Friday, March 29, 2024

Pre-growing pains: Proposed subdivision could have big impact

Posted

Editor's note: This is the second story about a proposed subdivision in the Oglesby area, and its potential impact. The first story ran on Sept. 14.

By Jeff Osborne

Senior writer and editor

Blayr Barnard of Oglesby said she is not an opponent of development and growth, but a proposed 592-house subdivision that would be located near there has raised several concerns for her and other neighbors.

Barnard voiced her concerns during the Sept. 13 meeting of the Coryell County Commissioners Court. She recently organized and hosted a town hall meeting for area residents on a Sunday earlier this month which was attended by County Commissioners Scott Weddle and Kyle Matthews.

"I am submitting 139 letters for review from concerned citizens," she told the commissioners court.

"It's been said I'm against development and growth. That's not true, I worked in development previously, and that's why I had no qualms hosting a town hall meeting with two days' notice."

Barnard said she has concerns about those who want to profit from the development of the land, and that they don't care about the impact it will have on the community.

"These are not local citizens, they are turn-and-burn developers and all the profit will be leaving Coryell County," she said. "If properly developed, this would make my land worth five times its current value, so why would I be against that?"

Barnard and other community members are concerned that the development will create dangerous traffic levels on roads not designed to handle that many vehicles, will overburden water resources, and will cause taxpayers to foot the bill for services and infrastructure that developers are not willing to help pay for.

She said the impact on water alone is a monumental concern.

"Our aquifer has already dropped 1,000 feet, and if we add another 595 (wells), not to mention an additional 150 nearby, we will run out of water," Barnard said. "We will become California (which has encountered significant resource shortages), and you will have to regulate these issues."

She said she has had to lower her water well 100 feet in the last five years.

In the days surrounding the town meeting, Barnard said she received 47 calls from people concerned about the proposed subdivision, which would be located along areas adjacent to County Roads 267, 268, 272 and U.S. Highway 84.

Barnard said a new subdivision with that many homes would overwhelm the Oglesby Independent School District, a small Class 1A district that could see the addition of 1,600 new students.

She said the county should consider adopting impact fees for new developments that would require the developers to pay for the infrastructure that would be required with the addition of new homes.

"They should have to pay for the infrastructure that affects our community," Barnard said.

During a town hall meeting in Oglesby earlier this month, Barnard said representatives of the local volunteer fire department and the Coryell County Sheriff's Department both said they did not have the resources available to adequately serve the addition of such a large number of homes so quickly.

She said water resources should also be protected, and electric services for that area would also be a strain.

"We are at 80% of our electric grid and that's why we're having brownouts," Barnard said. "Heart of Texas Electric (which serves the area) has no plans to expand there and Oncor doesn't have plans to come in."

She said studies should be done to determine if that area of Coryell County could effectively accommodate that number of houses in that area, even if the studies took years to complete.

Coryell County Commissioners Scott Weddle and Kyle Matthews attended the town hall meeting to listen to people's concerns.

"I am grateful Commissioner Matthews and Weddle came to the meeting," she said. "We have 150 people to help the county with tasks and to make calls, and I ask you not to vote to approve this subdivision until the subdivision ordinance is updated."

Gary Hannemann of Oglesby said his land is near the proposed subdivision on County Road 267 near Highway 84.

"There are three or four 90-degree turns and it is dangerous," he said. "There are also several creek crosses that drop off and no guard rails.

"My property of 200-plus acres extends to the proposed development, and I have a concern about going from no neighbors to more than 500 neighbors potentially."

Hannemann said he has owned the property since the 1980s and told the commissioners court, "I hope you'll take to heart our concerns."

Doug Davidson said he also owns property nearby, "and you have trucks flying down and trying to get uphill."

He said he was involved in an accident there, and he has also seen and experienced several near misses.

"The trucks coming through only care about getting their speed up enough to go up the hills," Davidson said. "There's also not really room on 267 for people to pass. You almost have to pull into the ditch to allow people to pass, and you also have a one-lane bridge in the area that hasn't been updated.

"I foresee a lot of wrecks – the infrastructure is not prepared to handle that many people. The developers don't want to pay for the infrastructure needed. They just want to get their money and be gone. The county will have to maintain the roads, put in guardrails. The developers want to dump (the costs) on us.

"As a county, we've got to go in there and protect ourselves. The developers won't pay for roads, the taxpayers will. They just want to take the money and leave us with the burden."

County Judge Roger Miller, who said no official proposal has been submitted for the subdivision to the commissioners court, said county leaders have talked about these and similar concerns.

"The commissioners court has had discussions addressing most if not all the issues you've brought up," he said. "There has been a dynamic change in development in Coryell County. We haven't had a situation before where thousands of acres were bought up, putting little towns in the middle of nowhere.

"That size development, if it were to come about, would immediately become the third largest (population center) in Coryell County.

"We're not sitting by idly. We've been meeting with the Middle Trinity (Water Conservation District) to find a way to have better monitoring of drawdown. We are also engaging in data collection concerning tributaries and runoff."

Miller said county leaders are playing catch-up in order to be able to respond to these concerns.

"We're still a little bit behind the developers," he said. "It's something new to Coryell County but it's something other areas are facing as well."

Regarding impact fees, Miller said, "It's something we should look into – something that holds developers accountable as the county grows."