Council Votes to Donate More Lots to Hope Hill Park

The City of La Grange carved seven empty lots out of the Hope Hill Subdivision to expand the future Hope Hill Park.

After Samaritan’s Purse built 20 homes and completed the neighborhood infrastructure in 2020, they donated the remaining undeveloped lots to the City of La Grange for future residential development. The City deeded three of the lots to Fayette County Habitat for Humanity back in May. The City has not yet formulated a plan for developing the remaining lots.

This year the City also began planning the development of the future Hope Hill Park, to be built on about 22 acres of land inside the subdivision. The City Council approved a plan back in October to build the park using funds from a matching grant offered by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

At a meeting last Monday, Dec. 12, City Recreation Director Janet Rangel informed the Council that the City had to reroute a water and wastewater extension line on the southern boundary of the park, which will prohibit construction of a planned BMX bicycle course inside the park.

Rangel asked the Council to transfer seven nearby undeveloped lots to the park to make room for the BMX track. “I love the idea of the BMX track and I think it’s a great addition to the City,” said Councilman Dusty Littrell. “Kids and young adults would use it. It’s a wonderful idea. I’m on the fence about it, and here’s the reason why. La Grange is experiencing a little bit of a housing crisis. I see homes going away when we’re taking away these lots. It’s years before these lots will be built out. And the BMX track will be built a lot sooner. So I’m looking at years down the road versus immediate.”

“I was kind of hesitant about asking, but we always hear there’s not enough for kids to do in this town,” Rangel said. “This allows us to expand a little more.”

The addition of the seven lots to the park would “square off ” the park’s awkwardlyshaped boundaries. Police Chief David Gilbreath said square boundary lines would improve sight lines and make the park easier to secure.

Council voted unanimously to add the seven undeveloped lots to the park property.

Concerning the remaining undeveloped lots, Councilwoman Violet Zbranek asked whether anyone has inquired about purchasing or building on the lots.

“We do not have a process in place at this time,” said interim City Manager Frank Menefee. “That’s a discussion we need to have.”

“We’ve talked about finding a nonprofit to deed the lots to,” said Councilwoman Kathy Weishuhn. “What would be our process to give them away?”

Zbranek asked whether there has been much interest in the lots.

“There have been people who have come by city hall and asked us about that,” Menefee said. “We told them it's still in the planning stage. We’re kind of at a stand-still and we need some direction to figure out what we want to do. There are people asking about it.”