to transit stops, between the rail platform and parking facilities.
• Maximize area of permeable surfaces in developments to reduce stormwater run-off.

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Permeable surface parking lot at Christ Chapel Baptist Church.

• Promote the use of Low-Impact Development techniques to reduce erosion and sedimentation of rivers, lakes, and streams.

• Encourage the use of floodplains as a boundary between incompatible land uses.

• Leave floodplains in their natural state (with hike/bike trails encouraged) to improve water quality and minimize flooding.

• Encourage new development in character with the existing neighborhood scale, architecture, and platting pattern, while working to improve pedestrian, bicycle, and transit access between adjacent neighborhoods and nearby destinations.

• Promote measures to ensure that all types of residential developments are compatible in scale to abutting residential developments. A dramatic difference in lot size and units per acre should be discouraged for new development immediately adjacent to existing development or platted and zoned property, unless mitigation is provided to minimize the effects of the new use.

• Encourage locating multiple-unit residential structures on corner lots.

• Support diverse housing options, including duplexes, fourplexes, townhomes, and small courtyard apartments to promote walkable communities, access to neighborhood services, and multimodal transportation options, while ensuring compatibility with the form, sale, and design of existing neighborhoods.

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Diverse Housing Options

POLICIES & STRATEGIES

STRATEGIES (CONT.)

• Encourage infill development of compatible, single-family homes in existing neighborhoods to preserve and protect residential neighborhoods.

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Lipscomb Street, 2013/2016 Google Streetview

• Locate elementary schools, parks, and neighborhood commercial uses within walking distance of most homes to maximize walkable, bikeable, and transit connectivity with all surrounding residential areas.

• Work with independent school districts in growing areas to identify future school sites that can be served by existing or currently planned infrastructure. Depict the identified sites on the City’s future land use maps.

• Locate elementary, middle, and high schools on blocks surrounded by streets.

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Stripling Junior High School