Any Tips on Battling an Unwanted Property Development

[vfrfellow]

Politicians have been paid. Your cause is lost.

This. As a guvmint dude who deals with this stuff on a daily basis, I can say it's entirely political. I haven't read the entire thread, but I like some of the responses (I have seen a bunch of pigs show up, billboards, artifacts, reports from non-certified experts).

 

[Neal Howard]

If the 400+ homes will generate a lot of property tax revenue for the local govt, you're already screwed.

 

[Doggtyred]

Rarely do developers I have had experience with build sewage treatment plants so you might have a few facts out of place or incomplete information or...in fact ,this might be a case where the developer is required to build sewage treatment capacity. We had a county next to my home county put a two year moratorium on building permits until sewage capacity was in place. My point here is that, at least in NC, the sewage treatment capacity is almost always a municipal function, not a function of a developer. The infrastructure to deliver raw sewage to the treatment plant is typically on the developer.

The developers foot that cost all the time here in Texas. Rather than roll the cost into the price of the lot, to remain competitive, they form a municipal utility district when they are the sole property owner before building. The MUD floats bonds to finance water lines, sewer lines, lift stations, etc... And then the homeowners coming in have to pay back the MUD bonds in the form of taxes for the next 30 or so years.

 

[Geico266]

We arn't in a subdivision. The only reason the land is zoned as such is because we recently were placed under the future planning zone. The area is very much rural to very lighty neighborhoodish. The number of houses has been stable for about 30 years. We've own our land of 40 acres for roughly 50.

We tried to buy the land a number of years ago but got undercut unfairly by the current developer.

You are missing the point. You are in a "subdivision" or you would either rent or own the entire Louisiana Purchase. Land is subdivided and sold into smaller pieces or you would not be able to own it. This is the "blindness" people who oppose "subdivision" of land have. You "can't see the forest through the trees".

Building homes brings jobs to the entire country and locally, brings in young families to keep the workforce going, improves the tax base for the entire community for roads, schools, infrastructure.

Only selfish, closed minded, uninformed, greedy people oppose organized and controlled growth. Where are all of the illegals going to live?

 

[Kelvin]

The developers foot that cost all the time here in Texas. Rather than roll the cost into the price of the lot, to remain competitive, they form a municipal utility district when they are the sole property owner before building. The MUD floats bonds to finance water lines, sewer lines, lift stations, etc... And then the homeowners coming in have to pay back the MUD bonds in the form of taxes for the next 30 or so years.

Interesting. Thanks for the perspective.

 

[Skip Miller]

I got stuck on the sewage treament capacity being built by the developer. That's just odd within my experience.

Maybe odd, but possible. I have seen it in a large scale residential development in NJ, some 90 minutes west of the GW Bridge. 20 years later I was tasked with "selling" this facility to the municipality but no way, no how did they want to accept that liability when they had a large corporation on the hook as is.

We eventually got it done - essentially rebuilding the treatment plant in the process.

 

[RalphInCA]

This. As a guvmint dude who deals with this stuff on a daily basis, I can say it's entirely political. I haven't read the entire thread, but I like some of the responses (I have seen a bunch of pigs show up, billboards, artifacts, reports from non-certified experts).

Yep. Entirely political. I used to be on the planning board for a town I lived in. I have seen some developments approved or disapproved for entirely non logical, stupid reasons simply because somebody stood up in a meeting and made a claim which may or may not have been true.

Often the loudest, or most insistent voice in the room sways many minds.


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[Lkrautheim]

Any history on the land? Civil War battles? Burial grounds? If you are feeling sneaky, bury a lot of arrowheads on the property...

The developer will need a lot of financing for a project of this size. Find out who will provide that and start a letter writing campaign.

If there is only one vote left in this process you may be too late. Good luck and fight hard!

Ya beat me to it!!! What he said

 

[Jimmy cooper]

Yep. Entirely political. I used to be on the planning board for a town I lived in. I have seen some developments approved or disapproved for entirely non logical, stupid reasons simply because somebody stood up in a meeting and made a claim which may or may not or may not have been true.

Often the loudest, or most insistent voice in the room sways many minds.


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Read the entire transaction of the Texas ranger baseball team, who was involved, how the taxpayers footed the bill, land grab, etc. You'll know how it's done and you'll be known as a wizard.

 

[Anthony]

So, did someone restrict you when you and your neighbors had their homes builit?

 

[denverpilot]

We tried to buy the land a number of years ago but got undercut unfairly by the current developer.

Undercut unfairly? You must have forgotten to count whatever kickbacks the developer is tossing the owner or owner's friends in the price.

Trust me, if your price was higher than the deal he's been offered by the developer, it's pretty rare that the owner would sell to the developer unless the developer is a friend or family or he's somehow tied to that developer's success.

Follow the money. See where the owner gets a kickback or it benefits his interests more to take the other offer, and adjust the offer upward above that number and the land is yours, I bet.

There isn't any "fair" in sales. Only numbers that people will accept. Barring the owner being an idiot, that is... And that happens too.

 

[DJTorrente]

Read the entire transaction of the Texas ranger baseball team, who was involved, how the taxpayers footed the bill, land grab, etc. You'll know how it's done and you'll be known as a wizard.

BDS. Seek professional help.

 

[orange]

1 year later a developer bought the land and very quickly built low-budget homes on postage stamp sized lots and wound up getting some of them qualified for section 8 housing. My property is now across from neighbors who store garbage in a non-running vehicle parked in the side yard, throw parties that include loud cook-out/drinking sessions in the front yard and park their old jalopies all up and down the curb in front of my house. I moved out and rented the house out. There is such a shortage of rental property that its never empty. I feel sorry for my tenants that its all they can afford. its a messed up world.

I would say that this is probably the biggest fear of rich people not wanting densely populated "urban" areas near them. People who own 40 or 50 acres are not used to see urban folks in their neck of the woods. And they want to keep it that way.

 

[denverpilot]

I would say that this is probably the biggest fear of rich people not wanting densely populated "urban" areas near them. People who own 40 or 50 acres are not used to see urban folks in their neck of the woods. And they want to keep it that way.

What's an "urban folk"? Are they tasty?

Is that one of those things I saw driving a smart car on the washboarded dirt road and looking all sourpuss about it?

Do you recommend slow smoking, or grilling, or braising? Are they stringy?

 

[poadeleted21]

What's an "urban folk"? Are they tasty?

Is that one of those things I saw driving a smart car on the washboarded dirt road and looking all sourpuss about it?

Do you recommend slow smoking, or grilling, or braising? Are they stringy?

People willing to sign an HOA Agreement or live with only walls separating them from other urban folks.

 

[pilot_dude]

You and your neighbors need to pool your funds and make a contribution to the local head honcho who has primary input on this coming to a vote.

 

[JeffDG]

You and your neighbors need to pool your funds and make a contribution to the local head honcho who has primary input on this coming to a vote.

Better yet, you and your neighbors pool their money and buy the property. Then you have every right to decide how it's used. Otherwise I believe that the owner of the property should be given every possible latitude to put his land to the best possible use.

 

[orange]

What's an "urban folk"? Are they tasty?

Is that one of those things I saw driving a smart car on the washboarded dirt road and looking all sourpuss about it?

Do you recommend slow smoking, or grilling, or braising? Are they stringy?

What's funny is that everybody knows exactly what it means but in our PC world, nobody has the balls to say it. It means minorities. Blacks, Hispanics, Poor whites... basically people that the well-off crowd doesn't want to share a zip code with.

 

[denverpilot]

What's funny is that everybody knows exactly what it means but in our PC world, nobody has the balls to say it. It means minorities. Blacks, Hispanics, Poor whites... basically people that the well-off crowd doesn't want to share a zip code with.

Huh? Seems to be plenty of folks of various skin colors and income levels out here in the sticks where I live.

I only have four acres, not fifty, but if I had fifty -- I'd be hard pressed to see anyone at all -- other than at the only gas station. I'd be busy as hell all the time.

If you have 50 acres of land, you have a to-do list so long, you don't give a crap about anyone's skin color.

So I doubt those with "50 acres" -- as the post seemed to decide was the new litmus test for racism (so laughable! Honestly laughing out loud at that one!) -- even see anyone at all, most days, unless they go chew the fat at the convenience store/gas station.

If anything, we have a higher number of poor folk than rich out here too, really. Kinda depends on your definition of rich. Plenty of people with not much money, but they seem to live life and enjoy it.

Not too many "PC" folks out here either.

(Seems like a malady of the brain that affects city dwellers. Leads to ideas like "50 acres" means you don't want minorities around. Hell, 50 acres means you don't want ANYONE around. Haha. Think real hard about that one.)