The shop\u2019s fate is in the hands of City Council, which is scheduled to give its final say on March 31. The zoning commission\u2019s unanimous vote against Fifth Gear is ultimately only a recommendation to council members to deny the rezoning request.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking at the land use, and how we typically look at a case like this, we would never put an automotive use in a neighborhood,\u201d said Jeremy Raines, chair of the commission.<\/p>\n
Wes Hoblit, a consultant speaking on behalf of Fifth Gear told commissioners before the vote that the company has a history of being \u201cgood neighbors\u201d in residential areas across the region.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hoblit, a former Fort Worth zoning commissioner who stepped down in 2025, explained that Fifth Gear would conduct repairs indoors, plant trees and build fences to block residents\u2019 views of the shop. Company officials would try to mitigate potential traffic on the residential street, he added.<\/p>\n
More than 20 residents from the area showed up to Wednesday\u2019s meeting to express opposition to the auto shop, voicing concerns that it would hurt home values and quality of life<\/a>. Speakers decried the heavy traffic, noise and pollution that could come with a shop potentially servicing nearly 100 cars a week.\u00a0<\/p>\n Eric Wilhite, a resident who led the opposition, told commissioners that he doesn\u2019t have anything against Fifth Gear as a company, but he can\u2019t \u201csee anything that offsets or mitigates any of the negative impacts that this type of land use can have.\u201d<\/p>\n Wilhite, who lives about 200 feet from the property, quoted a section of Fort Worth code that bars automotive repair operations in residential neighborhoods<\/a>. Fifth Gear is requesting the city to waive that rule.\u00a0<\/p>\n In July, Fort Worth zoning officials initially greenlit Fifth Gear\u2019s new shop, incorrectly telling company officials that the property\u2019s current zoning allows auto repair.\u00a0<\/p>\n That zoning classification, PD-894, allowed for uses including warehouse, outdoor storage, retail sales and office space \u2014 but not automotive uses. Before the shop moved into the property, the land was used and zoned as a warehouse space for over a decade.\u00a0<\/p>\n City planning manager Stephanie Scott-Sims told the Report that the permission was \u201can oversight\u201d that stemmed from \u201can issue\u201d with the city\u2019s geographic information systems<\/a> that led to staff providing the wrong information.<\/p>\n City legal officials at the meeting declined to comment on whether Fort Worth\u2019s potential rescinding of permission to open an auto shop opens the city up to litigation from Fifth Gear.<\/p>\n Fifth Gear began moving in, renovating and advertising the future shop last fall. That prompted Wilhite, a city planner of 30 years and official for the city of Gunter, to question city staff how it was allowed to do so without rezoning.\u00a0<\/p>\n In November emails to Wilhite reviewed by the Report, city officials defended their decision to allow Fifth Gear, arguing the automotive operations would only cover 34% of the property and was, therefore, an accessory to the warehouse that would not require rezoning.<\/p>\n City staff eventually notified the company that the shop required rezoning.<\/p>\n \u201cMistakes happen, so we\u2019re not here to berate anybody about a mistake,\u201d said Raines, the zoning commission chair. \u201cBut that\u2019s part of our job: is to make a recommendation about whether or not that zoning decision is the right one or not.\u201d<\/p>\n Bill Bernick, founder and co-owner of Fifth Gear Automotive, did not immediately respond to the Report\u2019s request for comment after the March 11 vote. Bernick previously told the Report that Fifth Gear wants to work with nearby homeowners to address their concerns and be a member of the community.<\/p>\n \u201cWe 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,\u201d he wrote in a January email.<\/p>\n City staff had recommended the commission support the rezoning for Fifth Gear. Scott-Sims argued that the property could appropriately hold a commercial repair shop.<\/p>\n She noted to commissioners that Fifth Gear\u2019s owner does not plan to expand or change the existing warehouse itself.<\/p>\n \u201cWe evaluated the proposed operations of the auto repair and felt that it was going to be compatible with the area, because we didn\u2019t think it was going to be intrusive,\u201d Scott-Sims said. \u201cThey\u2019re doing everything inside of the building.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoblit, the consultant, said the shop expects to start out servicing 20 vehicles per week. The company plans to add a fenced-in parking pad to hold vehicles and would operate from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, he noted.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything\u2019s indoors,\u201d he said. \u201cNo outside storage of anything at all \u2014 one bay door, it\u2019s AC climate-controlled.\u201d<\/p>\n Scott-Sims said that while homes lie directly north and south of the potential auto shop, the property is immediately flanked by a day care to its east and a fenced-in landscaping business to its west.<\/p>\n Zoning commissioners pushed back on Scott-Sims\u2019 suggestion that the property\u2019s immediate commercial neighbors justified a rezoning. Raines argued that \u2014 beyond the day care and landscaping company \u2014 the property is \u201ccompletely surrounded\u201d by residential.<\/p>\n Zoning commissioner Jacob Wurman noted that, if the rezoning request is approved, nothing would stop another, less responsible repair shop from moving in after Fifth Gear.\u00a0<\/p>\n Drew Shaw is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at drew.shaw@fortworthreport.org<\/a>or @shawlings601<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Fifth-Gear-1-1024x683.jpg\")
Bill Bernick listens to a north Fort Worth resident decry his company\u2019s 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)<\/p>\n