Fort Worth changes zoning near Basswood Elementary after outcry over motel project

The Fort Worth City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday, Oct. 15, to undo land-use rules that made it possible for a motel to be built next to Basswood Elementary School.

It comes roughly a year after the council approved the Super 6 motel project before getting pushback from parents in north Fort Worth and the Keller school district, citing safety concerns.

The project would have been located at 3044 Clay Mountain Trail, which is across the parking lot from Basswood Elementary. It quickly halted after February 2024 town hall meeting with parents and school officials .

Most of the land surrounding the Basswood Elementary is zoned for industrial uses, but the council’s vote changed that to commercial.

The Keller school district built Basswood Elementary in 2007 at a time when most of the land in the area was vacant , save for a pair of auto-body shops and a Home Depot. Several of the lots have now been filled in with fast-food restaurants.

None of the existing businesses will be affected by the change, but it will limit the kinds of businesses that can be built near the school.

The Keller school board voted unanimously at its April 25 meeting to buy the land from Sanger-based developer Basswood Investments LLC after previously threatening to use the power of eminent domain to obtain it.

Council member Charlie Lauersdorf, whose district includes Basswood Elementary, has been pushing to change city rules governing when hotel and motel projects can be located next to schools.

Currently, city rules require a special zoning process if a hotel or motel project is within 1,000 feet of a residence. Lauersdorf’s change would require the same process if a hotel or motel project was proposed within 1,000 feet of a K-12 school.