Denton Drilling Moratorium Extended Through January

The Denton City Council voted 7-0 Tuesday night to extend the moratorium on gas well drilling through Jan. 20.

City staff and council members cited unresolved issues in the current gas well ordinance as the reason for the extension, which was set to expire at midnight.

The council agenda originally laid out 45 days for the extension which would keep it in place through late October, but staff asked for the longer time frame to continue resolving those issues.

The longer extension will also bring the issue past the November election in which citizens will vote on a proposed ban of hydraulic fracturing drilling in the city.

The proposal was brought forth by a citizens' petition shortly after the moratorium was enacted, and after a marathon council meeting this summer members elected to let voters decide on the controversial issue.

Petitioners cited a number of issues with drilling companies not following the city's rules and getting away with it, including an instance where wells were drilled within 250 feet of homes in the Vinatage neighborhood last fall.

The moratorium was originally put in place in early May to help council and the drilling industry come to compromises on the city’s ordinance and create a set of rules that could be better enforced to protect both the citizens and drillers. However, when the ban was put on the November ballot many expected city council members to wait and see what the voters would do before taking any further action on gas drilling in town.

Petitioners stress that the ban would only be on the fracking method of drilling and not gas drilling all together.

The extension also added three amendments to the moratorium clarifying certain language and effective dates to the all-stop on new drilling permits.

In other action Tuesday night, the city continued talks of a new convention center in town, looking at a scaled back and lower cost design for the project proposed on the Interstate 35E southbound service road by the University of North Texas.

No action was taken by council except to advance the tax increment finance plan proposed to pay for the project so that it can go before the Denton ISD and Denton County to try and gain their financial support for the project.