Northlake Nursery-CS 980804 August 4, 1998
Joe Bob Fikes
Northlake Nursery
794 S. Denton Tap Road
Coppell, TX 75019
RE: Grapevine Creek III Sanitary Sewer SS94-02A
Dear Mr. Fikes:
This letter is written as a follow-up to your prior letters and phone conversations concerning the status of the
existing sanitary sewer line running across the eastern portion of your property. During construction of
sanitary sewer lines in 1996, it was stated that the sanitary sewer line across your property would be taken
out of service. As you are aware, an error in surveying occurred which now precludes the City of Coppell
from removing the existing sanitary sewer line across the east side of your property.
Your latest correspondence, dated January 6, 1998, indicates that the sewer line is approximately 800 feet
long by 20 feet wide and that the value of your property is approximately $5.50 per foot. It appears from our
information that the line is somewhere between 640 and 670 feet long. Therefore, the total square footage
using the 670 feet by 20 feet wide would be approximately 13,400 square feet of easement. It should be
noted that typically the value of an easement is somewhat less than the value of an outright purchase of land.
As you may be aware, an easement on the property does not preclude you from developing the land, it only
prevents you from building structures over the top of the easement. In Coppell, the City allows people to
place parking lots over the easements, thereby maximizing the use of the land. Using a general rule of
thumb, approximately 25 percent of the value of the property is used for the purchase of an easement.
Therefore, the value of the easement across the back of your property would be approximately $18,425. In
order to bring this situation to a close, the City of Coppell is willing to offer $25,000 for the acquisition of
the easement across the east side of your property. The additional cost over the $18,000 is a good will
gesture on the City's part for compensation concerning the sewer line not being constructed within the
original easement. I'm unsure why the original sewer line was not constructed within the easement. But
neither the original 1976 plans or the Creekview plans show the sewer line to be constructed within the
easement.
If you should have any questions, please feel free to contact me as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
James Witt
City Manager ss9402a, tnlknurs.ltr