FORT WORTH, Texas — In far north Fort Worth, pasture land and rolling hills will be transformed into a new development.
Tuesday evening, Fort Worth city councilmembers signed off on a large new development that will build 1,914 homes near Eagle Mountain Lake.
The Rio Claro development will be located southeast of the intersection of Morris Dido Newark Road and Bonds Ranch Road. It’ll sit near the proposed Eagle Mountain High School.
Developer PMB Capital Investments is also developing Veale Ranch in southwest Fort Worth, among other developments.
Matt Mildren, a partner at PMB Capital Investments, told WFAA the new development in far north Fort Worth will have public parks, open spaces, amenities, fishing ponds and a connected trail system.
Fort Worth’s fast-growing economy and ample land has led to a booming population and expansion north of the city, but some who live near the newly-approved development are not on board with what they call rapid expansion.
During Tuesday’s city council meeting, two speakers spoke out against the development. One of them said he lives in the community down the road from the new development.
“We have to slow this down. We haven’t fixed roads yet,” said one man.
Neighbors who live near the development worry that the two-lane, two-way rural Bonds Ranch Road is already too congested with traffic.
“The existing road is not sufficient to handle traffic,” another speaker during the meeting said.
District 7 councilmember Leonard Firestone, who represents the district where the development will be built countered the statements made by those in opposition.
“The developer has agreed to improve portions of road,” Firestone said.
Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker commended Firestone for his work in bringing the development to fruition.
“The city’s listening and I know city staff is taking it as a priority to make sure infrastructure does come first before some of the growth because of what we've seen in North Fort Worth,” Parker said.
All councilmembers voted in support of two agenda items related to the development, with the exception of councilmember Chris Nettles, who was not present for the vote.
Mildren told WFAA the next step will involve submitting engineering and construction plans to the city for approval.
Construction is expected to begin in early 2023 and construction of homes will begin early 2024, Mildren said.