The state is ceasing its efforts to seize a roughly 5,000-acre property in Freestone County from a Dallas developer that includes a former state park and adjoining Fairfield Lake.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department also agreed that it wouldn’t use its eminent domain powers on any portion of the property in the future, according to documents obtained by The Dallas Morning News.
The agreement follows a months-long contentious public battle between the state and park supporters trying to save the closed park and private property rights advocates, causing a divide not only in the community but among Texans statewide who have watched the saga unfold.
“This monumental and historic victory belongs to the ranchers, farmers, landowners, and people of Freestone County,” Todd Interests founder and CEO Shawn Todd said in a written statement to The News.
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Click here to read more on the development from our partners at The Dallas Morning News.