Residents experiencing flooding want answers. Be patient, the city and developers say

Developers of two Fort Worth housing projects and city staff Monday told residents shocked twice by flooding in September that they were working together to ensure the rural neighborhood around Randol Mill Road saw less runoff.

On Sept. 8 and again on Sept. 13, bar ditches along Randol Mill Road filled and flooded the front of properties south of the Trinity River.

Residents there expect rising water from the river from time to time, but never from the street, they said. They pointed to two major developers — D.R Horton and LGI Homes — whose housing projects, they said, have increased runoff into the shallow ditches.

“It’s an act of God when the river comes up,” Dave Fulson said. “Now you’re caught between and act of God and an act of D.R. Horton.”

Greg Simmons, the city’s stormwater management manager, told residents the situation was a “perfect storm.”

The mostly rural area relies on bar ditches to drain water toward the river. Those ditches can’t handle large amounts of rain to begin with, he said. There were 13-16 inches of rain in September, according to his statistics.

Both developments meet city requirements that when completed rainwater runoff will be no worse than before construction. Neither project is close to being finished though, he said, and the city doesn’t require developers to meet guidelines until the end of the project.

At Oak Ridge, LGI’s project, stormwater systems weren’t in place during the first storm, said Ashley Williams, a representative of engineering firm Pape-Dawson. A retention pond has since been built and additional infrastructure has been ordered, she said.

At D.R. Horton’s Trinity Oaks, Simmons said homes and grass would slow future rainwater off the property.

Ben Clark, a D.R. Horton representative, told the approximately 20 residents gathered at Lowery Road Elementary School that the company was working closely with the city.

Additional steps were being taken to mitigate sediment and new inlets might be added to streets to help channel water to a retention pond instead of Randol Mill Road.

“We wanted to come here and listen, hear your concerns then go back and talk internally and talk with the city about solutions that can help with this in the interim,” Clark said.

That was an issue with Melissa McDougall, a resident of the area and former chairwoman of the city’s zoning commission. She experienced flooding on her property and wondered why the city hadn’t done more to make sure developers weren’t putting neighboring properties at risk during construction.

“There has to be some sort of checks and balances,” she said.

Ramsey Shoufi, who bought a home on Cooks Lane about a year ago near Randol Mill Road after researching to confirm the property wasn’t in a flood plain, said he thought the planning was shortsighted. Heavy rainfall is becoming more common, he said.

“This is just going to happen again,” he said.

Councilwoman Gyna Bivens, who represents the area, said she organized Monday’s meeting to give residents a chance to voice their concerns directly with the developers and the city.

Her hope is that the dialogue will lead to answers for how to mitigate future flooding in the area. She also said she would lobby for policy changes if needed.

“I’m not looking for blame, I’m looking for resolve,” she said. “We don’t know when the next heavy rain will hit and I don’t want that to happen without getting more communication going.”

This story was originally published October 1, 2018 at 9:45 PM with the headline "Residents experiencing flooding want answers. Be patient, the city and developers say."