The nation’s largest homebuilder, D.R. Horton, has filed a suit against Rockwall County over its efforts to force the developers to pay some infrastructure costs.
ROCKWALL COUNTY, Texas — One of the largest homebuilders in the United States is suing one of the fastest-growing counties in the country in a dispute over new development that could have implications for boomtowns across North Texas.
D.R. Horton filed suit against Rockwall County on June 12, arguing the county’s rules that builders must pay a share of the cost of certain infrastructure developments put an unlawful condition on the company’s plans and deprive it of protected property rights, according to court filings.
At issue is more than 1,800 acres of undeveloped land D.R. Horton owns in southern Rockwall County. The company has pitched plans to build several hundred homes on a portion of the land, but County Judge Frank New said the potential for more than six thousand houses to eventually be built there would have significant consequences.
“It will fundamentally change Rockwall County,” Judge New said. “For all intents and purposes, it is a city that this developer is just wanting to drop out of the sky.”
D.R. Horton did not respond to a request for comment.
New said recently adopted rules in Rockwall County ask developers to share in part of the cost of infrastructure across 16 categories — including roads and policing.
“Property taxes will take care of maintenance and operations. It doesn’t take care of the infrastructure cost,” he said.
If D.R. Horton builds thousands of new homes, the county will need 10 more deputies, five new police vehicles and three new schools, according to New.
“We require the developer to participate,” he said. “Not to bear the total brunt of the infrastructure, but to participate.”
New said the company appealed the county’s initial estimated cost, a right provided it under local government code, and offered to pay $868,291.75 for road improvements and to pay for two new deputies during the first phase of development.
However, legal filings indicate Horton withdrew its offer before the county accepted it.
“It’s a little bit frustrating that we have the largest builder in Texas suing the smallest county in Texas,” New said.
The legal challenges over the southern Rockwall County land were first reported by the Dallas Business Journal.
New said this issue is borne out of a 2019 state legislative change that allows property owners to “opt out” of extra-territorial jurisdictions (ETJ) — regions outside city limits that still fall under the realm of control of some city development rules.
The property D.R. Horton now owns was once a part of McLendon-Chisholm’s ETJ, and thus subject to its development rules, New said. Now that the land is unincorporated Rockwall County — and not part of an ETJ — the county is seeking to regulate some development in an “apportionment” move that New acknowledges is novel.
“When they are removing cities’ ability to annex and actually control development, it has created a wild, wild west scenario,” New said. “This is something we’re not equipped to deal with.”
He said that how a District Court Judge rules will have lasting implications for Rockwall and other counties in the midst of a development boom.
“If they say the county does not have this authority, we’re in trouble,” He said. “And not just us. All counties in North Texas are in trouble.”
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