Several important and difficult decisions lay ahead for the Fort Worth City Council on Tuesday.
The council will consider rezoning for the Fort Worth Stockyards. The rezoning was something council members told stakeholders they would put in place to protect the historic nature of the Stockyards.
The zoning commission, in a close 4 to 3 vote last week, recommended the council approve the current proposal. Since one person was absent and the commission couldn’t give five votes, it moves to the council with a recommendation to deny the zoning change.
The city council already agreed to give $26 million in incentives for a $175 million redevelopment project for the Stockyards.
Some business owners are concerned a mixed-use zoning could bring in modern office buildings apartment complexes to one of the most popular tourist attractions.
"I'm not sure about you, but when I go to a National Historic District I'm not looking to see apartments," said Billy Bob's Texas president Concho Minick. "That's not what's interesting to me."
Many stakeholders were concerned the historic western ways could be lost if the redevelopment wasn't done right.
Mayor Betsy Price told NBC 5, the change is long overdue and is designed to protect what's already there.
"Currently it's heavy industrial, which is a scary thought in its own right, that anyone can come and build anything in the Stockyards, so that we're looking to correct," said Price.
