Question from a resident of Fairview Meadows inquiring why the building permit portion of the developer agreement is enforced but not other parts.
“Steven King, why is the city only enforcing part of the (developer) agreement? What about Pioneer Road being paved before houses were built on/by it? And the park?”
Here is what I leaned from the city.
“The City of New Fairview, does enforce the terms of the Fairview Meadows Development Agreement. In the Agreement, there is a section that addresses the paving of Pioneer Road. It states that the grading for the project may commence when a grading permit has been issued for each particular phase, but it does not make it mandatory. The city has been in discussion with the developer on the timing of the paving of Pioneer Road. The developer has made it clear they are wanting to start this paving project sooner rather than later, but would like to do it as one project when the City reconstructs our portion of the road.
The engineering estimate for the reconstruction of Pioneer Road was $4,636,645. Due to discussions the City and the Developer have had with Wise County about assisting with the actual road paving, that cost is now estimated at $3,824,273. The City’s cost for the three sections of Pioneer Road that we are responsible for is approximately $1,685,151. Last year when staff recommended to the City Council to include the cost for the reconstruction of Pioneer Road in the 2023 CO Bond issuance, the council decided not to do so. As a result, the only funds we have for the City’s portion of Pioneer Road are the Transportation Impact Fees, however, we are talking to the developer having them front some of the estimated Transportation Impact Fees that would be owed to the City as part of the Fairview Meadows North development. They seem interested in doing this, and our city engineer has worked with staff to drop our estimated cost to about $700,000 if we modify the road paving and do not do the drainage work for the south section of Pioneer Road. All of this will be part of the Amendment to the Development Agreement for Fairview Meadows North.
Regarding the park that was part of Phase 2, I have discussed this with our Senior Planner and have attached the Final Plat of Phase 2 of Fairview Meadows. The Final Plat went through a separate process from the preliminary plat for Phases 1-4 as per the Development Agreement. The Development Agreement had a concept plan attached to the Agreement which did show the “community park” as part of the plan. However, there isn’t any language in the Agreement about the establishment of a community park, or the amenities which would be provided there. The only comment is under Section 3.03 of the agreement:
- Open Space. District shall retain ownership of and maintain an open space area as shown as Lot 15X, Block F on Exhibit C, for recreational uses. At the City’s option, such area will be a public City park upon annexation of the Property.
Since Fairview Meadows has not been annexed into the city, and the city has not retained ownership of this lot, the lot is still owned by the Developer under the New Fairview 634 LLC as per Wise County CAD. The Final Plat, does state under Note 5 on the third page that Lot 2X, Block F is to be a Community Park. The lot was renumbered from the original concept plan to the final plat being filed. The Final Plat, under note 13 of the Developer’s Certification States that “Open Space / Common Area lots will be dedicated to the home owners association (HOA) per separate instrument.
Since we have not, and cannot, annex Fairview Meadows, the City has no claim, or responsibility to build or complete or maintain a Community Park. The Community Park is under the ownership of the developer and it appears that they plan to dedicate it to the HOA under a separate instrument at some point. At which time, the HOA by-laws (which I don’t have a copy of) would dictate how any dues should be spent for the development and maintenance of the Community Park.
Also, my understanding is the developer built the swimming pool and playground near the entrance to the development in order to provide recreation amenities since they were not ready to develop the Community Park. They are also planning to build another park and playground in the Fairview Meadows North section and dedicate the park, playground, and open space to the City.”