06/21/2023 – Fate, TX.
If you missed the development presentation last night by Petro-Hunt, LLC to the joint City Council / Planning Commission don’t feel bad. How could you have possibly known this was to take place?
The town published agenda stated only: “ … JOINT WORK SESSION TO DISCUSS CONCEPTS FOR THE AREA LOCATED AT THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF I-30 AND FM 551, RCAD PROPERTY IDS: 12848, 92992, 12849, AND 72981 “.
“Discuss concepts.” That’s what they are calling it. Not a single mention that there would be a sales pitch (ie: presentation) by Petro-Hunt was made public. Not even a blurb about the proposed multi-family, mixed-use commercial development that will occupy the busiest intersection in town. Nope, just a vague concept of a “work session to discuss concepts” was all that was presented to the public.
As a reminder, Texas law governing the notification of meetings states:
Sec. 551.041. NOTICE OF MEETING REQUIRED. A governmental body shall give written notice of the date, hour, place, and subject of each meeting held by the governmental body.
Our question is, does the advertisement of a joint “work session” without any reference to the actually intended discussion meets the legal requirement of this definition? We don’t think so. Why would Ryan Wells, the Director of Planning & Development organize such a deceptive announcement? Could it be that he is collaborating with Petro-Hunt on how to get their project through without stirring up too much public outcry that he knows is inevitable?
Fortunately, you will be happy to know that no actions were taken with regard to this “presentation”. But don’t worry, it will happen. And when it does, they will come back and say, “This was ALL public record, and the citizens were aware of what was going to happen.” Of course, they were.
Who is Petro Hunt, LLC?
Petro Hunt is essentially an oil & gas company that owns a lot of land in Texas. Recently, they have decided to get into real estate development. The current President and perhaps patriarch of the family is Bruce Hunt. Bruce has set up over 53 various companies (LLCs) to manage the family’s vast holdings.
It truly is a family organization. In addition to Bruce, there is Douglas Hunt, David Hunt, Marshall Hunt, Casey Hunt, Austin Hunt, Carter Hunt, and Bailey Hunt… all working directly for the company. It looks to be about three generations…. And not one of them lives in Fate.
But they do own land here … a lot of it. They boast about owning 520 acres of land. 250 acres available for commercial/retail along I30, and 393 acres for residential use (split into two tracts of 165 & 228 acres).
Fate is not their first rodeo. They have land developments in Forney, Lavon & Edgecliff. Fate is actually small potatoes compared to Forney and Lavon, which boasts 1600 acres & 1814 acres respectively.
In March of 2022, the city approved a zone change of the land across from Fresh Brookshires from Agriculture to Mixed use commercial … without that decision, this wonderful opportunity for our town to expand into commercial development would not have been possible… Thank you, Council, Mayor Billings, and Strong Towns for your assistance in shaping our development strategies.
