Developer’s plans for floodplain hits opposition in Fort Worth suburb
Stand at the south end of Timberline Drive in Benbrook and look east, and you get a glimpse into the future. What was formerly open pastureland has been razed and graded for home sites. Streetlights stand where once there were oaks and mesquites. The cattle and horses are gone, moved to make room for a residential community called Trinity Estates Phase III in what is a picturesque corner of the city, not far from Benbrook Lake, where the Clear Fork of the Trinity River flows.
And once again, as was the case in August when a developer tried and failed to convince the City Council to let him build in the Mary’s Creek floodplain, Benbrook residents are pushing back against the planned community, fearing an increased risk to their homes once the builder has finished altering the Clear Fork floodplain
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Two sides to the Trinity Estates debate in Benbrook
The 75-acre property between Timberline Drive and the Clear Fork where the new development is going has been zoned for single-family residential since the 1980s, though no one had gone so far as to build there until 2024, when the owner, North Richland Hills-based Sandlin Homes, began construction.
This upset many people, like Greg Clem, who has lived on Timberline since 2016. Drive by his house, and you’ll see signs in the yard opposing the Trinity Estates development. He says flooding was already a concern in his neighborhood, and the new community will exacerbate that. He also accused the city of greenlighting the project without sufficient oversight.
Scott Sandlin, the CEO of Sandlin Homes, disputed that. He bought the land in 2023 after receiving approval from the city of Benbrook to begin work. To get to that point, Sandlin said, his company went through a rigorous process that involved submitting engineering plans and hydrology reports showing how the floodplain could be safely reclaimed.
Still, neighbors remain unconvinced. On a Facebook page for the Stop South Benbrook Floods group, Clem shared a video of Timberline Drive submerged under brown, murky water after heavy rain. He said that had never happened in the nearly 10 years he’d lived on Timberline, and Clem blamed the Sandlin development. While the water didn’t reach his home, Clem fears worse flooding in the future once the new houses are built.
Sandlin saw that video, and he agreed that street flooding may have worsened during construction, but he said that’s a temporary issue. He blamed some of it on a clogged street drain inlet, a problem that was rectified. Sandlin is confident street flooding won’t be an issue once Trinity Estates Phase III is finished and the additional drainage infrastructure is complete.
“During development, you’ll have more water back up that won’t be there when it’s done,” he said. Sandlin added that streets are designed to handle floodwater and divert it, almost like a drain.
Clem, though, is worried that flooded streets would impede emergency vehicles during a flood, and he’s not convinced it won’t be an issue even after construction is complete.
Bennett Howell, Benbrook’s director of public works and the city’s floodplain administrator, also saw Clem’s video of the flooded Timberline Drive, and he agreed with Sandlin’s assessment. Howell said a silt protection barrier on the street near the construction site became clogged, leading to an overflow of water. There was also a case in which a foreign object, said to be a trashcan lid, clogged another drain. Since then, Howell said, the city has taken steps to keep that from happening.
“We’re cognizant of that area,” said Howell. “We keep an eye on it to make sure drains don’t plug up and pipes don’t plug up.”
To mitigate the flood threat to Trinity Estates Phase III, Sandlin added dirt and elevated the property a few feet. In the center of it is a drainage canal in a wide valley that is designed to hold and safely disperse water. There is another detention pond on the property’s north side. Additionally, there will be an in-ground stormwater sewage system throughout the community to handle runoff.
Sandlin was adamant that his engineering team has done everything possible to ensure no adverse impact to neighboring properties. In fact, he said, several existing homes are no longer in the floodplain thanks to their efforts.
Clem, though, waves off Sandlin’s assertions. He sees this as a case of a developer running roughshod over long-time residents and a city happy to look the other way in order to benefit from the tax dollars the new development will bring.
Sandlin and Benbrook leaders point to a robust approval process
In addition to the city of Benbrook, Sandlin’s floodplain reclamation plans were reviewed by the city of Fort Worth, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Sandlin said the approval process involved back-and-forth dialogue with the reviewers, and that his engineers made changes to their plans based on feedback.
For example, the canal on the property was originally going to be reinforced with cement, but the Army Corps of Engineers advised against that, saying a natural canal with earthen banks would offer better drainage. So that’s what Sandlin built.
Since the development is on the Clear Fork, the city of Fort Worth is involved to ensure no adverse downstream effects. The city granted conditional approval of early engineering plans for Trinity Estates Phase III back in 2022. In April, Sandlin submitted for final approval, showing the property’s current grading and improvements made over the past three years.
A spokesperson with Fort Worth’s Transportation and Public Works Department said the city was still reviewing Sandlin’s latest submission. FEMA is also reviewing that filing before issuing what’s called a Letter of Map Revision, which would permanently remove much of the Trinity Estates property from the 100-year floodplain. That is needed before home construction can begin, and Sandlin said he expects that to come through in the next 45 to 60 days, barring further recommendations from FEMA.
Howell said a Benbrook committee previously reviewed Sandlin’s plans and determined they aligned with the city’s floodplain ordinances. Because of that, Howell said he had no choice but to OK the development, even if it’s unpopular with residents.
“It’s a stringent review,” Howell said of the approval process for floodplain development. “Our ordinance is a higher standard than the FEMA minimum requirements.”
Howell said he, a licensed engineer and floodplain manager, and Benbrook city engineer Heath Haseloff oversee that process, and they take very seriously their role in protecting residents, to say nothing of wanting to protect their reputations. The only area where the city has no authority, said Howell, was when it came to changing the floodplain map, which falls under the purview of FEMA.
Howell said there are 617 structures in Benbrook that lie in a floodplain, but those were built years before floodplain maps came into existence. Today, no homes can be built in a floodplain per Benbrook city ordinance. But if FEMA says an area no longer lies in a floodplain, because of reclamation efforts or other changes, it’s open to development.
Some Benbrook residents still not convinced
Clem and others have heard the reassurances from city leaders and from Sandlin, but they don’t appear swayed. As of Sept. 4, a petition to stop the Trinity Estates Phase III development had 346 signatures, and the Stop South Benbrook Floods Facebook group was as active as ever, with just under 300 members.
In recent days, Clem has reached out to the city of Fort Worth and to FEMA to see if there’s a way to halt approval of the development. He’s even looking into hiring an independent engineer to verify that Sandlin’s plans are indeed watertight.
“We need this phase of the project to be verified,” said Clem. “And I’m sorry, but Bennett Howell is not the guy to do that.”
Sandlin said he’s puzzled by the uproar, and he said he’s open to talking with residents to hear their concerns and come to a solution.
“From the beginning, I’ve offered to meet with the neighbors,” he said. “My number is on a sign out there, but no one has tried to reach me. Instead, they put the Facebook page up. I think people are listening to some misinformed residents who are giving bad information. I’m not there to hurt them or create a bigger problem.”
Clem said residents have been misled since the development first began taking shape. To him, the problem is simple: if you replace soil, grass and trees with concrete streets, driveways and home pads, the water that previously flowed on that land will need a new place to go. Clem’s worst fear is that it ends up in his house.
“Instead of having water run into the Trinity, the Trinity is going to be running into us,” he said. “There’s a quote, and I’m not sure who said it, but it says floodplains are for rivers, not realtors.... Our intention is to stop phase four of this project. We need that land; we need that floodplain over there.”