Since this seems to be a misapprehension by a couple of commentators I'll put this as a top-level comment. The family bringing the lawsuit is not the family that donated the land.
A Farmer Donated Land to Turn into a Park. The City Is Building a Data Center
31–40 of 574 posts
Re: A Farmer Donated Land to Turn into a Park. The City Is Building a Data Center
#32[flagged]
YIMBYism is about relaxed zoning so that commerce and diverse types of housing aren't physically segregated, but even in the most "free" places industry is segregated because the needs of industry are incompatible with human habitation. No one wants to live next to a refinery, nor should they be put in a position where that's their only option.
(I get that you're being ironic.)
Re: A Farmer Donated Land to Turn into a Park. The City Is Building a Data Center
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
https://www.kut.org/energy-environment/2025-09-26/taylor-tex... This is closer to the time of the lawsuit and has some more details - they sold it to a trust who then sold it to the city some years later, and the city rezoned it in 2005. It's possible they missed the timing maybe?
Thanks, I actually just found that article- and it gives a completely different view of events than the posted article. For one, it says the suit was from a group of residents, not the family who donated the land.
To be fair the article never says that the family who donated the land was the one who was suing.
Re: A Farmer Donated Land to Turn into a Park. The City Is Building a Data Center
#34[flagged]
[deleted]
Re: A Farmer Donated Land to Turn into a Park. The City Is Building a Data Center
#35Can they sue and get the land back? The city can deal with the relocation of the datacenter since it's their doing.
"... the city for $10, the city sold it, and when the family went to court their suit was dismissed."
I think your quote is incorrect. I haven't seen that the family has done anything since the donation. It was unrelated neighbors who sued.
Re: A Farmer Donated Land to Turn into a Park. The City Is Building a Data Center
#36There seems to be some missing details from the few sentences in this article. Does anyone have the full story? Why did the court dismiss the families lawsuit?
https://www.taylorpress.net/article/10705,judge-rules-in-fav... has a bit more info. I don't know how to pull the actual court documents without paying for them, but the article indicates the case was dismissed for lack of standing. The plaintiffs tried to argue that as neighbours, they had an interest in the land usage being enforced. The court disagreed. I presume the original family could bring a case? It doesn't…
Possibly... there is a lot of unknown details here. The article posted appears to be rage bait rather than a well researched article.
Re: A Farmer Donated Land to Turn into a Park. The City Is Building a Data Center
#37Wow they had the condition that the land be used as a park baked into the deed when they sold it to the city for $10, the city sold it, and when the family went to court their suit was dismissed. Now their home is worthless because nobody wants to live next to a data center. When are we going to hold local government officials accountable for bullshit like this? Send them to prison.
There is a tax loophole where you buy a lot of land and donate 90% of it to the government to be "public parkland". However, in actuality, you're the only person who has convenient access to this land and nobody else can build there, so you get nearly all the benefits of this land while claiming a big tax deduction. It doesn't sound like what is happening here, but I don't think you should be able to block developmen…
Public parks should not be developed on for the sake of the community. We need wild areas.
Re: A Farmer Donated Land to Turn into a Park. The City Is Building a Data Center
#38Much better to donate that land to nonprofits like https://naturecollective.org who actually can turn things into parks. They're private too, which gives the legal right to trespass people who are trying to live on the park.
https://wildlandsconservancy.org this was the actual nonprofit I was thinking of
Re: A Farmer Donated Land to Turn into a Park. The City Is Building a Data Center
#39[flagged]
YIMBYism is about relaxed zoning so that commerce and diverse types of housing aren't physically segregated, but even in the most "free" places industry is segregated because the needs of industry are incompatible with human habitation. No one wants to live next to a refinery, nor should they be put in a position where that's their only option. (I get that you're being ironic.)
Yeah no worries, apart from the facetiousness I'm a pretty YIMBY person un-ironically. But it is infuriating that people adopt YIMBY rhetoric to try and defend data centers and other harmful industrial uses in areas with high land value. It's not only completely counter to the ideals of YIMBYism but also insulting as YIMBY has always been about lowering housing and commercial use costs through heavily relaxed zoning, NOT pushing through anything that anyone wants to develop in some sort of libertarian wet dream.
Re: A Farmer Donated Land to Turn into a Park. The City Is Building a Data Center
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why did the suit get dismissed? Local good ol boys doing the K-Drama USA dance?
My guess is standing. The family bringing the suit is not the family that donated the land.
If it is a park, does it mean anyone living in the city has standing because their entire city lost the park?