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Titan hearing postponed
By Chris Roark, croark@starlocalnews.com
The hearing for a lawsuit between Flower Mound and Titan Operating, LLC has been postponed until May 31.
The lawsuit, which stems from the board's 2010 denial of variances to allow Titan to drill for natural gas at the Elmer Powell property near Spinks Road, was reinstated March 16.
The partial summary judgment hearing is scheduled for the 393rd Judicial District Court of Denton County with Judge Douglas Robison. There, each side will have 25 minutes to present their case.
The lawsuit was originally filed in December 2010, but a temporary abatement was granted on Sept. 7, 2011.
Welch said it is the town's understanding that the case was originally put on hold because Titan was seeking to drill from Ron Hilliard's property, where it was already performing operations, to the Powell site. But that would require going under Lewisville ISD property. When that plan didn't work, the case was reinstated.
On Dec. 16, 2010, the board denied several variance requests to allow gas drilling the Powell 1H well on about 24 acres east of Long Prairie Road, south of Spinks Road and north of Lakeside Parkway.
Titan was seeking variances on the distance from a property line to a well bore, which ranged in distance from 105 feet to 447 feet, and a property line to a storage tanks, which ranged from 106 feet to 210 feet. The town's requirement for all of those setbacks at the time was 500 feet, with the ability for the applicant to request variances down to zero feet.
In its lawsuit, Titan contends that "the Board's denial of Titan's request for simple variances for setbacks related to lot lines was made without reference to applicable criteria and standards, is illegal in whole or in part, constitutes an abuse of discretion, was arbitrary and capricious, and should be reversed."
Welch said a vigorous defense is planned, and he stated "the board's actions certainly were not illegal, were not an abuse of discretion and the decision of the board was based on solid evidence and testimony. We are confident that the board and its denial of the requested variances will be upheld by the court."
Titan officials would not comment on the case.
During the Dec. 16 meeting, residents voiced concerns over the pad site being near Bluebonnet Elementary School and Shadow Ridge Middle School. They also worried about drilling operations being near an electrical substation.
But an attorney representing Titan that night said the request met the setback requirements from a school and that Oncor had signed a waiver regarding the substation.
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