Hebron near its breaking point
In bitter water war with Carrollton, tiny city is at risk of being swallowed up
By JAY PARSONS/ The Dallas Morning News

December 17, 2006 - Less than two square miles of patchwork geography are all that remain of what could have been one of Denton County's largest cities.

The town of Hebron is on its last legs, struggling to halt a 40-year-old policy of disannexation-on-demand and keep its historic mill town together – even if most of it has long been demolished and annexed into Carrollton.

"I would like to see Hebron stay here forever," said Randall Morris, town commissioner and one of about 60 residents left. "Is that possible? That, I don't know." No city has benefited more from Hebron's slow demise than neighboring Carrollton. And perhaps no one – not even Hebron leaders – holds more control over Hebron's future than the Carrollton City Council.

Water is the key to Hebron's survival, and Carrollton is the gatekeeper. The city has exclusive rights to provide Hebron's water and, for the last five years, has refused to add service needed for development unless properties disannex from Hebron.

Carrollton "doesn't have anywhere to grow unless they go through Hebron," Mr. Morris said. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out if they can strong-arm some people, that's what they'll do."

Carrollton officials would not discuss the battle. Court records indicate the city fears that development in Hebron could hurt Carrollton, and the city prefers to annex the town.

"I really can't comment on litigation," said Leonard Martin, Carrollton's city manager. "There are a whole lot of complex issues. This isn't the big guy picking on the little guy – 'We're going to hold you hostage.' There's none of that."

Still, the fight leaves Hebron in a stranglehold. Without more water, the town can't grow and is forced to acquiesce to developers' disannexation requests – a pattern that Hebron Mayor Kelly Clem said will eventually put "Hebron out of existence."

"I think it's sick Carrollton won't keep their promise," 32-year Hebron resident David Griffith said. "They hate us with a passion, even though we've given them land out the ears. They hate us because they can't control us. They want to tell us what to do."

A critical point is nearing. Hebron's largest remaining tract, 309 acres at Parker Road and Josey Lane, is under contract to sell to a developer in February.

The seller's attorney said the developer, whom he wouldn't name, plans to build a mixed-use community. A project of that size could generate millions in tax revenue – a lifeline for Hebron and an attractive annexation target for neighboring Carrollton and Lewisville.

Maps from the 1960s show Hebron stretching almost 25 square miles – about twice as large as Farmers Branch – south-to-north from the Dallas County line to State Highway 121 and east-to-west from pieces of Collin County to the Elm Fork of the Trinity River.

In the early 1900s, Hebron had two cotton gins, two grocery stores, a filling station and a barbershop clustered on Hebron Parkway west of Charles Street, an area now part of Carrollton, longtime residents recalled.

The town was hit hard by the Depression in the 1920s. Businesses went vacant and were demolished, leaving behind farms and a strip of ranch-style housing.

"I've been around a long time, and it's been an unusual story to watch Hebron," said Thomas Taylor, director of the Upper Trinity Regional Water District. "It was a huge city in terms of acreage at one time. But any landowner who wanted to develop, they didn't want to fool with it, so they'd just disannex."

Today's Hebron map shows five blots, connected by 10-foot-wide strips to comply with state law requiring a city be contiguous. Those strips stretch from Dallas Air Park near the Dallas North Tollway to Indian Creek Golf Course near Interstate 35E.

"It's really hard to put a housing development in a 10-foot strip," Carrollton's Mr. Martin said. "It just maintains them as a city, and it blocks us from annexing an area. I've always been puzzled how that relates back to the fathers of Hebron."

Hebron has no property taxes, no town hall, no city employees and – until recently, a minuscule budget funded by cable and electric fee royalties. Police and fire protection are contracted out.

Mr. Clem said, "People used to joke, 'Where's town hall?' and answer, 'I don't know. I haven't seen Stanley's truck.' "

The late Stanley Dozier was the town's mayor for 36 years before stepping down in 1997. He ran the town as a holding basin for landowners. When landowners wanted to develop, Hebron let them disannex primarily into Carrollton but also Lewisville, Plano or The Colony. Almost all of Carrollton's growth in the last 20 years used to be in Hebron.

Carrollton acquired exclusive water rights to Hebron in 1996, the year before a new Hebron commission took office with a new mission: Keep the town together.

By 2001, the relationship with Carrollton soured. Carrollton refused a Hebron resident's request for new water meters along an existing pipeline – an addition needed to develop – unless the property was annexed into Carrollton.

The Town Commission's two members – a third seat is vacant – recently passed a sales tax that Mr. Morris said raises about $15,000 a year.

"Everything we have is budgeted to this event," Mr. Clem said of the legal battle against Carrollton.

So far, Hebron has been successful in courts, but Carrollton has yet to expand water service. Carrollton insists its obligation is to serve only the original customers of 1996. It will not add the capacity or meters necessary for development.

Carrollton Mayor Becky Miller and City Attorney Clayton Hutchins did not return calls for comment.

"Because [Carrollton] cannot exert control over development in Hebron ... [Carrollton] cannot adequately plan for the growth and operation of its water system, predict its water supply needs, or confidently protect the health of its retail water customers," the city wrote in a court filing.

In 2004, the state's Office of Administrative Hearings declared Carrollton's stance "utterly wrong" and said it "negatively affects their [Hebron's] ability to use and develop their property."

Carrollton sued the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, calling the state agency's stance unconstitutional. A district court rejected Carrollton's claim in July 2004, a ruling upheld in 2005 by the state's Third District Court of Appeals.

More than a year later, Carrollton has yet to comply. The city remains on appeal of a separate ruling by the environmental commission in Travis County District Court. The commission ruled against Carrollton in its plea to end its responsibility of providing Hebron water.

The wait has angered Hebron officials, who have little choice but to comply with disannexation requests until the issue is resolved.

On Monday, the Hebron Town Commission approved spending $5,000 to explore the feasibility of getting water from the Upper Trinity Regional Water District. Before the water district could step in, though, Carrollton would have to cede its right as Hebron's sole provider.

"We wouldn't fight that if they wanted to join them," Carrollton's Mr. Martin said. "I'm not saying if they walked in, we would just give it up. They can come talk to us."

Town leaders said Hebron may have to levy a property tax to get the water lines needed, but no one is ruling that out.

For now, the town's future waits on Carrollton.

Mr. Clem has dreams for something better for his town.

"I'd love to see a new city center, an area you could call Hebron again," he said.