SUBSCRIBE NOW

Enjoy all your local news and sports for less than 6¢ per day.

Subscribe Now or Log In

Granite Shoals changes parkland to city property for possible sale

Timberhill Park in Granite Shoals

A portion of the backyard of Yvett and Corby Daughtrey is considered part of Timberhill Park, which lies across this canal and is only accessible to the public by water or private property. Photo courtesy of Corby Daughtrey

After a year-long discussion, the Granite Shoals City Council finally decided to change the status of 0.14 acres of Timberland Park from parkland to city-owned property and will sell it to residents Yvett and Corby Daughtrey for $35,000. The money will go toward improvements to Timberland Park, which is separated from the land in question by a canal. A final vote on the decision won’t happen until the next council meeting on Feb. 28. 

During its Feb. 14 meeting, the council directed City Attorney Joshua Katz to draft a resolution changing the piece of land’s status as the Texas Constitution requires an election before a city can sell parkland. Granite Shoals also has an ordinance against selling parks. 

The piece of land is in the Daughtreys’ backyard and did not exist when Timberhill Park was deeded to the city in 1970. It was created over time with fill dirt and changing Lake LBJ levels, according to information turned up in the city’s research.

The Daughtreys have been working with Granite Shoals officials to find a way to purchase the land so they could have legitimate waterfront access. The discussions hit a snag in early 2022 when several residents expressed fear that the purchase of that portion of Timberhill Park would lead to the city selling other parkland and eventually blocking public access to the lake. 

Councilors have been waiting for an official appraisal to determine the value of the piece of land since September 2022, but the appraiser was unable to do so because of the property’s unique nature, said Interim City Manager Peggy Smith. 

Exasperation on the part of the council, city administration, and the public led to Tuesday night’s decision to take steps to sell the land and resolve the issue.

“We’ve been dealing with this thing for a year, and it’s time to do something about it,” Councilor Ron Munos said. “We’ve wasted many, many hours of valuable council time on it.”

Munos made a motion to delist the land and set its value using a square-foot average. The motion was passed unanimously.

Smith determined the square-foot average to be $5.62 based on other comparable sales of waterfront fill area in Granite Shoals on Lake LBJ. That comes to about $35,000 for the 6,236-square-foot property.

“Selling parks or any land that resembles a park is a very volatile issue,” Councilor Steve Hougen said. “But the value of this truncated section of (the park), the monies that are received, will go back to Timberhill Park itself. We will be able to repair restrooms, add a courtesy dock, and make other improvements with these contributions.”

dakota@thepicayune.com

1 thought on “Granite Shoals changes parkland to city property for possible sale

Comments are closed.

DailyTrib.com moderates all comments. Comments with profanity, violent or discriminatory language, defamatory statements, or threats will not be allowed. The opinions and views expressed here are those of the person commenting and do not necessarily reflect the official position of DailyTrib.com or Victory Media Marketing.