The Commissioners Grant JoLynn Petras A Special Variance
The Fayette County Commissioners Court granted a rare variance to one of the County’s subdivision regulations at a meeting last Thursday, Oct. 26.
The County’s subdivision regulations generally prohibit land divisions for property that lacks exclusive access to a public road. All newlycreated tracts of land must either touch a public road or have an exclusive easement to a public road. That rule came into effect in 2018. JoLynn Petras, who lives on 86 acres in the Mullins Prairie area, petitioned the Commissioners Court for a variance to the rule. Petras said the property has been in her family for about 100 years. She inherited the property from her parents in 1990.
In a letter to the court, Petras said her brother and her attorney have been trying to assist her in dividing the property into two tracts: a smaller 10-acre tract with a home where Petras will continue to reside and a larger 76-acre tract that she wishes to sell.
In the letter she wrote: “My goal is to allow me to retain the 10.20 acre tract (where my residence is located) and allow me to sell the remaining 75.83 acre tract for financial security due to my recent health issues along with the costs of maintaining a bigger tract of land.”
The property lies off an old family easement that goes through neighboring property. Pct. 4 Commissioner Drew Brossmann said he and County Inspector Clint Sternadel met with the Petras family to find a solution.
“We gave them a bunch of different options to try,” Brossmann said. “And they did. They contacted all of the adjacent landowners trying to do a land swap for an easement, to sell a piece of property or buy a piece. They did everything we asked them to do.”
Despite their efforts, Petras was unable to find a neighbor willing to sell or trade acreage to create an easement for the new tract.
“We have all these regulations in place, but you still don’t have rules for every single situation that’s out there,” Brossmann said. “Look at this family land. It’s been in their family for over 100 years. Back then, who knew we’d have the regulations we have now. She’s not trying to divide it to make a killing off it, to have a huge subdivision out there. It’s one big tract. It would be a one-time division.”
County Inspector Clint Sternadel said the division meets all of the other regulations regarding water wells and septic systems. Under the variance, Sternadel said, the new owner of the 76-acre tract would not be allowed to further divide it unless they were able to obtain an exclusive easement(s) to a public road.
The rule regarding exclusive access was intended to ensure that first responders can access private property in case of an emergency and also to prevent disputes between property owners who share private easements. Commissioners rarely grant exceptions to the rule. The last time they did so was a little over a year ago for a property owner in a similar situation as Petras.
“This is a unique situation,” said County Judge Dan Mueller.
“She wants to be able to reside in the home she grew up in and live her days there, but she needs the financial help with selling the bigger portion,” said Petras’ attorney Shannon Raabe-Barnes.
Raabe-Barnes told the Commissioners that interested buyers will be informed about the variance and the restrictions on future divisions.
Brossmann moved to grant the variance, and Mueller seconded the motion. It passed unanimously.
Also at Thursday’s meeting, Commissioners were scheduled to hold a public hearing over whether the County should become eligible to participate in tax abatements along with proposed guidelines and criteria governing tax abatements. The item came up after a developer expressed interest in tax abatements to build an electric grid battery storage facility in Fayette County. Assistant County Attorney Blake Watson was absent from the meeting. Commissioners decided to postpone the hearing until the Nov. 9 meeting so that legal counsel will be available to answer questions.
In other business, Commissioners signed a request to the Texas General Land Office (GLO) for a two-month extension to submit project proposals for the regional mitigation community development block grant. Fayette County has been allocated $4.8 million as part of the Regional Mitigation program.
Eligible projects include those related to flood and drainage, infrastructure improvements, communications, public facilities, buyouts, acquisitions, elevations, relocating families out of flood zones, public service and economic development.
Commissioners held a special workshop meeting two weeks ago to discuss potential projects. Terms of the grant stipulate that 50 percent of the funds have to benefit areas of the County with low-to-moderate incomes. Fayette County Emergency Management Coordinator Angela Hahn said the County will have six years to spend the funds. She said the two-month extension should not affect completion of any of the possible projects.
In related matters, Commissioners approved a contract with Langford Community Management Services to administer the GLO Regional Mitigation Program for the County. They also authorized the County Auditor to advertise requests for qualifications from contractors for engineering services related to the Regional Mitigation Program.