The City of Fort Worth is planning the future of the Berry Street area. City Council’s approval of the University/Berry Form-based Code is one of the first steps toward updating the Berry Street area.

According to the final version of the code, published by the City of Fort Worth, “[the] code is intended to balance conservation and development, achieve design excellence in the built environment, [and] guide Fort Worth’s prosperous and sustainable future.”

Felix Landry, senior planner for the City of Fort Worth, explained the code saying, “the form based code establishes a set of development regulations which largely maintains the standards already in place while adding additional guidelines for the functional and aesthetic character of new structures built within the boundary.”

The new code will encompass Berry Street from Stadium Drive to 6th Street.

A form-based code, unlike conventional zoning, takes into consideration the look of the overall area. Instead of dividing neighborhoods by building function, developers will focus on how new projects will fit into the area’s environment.

This zoning project has been a collaborative effort between the city, the Fort Worth Transportation Authority, Texas Christian University and the Berry Street Initiative.

Todd Waldvogel, TCU’s associate vice chancellor for facilities & campus planning, said he thinks the code will be good for the area.

“The new code allows appropriate flexibility for TCU and our Berry Street neighbors to develop in ways consistent with the desired urban revitalization, while still conforming to an established vision for a vibrant streetscape,” Waldvogel said.

The city received a lot of public input at the beginning of the project, according to Landry. He also said the drafting of the ordinance was guided by the public’s input.

The code was continued by the zoning commission at the end of last year for further meetings with residents, according to Jocelyn Murphy, planning manager for the City of Fort Worth.

Fort Worth City Council voted to approve the Berry/University Form-based Code Feb. 7.

Landry said the code won’t take effect for another two to three weeks until it is published and publicly posted.