A group of north Fort Worth residents don’t want an auto repair shop operating less than 35 feet from their backyards.
Fifth Gear Automotive, which operates eight locations across North Texas, planned to open a new shop off of Loddick Lane, about a quarter of a mile from Timberview High School and between two subdivisions.
Nearby residents worry the shop will affect their home values and quality of life, bringing potential heavy traffic, noise and pollution, they told City Council members Jan. 6.
The shop’s operations were initially approved by Fort Worth zoning officials in September, but residents’ outcry prompted city officials to require the owner to go through a rezoning process before opening.
“We just shouldn’t be here right now, but we are,” said Eric Wilhite, a nearby resident who has led the charge to stop the shop from opening. Wilhite has been involved in city planning for 30 years and is an official for the city of Gunter.
“If they get it done here, what keeps them from doing it anywhere else in Fort Worth to try to roll the residents?” Wilhite said.
Bill Bernick, founder and co-owner of Fifth Gear Automotive, told the Report in an email that he looks forward to working with nearby homeowners to address concerns.
Bernick noted that most of his other locations share a boundary with neighborhoods. The company works hard “at being a good neighbor in each community we serve,” he wrote.
Fifth Gear shops only do work indoors and have a single door instead of a series of bay doors, so they do “not look like a typical auto repair facility,” he added.
Will Bernick listens to a north Fort Worth resident decry his company’s move to open a shop among single-family neighborhoods during a City Council public comment meeting on Jan. 6, 2026. (Drew Shaw | Fort Worth Report)
Wilhite said that even if Fifth Gear is a responsible neighbor, the rezoning would stay with the land, opening the door for more careless businesses to move in in the future.
Fifth Gear representatives submitted the rezoning application Monday.
The case is scheduled to appear before Fort Worth’s zoning commission in February, then go to a City Council vote.
Wilhite and his neighbors are attempting to stop the rezoning by gathering signatures from nearby homeowners.
“We’re gonna fight like hell to keep this from being there,” said Barbara Brewer, who sits on the board of a nearby homeowners board and spoke about the issue Tuesday during a City Council meeting. “We will make sure that we show up with everything we need for the zoning meeting.”
Over the past year, Brewer was among residents opposing a prospective tire shop off Timberland Boulevard. The tire shop would have been about 100 feet from the backyards of its neighboring subdivision. City zoning officials ultimately shut down the rezoning necessary for its opening.
“If you allow zoning to be changed like that, you’re allowing that to be a precedent for the rest of the city,” she said.
Fifth Gear’s unexpected opening
Before Fifth Gear moved into the property, the land was used and zoned as a warehouse space for over a decade.
The neighborhood directly behind it to the north was built in 2010, and the subdivision in front of it to the south was built in 2020, according to the Tarrant Appraisal District.
In September, Fifth Gear officials submitted a certificate of occupancy to the city, expressly stating the business would conduct auto repair, according to city documents reviewed by the Report.
The property’s zoning classification, PD-894, allowed for uses including warehouse, outdoor storage, retail sales and office space but not automotive use, Fort Worth zoning officials wrote in a November email to Wilhite, which was obtained by the Report.
In emails to Wilhite obtained by the Report, city staff initially defended the decision to allow Fifth Gear. They argued the automotive operations would only cover 34% of the property and was therefore an accessory to the warehouse that would not require rezoning.
After continued pushback from residents, officials walked back on the decision and required Fifth Gear to apply for rezoning.
Fort Worth code bars automotive repair operations in residential neighborhoods.
“It’s been completely mishandled and wrong, and (the city) needs to clean it up,” Wilhite said.
Fort Worth Development Services officials, which oversees zoning, issued a statement on Tuesday after the council’s public comment meeting. They noted staffers saying they are aware of residents’ frustrations and the rezoning case will move forward through the process.
“Others interested in the matter will have ample time to weigh in at the zoning commission hearing and at the council zoning meeting,” the statement read.
Department officials declined to answer the Report’s specific questions on the issue.
City Council member Alan Blaylock, who represents much of far north Fort Worth, referred the Report to the city’s statement and added that he respects constituents’ input on the issue.
Brewer said she feels sympathy for Bernick, the shop owner, as his recent investments into renovating the property would go to waste if the rezoning request is denied.
“This should have never gotten as far as it has,” she said.
Bernick wrote he wasn’t surprised by the pushback from homeowners or the need for a zoning change. Fifth Gear wants to be a member of the community, he added.
“We believe that our planned physical investments in the facility and property should be considered a significant improvement for the neighborhood to alleviate some of the concerns they might have had in the past over its use,” he wrote.
Drew Shaw is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at drew.shaw@fortworthreport.org or @shawlings601.
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