Eminent domain in Tuloso-Midway ISD? District impeded in land acquisition for new school

• Tuloso-Midway ISD wants to acquire 40 acres owned by Braman Ranches LLC to build a new junior high school.
• Tuloso-Midway ISD is considering eminent domain to acquire the land.
• Finding suitable land within the district is challenging due to environmental hazards and existing infrastructure, leaving few options for the new school's location.

A roadblock is standing in the way of the Tuloso-Midway school district's plans for a new junior high school — finding the land to build it on.

A year and a half ago, Tuloso-Midway Independent School District voters approved a $165 million slate of bond projects. Part of this bond package was a new junior high school. Last month, the school board authorized legal counsel to begin condemnation proceedings to acquire 40 acres on McKinzie Road if the district can't negotiate a sale with landowners.

School officials didn't realize in 2023 that location would become a sticking point, but now, eminent domain is on the table, Superintendent Steve VanMatre said. The district could not consider buying land before voters approved a bond, VanMatre said.

The district has its eye on a 40-acre piece of land that's part of a larger tract stretching over nearly 870 acres. The land is owned by Braman Ranches LLC.

The junior high school would serve seventh and eighth grade students and allow for a broader grade realignment. Tuloso-Midway Middle School would serve fifth and sixth grades; Tuloso-Midway Intermediate School would serve second, third and fourth grades; and Tuloso-Midway Primary School would increase the pre-K program, also serving kindergarten and first grade.

On Monday, Braman Ranches representative Bland Proctor said that Braman Ranches "has hired eminent domain counsel to defend its property rights" over land that has been owned by the Braman family for more than 30 years.

According to a deed without warranty document included in TMISD school board meeting documents, several Nueces County tracts of land were granted to Braman Ranches LLC in 2008, having previously been owned by members of the Braman family. The parcel is zoned as agricultural land, and property records indicate the land is used for dry crops.

Texas business filings show that Braman Ranches LLC, based in Victoria, does business in Refugio, Nueces, San Patricio and Victoria counties. The company's managers are all members of the Braman family, according to the Texas franchise tax public information report.

Tuloso-Midway ISD stretches from the Nueces River and the mouth of Nueces Bay down past Texas State Highway 44, surrounded by the Calallen and Robstown school districts to the west, West Oso Independent School District to the south and Corpus Christi Independent School District to the east. But most residents live in the northern portion of the district, around Interstate 37 and Leopard Street, within Corpus Christi city limits.

All of the district's current schools are located north of State Highway 44.

How federal guidelines limit possible locations for schools

Despite the wide stretches of land in the southern part of the school district, very little of it is suitable for a new school, VanMatre said.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has guidelines recommending that schools identify all hazardous waste facilities within a mile of potential school sites and all large industrial facilities within a half mile. The screening perimeter is 2 miles for airport runways, 1,500 feet for oil and other hazardous material pipelines, a quarter mile for flood zones and about a mile for rail lines.

If the school district wants to ensure the new school is a comfortable distance from the industrial and transportation entities, then large swaths of the district are off the table. A 2-mile stretch surrounding Corpus Christi International Airport covers most of the southwest portion of the school district. Industrial sites impact much of the undeveloped areas in the central north of the school district and the areas near State Highway 44.

Other areas to the south of the district are located within flood zones or far from any current sewer and water access. Some areas are "riddled with pipelines," said Patrick Hernandez, assistant superintendent for district operations.

That leaves only a few swaths of land. The closest options are between McKinzie and Rand Morgan roads, though there's also land outside the hazard perimeters east of North Clarkwood Road.

According to Nueces County Appraisal District records, Braman Ranches owns nearly all of the land west of the neighborhoods surrounding Tuloso-Midway Intermediate School and Rand Morgan Road, more than 2,200 acres.

In November, Tuloso-Midway ISD was eyeing three potential properties. Two were owned by Braman Ranches. A third 61-acre parcel was located east of North Clarkwood Road with different owners.

The Braman Ranches properties included 60 acres out of a 304-acre parcel located directly south of Tuloso-Midway High School and the 40-acre piece a tad farther south on the east side of McKinzie Road.

But the 40-acre piece is the district's preferred location. This is the piece of land at the center of a brewing eminent domain case.

What steps has Tuloso-Midway taken?

In February, the Tuloso-Midway ISD board of trustees issued a resolution declaring a "public use and necessity to acquire" the surface of the portion. The resolution authorizes district administration to negotiate with the landowners for the acquisition of the parcel. It also goes a step further and authorizes legal counsel to initiate condemnation proceedings if the owners refuse to sell.

"This is clearly in the public's best interest for our new junior high school," VanMatre said, adding that the attempted land acquisition has been a long process and eminent domain is not the district's preferred method for finding a location for the school.

Last fall, the district presented Braman Ranches with a letter of intent, but Braman Ranches wasn't interested.

The district also attempted to buy the other Braman Ranches parcel south of the high school in the fall but was initially refused. In the months since then, the district has decided that that Braman Ranches parcel is less suitable, primarily because a pipeline runs beneath it. To build there, the district would have to pay to remove or relocate the pipeline, which could cost $1.3 million and delay the project up to a year, according to information provided by VanMatre.

As for the third potential site on North Clarkwood Drive, which is not owned by Braman Ranches, VanMatre said that the roads near this area "are not good" for school buses and parents bringing children to school. The area is also not within city limits.

The 40-acre parcel that TMISD wants to acquire is part of a larger tract of Braman Ranches land. VanMatre said that the reason the district wants this specific parcel is that it is aligned with where Oregon Trail would run if the roadway is extended.

The city of Corpus Christi's 2023 Roadway Master Plan, Land Use Assumption and Capital Improvements Plan includes several potential new road projects that would connect McKinzie Road and Rand Morgan Road, both of which are also included for potential road widening. The study examines how areas of town might develop in 10 years in the entire city to inform impact fees that fund roadway improvements, but it doesn't include finalized plans.

The district will "do everything possible" to avoid exercising eminent domain, VanMatre said. But the district is focused on the 40-acre property and is not considering other properties and would not "under current conditions."

The U.S. and Texas constitutions allow private property to be taken for public use with "just" or "adequate" compensation. Tuloso-Midway ISD has had eminent domain authority since 1947, according to the Texas comptroller. The district did not file any condemnation petitions between 2016 and 2024, according to the comptroller's eminent domain database.

If Tuloso-Midway ISD files a condemnation case, it will take place in Nueces County. In that event, the judge will appoint three local landowners to serve as special commissioners to decide the amount of money adequate to compensate the landowner. A condemnation can be challenged by the landowner, with the right to a trial by judge or jury, according to the Texas Landowner's Bill of Rights.

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