Redevelopment is coming to the east side of Fort Worth at Loop 820 and East Rosedale Street. What type of development the city wants is up for debate.
The Fort Worth Urban Design Commission on April 16 denied to recommend a developer’s requests for eight waivers for a proposed development at the southwest corner of the loop and East Rosedale that could bring a McDonald’s and two other fast-food restaurants.
But the Fort Worth Zoning Commission, at its May 13 meeting, approved the rezoning 10-0, with a required site plan laying out locations of parking, trees, lighting, dumpster and signage. The case heads next to the Fort Worth City Council for a final decision.
“It’s a good amenity for people who live over there,” Jeremy Raines, Zoning Commission chair, said during the hearing. “It’s not a vacant lot anymore.”
The developer’s plan to bring in fast food “is not exactly” in line with the city’s comprehensive plan that calls for pedestrian-friendly mixed-use development in the corridor, “but it’s close,” Raines said.
At the Urban Design Commission meeting, commissioners wrestled over what should come in at the intersection, which has long been on the hunt for development.
Commissioner John Reed, who grew up in east Fort Worth, told the developer’s representative in the hearing that he’s “in favor of anything that can make it better.”
“This has been like this since I was a child,” he said.
The parcel of land, which is at 3812 E. Loop 820, is near the historic Stop Six neighborhoods.
The developer requested a recommendation to the Zoning Commission and City Council to rezone from low-intensity mixed-use to planned development/low intensity mixed-use for three fast-food restaurants. One will be a McDonald’s and the other two will be identified later, city staff said.
The developer requested eight waivers from requirements for setback, surface parking, trees, outdoor lighting and location of the entryway and drive-thru lanes.
The waivers were dictated by factors such as location of the restaurant’s entry point, need to locate the drive-thru lanes facing Loop 820 and away from the neighborhood on the west side of the property. It also considered the Texas Department of Transportation’s requirement that the developer place trees and lighting on its property — and not in the public right of way.
Commissioners turned down the request for a recommendation to the Zoning Commission and City Council, 5-3.
The majority raised questions about whether it was appropriate to grant a large number of waivers from the mixed-use plan for the area, and suggested better mixed-uses such as office, residential, retail and restaurant could be headed to the intersection. One commissioner questioned whether McDonald’s is a restaurant.
The land is in the city’s Berry/Stalcup Urban Village Master Plan, introduced in 2007, and it envisioned a vibrant, compact, pedestrian-oriented environment that provided services and open-space amenities within walking distance to residential areas.
Leslie Ford, representing the developer, said the McDonald’s will be a “full masonry building,” with brick and stone treatments. Those requirements would be written into the planned development zoning, meaning the other two fast-food restaurants would be required to adhere to them,” she told commissioners.
Ford said the developer has spoken to neighbors and they are excited about the McDonald’s.
“Here’s the deal,” she said. “It is a restaurant.”
Fort Worth Urban Design Commission
Documenter: Lisa Gayle Markham
Date: April 16, 2026
To learn more about this meeting, click here. For the agenda, click here.
Other cases:
2913 Merrimac Park Place
The 10-acre, triangular, Transwestern development is near West Bend and along the Trinity River. The applicant requested a certificate of appropriateness in the high-intensity mixed-use 2 district to allow a 40-foot fireplace chimney.
A dual-side fireplace is at the center of a courtyard of a seven-story multifamily building in the development. The Urban Design Commission approved the chimney, 9-0.
814 Pennsylvania Ave.
A commercial applicant requested a certificate of appropriateness for three wall signs on the building on the site, with the following waivers from design standards:
Allow aluminum as a background material and to permit a wall sign depth of less than 6 inches.
Install two wall signs, on the east and west sides, on walls that do not have public entrances.
The business on the site is All Injury Rehab. Urban Design commissioners approved the first waiver, 9-0, and denied the second waiver, 9-0.
1601 Lipscomb St.
This is the site of the Fire Station Community Center in the West Magnolia neighborhood.
The applicant requested a certificate of appropriateness to allow monument signs.
Applicant requested a recommendation to the Fort Worth Board of Adjustment to allow an electronic changeable copy sign.
The commission passed the first request, 6-3, and denied the second.
1519 Circle Park Drive
Applicant Primera Baptist Church and O-SDA Industries, LLC , a developer that plans affordable housing for seniors, requested a recommendation to the Zoning Commission and City Council to rezone to planned development/urban residential from community facilities, with these waivers from design standards:
Rear-yard primary structure set back of zero feet.
Maximum 93 parking spaces.
Interior building access for street level units.
Commissioners approved the requests, 9-0.
6104 Camp Bowie Blvd.
The applicant, CampiFW Inc., requested a certificate of appropriateness for an attached sign with the following waivers from design standards:
Allow an attached wall sign for a tenant space that does not have a facade along the public street frontage on Camp Bowie Boulevard.
Allow the attached wall sign area to be calculated at a maximum sign area of 32.25 square feet.
Tara Chisholm, the co-owner of Sloan Beauty Bar, told commissioners her business opened five months ago at 6104 Camp Bowie Blvd. with no signage. The business is tucked away in a corner of Ridglea Village.
The staff’s concern was that the village has so many signs already, is too cluttered and doesn’t have a neat, polished look. The commission asked why Sloan couldn’t have its business name listed on the pylon sign in front of the property.
Chisholm said they’d like that, but the three-year lease states they can’t. The lease does allow use of the awning for signage.
Chisholm said they held a grand opening with the support of several other local businesses. Chisholm emphasized that a delay will prolong operating with no signage, hurting the business further. The business received seven letters in favor and one against. The commission approved both waivers, 9-0.
Lisa Gayle Markham is a member of the Fort Worth Report Documenters crew. If you believe anything in this account is inaccurate, please email us at news@fortworthreport.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.
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