Fairfield Lake State Park closed ahead of sale, as state looks again to eminent domain

As the sale of Fairfield Lake State Park moves closer, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has closed the park to the public.

At the same time, the Parks and Wildlife Commission is slated to discuss acquiring the property through eminent domain, days before a private developer officially takes over the land.

Fairfield Lake State Park, in Freestone County between the Metroplex and Houston, has been the subject of public debate for several months. The state park sits on land that the state has leased from energy company Vistra Corp. for about 50 years. But Vistra is now selling the land to Dallas-based developer Todd Interests, which plans to turn the park land and several thousand surrounding acres into a high-end gated community.

In marketing materials obtained by the Star-telegram, Dallas-based developer Todd Interests outlined its plans to transform Fairfield Lake into a private, high-end community.
In marketing materials obtained by the Star-telegram, Dallas-based developer Todd Interests outlined its plans to transform Fairfield Lake into a private, high-end community.

In preparation for that sale, the state closed the park’s gates at the end of February. State legislators then asked if it was possible to keep the park open longer, and the Parks and Wildlife Department reopened the gates and allowed visitors to access the park free of charge.

But on Monday, the state closed the park’s doors once again, to allow park staff enough time to “decommission” the property. The state’s lease on the park land ends on June 13, the Parks and Wildlife Department said in a press release.

Although the state is taking steps to close up the park land, the Parks and Wildlife Commission is also prepping for a last minute meeting to discuss obtaining the park land and surrounding acreage through eminent domain.

The Commission has scheduled a meeting for June 10, just days before the state park lease ends, to discuss and vote on using eminent domain for the 1,800 acres of park land and the surrounding 3,000 acres that Todd Interests is purchasing. The eminent domain acquisition, if approved by the Commission, would allow the state “to preserve and expand Fairfield Lake State Park,” according to the June 10 meeting agenda.

“Texas Parks and Wildlife Commissioners continue to pursue options for saving Fairfield Lake State Park, including through condemnation,” said Commission Chairman Arch “Beaver” Aplin III in a press release. “But in the meantime, department staff must focus on decommissioning the property before our lease ends June 13.”

State legislators previously raised the idea of passing a bill to allow the Parks and Wildlife Department to acquire the park land trough eminent domain. They later backed away from that idea.

The special meeting comes after the state sent in a $25 million offer asking Todd Interests to step away from its contract to purchase the land. In the press release, the state said that Todd Interests rejected that offer. Shawn Todd, the founder of Todd Interests, previously told the Star-Telegram that he countered the offer and then didn’t heard back from the state.

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