Cook Children’s is setting the ground for future expansion plans in Fort Worth, but not everyone is content. 

City Council members unanimously approved Cook Children’s Health Care System’s proposal to rezone several of its properties following an initial recommendation for denial from the Fort Worth Zoning Commission last week. 

Mayor Mattie Parker abstained from the vote because she works part time as chief of staff for the pediatric health system. 

Representatives for Cook Children’s spoke to council members Sept. 17 in hopes of rezoning about 5.77 acres from their Near Southside designation to intensive commercial. The change would primarily target lots owned by the health system near Pennsylvania Avenue, 8th Avenue, Cooper Street and Interstate 30.

“This is wonderful news for our patients and our families and we are grateful to the city council and our community for their support,” a Cook Children’s spokesperson said in a statement.

An intensive commercial zone allows for buildings to go as high as 12 stories. The current Near Southside zoning limits building heights to create a mixed-used area that encourages pedestrian-oriented and urban development. 

The health system wrote in its initial request that the rezoning would make it easier for the health system to develop new projects across the street from its medical campus with “greater flexibility.”

“The zoning that is being requested allows the flexibility that helps Cook adapt to the operational challenges or requirements of their facilities without needing waivers that might be triggered by the Near Southside code,” Mike Brennan, president of Near Southside Inc., said at the meeting. 

Before the council meeting, Cook Children’s issued a statement stating the health system was looking “to improve the well-being of every child in our care and communities” amid population growth in Fort Worth.

Although Cook Children’s did not disclose its expansion plans, the health system did share that its neonatal intensive care unit neared capacity earlier this year, and “it’s not the only department experiencing overload.”

“We’re looking at what we may be able to move from our current campus to the other side of 8th Avenue,” Spencer Seals, vice president of construction and real estate at Cook Children’s, said in a statement. “The goal is to make more room on our current campus for critical care services, which we direly need.” 

Several residents of the neighboring 8th Avenue Historic District spoke against the proposed rezoning. 

Jason Smith, the owner of Law Offices of Jason Smith at 612 8th Ave., said that while he supports Cook Children’s mission, he believes the health system needs to present expansion plans before asking to rezone. 

Smith has heard whispers of a potential day care at one of the sites, but Cook Children’s is not “willing to even disclose or discuss with us on the front end what they want to do.” 

“We’ve made investments in this property,” Smith said at the meeting. “I would ask the council to deny it without prejudice and hopefully we could come to an understanding with Cook (Children’s), but what they want to do is incompatible with what the Brenders have done to preserve these historic houses.” 

Smith was referring to Art Brender and his wife, who own a historically designated home on 8th Avenue. The building houses Brender’s practice, the Brender Law Firm. 

Brender, who previously spoke before the zoning commission, was in attendance at the Sept. 17 meeting to echo his opposition to Cook Children’s rezoning. He believes the potential for 12-story buildings near his property could damage the neighborhood’s integrity. 

“When you start building 12-story buildings all around, you close these neighborhoods, and it violates the very principles we had in mind there,” he previously said.

District 9 council member Elizabeth Beck, who represents the Medical District, said she’s previously met with leaders at Cook Children’s to discuss their master plan and believes the health system would not build up to 12 stories.

“I trust Cook. They’ve been a great partner with the Near Southside in the city of Fort Worth. If they are not a good partner, I know someone to call who can make sure that they work with us,” she said. “I do believe that the work Cook is bringing to our community, the assets, the resources are so important.”

Following the council’s decision, Smith expressed his discontent with the approval. Smith doesn’t believe Cook Children’s won’t take the opportunity to build taller buildings, he said. 

“It seems like the council was afraid to take on the mayor’s employer,” Smith told the Report. 

Brennan previously assured neighboring property owners that the organization is working closely with Cook Children’s during the developmental process to consider community feedback. 

“We ask for others on the historic block to be engaged in that conversation,” Brennan previously said. “I think it’s going to be a balancing of a variety of goals.” 

David Moreno is the health reporter for the Fort Worth Report. His position is supported by a grant from Texas Health Resources. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org or @davidmreports.

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