Growing by Metes and Bounds

The combined 82.37 acres is on the drawing board as the Clarion development, consisting of 241 new homes. The development will also include about 16.4 acres of park space and another 4.6 acres of open space.

The annexation comes as the next phase in talks between the developers, the city, and the city council over the past few months.

The development is just to the northeast of the intersection of Crown Pointe and Crown Road.

Another 7.3 acres may be coming into the city in the future, as the council approved a resolution accepting petition for voluntary annexation from Bar-Ko Land Company LLC. The property is located on Bankhead basically across from the Aledo baseball fields, and is said to have the interest of a major retailer, though nothing official has been announced.

Finally, in terms of land issues, the council approved the preliminary plat for the Beall-Dean ranch property, roughly 317.7 acres at the southwest corner of the intersection of Interstate 20 and FM 1187.

The land is the subject of a lawsuit by the cities of Aledo and Fort Worth against Willow Park, but the city continues utility development and the process toward development of the property.

The preliminary plat was not made public at the meeting. The Community News has submitted a Freedom of Information Act request with the city for a copy of the plat.

Public Comment

While there was some drama from spectators, speakers in the public comments portion of the meeting were given wide latitude to express their views. 

Resident Scott Caron referred to Mayor Teresa Palmer’s conduct as “dangerous,” saying she removed critics who oppose her while allowing her supporters to “interrupt, insult, and attack city council members without consequences.” Caron also accused the mayor of attempting to have a Willow Park Police officer run a criminal background check on one of her opponents. He called on the mayor to resign and said the council should initiate an investigation.

Carol Wagner spoke about the petition that killed the Squaw Creek Road project, saying it was accomplished with only about 225 signatures. Her concern was the new proposed Home Rule charter would allow recall elections with about that level of petitioners, which she said would weaken the city council.

Amy Fennell was critical of Mayor Palmer for being one of the first signatories to the petition that killed the Squaw Creek Road project.

“Squaw Creek has been one of the worst roads for decades, and you were well on your way of fulfilling your top priority without raising taxes in less than a year of being elected. It was a honey of a deal,” Fennell said. “You made your campaign promise to fix roads on March 22 and then actively worked to kill the project less than a year later by signing a petition that you clearly knew about before it was issued. If you had a problem with this project, why didn't you speak up sooner?”

Gene Martin cautioned the council about the Beall-Dean Ranch project. He said a public information request had been submitted to “release the sequence of records proving that annexation of the Beall-Dean development had been accomplished properly and legally.

“No response to that request has occurred.”

Martin was concerned that, should Willow Park lose the lawsuit, it would not only lose expenses already committed, but might have costs of repair as well.

“Be aware, Willow Park has never won an annexation dispute with a neighboring city,” Martin said.

In other actions, the council:

• approved a water conservation impact fee credit, which would provide discounts on water impact fees to developers who implement water conservation measures;
• approved an advance funding agreement for a 80/20 grant to build sidewalks and bike lanes on Kings Gate and Meadow Place Drive;
• approved a $15,000 sponsorship for the upcoming 760 Fest; and
• approved an electronic sign to replace an existing sign at the Delisias store at I-20 and Mikus Road.