Mercy Culture Church’s human trafficking victim shelter took another step toward becoming a reality after church leaders announced the project will go before the Fort Worth zoning commission in November.
It comes after an Oct. 4 meeting between church leadership and Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker following a Sept. 29 sermon by l ead pastor Heather Schott accusing the city of discrimination .
Schott and state Rep. Nate Schatzline — who also serves as a pastor at the church — announced the Nov. 13 hearing date in a video on Instagram.
Schott thanked supporters for sending emails to city staff, the mayor and members of the City Council urging them to move the project forward.
Schatzline urged supporters to keep up their efforts, noting the project will still need the approval of the City Council after the zoning hearing.
“This is going to get built and we’re more excited than ever,” he said.
Mercy Culture filed for site plan amendment on Aug. 5 after a city review of its July building permit application determined the proposed 100-bed shelter didn’t comply with the Fort Worth’s land use rules .
The early August filing should have landed the project on the Sept. 11 zoning commission docket, however, discussions between the city and the church about the need for a separate zoning change application delayed the project until November.
“As I’ve mentioned before, my door is always open,” Parker said in a statement to the Star-Telegram.
“I welcomed the opportunity to better understand the Justice Reform’s mission to serve victims of human trafficking in our community and better explain how any project in our fast-growing city is required to go through the Zoning Commission’s established process,” she said.
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That process requires the zoning commission to vote on whether to recommend approval of the project before a final vote by the city council.
The commission has the option to delay the case to allow for more discussion, however, Parker, Schott and Schatzline all said in their statements that the council will vote on the project at the Dec. 10 meeting.
The proposed shelter is part of the church’s Justice Reform ministry , which seeks to rehabilitate victims of human trafficking.
The two-story building would include a dining hall, exercise room, offices, gathering spaces and two stories of residential sleeping rooms that could house up to 115 people, according to the building permit application and plans obtained by the Star-Telegram through an open records request.
Mercy Culture has been trying to get the project built since December 2021, but ran into opposition from residents in the nearby Oakhurst neighborhood the over concerns about parking and safety.
Schott held a meeting with Oakhurst residents in March 2022 to discuss the project, however, several attendees reported not having any of their questions answered.
She described some of the meeting attendees as “a group of agitators that hate Christian values,” in her Sept. 29 sermon.
Several Oakhurst residents have voiced their support for helping victims of human trafficking, however, the shelter’s proximity to Interstate 35W has caused some to question the wisdom of the location.
The zoning commission will hear the case at its 1 p.m. meeting on Nov. 13 at the old city hall building at 200 Texas St.
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