McKinney City Council approves FM 543 western alignment that protects tree line near city's northern limits
Home owners question former council member's connection to being a partner in land owned near the proposed road
Cell phone use banned by drivers in school zones during pick up and drop off of students at all McKinney schools
By Brandi Hart
McKinneyUpdate.com
Created at 11:23 p.m. on Feb. 4, 2009
Collin County residents who live just north of the McKinney city limits along Geren Trail will get to keep a tree line south of their homes as the McKinney City Council voted on Feb. 3 to approve the western alignment of the proposed Farm-to-Market Road 543 Connector route that will connect Lake Forest Drive to US 75.
The council approved an alignment that will will save a tree line located north of the city limits, in the city's Extraterritorial Jurisdiction. The road alignment will be placed about 55 feet south from the northern property line of land that is owned by the Baylor Health Care System located just west of FM 1461. The road will be built south of the existing FM 543 road, which is also called Weston Road, and will allow travelers to drive east to west from Lake Forest Drive, or FM 1461 to US 75 and will help alleviate traffic on US 380. Construction on the road is set to begin in 2012 and it should be completed in 2014. The city staff is using an old east to west road that once existed from FM 1461 to US 75 as basis for the road alignment.
The Baylor property is currently vacant but could be developed for the future expansion of the hospital system, which is constructing a hospital that will have a seven story patient tower at US 380 and Lake Forest Drive that should open in 2010. The city's engineering staff recommended that the western segment alignment be placed south of the tree line and about 55 feet of the Baylor property, which should take about 10 acres off of the Baylor land.
Local attorney Bob Roeder represented Baylor at the meeting, and said if the council approved the staff's alignment for the road that it would be changing the staff's and city's long standing policy of evenly dividing the right-of-way for the road between the two property owners of both sides of the road. The city typically has asked property owners to give up 60 feet of land near for right-of-way along their property lines when a road is planned to be built. Roeder also told the council members if they did approve the alignment that would favor the tree line, then the council members would only be approving it for the benefit of the Geren Trail homeowners.
"Baylor has been made out to be the bad guy. If you pass this resolution, it's a variance from your current public policy on splitting the right-of-way between the two property owners. I don't have a problem with that but sometimes it's good to keep the existing policy. If we start saving trees, then we're going to have to re-align the whole road," Roeder said.
Baylor has also previously agreed to move the road alignment closer to its property so the road would not have to be built over a pond located near the western segment, Roeder said.
Many home owners who live north of the tree line that was in jeopardy of being torn down from the road spoke in the public hearing about saving the tree line.
Fourteen-year-old Kristyn Harris, who lives in the city's ETJ, asked the council to approve the alignment to save the tree line near her parents' home. She and her Girl Scout troop collected more than 800 signatures from mostly McKinney residents in a petition that was given to the council in May, 2008 when the entire alignment for the road was discussed.
Mary Dickerson, who lives in the city's Historic District, asked the council approve the alignment that would save most of the tree line. She is a former member of the Heard Museum Board of Directors, of the National Audobon Society.
Paul and Lois Powell, who live on Geren Trail, spoke separately at the meeting and asked the council to vote in favor of the alignment that saves the tree line, which will serve as a visual and noise buffer for the residents when the road is completed.
Delores Clay, who lives near the eastern segment of the road alignment near US 75, outside of the city limits, asked the council in the citizen comment period when construction work would begin on the eastern segment and said she was opposed to the road, which will ultimately destroy her house as the alignment is located very near her house.
"We didn't get asked to be brought into this mess and we didn't get a chance to vote on this," Clay said. She could not vote in the city 2006 bond election because she lives outside of the city limits.
Becky Neeley, who also lives near Geren Trail, asked the council to vote in favor of saving the tree line south of her home. Neeley also asked why former Council member at-large Thad Helsley was involved with a land purchase for property along the FM 543 Connector route while he was on council.
"I wanted to again remind the city and council of the fact that Mr. Helsley was involved in numerous purchases and management issues to the property south of Geren Trail. He was also a part of the Franklin land deal (numerous acres known as the Franklin Trust of which former McKinney Economic Development Corporation board member Rick Franklin represents) that went on and impacted the alginment of the road. If you recall, we sat through numerous technically preferred alignments, and they changed from month to month, based on what the the next deal was. Obviously, we're very committed to the tre issue in the city of McKinneyThose who broker our land should not be managing it," Neeley said.
Helsley recused himself from all council discussions and votes taken on the FM 543 Connector road from June, 2007 until May 2008, when his council term ended. The issue or him possibly voting on the road arose after some Geren Trail home learned that Helsley, who is a local commercial real estate broker, was a member in the Seeds for the Future Partnership, which owns two plats of land that total approximately 75 acres adjacent to the proposed FM 543 Connector alignment. For more information, click here. Seeds for the Future is also listed on the Collin Central Appraisal District's Web site www.collincad.org as selling 27 acres on Jan.31, 2005 that was appraised at $836,940 near the FM 543 Connector site to the Baylor Health Care System. More information can be found here.
Council member for District 4 Ray Ricchi asked Neeley to elaborate on Helsley's involvement in the brokering of land along the road and why the alignment changed.
"You mentioned the alignment has changed periodciaclly as events take place and your citing that Mr. Helsley brokered this land around here?" Ricchi asked.
Neeley said that she saw Helsley speaking to some homeowners in October, 2007 along Geren Trail and he had a "large layout of the plat of the land" and something occurrred after the meeting with the homeowner to where the technically preferred alignment changed.
"Those who broker and manage the land should not be brokering the land," Neeley added.
Keith Harrell, who also lives along Geren Trail, also said he wanted the council to vote in favor of the alignment that would protect the tree line south of his home and also mentioned concerns of Hesley's past involvement of brokering a deal the First Baptist Church of McKinney, which owns property near the road while he was on council.
Helsley did not attend the Feb. 3 council meeting and therefore could not defend himself against any innuendos made by Neeley or Harrell in the public hearing.
Council member for District 4 Ray Ricchi asked City Attorney Mark Houser at the meeting if a council member could vote on the issue if he or she helped manage land near a road that the city is building. Houser replied that Helsley recused himself from voting on all issues regarding the FM 543 Connector road.
Council member for District 2 Geralyn Kever also recused herself from the Feb. 3 meeting from voting and discussing the FM 543 Connector road per the advice from Houser as Kever said she has a connection to the First Baptist Church of McKinney, which owns land near the proposed road.
The FM 543 Connector road was one of many roads that residents approved funding for in the 2006 bond eleciton.The road has been included in the city's comprehensive plan for decades. It has been included in the city's thoroughfare plan to help accommodate for future growth in McKinney, said John Kessel, Executive Director of McKinney's Development Services Division, which oversees the city's Engineering and Planning departments.
"The bond committee decided that there needed to be an east to west road built from Lake Forest Drive to Highway 75 to provide connectivity from Lake Forest Drive to Highway 75," Kessel said. "The bond committee wanted to get ahead of the growth curve in the northwest quadrant of McKinney rather than waiting for development to occur before the roads were in."
The bond committee members cited two Municipal Utility Districts- the Trinity Falls MUD and the Parks of Honey Creek MUD- as examples of regional growth pressures but members were primarily concerned with the growth in McKinney and our Extraterritorial Jurisdiction, Kessel said.
The Trinity Falls Municipal Utility District was approved by the McKinney City Council in the fall of 2006 and is planned to be built just west of US 75, outside of the city limits in McKinney 's northern Extraterritorial Jurisdiction. Martin Atlantis is developing the Trinity Falls MUD. Tomlin Investments and Land Advisors is planning to develop the Parks of Honey Creek MUD that will be constructed in the city of Weston and will have up to 8,000 homes when it is completed.
Cell phone use banned by drivers in school zones during pick up and drop off of students at all McKinney schools
In other news, the council approved an ordinance that prohibits the use of cell phones, Blackberries, or handheld communication devices to be used by drivers of cars in all school zones for schools districts in McKinney during the pick up and drop off of students. The council approved the ordinance due to safety concerns of people using handheld communication devices when children are crossing in front of cars arriving and leaving school.
The council also appointed local recreational pilot and former airport hangar developer Mark David to the McKinney Airport Development Corporation. All council members voted for David to be on the MADC except for Council member for District 1 Gilda Garza, who voted for Jean Pierre Khordoc, who applied to the corporation's board of directors last spring. Garza asked if David still owned propety at the airport and she was concerned as most of the airport board members work for a company that has a corporate hangar at the Collin County Regional Airport and therefore most always have a conflict of interest in voting on airport issues.
Council member at-large Pete Huff said that David doesn't own any land on the airport itself, but one hangar at the airport. Huff added that he himself owns two two hangars at the airport and recuses himself from voting on issues at the airport at least there times per year, per the city attorney's advice.
The council also appointed Ronnie Fender to serve on the Planning and Zoning Commission to replace newly elected Council member for District 3 Travis Ussery on the P & Z. All council members voted in favor of Fender except for Garza, who voted for Lainey Ramey to serve on the commission.
In the council comment period of the meeting Kever said that she was glad that the trial of Raul Cortez had ended as her son was friends with Ashton York, who was one of four people brutally murdered in a home on Truett Street in March, 2004 in McKinney. Kever said she hoped that all of the victims' families are finding some closure with the case being over. Kever also thanked the city's Streets Department staff for doing an excellent job of clearing the roads during the recent ice storm, which closed many city streets.
Ussery also thanked all of the city's Planning Department staff, whom he has worked with for more than six years when he served on the P & Z.
Mayor Pro Tem Bill Cox also thanked Deputy Director of the city of McKinney's Development Services Division Brian James for his work with explaining the FM 543 Connector issues to council at the meeting, and for all the work he and his staff do, which he described as "a thankless job," but added that the staff is appreciated.