CONFUSING CONFUSING
After 8 months of studying ordinances from Ft Worth, Arlington, Grand Prairie, Flower Mound, and Hurst, the Dallas Gas Drilling Task Force has made its confusing and hard to understand recommendations.
The upshot is Dallas has a weaker proposed ordinance of protection for their citizens than most of the other cities they studied.
http://www.dallascityhall.com/pdf/GasDrilling/GasDrillingandProductionOrdinance_030112.pdf
Of major importance is the "setback" or distance required from a gas drilling and production use to a protected use is as follows: 1,000 ft minimum spacing measured from the property line of the operation/pad site to ....
residential, institutional and community service uses *
.... but the City Council may grant a setback distance of not less than 500 ft for protected use with 2/3 vote in favor.
The distance for Habitable Structures (is any use that is not a protected use) is 300' from the property line of the operation/pad site.
.... So our homes* could be between 500 ft to 1000 ft from a pad site
.... and anything else can be 300 ft?
Got that? You need to be a lobbyist to keep track of this!
Their will be a:
Citywide Organizing Meeting on Gas Drilling in Dallas
Tuesday, March 27th 7 to 8:30 pm
Center for Comunity Cooperation
2900 Live Oak, Dallas
* See exceptions on link.
I just really don't like it when our cities are supposed to be protecting us and instead they leave it to low-information lessors to decide what's safe for our neighborhoods. However, the industry loves it. They claim they just want to be "good neighbors" but beware. They want your land and they'll swear it's all about your neighborhood. Never. It is never about you. If you won't willingly sign a mineral lease with them, they have big loopholes that so far they have used with great success to just take your minerals. It's all in the spirit of good will.
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