Monday, December 9, 2024
AZLE — The Azle City Council and planning and zoning commission held a special joint meeting Oct. 29 to approve the final draft for the city’s comprehensive master plan and parks and recreation master plan. The plan, titled “Azle: On the Horizon,” sets a vision, guidelines and a flexible framework for the city until 2045.
For about 18 months, the city and its advisor on the project, Halff, have been working to develop this plan with feedback from community members. Numerous public workshops and meetings were held in that period to gather such input. The plans covers land use, throughfares, parks, downtown and the implementation of the ideas presented in each category.
The comprehensive plan emphasizes safe mobility, with a focus on downtown development and maintaining small-town character. The parks master plan highlights the need for expanded neighborhood parkland and improvements to existing parks. Specific metrics discussed at the meeting showed a deficit in neighborhood parkland, but that Azle met and exceeded recommendations for community parkland set by the state. The discussion also touched on future transportation corridors and the importance of long-range planning.
Approximately 40,000 people are expected to live in Azle by the time a new plan is needed 20 years from now. The plan guides the creation of future infrastructure needed for a Haltom City-sized population including designated bus lanes, transit stops, sidewalks and bikeways in downtown Azle. This area includes Main Street and surrounding areas.
Azle resident Pamela Lindsey brought up concerns about limited parking on Main Street and at the Azle Memorial Library with an increase in activities as the community has grown. Azle Mayor Alan Brundrett and Halff representative Brad Johnson reassured Lindsay that the plan does emphasize more parking on parts of Main Street. On page 156 of the plan’s final draft, it calls on the city to conduct a parking audit in the downtown area in order to better address these needs.
Commissioners Leonard Wheeler and Ricky Simmons mentioned that the plan needs to address any possible major highway expansions that have been discussed in the past. The mayor and Johnson said any such long-term projects could be accounted for as the plan is updated every five years.
The council and commissioners unanimously voted to approve both plans at the meeting. The full plan can be found online at issuu.com/azlelibrary/docs/10.03.2024_draft_azle_comprehensive_plan.
