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The City Council on Tuesday night approved redevelopment plans for east Fort Worth’s Woodhaven area — despite opposition from some residents who don’t want more multifamily housing in the neighborhood.Council members agreed with a Jan. 7 zoning commission decision to rezone 150 acres for a mixed-use project that would add more housing, retail shops and green spaces to the shuttered nine-hole Woodhaven Golf Course. The property was acquired for $8.5 million by Crescendo Development at a May 2024 foreclosure auction. The firm conducted several meetings with neighborhood groups to develop the plan and revised it to limit to two stories any apartments built near single family homes and to add more green buffers.“I am more than excited,” said Mayor Pro Tempore Gyna Bivens, citing the developer’s community outreach to develop a plan that is the best solution to revitalize the neighborhood.Woodhaven — near the intersection of Interstates 30 and 820 — includes 22 apartment complexes. The area has grown over the decades, but residents say business development, including the addition of grocery store options, has lagged behind, according to previous Fort Worth Report coverage.“Crime statistics, which have spiraled over the decades, clearly show that there is work to be done in Woodhaven to make it a safer place to live, work and play,” Will Northern, the head of Crescendo Development, told the Report last May. Council member Michael Crain, a real estate broker, abstained from voting because he is a business partner of Northern and owner of the land. The remaining nine council members voted in favor of the plan, to which Bivens added zoning amendments restricting the land from industry or uses incompatible with the neighborhood such as smoke shops, group homes and short-term rentals.Council member Chris Nettles said the project will put the city’s east side “on the map again.”Several people — including Woodhaven residents and neighborhood groups from surrounding east side areas — voiced their support for the development.“I believe this is the best thing for the east side,” said Wendy Martin, president of the Riverbend Estates Homeowners Association.Woodhaven resident Keith Harrison said the project was “essential for the future success of Woodhaven.”However, longtime homeowners such as Erika Graham said adding more high-density housing would hurt the community given that many residents of Woodhaven apartments are low income and can’t support area businesses.She said the city should avoid repeating “the same failed experience” of developers building too many multifamily units in the area. She favored owner-occupied garden homes to maintain the charm of the single family homes.Galen Anderson, an 18-year homeowner, said the project would “create another sea of apartments where there’s (already) a giant sea of apartments.”Northern said the plan was revised to site its front door on Randol Mill Road and incorporate strict design standards that would create a walkable, cohesive development with parking pushed behind buildings. The development, with units priced at market rates, would also draw patrons to the 50-year-old golf clubhouse.He described the project as having “dynamic uses to ensure success over time,” including a combination of office, residential and retail spaces that would be able to adjust to market conditions.Planners hope to spur mixed-used development that aligns with the neighborhood and increases economic opportunities. The Crescendo property, a separate project, would be incorporated into those plans.Draft recommendations include expanding Woodhaven Park; adding new bike trails; creating a central community gathering space and possibly a nature-based community center with indoor gym space and meeting space; building a new playground near the East Regional Library; safer, better connected streets; and strengthening community bonds with programming, activities and spaces to bring people together.Neighborhood residents said they would like to see sit-down restaurants, walkable mixed-use hubs, a farmers market and housing communities for residents 55 and older. Pruning trees would make bike and hike trails safer while increased lighting and possibly trail-related businesses such as a bike center would attract more users.A roundabout is proposed at Randol Mill Road and Woodhaven Boulevard to create a better gateway into the neighborhood with improved crosswalks, bike lane extensions and street changes to make Randol Mill more like a neighborhood street. Mindy Watts, principal and product manager of Philadelphia-based Interface Studio, said the company has been working with the neighborhood, the city’s economic development staff and Bivens on the plan since early February 2024.The plan, Watts said, is intended to be a roadmap for the next 15 years in Woodhaven. The consultant team, led by Interface Studio, also includes The Collaborative Fort Worth and Ninigret Partners.“It is intended to guide investment, preservation and growth in your neighborhood,” she said at an Oct. 16 meeting with residents.Economic opportunities and training are also needed because 50% of Woodhaven households earn less than $40,000 a year, while 20% earn less than $20,000 per year. The median age for residents is 28.3 years, the majority of people living there are between 18 to 44 years old.To aid in economic opportunities, planners suggest denser, mixed-use redevelopment of underused commercial properties at the neighborhood’s edges since one of six storefronts is vacant. They also recommend incorporating small commercial or public spaces that can serve as gathering places as well as investments in job training, business development and infrastructure.The conservation plan will tie in with the city’s Reimagine Fort Worth 2050 comprehensive plan as well as the Fort Worth Eastside Transportation Plan.Bivens said an open house on the Interface Studio plan for Woodhaven will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. March 5. The location has not been set.Eric E. Garcia is a senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.