Jury fines developer $15.5 million

September 25, 2006

A jury fined Continental Homes of Texas $15.5 million for destroying nearly 16,000 protected trees at its Kallison Ranch project in Northwest Bexar County. However, they also decided that the subsidiary of D.R. Horton Inc., "America's Builder", was grandfathered from the tree preservation ordinance.

Apparently, the fine was assessed for the developers refusal to obtain a tree permit from the City, a requirement even for grandfathered projects. In closing arguments, it was admitted that Continental deliberately defied the ordinance even though they did not, at the time, know the project was grandfathered. Their defiance was based on a belief, stated on their development plans, that the tree ordinance did not apply to them because they were building in the City's extra-territorial jurisdiction.

Continental's grandfathering defense was only developed after the lawsuit was filed, according to testimony. The developer argued that several letters were written to prevent the project from becoming dormant, including letters to SAWS and Bexar Met inquiring about availability of utility service, a letter to TCEQ informing them of their intent to clean up contaminated soil, and a request for a grandfathering determination from the City.