Peninsula land easement deal lauded By Carter Thompson The Daily News Published September 04, 2001 PORT BOLIVAR — Thad Felton was looking for a place to build a beach house when he turned his attention to the cow pastures east of the ferry landing. His quest for a good lot has ended in a planned development that should benefit sun worshippers and seabirds alike. Felton is preparing to build The Biscayne, a 166-home, gated development on about 130 acres of beachfront land. In the process, he has struck a deal with environmentalists that will keep the remaining 366 acres of his property in its natural state. Last week, he granted a conservation easement on the property to the Legacy Land Trust, a Houston-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to preserve open space in the region. The conservation easement forever prohibits development of the land. It’s a tool that brings benefits to environmentalists and owners. Environmentalists gain the means to preserve natural habitat in Texas because of the state’s history as a independent republic and concessions it extracted when it became one of the United States in 1846. Landowners often get lower tax appraisals with the prohibition against development. In the case of The Biscayne, the homeowners also will get a natural buffer between them and the traffic on state Highway 87. “It’s a good buffer between the houses and it will be a pretty drive in, not just a straight road,” Felton said. “We’re not out here trying to maximize units and put in cookie-cutter lots. I wanted this thing to look this way forever.” He said he began looking into a conservation easement as he explored ways to mitigate the loss of wetlands as the subdivision was built. The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission wanted Felton to create 50 acres of wetlands to replace the eight that would be destroyed. “That’s when it kind of popped in my head — why don’t I make this a wildlife preserve and that will be my mitigation?” he said. Jennifer Lorenz, executive director of Legacy Land Trust, said preserving wetlands was preferable to building new ones. It can take years for new wetlands to become developed and diverse ecosystems. The Felton Reserve contains four ponds and is home to a host of plant and animal life, including the threatened white-faced ibis and rare northern harrier. “Wetlands are really unique areas,” she said. “It’s very difficult to create that. If you just go dig a whole somewhere you really don’t have the same thing.” The Felton Reserve as it will be known also is near the Audubon Society bird sanctuary on the west end of the peninsula. “That’s obviously great for all those birds that will have this preserved area,” Lorenz said. The owners can run cattle — provided there is a grazing management plan — but cannot hunt or build permanent structures. They also will have to maintain the land, for example thinning imported Chinese tallow trees from time to time, she said. The preserve will act as flood protection, storing like a sponge the water that would roll over developed areas. It also has the potential of increasing the value of the homes, she said. “This land will be worth more because they know there will not be a Seven-11 there,” Lorenz said. “They know there will not be development there.” Granting a conservation easement was not akin to donating the land for a park, she said. The land remains privately-owned. The first phase of construction will entail the construction of the streets and the digging of a lake near the back of the developed property. The peninsula, dotted with fishing camps, has long been a favorite getaway for people living in and around Beaumont. The Biscayne to an extent will buck those trends. It will boast a sewer system rather than septic tanks like those used elsewhere on the peninsula, Felton said. It also will be more expensive to buy there. Lots will cost from $30,000 to upwards of $75,000 for those on the beachfront. Homes would sell for between $270,000 and $500,000, Felton said. “We’re going to be somewhere between Galveston Island and Bolivar Peninsula,” he said. “We are really going to market in the Houston, Woodlands and Kingwood areas hard. A lot of people don’t know about Bolivar Peninsula, and we would like to change that.” Felton has a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers to dig the lake and develop the subdivision. He has yet to apply for the necessary permits from the county. Because the development will be in a coastal buffer zone and was not platted prior to 1991, homeowners in The Biscayne will have to turn to the private sector for their flood and windstorm insurance. Lola Jones with Moore Realty in Crystal Beach is handling the sale of the lots, Felton said.