Barnett Shale News Items

South Side Update: The FWWeekly offers a catch-up story on the gas drilling battle on the South Side, primarily focusing on Don Young and Liane Janovsky. Not really much new in here, but I think it is worth remembering that XTO's alternative to its Eighth Avenue drilling site is, as Liann reminds us, "within 1,000 feet of the Fort Worth ISD’s Daggett Montessori school, as well as Daggett Elementary and [Daggett] Middle School and the Montessori preschool. There are also a couple of dozen poor rental properties over there. And I object to the idea of a gas well that close to schools.”

In the article, Young also says that a gas drilling pad site has been staked out just south of the beautiful old Texas & Pacific warehouse on Lancaster Avenue, which is going to be developed for high-end condos. I asked Kevin Buchanan at Fort Worthology about this the other day, and he actually went down to the site and took some pictures. He didn't see anything. Did he miss it? Nonetheless, I find it hard to believe that drilling would be allowed so close to a building complex that is on the National Register of Historic Places and an active residential complex at that. But there are so many dumbfounding aspects to urban gas drilling, where do you begin the list?

Oh, funny running into you here: Talk about an awkward moment. Mayor Mikey decided to take a little stroll down by the Trinity Trees the other day. Maybe he was thinking about the $620,000 he earned from his oil and gas holdings in 2006. 2007 should be a better year. Then, boom! He runs into Melissa Kohout, who is suing the city over the Trinity Trees drilling site. Wow. Where can a Mayor go to get away around here anyway?

City To Revisit Gas Drilling Ordinance?

When the Fort Worth City Council met on Sept. 11, Mayor Moncrief was very clear -- there is nothing wrong with Fort Worth's gas drilling ordinance. In fact, he said it is the model for ordinances used by many of the surrounding cities.

I took that to mean case closed. In spite of the concerns of over 1,200 people who signed petitions to support the Trinity Trees and the over 400 people who turned out for a public forum on the issue, the City seemed to have a clear message -- get lost.

But, as Lee Corso might say, not so fast, my friend.

In an e-mail sent out last week to dozens of Trinity Trees supporters, Wendy Davis indicated that far from being a done deal, the city's gas ordinance might be going back to the drawing board.

Last week, the City Council committed to hold a workshop for purposes of sending the ordinance back to the Gas Drilling Advisory Committee for further review as a direct result of the outcry over the Trinity Trees issue. Davis said in the e-mail that she expected the workshop to be held within the next few weeks.

In the e-mail, Davis attached a memo from City Planning and Development Department Director Fernando Costa, dated Sept. 13, that outlines some possible points for review, including:

Requiring review and comment by the City’s Parks and Community Services Advisory Board for any gas wells to be sited within a certain distance of designated City parks

Applying the same setback requirements to the Trinity River and its tributaries as to designated City parks

Requiring the installation of more effective landscaped buffers around gas well sites

Repealing current provisions whereby property owners may waive certain setback requirements, thereby requiring all such waivers to be approved by the City Council

Requiring special use permits to be approved by the City Council upon recommendations from the Zoning Commission for wells within or near residential zoning districts.

In addition, Davis is recommending that a few other points be added as part of the review, including:

Charging impact fees to the gas companies for the wear and tear to our streets from their trucks

Requirements to complete a truck route plan with the city for the ingress and egress to the well sites

Requirements to work with the city on the placement of the gas pipelines

Requirements to work with the city regarding the placement of the compression stations.

Taken at face value, this all looks encouraging. But I wonder why the sudden about-face on this issue? Is this just an attempt for the city to smooth over ruffled feathers? Or is it an attempt to fix some legitimate problems with the gas drilling ordinance? I don't know. I'd like to think that public outcry is forcing the city to act. But let's see how this plays out. In the meantime, I would encourage you to contact your city councilperson and let them know that you support revisiting the gas ordinance.

Can the Trinity Trees be saved? If you continue to speak out and get involved, maybe they can.

Hanging Together or Hanging Separately

After a confusing day filled with conflicting reports, it appears that the Berkeley Neighborhood Association announced that they've gotten Fort Worth Energy (with drilling partner XTO) to agree to their conditions for a lease. One of the conditions is that they wouldn't use the 8th Avenue drilling site.

Here's the rub. That means the site moves north, probably near Mistletoe Heights. Yulp. They also mentioned a site east of Hemphill, but I think that's too far away to reach Berkeley minerals.

Maybe I'm wrong, but it looks like the Berkeley Task Force threw Mistletoe Heights under the bus. If true, that is a disturbing development, because what Fort Worth will end up with is NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) gone amok. Everyone wants their mailbox money, but no one wants a drilling site or pipeline near them.

This is the downside to the lack of leadership from the City on this issue. As Wendy Davis tried to explain at the City Council meeting on Tuesday, we need to go back and revisit the urban gas drilling ordinance. As it stands right now, neighborhoods are free to cut their own deals. But if your Neighborhood Association cuts a deal that results in a well being stuck in some other neighborhood, how do you know some other Neighborhood Association won't do the same thing to you down the line? There will be winners and there will be losers. Your neighborhood may be a winner today and a loser tomorrow. But count on this, the gas drilling companies will never be the losers.

Fort Worth, this is larger than a neighborhood issue, this is a city issue. The gas drilling companies are employing a divide and conquer strategy. They will pit East Side vs. West Side and Berkeley vs. Mistletoe Heights. Don't fall for this. We need to stick together. And we need leadership from the city.

Here is what I propose:

Don't Sign: Drilling companies need 80 percent of a neighborhood to move forward. Don't sign with anyone and encourage your neighbors to do the same.

Contact Your Neighborhood Association: Tell them how you feel on this issue and encourage them to work with other associations to act together. Contact FW Can Do.

Force The City To Act: When Wendy Davis explained the need to revisit the gas ordinance, Mayor Moncrief slapped her down. The Mayor is wrong on this issue. Now it is time for citizens to make their voice heard. There is already talk of a petition to force the City Council to revisit the gas ordinance. I am throwing my support behind that idea and I'll bring you more details on this issue as they become available. It is time the citizens demand leadership on this issue.

City Council to Trinity Trees: Get Lost

God bless Wendy Davis. She tried. And what she got for her trouble was a scolding from the Mayor of Fort Worth, Mike Moncrief.

Sorry about that, Wendy. You deserve a lot better.

After the meeting, she tried not to cry, but she did a little. And I don't blame her, because I wanted to cry, too.

It wasn't just that the Mayor and the City Council washed their hands of the whole Trinity Trees issue. It was how they did it. "This kind of public rebuke from the Mayor is absolutely appalling," said one woman, who wished not to be identified. "This city has had no better advocate on so many issues than Wendy Davis."

Davis, the District 9 City Council rep who has worked hard to find a solution that would be acceptable to all parties -- Chesapeake, Union Pacific and the people of Fort Worth -- actually brought some good news to the meeting. She's meeting with the Chesapeake CEO on Friday, along with Marc Ott, the assistant city manager who is working on the Southwest Parkway. Chesapeake and Union Pacific have used the Southwest Parkway as the reason that the Trinity Trees must be sacrificed. 'Because of the needs of the Southwest Parkway, there's no way we can use any of the Union Pacific land for drilling.' That's the reasoning.

Davis is trying to cut through this nonsense by getting the right people in the room on Friday. Good you, Wendy. But she didn't stop there.

"This issue is a symptom of a bigger problem and District 9 [Davis' district] is the first to feel it," she said. "We need to be proactive about this. We need to ask the city manager and the legal department and discuss the drilling ordinance."

Davis gets it. She understands that the issue is larger than zoning and individual property rights, it's about safety and quality of life. It is about pipelines going across our land, water trucks wearing out our streets and compression stations that could pose safety and environmental issues in our city.

"Union Pacific and Colonial Country Club are not be asked to bear the burden," she said. "What are the alternatives?"

That's a good question. We are told that the CEOs of Union Pacific and Chesapeake are going to meet. But will the people of Fort Worth have a seat at the table? That remains to be seen.

But Mayor Mikey doesn't want to get involved in this issue, and he's definitely not revisiting the drilling ordinance. "I take exception to the idea that we have not been proactive on this issue," he said. "This is a very difficult issue."

"Had Chesapeake not bought that property, did you see the kind of things that could have been put there? Would you rather have a concrete plant on that property?"

No, Mr. Mayor, I wouldn't. However, your logic is awfully close to what Bud Kennedy wrote on Sunday. And, I'm sorry to break it to you, but Bud didn't share the whole truth with you or the people of Fort Worth in his column. "That is old railroad land," he wrote. "It was always set aside for heavy industry. City Hall planners zoned it K and MU-2 -- specific designations for industrial development. ... The city zoning map is easy to find. ... Check it before you take any chops at City Hall."

So I did. Sure, K is a heavy industrial development. But most of the land is zoned MU-2 (see image from the city Web site at right). That's mixed use, which includes some light industrial, but it also includes such non-industrial uses as kindergartens, day care centers, schools and museums. Funny, Bud didn't mention that, but he really should have. Take a look for yourself. In fact, most of the land around the Modern Art Museum is zoned MU-2 (see map below). I wonder what would happen if someone wanted to put a gas well on that property? Could they get a high impact variance? Do the people of Fort Worth have a right to take chops at City Hall over that?

Mr. Mayor, given the choice between gas well and museum, I'd choose museum. Maybe a Trinity Trees Museum?

The rest of the Council was either antagonistic or silent. District 7 rep Carter Burdette, a former attorney for oil and gas interests, is unmoved by any argument to save the Trees. "The only way you'll know they're gone is if you fly over them in a helicopter." District 4 rep Danny Scarth was similarly unmoved. His reasoning seemed to be not my district, not my problem. Of course, since he crafted much of the existing ordinance, he doesn't feel the need to go back and revisit it.

Basically, Wendy Davis is the only one of the City Council who is convinced this is a real issue, despite 1,300 signatures on Trinity Tree petition and a City Council chamber full of mostly Trinity Trees supporters.

One Mistletoe Heights resident told me, "I see more and more people in my neighborhood becoming concerned with this issue. It is not going away. It's only getting bigger." And she's right. People connected to the neighborhood association there say only around 10 percent of homeowners have signed lease agreements for their mineral rights. A drilling company needs 80 percent before they can drill. I'm told numbers in neighborhoods like Ryan Place and Berkeley have also been slow to sign. Because so many of the Trinity Trees people come from these neighborhoods, I could easily see this issue preventing people from signing.

Bernie Scheffler, who is running to replace Davis in District 9 when she leaves to run for the State Senate, was surprised that Chesapeake and Union Pacific won't ask the City to get involved and help find a solution. "We aren't telling you what to do with your land, we're asking you to get involved to help find a win-win solution for everyone," he said. "Here's your chance to be good corporate citizens. It's not a complex issue."

It's not a complex issue and it's not over either.

"We'll be OK," said Rick Collins with Save the Trinity Trees. "We'll be OK."

P.S.: If you'd like, send Wendy Davis an e-mail to say thanks. Or if you feel a little rowdy, send Bud Kennedy an e-mail and ask him to correct his misleading column from Sunday.

Musings on "Opportunity Urbanism"

I love Fort Worth. I am passionate about this city and I probably tend to overthink it. However, I really believe that the city is on the precipice of a significant change, but most people don't seem aware of it or don't want to talk about it.

The Trinity River Vision and Trinity Uptown, the new TCC campus downtown, Museum Place and on and on. We're in the middle of a building boom. But is this good for Fort Worth and will it change the character of the city?

To help wrestle with these questions, I want to refer to this long and wonky paper about "opportunity urbanism" by Joel Kotkin that I found. The concept of “opportunity urbanism” is that a region’s ability to create jobs, offer affordable housing, and present entrepreneurial openings to a growing and highly diverse population are the surest signs of urban vibrancy.

Kotkin makes an interesting argument. “Superstar cities” like New York and San Francisco have become too expensive for middle class people and in the future will cater largely to the upper classes and to those who serve them. Instead, the model for America's future are the so-called "opportunity cities” like Fort Worth, Dallas, Austin, Charlotte, Atlanta and Phoenix. Why?

It's all about the “creative class.” Skilled workers are the brass ring and you get them with urban amenities, social attitudes, and cultural offerings. The emphasis here is on the so-called “war for talent.” Cities that win this battle, Kotkin says, will emerge as the avant-garde in technology, culture, and the expanding global economy.

Sez Kotkin: "These cities are also showing marked gains in attracting high-wage employers and educated migrants, including members of the ballyhooed creative class. These are, of course, the very jobs and workers that are widely thought to be concentrating in more elite places." Yeah, hipsters love all the cool stuff that a New York has to offer, but people are now even being priced out of Brooklyn. As he points out to put it in perspective, $42,000 a year in salary in Houston buys you what $100,000 a year will get you in NYC.

Because of this widening differences in housing and other costs, there has been a decisive demographic tilt towards cities like Fort Worth. Increasingly, this shift has included a movement of large corporate headquarters and of higher-end jobs to these opportunity cities. Firms that need to compete globally generally expand in business-friendly places that possess decent infrastructure and amenities, and that can accommodate a broad range of employees.

I'm just happy Fort Worth is even in the mix. People often say, "Fort Worth is a great place to raise a family." That's sort of a backhanded compliment. What's left unsaid is it's not exactly Coolsville. Can Fort Worth loosen up a little? Pete at Cowtown Chronicles was musing along these lines the other day. Basically, is Fort Worth too square to be a player with the creative class? I don't think we're there yet, but I think we're moving in that direction.

Kotkin also talks about what USA Today recently called the “Be Hip and They May Come” approach. He says this has exerted a strong influence on economic developers. "Often, this has taken the form of promoting the growth of arts districts, entertainment centers, and condominium housing—all believed to be critical in making a city more attractive to the 'creative class.'” We're loading up on museums and condos here in Cowtown, but there's more to it than that. There's an attitude shift needed. Fort Worth will have to do what George Mason University professor Richard Florida calls taking the guy with the tattoos seriously. Are we there yet? Uh, no. But we are working on it? Case in point, Todd Camp told my wife that Fort Worth's Gay and Lesbian Film Festival just had one of its best years ever. People were walking up to him and handing him checks. Progress? Yeah, a little.

Kotkin lays out some basic things that opportunity cities need to flourish. How are we doing?

A good educational system: There's room for improvement, but I'm generally bullish on Fort Worth public schools. For those so inclined, there are a mess of good private schools. But don't give up on public schools. It takes a village, people.

An educated and skilled workforce: I think we need more of these people. But so does everyone else. That's what's at stake. The creative class.

Affordable housing: I think Fort Worth is a very affordable housing market compared to anywhere, even Dallas and Austin.

Parks: I love Trinity Park and the Trinity Trails, but it's not enough. Besides, it wasn't that long ago that Mayor Mikey wanted to run the Southwest Expressway though Trinity Park.

Recreation opportunities: There's a lot of great stuff going on around here, but we're not in danger with being confused with Austin anytime soon.

Good transportation: Whither light rail? As Kotkin sez: "Physical mobility, as well as the class mobility stressed earlier, constitutes a critical factor in overall growth and as a means to expand individual opportunity."

Access to high-speed communications: Whither city-wide wi-fi?

Visionary leadership that recognizes what it takes to sustain economic growth: I think that we (Mayor Mikey, City Council, the Basses, etc.) get good marks on this. I don't agree with everything the poobahs do around here, but just look at the trainwreck that is Dallas city government to see how bad things could be.

A community spirit for getting things done: I think that is the heart of what makes Fort Worth great. Basically, we're resourceful, we have moxie and we kick ass.

So, let me ask the question again: is this development good for Fort Worth? If you believe Kotkin's thesis, yes it is. If we want to be an opportunity city, we need to continue to grow. "It is crucial that cities identify their priorities," Kotkin sez. "We agree that arts, culture, style, and impressive architecture can all reflect a city’s greatness. But we think history shows that great cultural centers—from Athens to New York City—must first work as economic engines for entrepreneurial ventures and for ordinary citizens."

And if building that engine means a Trinity River Vision, a Museum Place and a Vespa store, then OK. Maybe that makes me yuppie scum, but, you know, I think this is good for Fort Worth. There are things I miss about the old Fort Worth, the way it used to be. But I think we have a chance to see Fort Worth really flourish right now. I want to see that. But I also want to see us ask hard questions about whether we're doing this the right way.

Will this change the character of Fort Worth? Certainly it will. I'm just optimistic that those things we like about people in Fort Worth -- that spark that puts the funk in Funkytown -- I'm optimistic that won't change.

Maybe it's the Lone Star. Or the Zoloft. Or maybe you just caught me on a good day. But there you have it.

Establishment Politics in the Panther City

The FWWeekly spanks the Startlegram for its general lack of coverage of local city council races and the S-T editorial board endorsement of all the incumbents running (By the way, all y'all in District 9 please pay attention to the photo at left). FWWeekly also called out Mayor Mikey for the general lack of discussion over what to do with Barnett Shale drilling revenue.