Is Sewer Coming To Lucas, Texas?  You Tell Me!

After This Article Was written, the town of lucas rejected the proposal to bring sewer in!!!

 

If you are a Lucas resident, or are considering becoming one, I hope you will attend two very meetings which I believe could very well impact your quality of life in this town.  The first will be Planning and Zoning on Thursday, March 29th at 7:00 PM at the city annex, 185 Country Club Rd.  The second will be Thursday, April 5th, at 7:00 p.m., same place.  They will be discussing the proposal to bring sewer into Lucas down 2551 (the north south road that intersects with Bethany at the Walgreens Pharmacy). 

Here is the link to the proposed waste water master plan map

I have always made it a point to stay out of politics in Lucas and will continue to do so.  No matter which stand I take on any issue, I would probably offend someone, which is not a good thing in my line of work.  However, when something comes up that I think will impact my quality of life, I will let my feelings be known, then let the chips fall where they may.  Bringing sewer into Lucas is one of those issues.

You might remember when Lucas was voting on its home rule charter.  Although I was originally in favor of home rule (which would have given the city more power to make important decisions for its residents), it didn't pass.  I now believe it didn't pass because Lucas residents felt the city would force sewer on us whether we wanted it or not.  They believed it would not have been put to a vote by the citizens but that decision made by city council members with their own agendas and motives.  If that was right or wrong, I have no idea nor do I want to speculate, but here we are again, revisiting the issue of bringing sewer into our town.

I hope I'm wrong, but I believe if sewer is brought into Lucas, we will have opened the doors to every developer trying to tie into the system.  I still have to do some research and ask some questions of the North Texas Municipal Water District and the town of  Lucas, so if I find out anything between now and then, I will post it on our site.

 

Why Is Lucas, Lucas?

When you drive through Lucas, all you see is either large tracts of farm land or homes on lots of at least one acre and many homes on larger acreage.  That is the charm and appeal of this town.  You feel like you are really in the country, but you can be shopping in Allen with all of its conveniences in a couple of minutes.

What many people don't realize is the lack of sewer and the relatively high price of land are the only reasons our city has not developed into apartments, commercial, and high density residential.  The town of Lucas can tout the fact that we have large lots because of the zoning in place, and that is partly true, but the reality is, if Lucas had sewer, it would look no different than any other city with sewer (strip centers, gas stations, apartments, 4-5 homes on a lot, etc.).  No city in the world can stand up to the onslaught of shrewd developers who know there is money to be made with high density projects, and those projects go with "sewer". 

Drive east on Bethany Road from Central Expressway and look what happens when you cross into Lucas at 2551.  It goes from postage stamp lots in Allen (with sewer) to farm land in Lucas (without sewer).   Developers can only pay so much for land where they can only get one home on a 1-2 acre lot. 

As brisk as development is in Lucas (and brisk might be an understatement), if those same developers were told today that they could start putting 4-5 homes (or apartments) onto a one acre lot, you would see a contract on every large tract of undeveloped land left in Lucas within a week's time.  And I'm not exaggerating.  The developers already know who owns every single one of the few large tracts of remaining land and whether it is for sale or not.  That is, in effect, what bringing in sewer would do to this town (of course, over a longer period of time).

As it is now, without sewer, it doesn't matter how badly the developers and large land owners would like to cut large tracts into postage stamp lots.  They are powerless to do so.  All the attorneys in the world are not going to override the long standing environmental regulations which state homes without sewer must be on at least one acre of land.  That is considered the minimal amount of land required for septic systems to work correctly.   However, once sewer is brought into our fair city, there is no longer that one, over-riding, all powerful, obstacle to high density residential.  We are left defenseless against the developers with deep pockets.

Why Let The Genie Out of the bottle?

You will never, ever convince me that once sewer is brought into Lucas, there will not be tremendous pressure on the city from the developers and large landowners to tie into it.   In my opinion, telling Lucas residents the sewer is only being brought in to serve a small part of the city (the commercial area along 2551) is either naive or wishful thinking.  I have 22 years of working with commercial and residential developers.  I know how they think and work.  Once sewer is brought in, the genie is out of the bottle.  The developers and landowners are going to force the issue of high density zoning on as many tracts of land as they can.  That's just the way it is.

I would like to know exactly how the city proposes to fend off every developer and landowner (with an attorney in tow) making the case that they are being penalized because they cannot sell their land at a premium price by tying into a sewer system that runs right up the road.  And like it or not, those landowners and developers would be exactly right.  If a developer can carve a one acre lot (without sewer) into 4 smaller lots with sewer, they might have just about quadrupled what they can pay the landowner.  How would you feel if you were that landowner?

Why haven't the developers challenged the one acre minimums already in place?  They would be nuts to take on the feds over an environmental issue they cannot win.  But I believe the developers and landowners can and will force higher density zoning onto the city with lawsuits (or the threat of lawsuits) if sewer is brought in to serve a commercial area.  That is a battle they know they can win.

Once the city gives their approval to the first developer of land adjoining the sewer system to tie in, I think the rest of the land tracts will fall like dominoes.  How would the city thereafter deny any landowner from access to that same sewer system?  They can't.  And if they try to, they will probably have a lawsuit on their hands. By the way, when I say "they" I mean "we" because we Lucas citizens will be paying for those lawsuits out of our taxes.

So Why Not Develop Lucas Into smaller lots

It's not just the appearance of Lucas that would change, it goes much deeper than that.  How is our school system (which is struggling right now to stay on top of the phenomenal growth) going to prepare itself for three to four times the number of students that would be the result of more homes?  I think most reasonable people would tell you the school system would suffer.

What about water?  We have been on water restrictions for almost a year now.  By tripling or quadrupling the number of homes in Lucas, how do you think our water supply will be impacted.

What about traffic?  Do you want apartments?  Do you believe apartments eventually bring crime?  If you live in Lucas and you believe, as I do, that bringing in sewer (at least right now before we can get most of Lucas developed out into larger lots) is a bad idea, I hope you will attend the next meeting.  And if you would like to be heard and are shy about talking in front of people, you can still send in your comments in absentia by faxing to 972-727-0091, or via email to secretary@lucastexas.us.  The city website states that all comments will be presented at the Council Meeting.

If you don't make your comments heard now, you might be sorry down the road!