Protect Flower Mound

On June 27, 2008 Red Oak Gas filed a lawsuit against the Town of Flower Mound and the Flower Mound Oil and Gas (O&G) Board of Appeals. The suit alleged that the Boards denial of Red Oaks request for variances from the Towns O&G ordinance (which would have allowed them to drill gas wells on the proposed--and unapproved--Riverwalk site) was illegal and that it caused Red Oak an unnecessary hardship and as such, the variance denials should be reversed.

The process for denying the requested variances is carefully detailed in the Towns O&G ordinance. The Towns O&G Board followed the designated process and made their decisions based upon the twelve criteria outlined in the ordinance. Each requested variance was extensively debated and evaluated against the ordinances criteria. The Boards decision was NOT illegal; Red Oak simply did not like the results. Furthermore, Red Oak was aware of the Towns O&G ordinance prior to entering into a lease agreement with the propertys owner.

Ordinances are put in place to protect the Town's citizens, the Towns character, and ultimately the overall quality of life for the Town's residents. It is not the responsibility of our community to ensure profits for developers who make poor business decisions.

We do hereby request that The Town of Flower Mound and its elected officials protect our ordinances and our community by actively defending itself against this lawsuit. This lawsuit should NOT be settled out of court. To do so would allow Red Oak, or any future developers who are denied variances to a Town ordinance, the ability to dictate our communitys ordinances.

Should Town leaders fail to aggressively defend the Town against Red Oak, we believe that this is a failure of their most basic responsibility--to protect the residents of Flower Mound.