Representatives of Denton County, the city of Pilot Point and state Rep. Jared Patterson's office spoke to a small group on Monday evening about the transportation and development factors in the Ranch Cities area.
The presentation included details about what limitations and capabilities exist on each level related to controlling growth and acquiring funding for infrastructure.
'I just want everybody to understand what the authority we—the city, the county, the state—have when it comes to development,' County Commissioner Ryan Williams said.
The city representatives kicked off the explanation of what they're able to do.
'From our perspective, we want to make deals that are win-win-win as best we can,' Mayor Chad Major said.
Major explained how several state laws in recent years have hampered cities’ abilities to hold developers' feet to the fire, especially their ability to deannex not only from the city, but also from the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction, which then means the county is the only authority on what they are able to develop.
Having a development come into the city is ideal for revenue generation and input on the shape of the development itself, Major said, with it at least being in the ETJ as the next best option because the Municipal Development District can collect sales tax for properties within that wider border.
'Whether somebody stays out in the county or they come into the city, they're going to be using our roads; they're going to be coming to our library; they're going to be coming to this senior center,' Major said.
City Manager Britt Lusk also explained that negotiating with developers means city staff can sometimes convince them to reduce the density of the homes and add in spaces for public ame- nities that doesn't happen if they stay outside of the city's purview.
Williams explained that the county has limited jurisdiction about anything related to zoning outside of the Lake Ray Roberts Zone.
If a development comes into the county outside of that specific area, it can be anything ranging from high-density housing to a legal marijuana farm to an industrial warehouse, Williams said.
'The direction was going where the county would continue getting smaller and smaller, and cities would continue annexing land, and at some point in time we would have a lot less unincorporated area,' Williams said. 'Well, with legislative changes, that kind of went backwards.'
Denton County Director of Development Services Stephen Belknap further explained what the county can govern or not as far as development is concerned, including having three third-party inspections.
'Before, out in the county, and some counties still operate this way, you could just go build whatever you want and hope it doesn't fall down,' he said. 'So, it's really kind of a safeguard for all of y'all.'
He and Williams emphasized the need for permits for any structures or features that change the property.
Williams said when the county finds that a development has come in without proper permitting, including wedding venues, that is being rectified.
District Director Paul Slough from Patterson's office also spoke about the fact that there are certain rules in place at the state level that prevent state legislators from 'being able to direct funding' upon being asked about whether money could be dedicated to fast-growth areas over areas with relatively stable populations.
That's to keep big areas from running the entire state, he said.
Slough offered to give his contact information to anyone interested so they can connect about development and roadway- related concerns.
'The intent around developments was never to have 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 homes all platted, which essentially is a city, in the middle of county territory,' he said. 'That’s the reality that we're working with.”
Williams' Chief Administrator Capricia Willis provided an overview of the work the county has done to connect with TxDOT about area roadways, including driving to problem areas herself.
Toward the end of the meeting, the public was allowed to ask questions, and a lot of those pertained to the explanations about roadway projects that are proposed for the area.
Many of those projects will begin near U.S. 380 and travel north, including U.S. 377, FM 1385 and FM 2931.
A couple of men attended from Savannah, which is a census-designated place that is not contained within any city.
That causes its residents to face a lot of challenges because of the level of services that are provided compared to the population present.
'Some Band-Aids have been applied; we need more Band-Aids, but we need [the issues to be] fixed,' Savannah resident Bill Sipes said after thanking the officials for the information provided. '… We cannot accept where we are today.”
