MUDS, SUDS and PUDS. Those are acronyms for just a few of the many special districts that are available to developers in Texas. These special districts are big in the Houston area but most governmental entities in this part of the state, with the exception of Denton County, view them with suspicion.

Last week an application was filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for the approval of Collin County Municipal Utility District No. 1. This is a 443-acre subdivision, which is part of an overall 1,200-acre master plan, just north of Prosper, east of Business 289. (By the old Hope Lumber Building.) In a MUD, the developer is allowed to sell bonds to provide for water and wastewater treatment. If they can do this, the density of the subdivision is their call.

Under current statutes, a developer can start a MUD in the unincorporated area of a county and is under a very vague obligation on notifying the county or the school district involved. The developers build, sell and move on and it is the local entities that must deal with what is left behind.

In the proposed Collin County MUD No. 1, the developers are planning a high-density subdivision with over 1,900 homes. That translates to 4-5 homes per acre and 50-foot width lots. This particular MUD has also not set aside any land for school sites and parks. If this MUD is built out we could be looking at an additional 3,800 cars added to two-lane 289 heading south through Frisco. The build out time is at this point still unknown.

With a projected average of 1.5 children per household, Prosper ISD will face the prospect of educating an additional 2,850 students. The current student population for Prosper ISD is 1,250.

This week the commissioners' court will request that TCEQ hold a formal hearing on this development. This is not the first serious effort by a special district to come into Collin County. Already there is a rumor that a developer is considering a 1,400-acre MUD in the Weston area. Prosper ISD is also dealing with a Fresh Water Supply District, another special district, in Denton County. There is also word that developers are interested in properties in southeastern Collin County as well.

I believe that if we do not stand firm on this District, many more will come and nothing will eat up our land quicker and tax our services more than these sprawling subdivisions, which are quasi-governmental, tax accessing entities.

Homeowners in MUDS do not pay municipal taxes. However they do commit to paying an alternative tax to the developer in order to pay off the bonds. In this particular MUD, the developer tax rate is 96 cents per $100 evaluation, which is far higher than any city tax rate in the county. Also, once a MUD is established, cities will not be able to annex it unless the city is willing to take over the debt and have their citizens pay it off.

Unfortunately there is very little a county can do except requesta public hearing. To the best of our knowledge, the state has never ruled against a MUD in favor of a county. Through our legislators, Jodie Laubenberg and Ken Paxton, we tried to get legislation in the last session to give fast growing counties the authority to approve/disapprove these types of developments but it never made it out of committee.

I will be working with the city of Celina, Prosper ISD and our state legislators to try to stop this development. However, we have very little chance of success unless we get YOU involved. Please let the TCEQ know that you would like to request a hearing and please express your concern on this topic.

On my website, I have the address of the appropriate person to contact at TCEQ. Also there are some bullets that you can use in a letter requesting a hearing. Please feel free to cut and paste and send it on as soon as possible. Due to the vagueness of the law the cut off date in requesting a hearing could be as early as July 9 or as late as July 30.

Once we get a hearing scheduled I'll let you know. This may even require a few plane tickets to Austin but if we do not take a stand here the whole landscape of our county can change dramatically in a just a few short years.

(County Commissioner Joe Jaynes' website is www.joejaynes.com.)