GATESVILLE, Texas (KXXV) — A new Texas law taking effect in September will make it harder for residents to formally protest certain types of residential developments.
“It does still allow for protests with that, but it is much harder,” said Blayr Barnard, who lives in Coryell County.
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House Bill 24 does not eliminate public input, but it does limit when residents can force a supermajority vote to block a zoning change. The legislation also requires cities to post hearing notices online and on the property in question, in addition to the newspaper and mail notices already required.
The Gatesville city manager described the changes as mostly procedural.
“We were hoping to see more change from that perspective, helping rural areas that do not have the infrastructure in place to really fight these big land developers that are usually backed by hedge fund-type money to not come in and chop up our land,” Barnard said.
Barnard pointed to subdivisions in Coryell County that she says remain largely empty after developers made promises and then failed to follow through.
“We have a lot of subdivision developments in Coryell County that are sitting largely empty because developers come in, make a lot of promises, and then half finished, don't finish, stretch their timeline much farther or do these questionable sales techniques,” she said.
Residents also worry about subdivisions being built in areas without reliable water or roads.
“We really do need to start looking at preserving our Texas lands. Once a large piece of land, say 1,000 acres, goes into 5-acre tracts, it will sit dormant before it ever goes back to farming and ranching, and I think that agricultural encroachment is going to be a much bigger problem for the state of Texas than anyone is realizing right now,” Barnard said.
House Bill 24 will take effect Sept. 1.
