Friday, April 19, 2024
Several Oglesby area residents voiced their concerns about a proposed 592 house subdivision - now identified as Twin Caverns Ranch - that they say will have a negative impact on current property owners.
Residents of the area near where the proposed development will be located have expressed concerns to the Coryell County Commissioners Court since a Sept. 13, 2022 meeting. On Feb. 28, many residents were back before the court to speak during the public forum session.
"I came before you in October regarding fast development and the unsustainable numbers coming in," Debbie Vanous said. "Nothing is in place to protect your citizens who are already here and paying taxes."
Vanous said she and other residents felt threatened on Saturday, Feb. 25, when the property developer, BG Development Group, held a "pre-development grand opening" for prospective property buyers.
She said she felt unsafe because of erratic driving on County Road 267 near the proposed development, and also voiced concerns about how the subdivision would impact water availability. She asked the commissioners court if an aquifer study has been done, asked about future plans for expanding CR 267, and also said she has concerns about people trespassing on her property to do survey work.
"We've been working with y'all for six months and after Saturday (the Feb. 25 showcase by the developer), I don't feel like y'all are on our side," Vanous said.
She added that the sheriff has said he is concerned about his department not being able to adequately cover the area, and said the millions of dollars allocated for expansion of the county jail should have been spent to hire deputies to protect local residents.
Later during the meeting, Commissioner Scott Weddle said that the jail expansion has the aim of protecting county residents. He noted that deputies often have to spend time taking inmates to other counties because of a lack of space at the Coryell County Jail. He said having the additional jail capacity locally will free up deputies for patrol duty.
Vanous said she is concerned that the quiet, safe property she and her family own is rapidly changing for the worse.
"I'm heartbroken," she said. "The land my husband and I are on was a lifelong dream for us. We are losing acre by acre through eminent domain (the right of a government or its agent to acquire private property for public use). I am now looking at losing three-fourths of my frontage property to road expansion." She asked the Commissioners Court to instead require that land for future road widening would be acquired across the road from her, even if they met relocating utilities.
"You posed three questions," County Judge Roger Miller said. "First, the Middle Trinity Groundwater (Conservation) District is developing their aquifer model. We will have that information available to us in the future — likely by December of this year.
"Second, this court has had no discussion of expanding County Road 267. And third, regarding surveying, the county is not involved."
Blayr Bernard, who also owns property near the proposed development, said she and other residents felt threatened by aggressive driving by those coming in for the developers' presentation on Feb. 25. She said it has been confirmed through a deputy with the Coryell County Sheriff's Department that trucks belonging to BG Development were among those she felt were not driving safely.
She also said inaccurate information was also provided to prospective buyers of land in the proposed subdivision.
"They told buyers a (water) well would cost $15,000," she said, adding that estimates of $75,000 to $100,000 have been received by current residents in the area — herself included.
She said developers have also threatened residents who stood on their property with signs that had information about concerns about Twin Caverns Ranch.
"No one wants to be threatened because of signs with facts on them," Barnard said.
Joyce Riley and Joyce Terry, who both live in the area of the development, said they also had concerns about unsafe driving and feeling unsafe in an area where they previously felt safe.
"There were hundreds of vehicles driving fast (in the area near the proposed subdivision on Feb. 25) until the sheriff was called and slowed them down," Terry said. "I couldn't even get across the road to my mailbox."
"People who work for the developer said we are in line for defamation lawsuits," Vanous said. "They took pictures of our license plates and of us."
Gary Hanneman said he has spoken to the commissioners court in the past about several issues related to the subdivision.
"I share a mile of fence line with this development, and I also have nine water gaps that come off this property onto my property," he said. "Once that big rain comes, I'm really curious what will wash onto my property, including pesticides and herbicides. Anybody that has an interest in protecting neighboring properties will be anxious to see."
During the meeting, approval of the plat (official map showing the divisions of the land) for Twin Caverns Ranch was one of the items on the agenda.
"This is at the core of why many of you are here today," Miller told those attending the meeting. "About two years ago we updated our subdivision regulations and reached out to a number of counties of similar size and growth. We took lessons learned and modeled our subdivision regulations. They were submitted to a legal firm that reviewed them and then were adopted in June 2021."
Miller added that at that time, the county had not seen explosive growth "like we're seeing now. Several deficiencies have been identified and there are some things we can do if we have the right data. We are working on those to do the best we can for the citizens of Coryell County."
Miller said the county government is only authorized to do what it is allowed to do by state law, and that actions are being taken to address concerns.
"Are we moving as fast as some of you would like? Probably not but that's where we are right now."
One of the residents said the county's actions are "too little, too late."
Justin Mannix with the county road and bridge department said the developer has met all the criteria currently required by the county, and supplied the necessary information requested.
He said the county has requested the developer place a 30,000-gallon water tank on the property to help respond to fires.
Commissioner Ryan Basham asked for the commissioners court to delay approval of the plate.
"I have concerns we haven't answered yet and haven't had an engineer look at it."
The court voted to table (or delay) approval, but Miller noted that by state statute the county has 30 calendar days to consider a plat for approval.
"If no action is taken (during that timeframe) the application is considered approved," Miller said.
Commissioner Scott Weddle said March 18 is the deadline for the commissioners to take action on the plat request.
"Mr. Basham's concerns are about floodplains and drainage issues," Miller said, adding that he hopes to have those questions addressed soon.
