Medina County commissioners gave preliminary approval to The Enclave and Forest Creek subdivisions during the court meeting held on July 2. They also approved the prelim plats for the larger Potranco Oaks subdivision recently.
“Unlike Potranco Ranch which we did years ago as a TIRZ, these new subdivisions are PIDs which is where the county gets 100% of the tax revenue, but the developer can get paid back for a portion of his investments by the PID which is funded by the residents who buy those homes inside that development, rather than a portion of tax revenue on increased valuations,” said Commissioner Larry Sittre.
Potranco Oaks
Potranco Oaks will have 270+ lots for new homes in the county along with a 40-50 acre park. Potranco Oaks is the next phase of the Potranco Ranch subdivision that went in years ago in the Castroville area.
The Enclave
The Enclave is located in Precinct 2 off FM 1957. It will have around 65+ homes according to Commissioner Sittre. Drake Thompson of homebuilding firm Texas Homes said the plan is to develop the 26-acre property as a gated community with garden homes.
“This is something that we’ve talked about and have been working on for quite a while,” Precinct 2 Commissioner Larry Sittre said. “They’re going to bring in some top quality garden homes. They are 2,200 square feet, average, around $275,000 and upwards.”
The Enclave will be separate from Potranco Oaks and have its own entrance.
“I have talked to Drake on this many a time, and I’m ready for him to get this project kicked off,” Sittre said.
Forest Creek
Commissioners also gave preliminary approval for the Forest Creek subdivision, located in Precinct 3. We are looking into how many lots are still in this new subdivision.
Precinct Commissioner David Lynch pointed out that multiple subdivisions are underway in the county and spoke about the county’s subdivision rules.
“I talked to the engineer about this, and about the fact that we’re doing a lot of HOA, PID-type of stuff to make these roads private, and that there’s a very good possibility that roads like this one, that are going in this subdivision, may or may not be accepted by the commissioners court for maintenance because we’re not obligated to do that,” Lynch said. “And I would like that to somehow appear on this plat so that when people buy this, they realize that the county may not maintain this.”
Lynch added that the court as it currently exists has been hesitant to accept roads for maintenance, and that the county’s tax attorneys have advised that the court not accept them without the funds to maintain them.
County subdivision regulations state that roads may not be taken over by the county, but there is no requirement that information appear on a plat.
“And just to prevent people from coming back later on and going, ‘What do you mean, you won’t maintain our road, you approved the subdivision,’ well, we’re not obligated to maintain the road,” Lynch said, “and they need to know that.”
By Marly Davis
and Kayleen Holder