Documenters: Texas A&M moves forward on traffic plans for downtown campus

July 15,2025

See full Fort Worth Report article by Peter Dokter, with transcript by covergov.com here.

Texas A&M University won approval of a recommendation by the Fort Worth City Plan Commission to vacate a portion of East 14th Street downtown, to create a “unified block” for development of the university’s planned Research and Innovation Building.

CITY PLAN COMMISSION WORK SESSION

Meeting: June 25, 2025

Documenter: Peter Dokter

Fort Worth City Hall

TRANSCRIPT

Quorum determined and meeting opened: A quorum of six of the 11 members must be present to conduct the commission business. Nine members are present, and Don Boren opens the meeting.

Commissioners present:

Don Boren, chair; Caroline Cranz; Jim Tidwell; Tye Lamberth; CJ Johnson; Lee Henderson; Brian Singleterry; Efrin Carrion; Robert Farda

Staff present: Stephen Murray, interim planning manager and meeting facilitator; Alex Parks, Paul Rodriguez, Christine Ross, Alex Johnson, Michelle Pena, Barbara Soltero

Approval of minutes from previous meetings: May 14 and June 11. Cranz moves approval, Johnson seconds. Motion passes, with Tidwell abstaining because he wasn’t present at those meetings; Lambert, Johnson and Singleterry abstaining from the June 11 minutes; and Farda abstaining on the May 14 minutes.

New cases

a) VA-25007. Vacation of East 14th Street between Calhoun and Jones streets, Council District 9. J. Childress Survey, abstract number 250, city of Fort Worth, Tarrant County. General location is north of East 15th Street, south of East 13th Street, west of Jones Street, and east of Calhoun Street. Applicant: Board of Regents of the Texas A&M University System/Gina Joseph, managing counsel, property and construction.

Recommendation: Approval of a recommendation to City Council for the vacation of East 14th Street between Calhoun and Jones streets.

Nick Powell, representing the applicant, tells the commission that Texas A&M seeks to abandon the 14th Street right of way to form a unified block for the university’s planned high-rise Research and Innovation Building. “We feel this is going to be a great addition to downtown. It's going to bring a lot of value.”

Singleterry asks whether the university’s plans for the lot are final. Powell: “They are in progress.”

Singleterry asks, “Is the plan currently to build on that vacation or to have pedestrian access through that area allowed?” Powell: “The plan is to build over the vacation.”

Singleterry asks for the status of a traffic impact analysis. Powell said that was covered by a traffic study done for the planned Fort Worth Convention Center expansion.

There are no other questions, and Boren moves to close the public hearing. A commissioner asks another question of staff about the traffic impact analysis, saying they didn’t know it had been waived. A staff member said the staff accepted the earlier analysis.

Action: Singleterry moves to approve the recommendation to City Council for the vacation of East 14th Street between Calhoun and Jones streets. Carrion seconds. Motion passes 9-0.

b) FS25121, Daggett Addition, Lot A, R1 and A, R2, Block E, 2R, waiver request, street design standards 31106C9, right-of-way corner clip requirement, two commercial lots, Council District 9, being a replat of all lots 1 through 16, Block E3 and all lots A and B, Block E2, Daggett Addition. In addition to the city of Fort Worth, according to the plot recorded, volume 388, 96, page 16, plat records, Tarrant County, and a portion of East 14th Street to be vacated. General location is north of East 15th Street, south of East 13th Street, east of Calhoun Street, and west of Jones Street. Applicant: Board of Regents of the Texas A&M University System/Gina Joseph, managing counsel, property and construction.

Staff recommendation: 1) Approve waiver to Section 31-103(c)(9) of the Subdivision Ordinance to not require a 5-foot by 5-foot triangular corner clip right-of-way dedications at intersections that are not signalized and do not have all-way stop signs in the “H” zoning district. 2) Conditional approval of the final plat upon meeting the platting comments in the staff report.

Nick Powell speaks for the applicant and said this case is tied to the plat that the commission just reviewed.

Powell said Texas A&M seeks a waiver from the triangular “corner clip requirement” in the right of way at the intersections and designed to prevent obstructions to lines of sight for pedestrians and motorists.

“With the Fort Worth downtown overlay, we are required to provide a 10-foot sidewalk, which is 4 feet larger than the standard sidewalk, and 7 feet of that must be unobstructed,” Powell said. “That’s for things like tree wells, landscaping that can’t be in the way. In addition to this, our design right now is going to call for bump outs on the streets adjacent, which is going to add about another 8 or 9 feet of clearance. So we’re going to have a pretty extensive line of sight at those intersections.”

Singleterry asks for a definition of a bump out. Powell said bump outs are small deviations in the curb “where the curb swings down to provide on-street (parallel) parking.”

Singleterry asks how many intersections would require the waiver.

Powell: Jones and 13th and Calhoun and 15th.

Singleterry asks, “Is there any chance that this bump out is not in the final plans?”

Powell: “It is the plan right now.”

Singleterry asks how ADA ramp upgrades planned for Main Street downtown will affect the street corners.

Powell: “The ramp will still be up to ADA standards.”

Singleterry asks whether traffic at these intersections was examined as part of the traffic impact study. Powell: “I’m afraid I don’t know that specifically.”

Singleterry said he is concerned about pedestrian traffic that the nearby train station will increasingly generate. “I do have some concern of having more pedestrians in the area and on Jones Street, cars go fairly fast at the current way things work. So I am worried.”

Boren closes the public hearing. Singleterry moves approval, and Farda seconds. Motion passes unanimously.

c) VA-25-008, vacation of a portion of North Service Street right of way adjacent to Lot BR, Block 1. Western Hills Addition, Section 1, Council District 3, being a vacation of a portion of North Service Street right of way, adjacent to Lot BR1, Western Hills Addition, Section 1, in addition to the city of Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas, as recorded in Volume 38851, page 20, located in the city of Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas, general location north of Camp Bowie Boulevard, south of Doreen Avenue, west of Francis Drive, and east of Phoenix Street.

The commission notes there’s been a request for continuance. Boren closes the public hearing. Tidwell moves to continue the cases, and Henderson seconds. Motion passes unanimously.

d) FS25132, Fort Worth Country Club, Lot 1R, Block 1, waiver request, Section 31106C3, Council District 7, being a replat of Lots 1 and 2, Block 1, Fort Worth Country Club, volume 995, Page 571, plat records, Tarrant County, Texas, and Bourine Street, volume 1178, page 603, plat records, Tarrant County, Texas. Peterson Pate Survey, abstract number 31, situated in the city of Fort Worth and Westover Hills, Tarrant County, Texas. General location, north of Byers Avenue, southwest of Westover Road and east of Bourine Street. Applicants: John Margotta and Baird Hampton Brown Inc.

Ty Thompson, representing Baird Hampton Brown, is the applicant. Thompson asks for a 30-day continuance to the July 23 hearing. With no other speakers, Boren closes the public hearing. Henderson moves to continue the case, and Tidwell seconds. Motion passes unanimously.

e) PP25032, Hickory Edition, waiver request to sections 31-101D and 1, 31-102B and 2, and 31-106D-1, 47 single-family lots, ETJ, Wise County, general location east of South Hickory Street and west of Future Graben Road. Applicant: Claymore Engineering on behalf of MRW2 LLC.

Action: Applicant has requested a continuance to the July 23 meeting. Boren closes the public hearing. Cranz moves to continue the case, Singleterry seconds. Motion passes unanimously.

Adjournment: Boren adjourns the meeting.

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This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Locations Mentioned: Fort Worth City Hall, Texas A&M Fort Worth