October 17, 2006

  • I've never been much of one to rattle the cage down at City Hall, so to speak, but at last night's Arlington Heights' Neighborhood Association meeting I learned of a proposed zoning change that would permit a 60' building to be constructed where Tick-Tock Daycare used to be.

    The house which held the daycare center....where Charles used to go when a little one....is no longer there, but this building would stand six stories high, for pity's sake.  Six stories!  And according to Richard, a man on the AHNA zoning committee, the variances for which the would-be owner has applied could allow it to be as much as 75-90', or seven to nine stories high, without additional variances necessary.

    Apparently it would be a most attractive edifice, and I've no doubt this is true....the would-be owner is a Waggoner of Waggoner Oil, so I daresay no expense will be spared....but that doesn't change the fact it's still a by-jingo'd six story office building sitting right next to people's homes.  Once one multistory office building is permitted on the west side of Montgomery, it's nearly guaranteed others will follow.

    Darned things tend to breed like bunnies.

    This morning I went to the city's website, where I was able to see the proposed 2007 Comprehensive Plan for Fort Worth, including the part for Arlington Heights:

    AH_map copy

    BTW, I've no idea what the big "1" is pointing to.  It was there already.  The small leaf is roughly where we live, and I put a green arrow pointing to where the proposed office building is.  This won't mean anything to non-FortWorthians, but it will to those who live here.  The map show Harley being widened to become a major(ish) thoroughfare, connecting Montgomery and University, while Crestline will be permanently closed on the east side of Montgomery.  What's significant is the orange where the arrow is; orange signifies "low density residential", such as duplexes, townhomes, small apartment buildings, etc. 

    I beg your pardon, how does a six story office building meet that parameter? 

    It doesn't.  What is frustrating is the owner has paid extra to have the variance "fast tracked", meaning it's coming up for a vote next month, though the application was just formally made last week.  This doesn't give those of us against the variance much time to protest.

    Which is doubtless the whole reason he paid for "fast tracking."