Hey Westoplexians,

This week felt like a growth spurt. A federal housing bill actually became law, Bluejack Ranch keeps inching toward opening day, a new Target broke ground off Chisholm Trail, and about 60,000 of us descended on Weatherford for peaches. Somewhere in the middle of all that, I also went down a rabbit hole on chicken ordinances, which - turns out - is a more interesting read than it has any right to be.

Anyway. It's a lot of news, but it's good news, mostly. Here's what caught my eye this week.

-josh

The 41st Annual Parker County Peach Festival took over Historic Downtown Weatherford on Saturday, and roughly 60,000 people showed up for it - more than 200 vendors, two stages of entertainment, a 42 dominoes tournament, and, obviously, an enormous amount of peaches in every form a peach can take. Cobbler. Pie. Ice cream. Jam. If Weatherford could figure out how to put a peach in a peach, someone down there would've tried it.

This was also the first year for a VIP Peach Grove experience, and it sold out. Given that it came with VIP parking, a shuttle, peach ice cream, a peach fried pie, and a drink ticket, I'm not surprised - that's a better deal than most concerts I've paid for.

There are so many people in the Weatherford community who pour their hearts and souls into making this event as special as possible. Many don't know it, but the Parker County Peach Festival is the largest single-day event in Texas. That's not by accident. That's the hard work of individuals you've probably sat at the table next to while out to dinner, or smiled at while grocery shopping, and didn't even know it.

Full disclosure: I'm a Weatherford Chamber of Commerce ambassador, and I've volunteered at Peach Fest every year since 2018 - usually on golf cart duty, which means we’re either helping with something somewhat urgent or causing ruckus (but making a lot of people smile). This was actually the first year I haven't "officially" volunteered. Instead, I spent the day in the Downtown Weatherford Inc. booth, which was a nice, chill change of pace, and I didn’t have to wake up at 4am.

Shoutout to Downtown Weatherford Inc. for everything they do to keep that downtown feeling the way it does. They asked if I'd be a wheel in their Human Slot-Machine attraction at their booth this year - genuinely one of the more ridiculous and fun things I've done for this newsletter. And we're already looking forward to their Weatherford Wine & Whiskey Walk in October.

Anyway. Best in Texas Overall Festival last year, a Pinnacle Award the year before that. This isn't a festival that's trying to be something. It just is the thing.

🍑 Learn more → parkercountypeachfestival.org

Westoplex Weekly and Peaches → Halfway There, Westoplex Cowtown's Got Stories This Week

Congress doesn't agree on much these days, so when a bill passes the House 358–32 and the Senate 85–5, it's worth paying attention. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act became law on July 11 - not because President Trump signed it, but because he didn't sign or veto it in time, so it became law automatically. That's a strange way for the most significant housing legislation in decades to arrive, but here we are.

The headline piece for most of us: the law blocks large institutional investors - anyone who owns 350 or more single-family homes - from buying more, with a few carve-outs for build-to-rent projects. It also streamlines environmental review for new housing construction, expands what counts as a "manufactured home," and creates grant incentives for cities that actually build more housing instead of just talking about it.

I'll give you the honest read, not the sales pitch: economists are telling everyone not to expect fast relief. Housing supply doesn't turn around in a quarter. But directionally, this is aimed at the actual problem - not enough homes getting built - instead of another Band-Aid program. Maybe that's worth something, even if the effects take a few years to show up in your neighborhood.

📰 Source: CNN | CNBC | Bipartisan Policy Center

More Housing & Real Estate → Halfway There, Westoplex

Tiger Woods' second Texas golf course is taking shape out in Aledo, and as of this month, the timeline finally has teeth to it: the par-72 course - stretching close to 7,700 yards across creek-lined terrain studded with rock outcroppings and mature oaks - is set to open this autumn. A ten-hole short course and a double-sided practice range round out the golf side. TGR Design president Bryon Bell compared the rolling land to Texas Hill Country, which is a stretch if you're picturing flat North Texas pastureland, but if you've driven through that part of Aledo, you get it.

The Ranch Club itself has already been completed, so members have a home base while the course grows in. The residential side centers on roughly 500 homes - trimmed down from an early plan of 600 to keep things from feeling dense - ranging from about 1,140 to 3,500 square feet. Membership is expected to top out around 480.

What gets me is the local angle. This isn't an out-of-town developer parachuting in. Andy Mitchell, who's leading the project alongside former PGA Tour player J.J. Henry, is the same guy behind Bluejack National near Houston - and both are Fort Worth guys at heart. A private club built by people who actually grew up here is a different thing than most developments this size.

🏇 Full story → oftmw.com

More Westoplex Weekly on Bluejack Ranch → World Records, World Cup, and a $2M Makeover

Short answer: yes. Longer answer: it depends on how much land you've got.

I pulled the actual city ordinance so you don't have to. If your property is a half acre or less, you're capped at 12 fowl. Between a half acre and one acre, you can go up to 25. A full acre or more, you're allowed up to 50 - though at that point you might just be running a small farm. Roosters are capped at two, regardless of lot size, which - if you've ever been woken up by one at 5 a.m. - feels like generous city planning.

The part people skip past: your coop has to sit at least 50 feet from any neighboring home, restaurant, school, church, hospital, or daycare. On a standard suburban lot, that's the real limiting factor, not the headcount. And if you're in an HOA, none of this matters - your CC&Rs can override the city ordinance entirely, so check there first before you fall in love with the idea of fresh eggs.

🐓 Read the ordinance → codelibrary.amlegal.com

There's a new Target going up at Chisholm Trail Parkway and McPherson Boulevard, and it's the first one to land in that part of far southwest Fort Worth - the closest existing Target is about six miles north. At 145,000 square feet and a $22 million build, this is a full-size store, not a small-format one, and it's expected to open around late summer.

There's a little bit of Fort Worth bureaucracy baked into this story too. The developer wanted a 20-foot sign along the parkway to advertise the shopping center, and the Board of Adjustment rejected it in May - the messaging area was 258 square feet against a 200-square-foot city max. Turns out Chisholm Trail Parkway has been a protected "scenic corridor" since 2003, a designation former Mayor Kenneth Barr helped push through specifically to keep the highway from turning into a wall of billboards. So no oversized signage, even for a Target.

An H-E-B is also rumored for a nearby corner of the same development, though that one's still just land purchases and no confirmed timeline.

🎯 Source: Fort Worth Report | TDLR project filing |

If you need a plan for the kids this weekend, the Kimbell Art Museum is hosting a Family Festival called Ice Cream Sunday on July 19, from noon to 5 p.m. It's exactly what it sounds like - a full afternoon of family activities at one of the finest small art museums in the country, with ice cream involved, which is really all the convincing a kid needs.

It's a good one because it sneaks in a little culture without anyone noticing they're getting it. Nobody complains about a museum trip that ends in a scoop of vanilla.

🍦 More info → kimbellart.org

Here's one for your next trivia night: the ice cream Drumstick - yes, the one in your grocery store's freezer aisle right now - was invented right here in Fort Worth. In 1928, I.C. Parker of the Pangburn Candy Company jad the idea to drop an ice cream cone in a vat of chocolate and roll it in peanuts - brilliant, I’d say! Parker's wife took one look and said it resembled a fried chicken leg.

Here’s their Fort Worth house!

A city known for cattle drives also happens to be the birthplace of a dessert eaten by kids - and myself - in gas station parking lots across the entire country. Make of that what you will.

"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now." - Chinese Proverb

That's the week in Fort Worth. As always, if you have questions about the market, want a free home value estimate, or just want to know what's happening in your neighborhood - I'm one reply away.

See you next week,

Josh Harville
Real Estate Professional | Fathom Realty, LLC | SA-0682306 Westoplex Region: Fort Worth · Aledo · Weatherford · Benbrook & surrounding communities
📞 817-917-8923
✉️ [email protected]
🌐 http://joshuaharville.fathomrealty.com/
Instagram: @Westoplex_Harville
Facebook: Josh Harville - Realtor - Fathom Realty

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