Rockwall County, developer discuss apportionment for River Rock Trails phases 1A and 1B

Rockwall County officials and representatives for the River Rock Trails development met in a Jan. 25 workshop to review the county's apportionment calculations for phases 1A and 1B and to identify outstanding questions about how future apportionments will be calculated.

Jeff Miles, a representative of Doctor Horton Homes, opened by reading language from Texas law and requesting clarification of how the county had applied it to the project. Miles quoted Section 232.110 and said the statute requires that "the developer's portion of the cost may not exceed the amount required for infrastructure improvements that are roughly proportionate to the proposed development." He said the developer received the county's Dec. 13 letter and that the county had resolved only three of the 16 listed infrastructure categories — roads, police and schools — in that response.

Nut graf: The parties agreed on the roadway apportionment after review by licensed engineers but left several policy and timing issues unresolved. The county's roadway engineer, Friesen Nichols, calculated the developer's share at $338,867 for two lanes of frontage along FM 548, based on 2,411 linear feet of frontage and a standard 20% county cost share for a state road. The developer's engineers reviewed and did not object to that calculation, but both sides asked for a clear, consistent methodology for future phases.

County staff and the developer discussed four principal topics in depth: road apportionment methodology, law-enforcement costs (capital versus ongoing), school impacts and utility/public-service assurances.

Roads: Friesen…