ST0502A-ES110601 T H E • C 1 T Y • O F
COPPELL
x q
A s 1
June 1, 2011
Joseph Michael & Linda J. Alexander
255 Winding Hollow Lane
Coppell, TX 75019
RE: Freeport Parkway Reconstruction
ST 05 -02A
Parcel 5 — Permanent Right of Way
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Alexander:
In January 2009, the City of Coppell sent you an offer letter regarding the purchase of a
portion of your land for permanent right of way for the construction of Freeport Parkway.
The project was delayed for a couple of years, but we are now back on track and moving
forward with the project.
The City of Coppell is in the process of finalizing the design for the reconstruction of
Freeport Parkway from Ruby Road to Sandy Lake Road. This project will consist of
removing the current asphalt roadway and constructing a four lane divided roadway. The
project will include reconstruction of the bridge over Cottonwood Branch, the extension
of a 12" water line, drainage improvements, and an 8' hike and bike trail from Sandy
Lake Road to Wagon Wheel Park.
Due to the considerable widening of the road, a significant amount of right of way will be
required. With this letter I am attaching several documents. The first is a copy of the
Texas Landowner's Bill of Rights. This document outlines your rights as a land owner
with respect to the city's acquisition of a portion of your land for permanent right of way.
I also included a copy of the plan sheets for the roadway construction adjacent to your
property. Finally, I am including the right of way documents themselves.
Parcel 5 consists of 12,240 square feet of land. The city's typical approach to purchasing
land from adjacent property owners is based on the value determined by the Dallas
County Appraisal District. The appraisal district lists the value of your land at $2.50 per
square foot. The current appraisal reflects a 50% reduction in value due to the floodplain
encroachment. The portion we are interested in is not in the floodplain, and we are
therefore considering the full value. The City of Coppell would offer you $30,600.90 at
this rate (12,240 square feet x $2.50 /sf) for acquisition of the portion of your property
depicted in the attached exhibits.
A FAMILY COMMUNITY FOR A LIFETIME
255 PARKWAY * P.O. BOX 9478 * COPPELL TX 75019 * TEL 972/462 0022 * WWW.COPPELLTX.GOV
In addition to the above offer, as discussed, we will provide you with a second driveway
entrance to your property. We will also include a portion of your property that can be
removed from the floodplain in our flood study, which would save you the cost of a
future flood study. We could bid the fill material as an alternate to the project so that you
could pay the contractor to place the fill on the portion of your property that is removed
from the floodplain. We will also be placing a water line stub out in the event you would
like to receive water service from the city in the future.
If the above offer is acceptable, please sign below and return the letter to this office.
Once the letter is received, the process for payment of the $30,600.90 can start.
Construction is scheduled to start during 2012, and the city needs to acquire this property
as soon as possible. Your consideration of this matter is appreciated, and if you have any
questions, please contact Michael Garza, 972 - 304 -7019 or me.
Sincerely,
1 X..a t „
Michael a a, E.I.T Kenneth M. Griffin, P.E.
Graduate Engineer Director of Engineering
Office 972/304 -7019 Office 972/304 -3686
Fax 972/304 -3570 Fax 972/304 -7041
mgarza @coppelltx.gov kgriffin @ci.coppell.tx.us
Joseph Alexander Linda Alexander
Enclosures
• , ..:.:.:..:s ...,.
• . ,.,P. E O .,,i..•
\ �'''.
147 ° .
.
•...•.••...•.'
:. '
,,u
THE STATE O I TEXAS
LAND OW
BILL OF RIGHTS
c• .;j.$o
PREPARED BY THE
•
;
' �S ,
4.1 ptV
a
C ti:
'* TE X AS ,:
OFFICE OF THE
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
; • 0 gNEy'••.
CA
' *TEXA`���•� .
This Landowner's Bill of Rights applies to any attempt by the government or a private entity to take your property.
The contents of this Bill of Rights are prescribed by the Texas Legislature in Texas Government Code Sec. 402.031
and Chapter 21 of the Texas Property Code.
1. You are entitled to receive adequate compensation 8. You may hire an attorney to negotiate with the
if your property is taken for a public use. condemning entity and to represent you in any
legal proceedings involving the condemnation.
2. Your property can only be taken for a public use.
9. Before your property is condemned, you are entitled
3. Your property can only be taken by a governmental to a hearing before a court appointed panel that
entity or private entity authorized by law to do so. includes three special commissioners. The special
4. The entity that wants to take your property must commissioners must determine the amount of
notify you about its interest in taking your property. compensation the condemning entity owes for the
taking of your property. The commissioners must
5. The entity proposing to take your property must also determine what compensation, if any, you are
provide you with an assessment of the adequate entitled to receive for any reduction in value of your
compensation for your property. remaining property.
6. The entity proposing to take your property must 10. If you are unsatisfied with the compensation
make a good faith offer to buy the property before awarded by the special commissioners, or if you
it files a lawsuit to condemn the property. question whether the taking of your property was
proper, you have the right to a trial by a judge or
7. You may hire an appraiser or other professional to jury. If you are dissatisfied with the trial court's
determine the value of your property or to assist
you in any condemnation proceeding. judgment, you may appeal that decision.
CONDEMNATION PROCEDURE
Eminent Domain is the ability of certain entities to take private property for a public use. Private property can
include land and certain improvements that are on that property.
Private property may only be taken by a governmental entity or private entity authorized by law to do so. Your
property may be taken only for a public use. That means it can only be taken for a purpose or use that serves the general
public. However, Texas law prohibits condemnation authorities from taking your property to enhance tax revenues or
foster economic development.
Your property cannot be taken without adequate compensation. Adequate compensation includes the market value of the
property being taken. It may also include certain damages, if any, to your remaining property caused by the acquisition
itself or by the way the condemning entity will use the property.
SOW THE `.KUNG PROCESS BEGINS
The taking of private property by eminent domain must follow certain procedures. First, the entity that wants to
condemn your property must provide you a copy of this Landowner's Bill of Rights before or at the same time the
entity first represents in any manner to you that it possesses eminent domain authority.
Second, if it has not been previously provided, the condemning entity must send this Landowner's Bill of Rights to
the last known address of the person in whose name the property is listed on the most recent tax roll at least seven
days before the entity makes a final offer to acquire your property.
Third, the condemning entity must make a good faith offer to purchase the property. The condemning entity's offer
must be based on an investigation and an assessment of adequate compensation for the property. At the time the offer
is made, the governmental condemning entity must disclose any appraisal reports it used to determine the value of its
offer to acquire the property. You have the right to either accept or reject the offer made by the condemning entity.
CONDEMNATION PROCEEDINGS
If you and the condemning entity do not agree on the value of the property being taken, the entity may begin
condemnation proceedings. Condemnation is the legal process for the taking of private property. It begins with a
condemning entity filing a claim for your property in court. If you live in a county where part of the property being
condemned is located, the claim must be filed in that county. Otherwise, the claim can be filed in any county where
at least part of the property being condemned is located. The claim must describe the property being condemned,
the intended public use, the name of the landowner, a statement that the landowner and the condemning entity
were unable to agree on the value of the property, and that the condemning entity provided the landowner with the
Landowner's Bill of Rights statement.
SPECIAL COMMISSIONERS' HEARING
After the condemning entity files a claim in court, the judge will appoint three landowners to serve as special
commissioners. These special commissioners must live in the county where the condemnation proceeding is filed,
and they must take an oath to assess the amount of adequate compensation fairly, impartially, and according to the
law. The special commissioners are not authorized to decide whether the condemnation is necessary or if the public
use is proper. After being appointed, the special commissioners must schedule a hearing at the earliest practical time
and place and provide you written notice of that hearing.
You are required to disclose to the governmental condemning entity, at least ten days before the special
commissioners' hearing, any appraisal reports used to determine your opinion about adequate compensation for
the property. You may hire an appraiser or real estate professional to help your determine the value of your private
property. You may also hire an attorney regarding these proceedings.
At the hearing, the special commissioners will consider evidence on the value of the property, the damages to
remaining property, any value added to the remaining property as a result of the project, and the uses to be made of
the property being taken.
SPECIAL COMMISSIONERS' AWARD
After hearing evidence from all interested parties, the special commissioners will determine the amount of money
to be awarded as adequate compensation. You may be responsible for the costs if the Award is less than or equal to
the amount the condemning entity offered before the condemnation proceeding began. Otherwise, the condemning
entity will be responsible for the costs. The special commissioners will give a written decision to the court that
appointed them. That decision is called the "Award." The Award must be filed with the court and the court must send
written notice of the Award to all parties.
After the Award is filed, the condemning entity may take possession of the property being condemned, even if either
party appeals the Award of the special commissioners. To take possession of the property, the condemning entity
must either pay you the amount of the Award or deposit the amount of the Award into the registry of the court. You
have the right to withdraw the deposited funds from the registry of the court.
OBJECTION TO THE SPECIIAL COMMISSIONERS' AWARD
If either you or the condemning entity is dissatisfied with the amount of the Award, either party can object to the
Award by filing a written statement of objection with the court. If neither party timely objects to the Award, the court
will adopt the Award as the final judgment of the court. If a party timely objects to the special commissioners' Award,
the court will hear the case in the same manner as other civil cases.
If you object to the Award and ask the court to hear the matter, you have the right to a trial by judge or jury. The
allocation of costs is handled in the same manner as with the special commissioners' Award. After that trial, either
party may appeal any judgment entered by the court.
DISMISSAL OFF THE CONDEMNATION ACTIION
A condemning entity may file a motion to dismiss the condemnation proceeding if it decides it no longer needs your
property. If the court grants the motion to dismiss, the case is over and you are entitled to recover reasonable and
necessary fees for attorneys, appraisers, photographers, and for other expenses incurred to the date of the hearing
on the motion to dismiss.
You may also file a motion to dismiss the condemnation proceeding on the ground that the condemning entity did
not have the right to condemn the property, including a challenge as to whether the property is being taken for a
public use. If the court grants your motion, the court may award you reasonable and necessary fees for attorneys,
appraisers, photographers, and for other expenses incurred to the date of the hearing or judgment.
RELOCATION COSTS
If you are displaced from a residence or place of business, you may be entitled to reimbursement for reasonable
expenses incurred while moving personal property from the residence or relocating the business to a new site. You
are not entitled to these relocation costs if they are recoverable under another law. If you are entitled to these costs,
they cannot exceed the market value of the property being moved and can only be reimbursed for moving distances
within 50 miles.
RECLAMATION OPTIONS
If private property was condemned by a governmental entity, and the purpose for which the property was acquired
is canceled before the 10th anniversary of the date of the acquisition, you may have the right to seek to repurchase
the property for the fair market value of the property at the time the public use was canceled. This provision does not
apply to property acquired by a county, a municipality, or the Texas Department of Transportation.
DISCLAIMER
The information in this statement is intended to be a summary of the applicable portions of Texas state law as required by
HB 1495, enacted by the 80th Texas Legislature, Regular Session. This statement is not legal advice and is not a substitute
for legal counsel.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Further information regarding the procedures, timelines and requirements outlined in this document can be found
in Chapter 21 of the Texas Property Code.
RFV 08/10