Fort Worth, Texas

Fort Worth Sexually Oriented Business Study
   

Duncan Associates was hired by the Fort Worth City Attorney’s office to assist it in determining to what extent available evidence would justify possible changes to the City’s separation requirements between sexually oriented businesses and sensitive uses, such as residential areas, religious institutions and schools.

The firm provided the City with background studies to use in its legislative record and suggested a new survey of appraisers, to provide additional evidence of possible impacts of sexually oriented businesses on values of surrounding properties. Working with an academic expert on survey research, the firm designed a survey that disguised our motives by asking about the variety of a range of land uses on property values – we included churches, schools and parks, uses that seemed likely to be viewed positively, and pawn shops, salvage yards and other high-impact uses that might be viewed negatively, as well as the sexually oriented businesses in which we were really interested. Unlike earlier surveys of appraisers, we asked the appraisers to estimate how far the impacts might extend and gave them a range of choices up to 3,000 feet.
Findings from the survey showed that:
• Some 90 percent of respondents indicated that sexually oriented businesses are likely to have a negative effect on the values of nearby property;
• A significant majority believe that the negative effects will apply to commercial as well as residential property;
• A similar majority believed that the impacts may extend as far as 3,000 feet.
Connie B. Cooper, FAICP, worked in association with the firm on this project. Duncan Associates believes that this study is likely to become a landmark in the field, both because of the care with which it was performed and because of the new findings regarding the types and extent of the impacts on property values.

Period:    July 2004 - September 2004               Contact:    Chris Mosley, Assistant City Attorney
Team:      Duncan Associates (lead)                                        817392.7600
               Connie B. Cooper, FAICP