02-04-2025
Council accepts easements from Cleburne ISD
The Cleburne City Council accepted a donation of 4.6 acres of right-of-way easements from Cleburne ISD during the council's March 25 meeting.
'I want to thank CISD for dedicating this land to the city,' Cleburne Councilman Blake Jones said. 'This is a big deal and I look forward to our continued partnerships with the district.'
The easement dedication affects the city's planned extension and improvements to University Drive.
Plans, targeted under the city's master thoroughfare plan, call for increasing University Drive into a four-lane, divided roadway, Cleburne Director of Public Works Jeremy Hutt said.
A portion of the new roadway will parallel CISD-owned property at the northeast corner of Surry Place and University Drive.
The CISD board voted to dedicate the right-of-way parcels, which consist of five separate easements, to the city, Hutt said.
The parcels include a 90-foot right-of-way for University Drive plus additional property west of University Drive, which will become stranded parcels once the right-of-way becomes established.
The portion of University Drive to be enlarged is part of the Legado subdivision and is part of a development agreement with Forestar Development. The construction is expected to take about 18 months, Hutt said.
}The agreement helps coordinate the interests and participation of multiple developments and property owners with the city's participation costs to total $3,169,897.
'This plan has been on our thoroughfare masterplan as a critical and key gateway toward the southern part of our community for a long time,' Mayor Scott Cain said in 2023. 'It will bring desperately needed relief around the Smith Middle School area.'
Through partnership between the city and developers, construction of the roadway will come in a timely manner at significant saving, Cleburne Public Works Director Jeremy Hutt said.
}Forestar Development is developing the Legado subdivision, a 147-acre subdivision of about 500 single family lots located south of West Henderson Street and east of Mayfield Drive.
Council members during the March 25 meeting also approved a resolution requiring a license agreement with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad and also approved payment of license fees and any costs associated with the project.
The project, Hutt said, involves installation of a 16-inch water main loop.
'[The water main] will provide a more reliable and robust means of water distribution for the eastern half of the city and the northern industrial park,' Hutt said.
The new system will improve water quality and improve system pressure, Hutt said.
'And add redundancy to the water supply system, ensuring the city can continue to serve its residents and businesses effectively, even during maintenance or unexpected failures in other parts of the water distribution network.'
Construction of the project involves crossing a portion of BNSF's right-of-way, something requires planning and approval from the railroad company.
Hutt said the council's approval of the resolution addressing and authorizing the matter represent critical steps necessary before construction can begin and ensure necessary regulatory requirement are in place before construction begins. The agreement will also help prevent delays during the construction phase, Hutt said.
Council members also amended ordinances addressing fire lane access easements in subdivisions.
'This streamlines the process without sacrificing safety,' Jones said.
Current ordinance mandates that fire lane access easements — at least 24 feet in width — be included on plats for all subdivisions. Doing so ensures that fire lanes are established early in the development process, Community Development Director Marcos Narvaez said.
'However, it poses challenges when properties are later redeveloped,' Narvaez said. 'In many cases, redevelopment requires a replat to adjust fire lanes, even though thes requirement could be more efficiently addressed during the site plan review process.'
To those ends, the council's amendments removes the requirement to establish fire lanes during the platting process and now requires that fire lanes be established during the site plan review process for individual developments.
Doing so, Narvaez said, renders the process more efficient and flexible especially in relation to redevelopments.
