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District 11 City Council member Jeanette Martinez listens to speaker during a City Council meeting held on Aug. 13, 2024. (Camilo Diaz | Fort Worth Report)
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A property owner whose land was rezoned by Fort Worth City Council is suing the city, alleging a violation of their rights and a lack of due process. The result of the suit could have far reaching consequences for the southeast Fort Worth neighborhoods of Village Creek and Echo Heights.

The property at 4550 Village Creek Road was rezoned in May, following years of activism from nearby Echo Heights residents who point to pollution from more than 180 industrial facilities near homes as the main driver of community health issues. 

The rezoning served as the first test of the city’s newly amended land use plan, which reduced the number of industrial buildings, such as trucking centers or large warehouses, planned for southeast Fort Worth. 

City Council member Jeanette Martinez, who has spearheaded the rezoning effort in her district, said it came about as a response to community concerns.

“It’s through public feedback that we went with a low-density, multifamily (use), which is a better fit and will serve as a buffer between the single-family residential (homes) and the heavy industrial (uses) that are in place on the east side of Village Creek,” Martinez said before the May vote. 

City Council member Jeanette Martinez initiated the process to rezone seven acres on Village Creek Road behind Eugene McCray Community Center, right, from industrial to residential use. (Camilo Diaz | Fort Worth Report)

But the owner of the property alleges the rezoning was inappropriate — and an illegal seizure of property rights. ISF 4550 Village Creek LLC filed a lawsuit against the city Aug. 13. In the suit, the LLC claims Fort Worth initiated the process to rezone its nearly 7-acre property from industrial to residential use without providing proper notice. 

During that process, the suit alleges, the LLC attempted to negotiate with city officials to come to an agreement on alternative land uses, or an appropriate price for the city to buy the land outright. Ultimately, neither negotiation strategy panned out. 

Instead, Fort Worth City Council members voted unanimously to approve the rezoning during their May 21 meeting. It marked the first council-initiated rezoning in the Echo Heights neighborhood since Martinez was elected to represent the area. A second industrial property at 4519 Moorview Ave. was rezoned as part of the same motion. 

The properties are bordered by single-family homes and an 1,800-square-foot private cemetery to the west, the Eugene McCray Community Center to the north, Highway 287 to the south, and industrial use to the east. 

What is council-initiated rezoning?

Council-initiated zoning is a process where a council member puts forward a rezoning proposal for a vote to the City Council. If approved, the proposal then goes to the zoning commission. Once the commission has made a recommendation to approve or deny the rezoning, it comes back for a final vote at City Council. Martinez isn’t the only council member to use council-initiated rezoning to improve a neighborhood; council member Elizabeth Beck has also used the process to rezone properties in the Ryan Place neighborhood.

An attorney representing the LLC declined to comment on the litigation. The city has not submitted a response to the complaint yet, and a city spokesperson said it is reviewing the suit and does not have a comment at this time. When the council first approved the rezoning in May, Mayor Mattie Parker said the city manager’s office was still in discussions over purchasing the property.

But the city and the property owners disagreed on the value of the land, according to the lawsuit, causing delays to any potential purchase. Attorneys for the LLC sent a draft complaint to the city Aug. 2, and set a deadline of Aug. 7 for the city to confirm “in good faith” that it would purchase the land. The city did not respond, according to the lawsuit.

The property owner is asking for the rezoning to be declared null and void, which would revert the property back to its industrial zoning status. They purchased the property with the intentions of building an industrial development, the suit states, and the rezoning caused financial hardship. The company is also asking for financial damages and attorney fees.

Second rezoning initiative sails through council

On Aug. 13, the same night the lawsuit was filed, council members approved another council-initiated rezoning in Echo Heights — this time, of a property at 4812 Parker Henderson Road. In an earlier zoning commission meeting, Mike Jones, who said he represented the property owner, had strong words for the rezoning proposal.

“What do y’all want? Are y’all trying to drive out every business in this area?” he said. “Because once y’all get rid of this business right here on this property, and they build, I don’t know, some more Section 8 crack houses there, y’all are going to move in on those other properties and get rid of those businesses, too.”

Teena James, a leader of the Echo Heights Stop Six Environmental Coalition, speaks during a City Council meeting held on Aug. 13, 2024. (Camilo Diaz | Fort Worth Report)

The words shocked those gathered, with residents decrying the remarks at the Aug. 13 council meeting. Mike Jones did not speak at that meeting, and City Council unanimously approved rezoning the property from industrial to residential use.

Chris Jones, vice president of the Echo Heights neighborhood association, said the rezoning efforts have the chance to provide residents with small comforts enjoyed by others across the city, like drinking their morning coffee on their porch. 

As it is, the nonexistent buffer between industrial and residential properties means any caffeine-sips are punctuated with the grinding of truck gears and shouts from workers, he said. 

The rezoning effort, he said, “gives hope that this may change by moving the zoning for the property from an industrial status back to a residential. If the company ever chooses to leave, they can’t come back and disrupt our beautiful day.”