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East Fort Worth residents urge sustained code enforcement and coordinated revitalization after injunction lift
Summary
Leaders from Meadowbrook and the East Lancaster Task Force told the Fort Worth City Council during public comment that long-running code, safety and blight problems need a coordinated city response after an injunction against a repeat offender property was lifted.
Joshua Friend, president of the Greater Meadowbrook Alliance, and other neighborhood leaders urged the Fort Worth City Council during the meeting’s public comment period to coordinate a sustained response to persistent crime, property neglect and disinvestment in East Fort Worth.
The plea came as community leaders described long-standing problems in Meadowbrook and along East Lancaster and expressed frustration that a temporary injunction filed last year against a problem motel had been lifted after city attorneys said the injunction had reduced crime at that property.
“The families within our territory are in dire need of your coordinated help. We number around 50,000,” said Joshua Friend, president of the Greater Meadowbrook Alliance, describing intermittent sidewalks, poor lighting, repeated trash and unsafe driving. Friend said, “According to city data, District 11 had the highest number of crimes in 911 calls and one of the lowest numbers for education and household income.”
Cindy Bowling, president of the Central Meadowbrook Neighborhood Association, described repeated code violations at commercial and multifamily properties and told council that owners frequently pay citations rather than remedy conditions. Bowling asked the city to create an automated fine similar to the city’s $3 trash-bill charge but with larger penalties, saying those fines should be high enough and automatic enough to deter repeat offenders.
Carol Peters, president of the West Meadowbrook Neighborhood Association and a member of the East Lancaster Task Force, said the task force built a multi-agency case using citizen-generated evidence and that the city’s legal action had succeeded in reducing problems at the EcoHotel property. Peters said the legal department later informed the task force that the injunction was being lifted because it appeared successful on paper, leaving residents disappointed and concerned that problems could return.
Residents and task-force members described risks to volunteers who gathered photographic evidence and said they had been threatened while documenting vagrancy, prostitution, drug activity and property violations. Peters said East Fort Worth is the city’s eastern gateway and argued that safety must come before private investment: “First comes safety and security, then investment in vibrancy follows,” she said.
Speakers pointed to recent developments — the Palladium apartments on East Lancaster and possible townhouse interest on the Tandy Retirement Center site — as signs that private investors are watching but said investment will not follow without sustained enforcement and public-safety work. Community members said they have met with multiple city departments and asked council for a coordinated plan that pairs enforcement with economic development and services.
No formal action or vote occurred during the public comment period; speakers requested follow-up meetings with city leadership and urged more aggressive and automatic enforcement measures.
Residents said they welcome collaboration with elected officials and staff but asked that legal remedies not be short-lived. “To continue to allow valuable real estate to teeter between its success and blight is economic malpractice,” Peters said.
