Jay Woomer, head of developer B C Partners, said he didn’t mean to blindside anybody when he took a request for a new municipal utility district to the city of Dallas.

“I thought that was what I was supposed to do,” he said.

Click here for concept plan

But the move has made county and Forney officials mad. They say they think it was an end-run to exclude them from plans for the development.

“I’m going to be the first commissioner to stop a MUD,” Pct. 2 Commissioner Ray Clark said. “No commissioner has ever stopped a MUD, but I’m going to stop this one. I’m sure going to try.”

The proposed Brooklyn Crossing is in a complicated spot. It’s about 100 acres at FM 548 and Reeder Lane, a stone’s throw from the new Forney high school. While it’s in the heart of Forney development, the property is outside the city limits and lies within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Dallas. Dallas has limited control of property that is in Kaufman County but within about 5 miles of Lake Ray Hubbard, which belongs to Dallas.

The development is planned for about 430 apartments, 200 townhomes and an assisted living center. Nearly half the property would be retail and neighborhood services.

Mr. Clark, Forney Mayor Darrell Grooms and Dwayne Thompson, the Forney school district’s chief financial officer, all said they knew nothing of the development.

Mr. Clark and Mr. Grooms said they accidentally heard about it after Dallas’ approval. Mr. Thompson learned of the plan from KaufmanCountyOnline.com.

Mr. Clark and Mr. Grooms said they are angry because they knew nothing of the development and because it will have a big impact on the county, city and school district.

“We have no say so in this and yet it impacts us,” Mr. Clark said. His home is directly across from the development site, but he said that has nothing to do with his opposition.

The county would be required to provide police protection through the county sheriff’s office, Forney would have to provide fire service and the school district would have to absorb the children.

“What do we get out of this?” Mr. Clark said. “We get a tax base that won’t pay for the services.”

Mr. Woomer said he had no intention of going around local authorities. He said he talked to county and city officials two years ago, but those officials have left the county or are in other positions.

The project was dropped for a time, he said, while the property owners worked to get the land annexed by Forney. In the end, Forney and Dallas could not reach an agreement.

At that point “I was told I would have to go through Dallas, that there was no one else to go through,” Mr. Woomer said. And he did.

The Dallas city council approved the municipal utility district, which has rights and powers similar to a city, in January. It still must receive approval from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality before any construction could begin. Mr. Woomer has not yet applied to the commission.

He said he sees Brooklyn Crossing as a “win-win partnership.” Forney needs to extend its sewer line north and could do that across Brooklyn Crossing. In exchange for tying on to the city's sewer lines, Brooklyn Crossing would use its ability to sell bonds to pay for and construct that sewer line.

“We want to work with them to make it a great development,” Mr. Woomer said.

But Mr. Grooms will have none of it. He said the city will not allow the development to use city sewer lines.

“As I told one of the attorneys, what’s the benefit to Forney to sell him sewer? We can provide sewer to other developments and retail going in out there that will pay taxes and provide sales tax,” Mr. Grooms said.

Mr. Woomer said he hopes to reach an agreement with the city about the sewer. “The sewer is the bottom line.”

Mr. Grooms said the city also is unhappy about the number of apartments and townhomes. “The concept plan that we have seen is really not appealing.”

He said there’s too much commercial, too close to too many apartments, townhomes and an assisted living center.

Mr. Woomer said he was told by a city employee when he first talked about the development that Forney just didn’t want apartments.

“The bottom line is they need apartments, whether they like it or not,” Mr. Woomer said. He said he talked to managers and owners of existing apartments, “the competition, and they were begging. They said they had to turn people away and had waiting lists.”

Mr. Grooms agreed that Forney needs apartments but wants them within the city limits so that the city can control the density and appearance. He said he expects an apartment development to come before the planning and zoning commission within the next few months.

Mr. Woomer said he will continue to try and work with local officials to bring about Brooklyn Crossing.

“We want a quality development,” he said.

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