Splitting Off Acreage Near Tolar? Start With Which Side of the City's Line You're On

Behind 501 Tolar Cemetery Road sits the City of Tolar's wastewater treatment plant. It doesn't look like much, but it now shapes the value of more rural land than most owners realize. Since March 2026, a new lot carved out of land inside Tolar's city limits or within the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction has to connect to that sewer system. A septic tank is allowed only if the City Engineer approves one.

That plant has already run past its permitted flow, and the state's order on it goes before the commission next Wednesday. If you own acreage around Tolar and plan to sell off a piece, you need to know where that plant stands and which side of the city's line your land is on before you set a price.

The Ordinance Reaches Past the City Limit Sign

Tolar's City Council passed Development Ordinance No. 2026-01 on March 16, 2026. Matt Hutsell is named as mayor on the approval block. It covers land inside the corporate limits and land within the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction, which the ordinance puts at one-half mile from the city limits, "or as otherwise described by amendments of Texas State Law."

Hood County's own rules confirm it. Section 3.8 of the Hood County subdivision regulations lists Tolar, along with Cresson and Granbury, as a city that "exercises exclusive jurisdiction to regulate subdivision plats and approve related permits" in its ETJ. Inside that half mile, the county isn't a backup option. Every new lot goes through Tolar.

The ordinance text spells out what that means for a seller:

• Dividing a tract into two or more lots for sale or building counts as a subdivision and needs approval. So does combining tracts to create one buildable lot.
• The ordinance makes it unlawful to sell or transfer land that hasn't been platted under its terms, and a plat needs City Council review. Submissions are due by the third Friday of the month before the council's regular monthly meeting.
• Without a recorded final plat, the city won't issue a street number or a building permit.
• Utilities can't serve the land with water, sewer, electricity or gas until an approved plat covers it.
• Violations carry fines of up to $500 per offense per day.

Some things are exempt: inherited land, gifts of land by metes and bounds where nothing is being improved, and divisions made by court order. An ordinary sale of a split-off tract isn't on that list, so confirm with the city or an attorney before assuming your split is exempt.

The Plant Every New Lot Drains To

On permit WQ0014233001, the Tolar plant's "Interim I" phase caps daily average flow at 0.10 million gallons per day. The plant's self-reported numbers in a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality enforcement file show it went over that cap.

The May reading ran about 41% over the limit. TCEQ's case summary for Docket No. 2025-0070-MWD-E lists flow among several effluent violations, together with chlorine, E. coli, dissolved oxygen and suspended solids, plus samples that weren't taken on schedule. Those findings come from an October 31, 2024 investigation. The penalty is $68,687, and all of it is offset by a "Facility Improvements" project. Under that project, Tolar hires a contractor to install a sequencing batch reactor system and build a new basin to upgrade the existing treatment process.

The city doesn't hide this. In September, Hood County News reported that Tolar's property values are rising faster than any other Hood County city's. The paper said Mayor Hutsell described that revenue as helping pay for "the booming small town's overdue sewer plant replacement," and that the council held its tax rate at 50 cents per $100 of taxable value on Sept. 21. New homes are paying to replace a plant that every new lot in the ETJ will also need.

Next Wednesday's Vote, and What It Doesn't Settle

The TCEQ published the proposed agreed order in the Texas Register on August 7, 2026, and the public comment period closed September 7. It's Item 45 on the commission's November 4, 2026 agenda.

Once it's adopted, the order gives Tolar 130 days to certify that the plant meets its effluent limits, backed by at least three months in a row of compliant monitoring reports. The documents don't include a construction schedule for the reactor. For a seller, that means sewer capacity is still an open question during exactly the months a new plat would go to City Council. A buyer looking at a raw tract inside the half mile is buying a lot whose sewer service depends on that upgrade.

The hookup has its own price too. Tolar's fee schedule lists a water tap at "$5,000.00+" and a sewer tap at $5,000.00. That schedule is marked Rev 04/2025, a year older than the ordinance, and it lists no plat fees, so call the city for current numbers before you build them into a price.

One Step Outside the Half Mile

Past the ETJ, the same piece of land falls under Hood County's rules, and they work very differently.

The 10-acre exemption comes from Texas Local Government Code Section 232.0015. It applies only when every lot is larger than 10 acres and the owner lays out none of the listed public-use facilities. Getting a county exemption doesn't remove the need for development or septic permits. In rural districts with no central water or wastewater, the county's development permit regulations, amended March 10, 2026, set density at one dwelling per net two acres. Plats of 10 lots or fewer that rely on groundwater need a letter from a water purveyor, and the plat must note that the land lies within the Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District.

The county route still has costs and steps. What it doesn't have is a dependence on a plant that is under a state order.

Why Buyers Price the Difference

The same tract can come with two very different sets of requirements, and the land market is slow enough that buyers have time to work that out. In September 2026, NTREIS recorded 33 land closings in Hood County. That's 65% more than a year earlier, at a $60,000 median price. Those sales averaged 353 days on market and closed at 83.8% of list price, with 14.8 months of inventory. The county's 132 single-family sales that month closed at 93.8% of list after 80 days. These are countywide figures, since NTREIS doesn't publish a Tolar-only land figure.

A market where land closes about 16 points under list after almost a year gives the buyer room to negotiate. Every unresolved step strengthens that buyer's position: a plat that hasn't been submitted, a sewer tap that hasn't been priced, a treatment upgrade with no published completion date. A tract inside the half mile that comes to market with those questions already answered gives buyers fewer reasons to knock down the price. Beyond the line, the county route and septic are real selling points, and the listing should say so.

Before the Sign Goes Up

This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Have a surveyor, attorney or engineer confirm the details for your own tract.

1. Get written confirmation from City of Tolar staff on whether your parcel is inside the city limits, inside the ETJ, or outside both. The posted ETJ map is a scanned image, so don't rely on eyeballing it.
2. If you're inside, ask for the current plat fees and tap fees, and when the next submission deadline falls.
3. Ask whether the City Engineer would consider septic for your site. The ordinance gives the engineer that call.
4. If you're outside, check with Hood County Development whether your split qualifies for the 10-acre exemption, and talk to Environmental Health about septic.
5. Follow the TCEQ result for Docket 2025-0070-MWD-E after November 4. It's a public record that any buyer can look up.

FAQ

Can land be removed from Tolar's ETJ? Since September 1, 2023, Texas Local Government Code Chapter 42, Subchapter D has allowed landowners to petition for release from a city's ETJ. If a valid petition isn't acted on by the statutory deadline, the land is released by operation of law. Whether that makes sense for a particular tract is a question for an attorney.

Does the ordinance apply to lots platted before March 2026? Land that was legally platted and recorded with public streets, right of way and utility service before the ordinance took effect is exempt from new subdivision approval.

Can the council grant exceptions? Yes. The council can approve a variance for hardship caused by conditions peculiar to the site, and it may hold a public hearing with notice to neighbors before deciding.

If you're planning to split off acreage around Tolar, the listing should answer the jurisdiction and sewer questions before a buyer has to ask them. Eric Wilkins and the VYBE team can help you get those answers together and turn them into a clear story for qualified land buyers, along with the cinematic media to back it up. Schedule a Consultation before your plat deadline.