What’s next for Fairfield Lake State Park?
Over the weekend the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission took a unanimous vote to use eminent domain to seize the state park, setting up a potentially long and costly legal fight with a Dallas developer.
Professor Julie Rogers with SMU’s Dedman School of Law said the state has the right to take the land under eminent domain.
“The state is exercising the power of eminent domain to take the property for what is clearly public use,” Rogers said, “So the issue is going to be what is the compensation to the developer.”
Under eminent domain, the state must pay fair market value.
The property was originally listed for $110.5 million, but what developer Todd Interests paid for the property is unclear. Attorneys will likely argue the company is owed for investments already made toward the development, said Rogers.
The state must submit a formal offer to Todd Interests based on the land appraisal. If the offer is rejected, a three-person commission appointed by a judge will decide the fair market value. If either side objects, it goes to trial.
“It could certainly be long,” Rogers said. “Litigation takes a long time and is expensive.”
Currently, the park located in Freestone County, about an hour’s drive south of Dallas, remains closed.
Texas Parks & Wildlife has not yet responded to NBC 5 requests over what will happen to the park while the legal process is underway.
The state park, and the land around it, have been privately owned for decades with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department serving as a tenant.
The approximately 5,000 acres of land went under contract with Dallas-based developer Todd Interests in 2021. The company planned to build a private luxury community, which would require permanently closing the state park.
After negotiations between park officials and the developer to save the park failed, state lawmakers filed legislation to stop the sale. All three bills failed, resulting in Saturday’s vote to seize the land through eminent domain.
The founder and CEO of Todd Interests has not publicly responded to the state’s use of eminent domain.
During a public hearing at the Texas Capitol in May, the developer blasted state efforts to stop the sale and said Texas Parks and Wildlife could have purchased the property but did not compete in the open bidding process.
“When can government step into a transaction and covet something that’s not theirs? And want something that’s not theirs,” developer Shawn Todd told lawmakers.
