Dean Ranch: the boundary suit is settled

Fort Worth and Aledo said in a joint statement Tuesday night that "final boundaries between Willow Park, Aledo and Fort Worth have been agreed upon and the lawsuit between the cities has been resolved," The Community News reported Thursday. Citing Fort Worth City Council documents, the paper reports the Beall-Dean Ranch property at the southwest corner of I-20 and FM 1187, the 321-acre site of a planned $500 million mixed-use project, stays in Willow Park permanently, as does the northern half of East Bankhead Highway between Nu Energy Drive and FM 1187. Fort Worth gets two $500,000 payments to its general fund: one from Beall-Dean Ranch Ltd. within seven days of the judgment date, and one from Willow Park through half the property-tax revenue from an about 15-acre tract at the property's northeast corner. Willow Park agrees not to annex south of East Bankhead or into Aledo's ETJ or city limits, and Aledo agrees not to annex the released land, including the northern half of East Bankhead. Aledo City Manager Candice Edmondson told the paper the agreement "reestablishes our ETJ (extraterritorial jurisdiction) and city limit boundaries at the center of Bankhead Highway. This has been our boundary since 2002," and said the cities agreed to wait until the final judgment is signed to release the terms. The Ledger has not seen the signed judgment or the settlement document; Aledo Mayor Shane Davis wrote on Facebook that "the city will publish boundary maps and have the full settlement available in the future."

Source: The Community News, "Aledo and Fort Worth settle suit with Willow Park," Oct. 29, citing the cities' joint statement and Fort Worth City Council documents