Fort Worth City Council will decide Tuesday whether to let a Haslet auto repair shop make a move closer to home.
Car Heart Autocare currently sits in the 2100 block of Avondale Haslet Road. With a growing business and a lease set to expire in one year, owner Leroy Wilkins set a plan into motion to move the business to his property in the 1400 block of the road.
But while zoning laws at the location allow for commercial development, they don't currently allow for an auto repair business. The Fort Worth Zoning Commission approved Wilkins' request with a 6 to 3 vote, but some neighbors have been vocal about their opposition to having Wilkins' business in their neighborhood.
"I have nothing against Car Heart… It just doesn't belong right there," said Stephanie Brewer, who owns a home in nearby Sendera Ranch.
She said she came to Haslet for a large lot and custom home in a quiet neighborhood, a landscape she said she believes Car Heart Autocare would destroy.
"It's a steel building that looks like a giant steel auto garage. It belongs in like an industrial area like along business 287," Brewer said.
She, like others, have pointed to noise and traffic.
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Wilkins maintained his current business is quiet, and a zoning study proved the same. He argued traffic would be minimal with just one to two cars an hour.
Still, some like Brewer worry a zoning change could be a precedent to bring in more businesses that they don't believe fit the area.
Wilkins argues his neighbors' main concern are their property values, which he believes wouldn't change with the addition of his business.
"We try to keep a very clean and respectful business and that's not going to change at our new location," Wilkins said. "We want to keep the environment and atmosphere of this neighborhood just the way it is."
