Don't Move to Jarrell Texas (Howe, Florence: houses, to buy, allergies)

[souredbytexas]

We moved here to retire. You know, get your little slice of heaven. Well, little did we know that Williamson County leaves a lot of land unrestricted which means you can buy your dream home and someone can buy the unrestricted property behind you and build a car wash, trash dump or quarry. It seems that the city of Jarrell and Williamson county cater more to corporations than residents. Sadly, Texas is moving in the direction of money leading the way. After we moved in, a rock crushing quarry opened up literally within a half mile. Now we are kept up at all hours of the night, our home inside and out is covered in dust, our pool is unusable unless we vacuum it every single day because of the dust settling in it, our patio furniture has to be washed every week, our house has to be sprayed down 1 or 2 times a month. We had to hire a maid service to keep up with the cleaning inside because of the amount of dust. And the roads are horrible. Some of the back roads on the west side of Jarrell have pot holes that could swallow a small vehicle, or at least knock your vehicle out of alignment if you weren't able to dodge the holes. The roads are covered in debris. And the quarries are allowed, by permission from the great state of Texas, to run 24/7 without any concern to the peace and quiet of existing resident neighbors. Our health has deteriorated. Our property value has gone down, and our dream of a quiet peaceful slice of heaven has gone up in dust. Texas and it seems Williamson county in particular, seem to cater to these quarries. I cannot in good conscience recommend anyone move here. If you're looking for a cookie cutter home with no property, you can buy cheaply on the east side of 35 but from what I'm told the houses were cheaply made and already falling apart. Take a drive on 487 from 35 toward Florence over to 195 and see for yourself. You'll see the gorgeous views of rock and sand piles and hopefully you won't end up with a broken windshield like many of us. Heck, even our dog has developed allergies because of the poor air quality. A big thanks to Jarrell, Williamson county and good ol Texas for putting your residents, your voters, first!

[RSTX]

Was your property unrestricted when you purchased it? Was the surrounding property unrestricted as well?

If the answer to both is "yes," there is nothing you can complain about. If you want to live in an HOA-level of enforcement, you need to buy in such a place. If you purchase "land" that is less than, oh, say 500 acres, it will be difficult for you to live away from others.

If your little slice of heaven is 3 acres (as an example; it could be 12 or 50 for all I know) and it is not in a restricted area, then, yes, a rock quarry or shooting range or junkyard or whatever can open up. It sucks, but that is the nature of purchasing raw, unrestricted land. Your neighbor has as much right as you do to do whatever they want.

Your frustration is understandable, but blaming Texas, Williamson county and/or Jarrell for this is like trying to teach a pig to sing...it wastes your (and our) time and annoys the pig.

[turf3]

Well, well, well, look who didn't do their research!

OP, is there something about the concept "rural" that you didn't understand?

[Trainwreck20]

If you are getting that much dust, then they are not operating the quarry properly. Contact the TCEQ, specifically if you can see visible dust leaving the property.

[El Chingaso]

Can’t knock the OP. It’s all true - even a god has tried to take Jarrell off the map.

Hey. Taxes are low though, and they have their straight-ticket voting which keeps the same government in place.

[Trainwreck20]

Well, it looks like this was a 'one and done' poster, as it indicates that he is 'not a member' now. I would have to assume that he is not from Texas. However, for anyone who is reading the rant:

• If the quarry is not in the city limits of Jarrell, then Jarrell has no purview and cannot regulate any activity in the county outside the city limits;
• Counties in Texas have notoriously low regulator allowances. This is a plus or a minus depending on your point of view, but it is what it is and has always been that way. They cannot create or enforce zoning;
• The state has limited existing direct statues regarding quarries, and the ones that they do have are related to safety;
• The TCEQ does have a very well developed regulatory commission that deals with the equipment in quarries (albeit not the quarries themselves).

The basic TCEQ regulation that would apply to ANY operation (30 TAC 101.4) states:

No person shall discharge from any source whatsoever one or more air contaminants or combinations thereof, in such concentration and of such duration as are or may tend to be injurious to or to adversely affect human health or welfare, animal life, vegetation, or property, or as to interfere with the normal use and enjoyment of animal life, vegetation, or property.

Note that this would apply to individuals, as well. If you feel that a quarry is not meeting that requirement, you need to call the TCEQ and file a complaint. The TCEQ will come out and investigate.

A rock crusher would be subject to 30 TAC 116.110:

(a) Permit to construct. Before any actual work is begun on the facility, any person who plans to construct any new facility or to engage in the modification of any existing facility which may emit air contaminants into the air of this state shall either:

(1) obtain a permit under §116.111 of this title (relating to General Application);

(2) satisfy the conditions for a standard permit [...]

The facility is required to get an air authorization (minor permit or standard permit) which has conditions that may limit the hours they operate, the production rates, and what they have to do to control the dust emissions. In addition, the quarry must register with the TCEQ so that it can be inspected no less than once every three years to check for compliance with stormwater permits, air permits, septic, industrial water (if applicable), spill prevention and containment (related to oil), and a number of other state and federal rules.

Complaining on C-D does little. If you have issues with an operation, take it to the TCEQ. There are many 'rogue' operators (although less than there used to be) that either totally ignore getting a permit or decide not to follow the permit requirements. The 'good' operators will thank you for keeping the 'bad guys' honest.

If you had posted the name of the company, I could find their information for you.

[jackalope48]

Zoning: worth paying city taxes for.

[Futuremauian]

Let me fix your title: Don't Move to Texas! You're welcome.