Local landowners and an enterprising developer are at odds over the developer’s proposed housing subdivision planned for the South Dove Creek area near the tiny settlement of Knickerbocker, in the county, southwest of San Angelo.
Dave Currie, a local developer and building construction contractor, recently purchased approximately 60 acres of land near the intersection of FM 2335 and South Dove Creek Rd. He has asked the Tom Green County Commissioners’ Court for a replat of the land to divide it into 12 lots, 5-10 acres each.
Below, the land in question, looking northwest from FM 2335 and S. Dove Creek Rd. near Knickerbocker:
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Currie said he has been in the housing development business in the San Angelo area since 1989. He has created housing developments inside Bentwood Country Club Estates, inside the former Door Key Ranch, Wall, a development in Irion County near Mertzon, and Schliecher County.
“Recently, I have received a lot of calls asking if I have anything available inside the Christoval ISD,” Currie said, and that prompted him to seek out vacant land to develop near the cozy community of Knickerbocker.
The proposed subdivision is a partnership between Currie and his sons, along with local contractor Bruce Hitt.
Led by Charlie Bower, a well-liked and respected local landowner who said he’s lived in Knickerbocker since 1952, about 20 gathered at the Knickerbocker Community Center Monday night to meet with Currie to see if some kind of arrangement could be worked out.
The locals don’t want neighbors. “We chose to live out here the way we do,” one of the women opposed to the development said.
Where the proposed subdivision will be developed:
Bowers’ group has sent a letter to the Tom Green County Commissioners’ Court outlining six reasons why the court should deny the replat, and to modify Currie's property rights.
Among them:
- Not enough water
- Concerns about 12 additional household septic systems
- More electrical lines running over their heads
- South Dove Creek Road isn’t wide enough to handle the influx of traffic
- Improvements on the land will enhance property values, and the existing residents’ taxes, many of whom are retired and living on fixed incomes
- Multi-builds on individual 5-10 acre lots, meaning more than 12 houses will be built there
Currie explained that his subdivision will feature high-end houses costing about $120-$130 per square foot. He was open to a discussion about the minimum size of the houses, 1600 or 1800 square feet.
“These houses are for professionals who want some space to raise their 4-H goats or have a couple of horses in a barn,” Currie explained. Deed restrictions will prevent homeowners from subdividing their 5-10 acre lots, he explained.
House size didn’t matter to those opposed as much as what a higher-end development will do to the property valuations near there. “Many of us are retired and live on fixed incomes,” was the common refrain. None realized that seniors 65 and older have their property values frozen by law, so their tax valuations would not increase.
Currie explained that the septic systems are required to comply with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ); his noting that seemed to calm fears.
The remaining two sticking points near the end of the meeting centered upon a perception that there is a water shortage and the width and design of the existing road. Currie said that he would spend money to widen the road and build a cul-de-sac at the end.
As for water, Currie said he was open to any and all options. But first, after hearing the descriptions of how the water wells in the area are low-producing or dry, he said he might have to drill a well first to find out what is underneath.
Commissioner Bill Ford, in whose precinct the land is, said last week that he was just learning about the proposed subdivision and the opposition to it. He said the replatting was originally on the court’s agenda for today, but since he is out of town this week, he asked for the item to be delayed until the next meeting on Mar. 7. Ford’s approach is to attempt to broker an agreement or understanding between Currie and the local residents.
The good news is that Currie was willing to meet with his new neighbors. The bad news is that by the end of the meeting, opposition to Currie’s subdivision appeared to have hardened around the water and road issues.
Not many people within the city limits of San Angelo have ever been to Knickerbocker, and the Knickerbocker residents liked it that way. Growth and progress, as well as having a desirable school district, are changing that.
Builder Dave Currie has been very successful riding these trends for 27 years, from Wall to Mertzon. Now his eyes are focused on land within the Christoval ISD.
The only obstacle to Currie’s plan is to gain TGC Commissioners’ Court approval for the division of the plats. Once that is done, Currie can proceed as he wishes on his land.
“If I don’t do it, someone else will,” Currie said. “The next guy might build 40 houses instead of just 12,”
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We do not have the water. Our area has been in stage4water restriction for multiple years. The areas , such as Door Key ranch didn't have water Wall didn't have enough water. Pipe lines were built. There isn't enough water people! Wake up!
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PermalinkWhen I still lived in San Angelo Knickerbocker was part of a bicycling routine I maintained. Around dawn on the weekends I would hit Knickerbocker Road at Southland, swing over Nasworthy, pass Mathis Interplanetary Spaceport, cross over Twin Buttes Dam, meander through the countryside into Knickerbocker, head over to Mertzon Highway, and then aim back into town. The route was thirty-three and a half miles.
I loved the quiet and the emptiness of the road between the dam and Mertzon Highway. That time of day there was little vehicular traffic, and about the only moving things I saw were rabbits, deer, armadillos, wild turkeys, and the occasional hawk looking for breakfast. The only sounds I normally heard were the wind, the sound of my bike's tires on the asphalt, the occasional noise of a critter moving through the brush, and at one place along the way cows lowing as they looked to get fed.
I understand how the folks out there want to keep things the way they are. I can also understand one's wanting to move out there just to get away from the strain of living close to herds of people. I've lived in a dozen cities (including Houston, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Austin) and many times I just want to live where I can't hear any man-made sounds.
I hope both sides of this equation can work things out.
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PermalinkWhy? $$$$$$$$$
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PermalinkJust to clear up a few things:
1. Many of the concerned residents are not ”retired fixed income folks exempt from future tax increases”….. some retired, many fixed income, ….but county and school tax increase exempt, not so much. And the development of “high-end houses costing about $120-$130 per square foot houses ….for professionals who want some space to raise their 4-H goats or have a couple of horses in a barn,” means significant tax increases for every landowner in the area
2. Water shortage is less perception than reality. The area is not in a water district nor part of a homeowner’s association. Its residents depend on individual wells and water rights to Dove Creek, Declining, low flow and dry wells are commonplace. It should not be difficult for anyone to understand that the developer drilling “a well first to find out what is underneath” is not a comforting response to what are real and continuing water supply issues for folks already there,
3. No mention was made of the fact that Dove Creek and in the immediate environs are in a flood plain which is and should be problematic for anyone living or wanting to live in the area. Elevated construction and expensive flood insurance are facts of life. . Historical flood data for Dove creek may be found at http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=SJT&gage=KNBT2 .
Finally, small tact landowners in Texas have little protection from water theft under the state’s “right of capture” doctrine which basically permits unfettered water well drilling rights. Likewise, the infamous 1996 Elgin Bank precedent basically permits unregulated rural housing development. One only needs to Google both to discover that looking for that “little place in the country” requires more due diligence than a developer’s word.
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Permalinkhas become more of a curse than a blessing, and unfortunately for the grass is greener crowd it really is more of a perception than a reality. Yes, the test scores in Wall and Christoval are very good, a direct result (as many studies have proven) of the demographics in those districts. They are both mostly white with less than 20% of students eligible for free or reduced cost school lunches, exactly the type of students who tend to excel on standardized tests. To their credit they don't screw up students who should do well in school, but they aren't exactly creating geniuses out of idiots either.
There are far more important factors that most of these people ignore until they actually move that then lead many of them to transfer their children back to SAISD by the time they reach high school. Only one of which is that those schools are very competitive, and a 3.5 GPA puts your kid in the bottom 1/2 of their class. A 3.0 will have them finishing dead last. Good luck getting automatic admission to a TX university with that class rank, which requires a top 10% ranking (7% for UT).
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