City approves permit for Ellis County Bail Bonds

During its June 19 meeting, the Waxahachie City Council unanimously approved a specific use permit to allow Ellis County Bail Bonds to operate temporarily in Suite 109 at 201 E. Main St.

Ellis County Bail Bonds previously operated at 309 S. Jackson St. for more than 30 years. With a change in ownership, that lease ended, and Richard Shinpaugh, owner of Ellis County Bail Bonds, needed a temporary office space.

Shinpaugh has plans to construct a new two-story building on the corner of East Jefferson and South Jackson streets in downtown Waxahachie, which will serve as a permanent location for his business.

“It’s a temporary location,” Shinpaugh had said during the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission’s June 13 meeting. “I’m kind of forced into this situation, so we’re just trying to make the best of what we can until we can get the building built.”

The temporary location will operate out of a suite facing Jackson Streett, will have a parking lot behind the building and will not have any signage, Shinpaugh had told the commission.

The city received five letters of opposition and two letters of support. During the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission’s June 13 meeting, Greg Nehib of Big Blue Truck LLC expressed his opposition of the SUP.

“After much discussion and with some reservation, we oppose this SUP,” Nehib had said. “Understanding that it’s a good businessman and a very important business, we just don’t think this is the right part of town. There’s property directly adjacent and other properties within the 200-foot-zone that are zoned residential, and many cities do not allow bail bond businesses to operate within residential neighborhoods for obvious reasons.”

The Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved the SUP during its meeting.

According to the city report, the approval of the SUP comes with conditions. The bail bond agency would operate only in suite 109 at the location, with hours of operation from 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Sunday. The SUP is valid up to two years, and only Ellis County Bail Bonds would have permission to operate a bail bond agency on the property.

Shinpaugh hopes to have his new building constructed in from six to 12 months, according to the city staff report.

“I think the problem is (that) people misunderstood the bonding business,” Shinpaugh had said during the June 13 P&Z meeting. “They think it’s all a criminal aspect. We deal mostly with the families of the people that are in jail, so it kinda makes a misconception of what a bail bond company is. We’re dealing with those family members on most of the cases, so it’s not what the TV makes it out to be.”

Originally published June 28, 2023 - https://www.waxahachiesun.com/business/city-approves-permit-for-ellis-county-bail-bonds/article_7b647eb6-15ef-11ee-8ade-6fa8ffa80545.html