Summary: Aledo ISD recently closed on 40 acres from the Beggs Ranch, on the north side of Interstate 20, with access from Ranch House Road. This new Aledo ISD land is in the City of Willow Park Extra Territorial Jurisdiction ETJ. No determination has been made yet on timing or location of next AISD campus -- just land acquisition as "a high priority as we look to our future.”
Latest Update: 06 February, 2025
Aledo ISD acquires land in the Willow Park ETJ for future school.
Aledo ISD recently closed on 40 acres [1] from the Beggs Ranch [2], on the north side of Interstate 20, with access from Ranch House Road. This new Aledo ISD land is in the City of Willow Park Extra Territorial Jurisdiction ETJ. [2023 Willow Park ETJ Map below.]
An extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) is an “unincorporated area that is contiguous to the corporate boundaries of the municipality, ... a sort of buffer zone outside of a city’s corporate limits. Despite this, cities have been granted relatively little authority to address" many issues in the city's ETJ. [3]
"Through partnerships and planning together for the fast-growth within the Aledo ISD boundaries, AISD - with the help of the City of Willow Park and the Parker County Emergency Services District 1 - announces two sites that have been secured for building future schools in the district. [1]
No determination has been made yet on timing or location of next AISD campus -- just land acquisition as "a high priority as we look to our future.”[1]
Willow Park Sources and Resources
[1] Aledo ISD announces land acquisitions thanks to partnerships, planning with local government entities, Aledo ISD Website, 29 January 2025
ALEDO, Texas, January 29, 2025 – Through partnerships and planning together for the fast-growth within the Aledo ISD boundaries, AISD - with the help of the City of Willow Park and the Parker County Emergency Services District 1 - announces two sites that have been secured for building future schools in the district.
These important relationships between Aledo ISD and local cities, developers and the local emergency services district (ESD) have been forged through many years of working together for the benefit of Eastern Parker County, specifically its students and the Bearcat community. Because of this work, Aledo ISD has been able to complete these two transactions with no impact on the budgeted amount of money for land in the 2023 Aledo ISD Bond.
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[1] Aledo ISD: District announces land acquisitions, The Community News, posted online 29 January 2025
Cites partnerships, planning with local government entities
A map provided by the Aledo ISD shows sites of two recent land acquisitions, one in Willow Park and one near Kelly Road and Bear Creek Road.
Through partnerships and planning together for the fast-growth within the Aledo ISD boundaries, AISD - with the help of the City of Willow Park and the Parker County Emergency Services District 1 - announced two sites that have been secured for building future schools in the district.
Aledo ISD recently closed on 40 acres from the Beggs Ranch, within the ETJ of the City of Willow Park on the north side of Interstate 20 with access from Ranch House Road; this land was acquired via a sewer easement swap. With property access points along Ranch House Road, Aledo ISD said it will work with the City of Willow Park to ensure - just as has been done with prior campuses - that pickup and drop off traffic safely queues around the campus.
“We are excited to work with Aledo ISD on a school site for Willow Park,” said Willow Park Mayor Doyle Moss. “It is a testament to the leadership of our city and our community that so many people are willing to sit down together and plan for our growth.”
Aledo ISD also received a donation of a 12-acre elementary school site near Kelly Road and Bear Creek Road in Kelly Ranch Estates that will be adjacent to a property that will house a new Parker County Emergency Services District fire station. There are eight fire stations and 28 full-time firefighters on duty spread across the entire Parker County ESD, and this new site will help with future growth.
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These important relationships between Aledo ISD and local cities, developers and the local emergency services district (ESD) have been forged through many years of working together for the benefit of Eastern Parker County, specifically its students and the Bearcat community. Because of this work, Aledo ISD has been able to complete these two transactions with no impact on the budgeted amount of money for land in the 2023 Aledo ISD Bond.
“With rising prices and rapid development within the 130 square miles of Aledo ISD as well as the desirability of moving to our area, land acquisition is a high priority as we look to our future,” Aledo ISD Superintendent Dr. Susan Bohn said. “We are grateful for the Aledo Growth Committee’s foresight and thoughtfulness to include funding for land in the Aledo Bond 2023 proposal, for our community’s support of the bond proposal, and for the continued dialogue with our local stakeholders and their understanding of the importance of keeping our school district thriving and growing greatness.”
Although sites are being acquired by Aledo ISD, there is no determination being made about the timing or location of the next AISD campus, whether it be an elementary, middle or high school. Having these sites will allow the district flexibility to accommodate growth, and the timing, location and type of school will be recommended by a future citizen-led bond committee after they look at projections for enrollment, demographics, bonding capacity, infrastructure and more. However, the district has been more aggressive in pursuing land for future use in anticipation of future growth.
“It has taken years of relationship building and continuous communication with our local community leaders and developers to work in partnership for land donations to Aledo ISD,” Aledo ISD Board of Trustees President Forrest Collins said. “Many of the families who move into these developments move here to become Aledo ISD Bearcats, and we are grateful for how these developers work with us to build up our community’s education infrastructure.”
Since the district’s most recent land transactions have been donations or swap agreements, the district still has $14.9 million of the original $17.8 million in bond funds to utilize for future sites.
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[1] Aledo ISD announces land acquisition in Willow Park's Extra Territorial Jurisdiction, City of Willow Park Website, 29 January 2025
No determination made yet on timing or location of next campus
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[2] Beggs Ranch, five miles east of Willow Park, is bringing 3K family homes. Willow Park Civics Blog, posted 28 May 2024
The Fort Worth Zoning Commission approved a plan to develop the Beggs Ranch property on the western edge of the city.
Developers of the 240-acre site at the intersection of Old Weatherford Road and FM 3325 are looking to build a mixed-use development. The number of residential units estimated for the area would include a maximum of 1,000 multifamily units, 1,000 townhomes and 650 single-family homes.
In 2013 Barron-Stark Engineers awarded 12,000 acre master plan west of Fort Worth, TX Over four generations of ranchers including the Beggs, Boswell and Dean ranches came together to hire Barron-Stark Engineers to masterplan their contiguous 12,000 acre jewel in Aledo, Texas. The entire masterplan is in anticipation of the next great movement west of Tarrant County and is adjacent to the Walsh Ranch.
For four generations the Beggs family ran the Beggs Ranch and the Beggs Cattle Company [Facebook]; the Beggs Ranch was most recently run by George Beggs III, who passed in 2011. His wife passed in 2023. And as modern life often has it, their children are now making money out of the family property
[2] Go east, young man: The Ranch Development East of Willow Park, Willow Park Civics Blog, posted 16 February 2023
[3] What is the extraterritorial jurisdiction and why was it created? Texas Municipal League
The extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) is an “unincorporated area that is contiguous to the corporate boundaries” of a city. TEX. LOC. GOV’T CODE § 42.021. The ETJ, a concept created by the Texas Legislature in 1963, is said to be established in order “to promote and protect the general health, safety, and welfare of persons residing in and adjacent to” cities, a sort of buffer zone outside of a city’s corporate limits. Id. § 42.001. Despite this, cities have been granted relatively little authority to address health and safety issues in the ETJ.
[3] Texas Constitution and Statues > LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE ? TITLE 2. ORGANIZATION OF MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT > SUBTITLE C. MUNICIPAL BOUNDARIES AND ANNEXATION > CHAPTER 42. EXTRATERRITORIAL JURISDICTION OF MUNICIPALITIES > SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
• The extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality is the unincorporated area that is contiguous to the corporate boundaries of the municipality...
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