Friday, March 29, 2024

City seeks to extend borders

Posted

The city of Granbury is preparing to involuntarily annex five sections of land that encompass about 2,470 acres and 29 homes.

City Manager Chris Coffman said that such takeovers are a way for the city to control development and transportation corridors, preventing “urban sprawl.”

Notifications were to be sent last week to the property owners after the City Council unanimously approved a resolution to begin the proceedings during its regular meeting.

The green light from the council allowed city staff to begin preparation of a service plan and permitted the city manager’s office to send out development agreements. The council voted to schedule two public hearings on the annexations. Both will be held on Tuesday, May 7.

One public hearing will take place at noon; the other will be during the regular council meeting that will begin at 6 p.m.

Planning Director Scott Sopchak said that the annexations are “just filling in voids” in the city’s boundary and protecting corridors.

The land sections are:

■ Approximately 341 acres located north of the square, south of Loop 567 and west of SH 51 (Weatherford Highway);

■ Approximately 800 acres located north of U.S. 377, along Old Granbury Road and Meander Road;

■ Approximately 455 acres on multiple separate tracts located south of Business U.S. 377 and west of SH 144;

■ About 537 acres of land located south of Granbury at SH 144.

■ Approximately 335 acres located north of Loop 567 at and around the FM 4/ Loop 567 area.

Property owners who have an agricultural exemption will be mailed a Development Agreement that will stay the annexation of their property for up to 10 years provided they don’t develop or subdivide their property and maintain the ag exemption.

About 1,700 acres of the 2,470 acres proposed for annexation are tied to ag exemptions, Sopchak said.

Coffman indicated that with so much development occurring it is time that the city annex sections of land that could soon be targeted for apartments and subdivisions.

Coffman said that a plan for the provision of water and sewer services will be presented at the upcoming public hearings.

He said that the city is not required to provide services to a ranch house served by a well and a septic system, but that through annexation a developer would be able to tie onto the city’s infrastructure and extend services to a subdivision.

The city manager noted, however, that if a house is “within a certain distance” the homeowner “will have to tie into our water at their cost.”

Coffman stated that a benefit of annexation is that homeowners would pay regular rates for city water rather than the 1.5 percent charged to those within the ETJ.

According to Coffman, other benefits include improved roads that will provide better access for emergency vehicles and the guarantee of adequate water pressure for fighting fires.

“Annexation can be a dirty word to some people,” Coffman said. “But the bottom line is, the city continues to grow and we need to be able to continue to expand our services to those people as it grows. We don’t want to leave anybody behind.”

The city has posted information about the proposed annexations on its website, www.granbury.org.

kcruz@hcnews.com | 817-573-7066, ext. 258