BNSF Railway files lawsuit against North Texas city for blocking its industrial facility
BNSF Railway is suing the North Texas city of Gunter for blocking its plans to build a large industrial logicistics center.
The Fort Worth-based railroad filed its lawsuit in District Court in Grayson County on May 17. Gunter, which is about 70 miles northeast of Fort Worth, has roughly 2,060 residents.
In the filing, BNSF alleged city officials violated state laws when they denied the company’s application for preliminary plat approval of its over 900-acre logistics facility in April. BNSF also said the city failed to act on the application in a timely manner.
The railroad is arguing that the hundreds of acres it owns in Gunter are zoned and vested for development that includes industrial uses. In court documents, BNSF said it owns over 519 acres within Gunter’s territorial limits, and 429 acres in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.
A BNSF spokesperson told the Star-Telegram on Tuesday that the company is not commenting on pending litigation.
Gunter Mayor Karen Souther told KXII that she wasn’t surprised by the lawsuit and that the city is adhering to the law.
BNSF has tried to move forward with plans to build the logistics center in Gunter for over a year, but the project has been plagued by local opposition. The company’s logistics centers are industrial business parks where multiple BNSF customers can get direct-rail service. BNSF has five logistics centers, two of which are in Texas — Sweetwater and Cleveland.
In July, BNSF withdrew its plans for the center after facing push back from residents. Still, BNSF intended to eventually move forward with the logistics center. Resistance to the project continued in the following months. In December, all five members of the city council resigned over the railroad project controversy.
BNSF operates in 28 states and has roughly 37,000 employees. In 2023, it shipped 9 million carloads of freight.
This story was originally published June 4, 2024 at 1:30 PM.
