Organizers of a recently formed nonprofit say they are working to protect landowner’s rights in Taylor’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.
“If you have any property out in the ETJ, you may have had a sale that did not go through,” said local landowner Hannah Wolbrueck. “We know it’s time to work together as a powerful landowner’s group.” On Thursday, Jan. 19, “Taylor Landowner Rights Coalition” met at the Taylor Public Library in response to the city’s Envision Taylor Comprehensive Plan’s restrictions on property out in the ETJ.
The city says due to the high cost of extending and maintaining infrastructure there, intensive development in that area is not fiscally sustainable.
According to Texas law, cities have the authority based on population size to manage growth patterns in their ETJ, which in Taylor’s case, is one mile out from the city limits, except for some areas that petitioned to be included.
A crowd of about 100 landowners attended the information session, which featured attorneys Chris Johns, who specializes in eminent domain issues, and Bill Cobb, the former deputy attorney general for civil litigation for the state, as well as Alice Duffy, an agent with Keller Williams Realty, who said she has helped organize Central Texas landowners with properties in areas experiencing high growth in the past.
“We have got to work together,” Johns said. “Let’s talk about what is going to happen in this area. It’s already changing the character of the area right now, and it’s happening quicker than you think.”
The attorneys offered a deal to the landowners to represent their interests in legal discussions and potential litigation with the city with no upfront fees, but instead take a 3 percent commission from the gross sales price from any sale of property conducted during the next decade.
“You can join our group even if you don’t sell your land,” Johns said. “It won’t obligate you to work with any real estate professional.”
However, Duffy said in a subsequent meeting she is hoping to list properties together to make them more attractive for selling.
At the meeting, At-large Councilman Dwayne Ariola called in to voice his support for landowners getting organized.
“In theory, the city is not preventing you from selling, but it is preventing you from getting full market value,” Ariola said.
Mark DeLoach, a landowner who owns about 90 acres near Samsung Austin Semiconductor and who is a friend of Johns, said he also helped organize this effort.
“When I realized we were having this problem, I called Chris,” DeLoach said. “I think the city thought we would be bringing a knife to a gunfight,” he said.
In a subsequent phone call, Duffy, who has a separate agreement for the clients and has agreed to reduce her normal commission for the effort, said a handful of landowners have already signed the contract of the attorneys.
“We have landowners from all over the ETJ that are joining up and being a part of this,” Duffy said.
Duffy said another meeting will be held Feb. 7, and they are hoping to reach more of the estimated 400 landowners who are affected.
“The reason I have done this is because I see — A. a massive problem that is not right, and B. this is an opportunity to list lots of land instead of one or two or three tracts, so I think that there is a benefit,” she said.
