Bill seeks to prevent Colonias (Texas)

Corpus Christi Cller-Times ^ | February 10, 2005 | Tim Eaton

[green iguana]

I'd bet most of those squatters are in this country illegally

You're right about the illegal part, but most of them aren't exactly squatters. The way these things work is a "developer" buys a chunk of basically worthless land, subdivides it into small plots and resells these plots upon which the new owner builds a shack. The colonias are in unincorporated county areas with no running water or sewers, but often can get electric. Plots are too small for individual septic systems, and the new owners couldn't afford them anyway. Typically no plat is filed so true ownership is tough to prove. I said there were no developers because no one does the things a real developer would do.

[TexasCowboy]

In some cases the squatters know the gas lines are there.

I worked for a company out of Dallas who had to move their supply line after a bunch of squatters sued because of the danger, and they built right up to the 20' easement.

[Bombardier]

That place pretty damn dry to me.

You should see how wide the creek bed is for Cibolo Creek just north of San Antonio....when there's enough rain, it gets pretty deep and pretty fast. Also, there are flood gauges all over South Texas, most of the ones I've seen show a depth of about 5 to 7 feet, but I'm sure there are some with deeper levels.

[TexasCowboy]

"It looks pretty damn dry to me."

Believe me, when it floods in South Texas, it FLOODS!

[TexasCowboy]

"but if I want to rough it on my raw land that should be my business."

It should be, but it doesn't end there.

As soon as they get settled and have enough squatters to have power, they sue to get all the amenities everyone else has. That comes out of the taxpayers pocket.

[green iguana]

That place (looks) pretty damn dry to me.

Think flash flood. Doesn't happen often, but when it does, watch out.

[Redbob]

So, when "colonias" are outlawed, where will the folks live who can only afford a "colonia?"

Oh, that's right: government-subsidized apartments.

[My2Cents]

Thanks for the clarification. It stills seems to me that there should be county zoning and building code ordinances which make these hovels illegal, but then, I live in California where everything is regulated -- you can't even change a showerhead fixture without a permit in some communities. The idea that some "speculator" could buy up a tract of land, be able to subdivide it (doesn't this require approval of the county?), and then sell it to illegals who then build some squalid dwelling, is beyond my comprehension.

This is a case where the rotting cancer of illegal immigration is truly turning portions of this nation into the equivalent of a third-world country.

[SwinneySwitch]

One holer or two holer?

[My2Cents]

I worked for a company out of Dallas who had to move their supply line after a bunch of squatters sued because of the danger

This is outrageous. Are you saying that courts will actually entertain such suits?

[Fiddlstix]

Believe me, when it floods in South Texas, it FLOODS!

You Got That Right!
And the Lower Valley, especially Brownsville being only a few feet above sea level........it can flood BAD.

[TexasCowboy]

"Think flash flood."

There is flash flooding in the arroyos, but most of the flooding occurs in the depressions of otherwise flat land.

South Texas has a lot of caliche top soil which won't allow water penetration. The water has no place to go.

[My2Cents]

What's missing here is the point that most of these people are here illegally. There should be no discussion of "shoulds and shouldn'ts" in regard to their living condition. The only "should" here is that these folks should be sent back across the river. From what I'm reading on this thread, these people come into the country illegally, are here illegally, build ramshackle dwellings illegally which don't meet standing building codes let alone health and safety codes, and then eventually sue (successfully) for water and sewage utilities that legal tax- and ratepayers subsidize. How long do they have to be here before they demand welfare and Medicaid? They shouldn't even be here!! This stuff drives me crazy.

[TexasCowboy]

"Are you saying that courts will actually entertain such suits?"

Entertain?
No, agree with the plaintiffs, but that really doesn't make any difference.

The first time one of the squatter's kids comes down with a cold, it's going to be the fault of the gas line leaking gas in some unmeasurable quantity.
All of a sudden you've got five hundred squatters sick from the gas line. It WILL be moved.

[TexasCowboy]

"How long do they have to be here before they demand welfare and Medicaid?"

LOL!

They have that figured out in a week or less!

[My2Cents]

Nueces County Commissioners Peggy Banales and Betty Jean Longoria also attended and thanked Hinojosa for his efforts.

Why don't these apparently worthless county commissioners do something on their own? Are building and sanitation laws all dictated by the state? Don't the local counties have authority to enact and enforce building, zoning, land use, and health ordinances?

[deport]

CLICK

This is what needs to be addressed .....

Colonias that count on the U.S. side of the border

Few Texas colonias, i.e., the new slums near the Mexico border, are squatters' colonies. Instead, they are constructed on tracts of newly subdivided land outside city limits which were purchased on contracts for deed. Most lots were offered at $100 down on a lot priced at about $10,000 to be paid off over 10 or 15 years at an interest rate of 14 to 16%. Until the passage of SB 336 last year, the purchaser on a contract for deed in Texas gained no ownership interest until the entire sum was paid off despite the his investment in the construction of a dwelling on the lot.

Concerns about the environmental consequences of NAFTA led the federal and state governments to an interest in U.S. colonias. For colonias are settlements in which important elements of infrastructure are lacking, most notably, piped and treated water, sewage disposal, and solid waste disposal services. While the Mexican government's policy is to regularize the land tenure of the paracaidistas and to plan for the construction of infrastructure in their colonies, the U.S. considers squatters as a part of the homeless population. Thus the only U.S. colonias which are counted are those in which the residents own, are purchasing, or rent the land. While the General Accounting Office was careful to title its November 1990 count and survey, Rural Development: Problems and Progress of Colonia Subdivisions Near Mexico Border, other agencies tend to omit the word subdivisions. One should not be misled by this omission, however.

The GAO survey found 872 colonia subdivisions in Texas, 14 in New Mexico, and none in Arizona and California. The explanation of these numbers is that the creation of residential subdivisions lacking infrastructure was legal in Texas, was possible through exploitation of a loophole in New Mexico law, and was not legally possible in Arizona or California. When Texas undertook its own survey of colonia subdivisions (see Water and Wastewater Needs of Texas Colonias, Texas Water Development Board, 1992), it found many more created after the GAO count and others in east Texas counties, which are not near the Mexico border. The current count of Texas colonias is 1471.

See: EPA Office of Water, Colonias Fact Sheet
 

Go on

Part I Table of Contents

Main Table of Contents

 

Colonias that count in Texas

In 1992 and 1995, the Texas legislature passed anti-colonia bills. Since the creation of subdivisions lacking infrastructure was outlawed only in areas near the Mexico border, in Texas colonias are defined as a) subdivisions, b) lacking essential elements of infrastructure, and c) near the Mexico border. (Agencies are not entirely consistent, however.  See the Texas Water Development Board's map of Texas colonias. and the Texas Department of Health's description of developments near Corpus Christi as colonias.

The more restricted definition of colonias is imposed by the unavailability of colonias aid funds to developments more than 150 miles from the border and was upheld indirectly by the Texas Supreme Court in the Elgin Bank case. (see "Rural land management under fire - Supreme Court ruling blasted as "disastrous public policy"" in San Antonio Express News, February 6, 1996.) The Court's ruling in the case was that no other Texas counties could regulate subdivisions outside city limits. In short, the Texas constitution does not give home rule powers to counties but regards them as subdivisions of the state exercising only the powers delegated to them by the state, which has chosen not to regulate rural subdivisions in counties which are not on Mexico border.
 

[My2Cents]

This is a sign of the end of civilization as we know it. Doesn't Texas have laws against construction over or near underground gas lines?

[TexasCowboy]

The drainage systems in border towns are almost useless.
I've seen McAllen flood with a two inch rain.

[SwinneySwitch]

"The idea that some "speculator" could buy up a tract of land, be able to subdivide it (doesn't this require approval of the county?), and then sell it to illegals who then build some squalid dwelling, is beyond my comprehension."

Went out to stake a gas well location in S. Texas, years ago, and found that it was in the middle of a colonia. No records at the courthouse, the lawyer/developer handled all the paperwork! We ended up having to buy some vacant lots to drill from.