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Board ratifies settlement with Media Choice after TxDOT approves permit in case 25-BB0A00005
Summary
Staff said TxDOT approved a permit after the board denied a request; to avoid litigation the town entered a tolling agreement and a settlement with Media Choice, and the Board of Adjustment ratified that settlement. Members asked where the legal authority and references appear in the UDC.
At the meeting, staff explained that the town and its board had denied a permit request but that the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) later approved the request on TxDOT's own authority for the I-35 corridor. To preserve the town's options while meeting a statutory deadline to file suit, staff said the town first entered a tolling agreement and then executed a settlement agreement with Media Choice; the board was asked to ratify that settlement.
Staff described a related UDC amendment that defers to state law in cases of conflict along the primary highway and noted the settlement was executed before the board's formal ratification because of time limits on litigation. A member asked whether the settlement or tolling agreement references were recorded in the minutes or the UDC; staff pointed to the UDC amendment (section 11.18) and said the property owner had a separate economic-development agreement with the town while the billboard company did not.
"We entered into a tolling agreement first, and that tolled the time period for them to appeal your decision so that they would not sue the town and the board of appeals," a staff member said, explaining the procedural sequence that led to the settlement being presented for ratification.
A committee member moved to ratify the settlement agreement regarding case 25-BB0A00005; the motion was seconded and the chair declared the motion passed. The transcript records the motion and that the item passed; a full roll-call vote tally is not provided in the record.
The board then returned to general business and adjourned.
