MAINTAINING RIGHTS OF WAY FALLS TO RESIDENTS
Maintaining a safe and attractive place for residents is vital to the quality of life in the City of Fort Worth. Ensuring that neighborhoods are kept clean and safe has always been a partnership between the City and its residents and part of that effort includes maintaining public rights of way.
When budget times were better, the Parks and Community Services Department maintained public rights of way – mowing, trimming and disposing of grass and brush clippings – even though it is the responsibility of property owners.
However, in order to help reduce this year’s budget shortfall, the City eliminated funding for right of way maintenance. This means that property owners who are legally responsible for their rights of way must make sure that these areas are in compliance with City Code which requires that grass be no taller than 12 inches in height and that the area is free of debris.
The Parks and Community Services Departments will continue to maintain parkland, medians and boulevards.
For more information about right of way maintenance, call Parks and Community Services at 817-392-CALL (2255).
SUBSURFACE DRILLING PUBLIC NOTICE
March 3, 2010
The City of Fort Worth has been approached by a number of interested parties for the purpose of extracting natural gas from the Barnett Shale Formation. The Parks and Community Services Department has been asked to allow the use of subsurface of the following park for the purpose of natural gas drilling and extraction from an offsite location.
- Veteran’s Memorial Park – 4120 Camp Bowie Blvd
The City Council will conduct a public hearing, in accordance with Chapter 26 of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Code, on March 23, 2010 at 10am in the City Council Chamber, second floor, City Hall, 1000 Throckmorton Street, 76102.
This letter serves to inform your neighborhood of the requested use of the subsurface of Veterans Memorial Park for the purpose of drilling and extracting the minerals. This subsurface use would not have an impact on usable park area because there will be no drilling on park property and the surface will not be disturbed.
AHNA would like your opinion on this matter — we have also contacted the contact for this notice, Joel McElhany, Acting Park Planning Superintendent, to gain more information and will report that information as it’s obtained.
THOMAS PLACE EVENTS & EASTER EGG HUNT
Thomas Place would like to make the following announcements:
- 1st month free! Great Instructors!
- Judo – Saturdays at 12:30pm
- Kid’s Judo – Saturday at 11:00am
- Cardio Kung-Fu Workout – Tuesdays at 7pm & Saturdays @ Noon
- Spring break out of school camp. March 15 – 19. $10/day. Kids must bring a bag lunch.
- Field-trips additional cost. Space is limited.
- SPECIAL EVENT - March 15th at 1pm. Nature Center presents Reptiles of North Central Texas. Bring the kiddos and family. Free!
- SPECIAL EVENT – April 3 is the annual Easter Egg Hunt and hot dogs from 10am until 2pm!!
Thomas Place is also looking for volunteers to get the kids involved with art or photography. All materials will be purchased by Thomas Place! If you would like to teach a class or see a program at Thomas Place, please contact Ricky Cotto @ 817.735.1751
MARCH GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
Monday, March 15 at 6:30pm
Arlington Heights United Methodist Church
4200 Camp Bowie Blvd. (enter on Hillcrest)
Join us in March as we discuss the Arlington Heights Community Garden project. Other topics will include committee reports and a crime report.
FEB 15 GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES
To view the minutes from the Feb. 15 General Membership Meeting, click here: Meeting_Minutes_2-15-10
FEBRUARY SNOW PICTURE
This image was taken by Kelly Jo Nial during the record-breaking February snow storm. Its shot looking south on Clover at the Crepe Myrtles along the fence line at Stripling Middle School.
…thank you Kelly Jo for sharing this picture with us!
HISTORIC FORT WORTH
…thank you Billy and Amy for sharing these images with us!
CENSUS QUESTIONNAIRES TO GO OUT IN MARCH
Fort Worth residents should pay close attention to the mailbox in March, when census questionnaires will be mailed out to households throughout the country.
The 2010 census questionnaire has only 10 easy questions and should take an average of 10 minutes to complete. Each question helps to determine how more than $400 billion will be allocated to communities across the country.
Questionnaire assistance centers will open this month for those who need assistance in completing the form.
Residents who do not receive their questionnaire by April 1 may call 866-861-2010 to locate the nearest center where forms will be available.
Households that do not return questionnaires may expect a visit from a census taker sometime after March.
To learn more, go to www.census.gov.
PARKING FINES INCREASE
Parking fine increases that go into effect March 1 will bring Fort Worth’s fines in alignment with those assessed by other Texas cities of comparable size.
A benchmark study of five Texas cities –Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Irving and Dallas — was completed last June. The results indicated that the average fine for violations in Fort Worth is $26.70, which is significantly lower than the benchmark cities’ average of $54.21.
The last increase in parking fines was adopted in August 2003.
Here are the new fines:
- Double parking $35
- No parking anytime $30
- Parking on wrong side of street $30
- Storing car on street $50
- No parking from _____ to _____ $35
- Loading zone $50
- Expired meter $25
- One- or two-hour zone $30
- Parking in front or side yard $75
A late fee of $25 will be charged for a fine that is not paid within 15 days of the violation. That fee is significantly below the Texas cities’ benchmark average of $32.03.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS REZONING UPDATE
On February 17 Councilman Carter Burdette formally announced at a public meeting that he would be withdrawing the Council-Initiated Arlington Heights Rezoning case (ZC-09-116) that began early last year. In accordance with city guidelines, the city’s Zoning Commission will hear the case on March 10 2010, where the application will be denied without prejudice*. The case will then go to City Council in April where the ruling will be upheld. Approximately 45 people attended the meeting.
According to Councilman Burdette, he believed at the onset of this zoning case that the initiative would serve to strengthen the Arlington Heights community of 2,500 homes. Other districts within Fort Worth have successfully used council-initiated zoning to align zoning with current land uses. Unfortunately, after many months Burdette believes this rezoning exercise has taken a different direction and elected to withdraw the application.
Burdette, known for his stance on property owner rights, said he is against restrictions and supports property owners’ rights to build as they desire under the guidelines set forth by the City of Fort Worth. He said government restrictions on property rights are not always desirable and warrant a more considerable review.
Burdette stated that Arlington Heights is not a homogenous area and that there is a need for redevelopment in various areas throughout the neighborhood. Many gentrified homes in our neighborhood would probably be torn down in the future, he added.
Property owners interested in continuing to rezone the neighborhood to single family will be encouraged to take action using the block-by-block petition process. There is no charge for the petition-based approach. Property owners can also file individually to the city for a zoning change and pay the requisite fee. As we have over the past seven years, the Arlington Heights Neighborhood Association and its Zoning Committee will continue to assist and support residents who wish to rezone on a block-by-block basis.
The Arlington Heights Neighborhood Association sincerely thanks those who helped initiate and support this Council-Initiated rezoning effort; we recognize and appreciate the many months of dedication this effort required of our residents. The Association received countless letters of support, and we expect that our community will continue to step forward in initiating rezoning on a block-by-block basis as we work to preserve the unique character of our Arlington Heights community.
*When a proposal is denied by the City Council or when the applicant has withdrawn a proposal after the giving of public notice, no new applications of like nature shall be accepted by the City or scheduled for a hearing by the Zoning Commission within a period of 12 months of the date of denial or withdrawal unless the proposal is denied without prejudice; provided, however, on receipt of written request by the original applicant describing substantially changed conditions in the community since the prior consideration of the proposal so as to justify an earlier review of this matter, the City Council may waive the mandatory delay period and authorize the acceptance of the new application.
