We bought a lot in a small subdivision in a small Texas town (Falls City). We finished building a little over a year ago. We love the neighborhood, but there is a lurking threat. There were 4 large lots remaining that were adjacent to the highway, and a builder has supposedley made a deal with the developer to pay premium price for the less than previous lots, in order to subdivide, and build 12 houses, which will suit the oilfield that has taken over the area. The problem is that the city doesn't seem to have a specific zoning, or code, and the "city council" has stated they are willing to consider his plans, even though all other residents don't approve. This doesn't seem legal. Can you please advise?? PLEASE!!

If there is no specific zoning in place then unfortunately there is no basis for the plans to be denied. But make sure you and your neighbors appear at every public hearing on the issue and listen carefully. If there is any way that the plans don't conform to any existing zoning requirements then the council will have a reason to deny approval. If the council sees the homeowners at every meeting then they may hesitate to approve variances.

Can you explain the "lurking threat"? What about the developer's plans that you don't like? Why do you think the town shouldn't approve the plans?

Here's an educated guess. The lurking threat is that the four remaining lots will each have 3 houses instead of one house. The new houses will probably be smaller than the currently existing houses in the neighborhood and will most likely be worth less, thereby lowering the value of the existing houses.

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Originally Posted by LisaB4657

Here's an educated guess. The lurking threat is that the four remaining lots will each have 3 houses instead of one house. The new houses will probably be smaller than the currently existing houses in the neighborhood and will most likely be worth less, thereby lowering the value of the existing houses.

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Also, three times the originally planned density for those lots means an increased burden on the infrastructure: traffic, utilities, etc.

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Originally Posted by LisaB4657

Here's an educated guess.

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That would have been my guess as well. But I wanted the OP to tell us THEIR objection so we didn't have to guess.

Lisa was correct! Also the way in which the neighborhood is laid out will be changed drastically. Our road is a cul-de-sac with 6 lots on each side, and the proposed "improvements" would allow this builder to add 3 cul-de-sacs that feed into ours, thus increasing the traffic by 100 percent on our street. This isn't a case of the owners trying to hinder the builder's potential profit. However we have to be extra cautious because we are in the midst of an oil boom, where most of the small towns in south Texas are tripling in population. Furthermore, my understanding (although very limited) of Texas law states that state law supercedes the county if county or municipality is less restrictive? Also, this land was subdivided, platted and approved with the restriction of one dwelling per lot, therefore it appears to be a stretching of the law(to say the least) to simply draw imaginary lines in the dirt in order to achieve this?

The good news here is that, if the plats were originally approved for one dwelling per lot then it should require a variance to increase the density.

However, if you are on a cul de sac with 6 lots around it, I'm not sure how I see 3 more feeding into it. Unless the approach to the cul de sca is long enough to allow the additional entrances. I'm not sure that, even if 9 more homes will use the access road, that it causes a significant traffic issue. At least not significant enough to deny the variance.

The cul de sac has 6 lots on each side of the street. The lots in question are on the opposite side from us. There are 2 houses built on 2 lots up near the front of the cul de sac on that side, and there are 4 empty lots from there to the end of the cul de sac. The lots are 125 wide by 265 deep. This developer wants to take that combined area, creat the cul de sacs and then turn the new lots facing a completely different dirrection. Nonetheless, seems like the homeownere here should be protectecd simply because of the notion of buying and building in a subdivision, not a neighborhood. I can't find a clear cut answer that protects us from this, but am hoping the city council can do the right thing.

Ahh, I got the impression the cul de sac was fully developed. I think you have grounds to bring this up to the town council that you purchased based on the current lot size.