Pearland Future Land Use In The West Side Of City

[Timnwendy]

Pearland City Planning is currently hosting a series of meetings designed to present plans for future land usage around the city, and to solicit feedback from the community. The first of these meetings was held last Tuesday and focused on land usage on the west side of the city. I attended because I live on the west side.

Here follows the meeting minutes I took. I am also attaching a pdf file they made with a map showing the planned land usage around the city. It's rather interesting.

For the meeting notes, please understand that I interjected some of my own comments (and opinions), and much of it is my interpretation of what I heard. I used paraphrasing instead of direct quotes. My target audience for these notes was my neighbors, so when you see 'us', you will know who I am talking about. Hope you find them somewhat interesting, and perhaps they will generate some discussion here at HAIF. ~ Tim

Meeting Minutes - Pearland City Planning Future Land Use Community Meeing

Location: Mary Marek Elementary school, 1947 Kirby Dr., Pearland, Tx. 77584

Date/Time: Feb. 16, 2010, 6:30pm

Attendees: There were 15 persons in attendance, including two members of

the Pearland City Planning dept., and Ed Thompson, a member of the Pearland Economic

Development Corporation.

Lata Krishnarao, a planning director with the city of Pearland, made the opening

remarks. She said these meetings with the public are for the purpose of getting

the communities' feedback to what the city is planning for land usage. The

feedback will be passed on to the city council.

Lata introduced Henry Fuertes, another person involved with city planning who gave us

the presentation. He used a powerpoint presentation on his laptop to show the planned

land usage for Pearland, with special emphasis on the west side of the city, since that area

was of the most concern to us.

He said the city has learned alot from its rapid growth over the last decade. They

have learned from past mistakes, such as allowing too many strip centers to be

developed (many of which now lie empty, as we can all see along Broadway east of

288). They are committed not to allow that to happen in the future.

Instead, they are moving towards a 'commercial-node' development model, in which

commercial properties are developed at 'nodes' that lie at major intersections

only, and not haphazardly along main roads. Examples of these commercial nodes

near us are the intersection of Kingsley and Broadway, and the intersection of

Kirby and Broadway.

Here are some highlights of the presentation, and questions put to Henry, Lata,

and Ed Thompson (the PEDC member in attendance). These highlights are not in any

specific order.

1. The Spectrum project along Kirby Drive (between Shadowcreek Parkway and the tollway)

is not dead. The CSI building there is completed and the first tenant company will move

in there sometime in April 2010. They hope this will begin to attract other

businesses to the Spectrum area. The PEDC is offering incentives to companies to

attract them to that location (specifics of the incentives were not given).

2. When asked about the Waterlights District, they said the project was not dead.

However, they said it had been slowed due to the economy. They did not have any new

information about the fate of this project.

3. The city of Pearland is in the process of annexing several parcels of land on the

borders of the city. The parcels of interest to us are on the west side. They include

the 20 acres at the southeast corner of Kingsley Dr. and Broadway, which borders our

Oak Hollow section. Amazingly, this parcel is currently NOT within the city limits!.

Other parcels to be annexed include land south of the Sundown Glen section, all the way

to County Rd. 59. They also include the land south of the Enclave and west of Co. Rd. 48.

That last parcel is of the most interest to us, since that parcel includes the land where the

Great Drug Bust of Oct. 2009 occurred, as well as McNasty's ice house and the various trailer parks.

They said the city is aware that these type of 'rural' (to put it kindly) areas which border

their nicer residential areas (like us!) cause problems and hinder development. That's why they

eventually annex these areas. After annexation, these areas will be initially zoned residential, and

are subject to city ordinances, which curtails many of the problems (examples: fireworks and firearm discharging).

However, existing properties in the annexed parcels are 'grandfathered' in some aspects,

which keeps them immune from some city codes. They didn't go into great detail about this

grandfathering but they mentioned that it can be carried over to new owners. However, a 6-month

gap of vacancy removes the grandfathering status. Eventually, the parcel of land at the

SE corner of Kingsley and Broadway will have a smaller portion rezoned for commercial

development that is consistent with the commercial-node model.

4. Due to various negative repercussions, there is currently a moratorium on allowing

new multi-family unit development within the city limits. That means no new apartment

complexes will be built which have not already been previously approved. That sounds good,

but once again, existing footprints for planned multi-family unit development is exempt

from this moratorium due to grandfathering. One example that illustrates this new

guideline is the planned 352-unit multi-family development that the developers of SCR have

always intended to put up at the northeast corner of Kingsley Dr. and Broadway. That development

will still be allowed to go forward. However, another example is the 9 acre parcel that

lies just east of ST which that church sold to Zann Properties. When it is

eventually sold, the city will not allow that parcel to be developed as a multi-family

development, because it was not planned for that purpose prior to the moratorium. Overall, I think

this moratorium is very good, but it could be better by completely banning all new multi-family

development, regardless of when it was planned.

5. I asked where their oversight was when the parcel of land just east of ST was sold by

the church to Zann Properties, who promptly listed it for sale as a commercial property.

Henry said that it is not uncommon for land brokerage companies to list properties like that,

however, the parcel has NOT been formally rezoned as commercial by the city council. He said

that after the property is sold, the new owner will be required to petition the city for rezoning,

at which time they will act in an oversight capacity to insure the land usage plan is not violated.

So that seems like good news for us, to preserve our property values.

6. Henry confirmed that a gas station is planned for the southwest corner of Kingsley and Broadway.

He had no timeline to offer on its development.

7. They do not know the current status of the Kirby Crossing development at the intersection

of Kirby and Broadway. They feel it has been slowed due to the recession.

8. They said there is a good chance a car wash will be built sometime later this year somewhere

near the commercial node of Kingsley and Broadway. They could not offer specifics except to

say they knew a developer who had expressed an interest in building one near that location (it

will rake in the cash there, at least in my opinion).

9. They were asked about a library for the west side of town. They said it is being discussed, but

the various entities involved cannot agree on a good location for it yet.

10. They confirmed that the Alvin ISD had bought the land just east of ST, between ST and Kirby.

However, they said the bond referendum we voted to pass last year did not apply to funding construction, only the land purchase, so another bond would need to be passed before construction on the high school could begin at that location. This would appear to indicate the high school will not be finished as quickly as some thought.

11. There are plans for a new elementary school near us. Alvin ISD decided to pass on building one

at the corner of Broadway and Half Moon Bay (they still own the land, though). Instead, they will

first build one in the northwest quadrant of the intersection of Broadway and Kingsley. He did not

offer a timeline for completion of this school.

12. They were asked about widening and expanding County Rd. 48. They agreed it needed to be done for safety, aesthetics, and other reasons. However, the project to expand it was being looked at by Brazoria Co. and TxDoT, since most of it lies outside the city limits. However, after the land is annexed, the city might become involved to move the project forward.

Pearland_City_Proposed_Future_Land_Use_January_2010.pdf

[scrres]

Good Info Tim. Thanks for the update.

Any idea , what is coming on the Beltway/288 intersection, on the south east side, new construction has started there recently.

[Timnwendy]

No, sorry, they did not talk about that parcel and we all forgot to ask about it. However, I will send Lata an email to ask her.

Edit: I have an update about item 12, the expansion of Co. Rd. 48. It seems like the project is going forward, but may be delayed due to funding shortages. I say that based on this following commentary on it from Brazoria County Commissioner Matt Sebesta:

"There are plans being worked on and ROW being purchased to improve CR 48 from SH 6 to Broadway. This was part of the 2004 Mobility Bond Plan. It is divided into 2 projects due to the length and costs. Funding for construction will be available once the projects advance on the H-GAC Transportation Implementation Plan. I am not sure when that will happen due to TxDOT funding shortfalls and Federal rescissions of transportation funding. Thanks, Matt."

[Timnwendy]

Thanks Chamo, that presentation is very interesting. Looks like I might have some tennis courts and ball fields right near my backyard in a few years, lol.

[Timnwendy]

Any idea , what is coming on the Beltway/288 intersection, on the south east side, new construction has started there recently.

The city planning dept replied to my email. They said a Holiday Inn has been permitted in that general area.

Sorry it wasn't more exciting news!

[scrres]

The city planning dept replied to my email. They said a Holiday Inn has been permitted in that general area.

Sorry it wasn't more exciting news!

Another one? wondering if the hotels in these areas so much occupied..............................

Thanks Tim for the reply.

[scrres]

Here is an article from pearland journal web site, good news for pearland residents...

http://www.hcnonline..._sportspark.txt

Shadow Creek Sports Park proposal goes to the voters

Updated: 10.22.10On Nov. 2 approximately 5,800 voters in Brazoria County Municipal Utilities District No. 26 and Brazoria/Fort Bend MUD No. 1 will decide an issue that one way or another will impact the lives of thousands of area residents.

The success or failure of the Utility District Park Bond Proposal will determine the fate of the Shadow Creek Ranch Sports Park, a $19 million recreation area that would be built on a 128-acre property at the corner of Shadow Creek Ranch Parkway and Kingsley Drive. The land, across from the City of Pearland Nature Park in the northeast section of Shadow Creek, is currently vacant.

Proponents believe it will enhance the quality of life for residents of Pearland, Brazoria County and Fort Bend County and address Pearland’s shortage of youth recreational fields.

“I think we have an obligation to our families and our children,” said Herbert Fain, a member of the Board of Directors of MUD No. 26. “They deserve no less than what our parents did for us.”

MUDs do not have the authority to issue bonds for park purposes, thus the election. But the land having already been donated by the developers of Shadow Creek Ranch and a park plan in place thanks to the City of Pearland’s early groundwork, MUD officials began to crunch the numbers.

“We reviewed the financials and concluded that we can issue $7.5 million in bonds for this project without a tax rate increase,” Fain said.

The MUDs took the city’s original plan and modified it slightly. The new plan groups the playing field more closely together and by sport. The updated plan also contains more soccer and multi-purpose fields and picnic areas than the original plan. They’ve also added a kite flying hill, slides, climbing rocks and a lawn game (think bocce ball) area.

The park plan includes a dozen lighted ballfields for baseball and softball, a batting cage, four concession areas, six soccer fields, six volleyball courts, two basketball courts, 16 tennis courts and various pavilions.

[Timnwendy]

“We reviewed the financials and concluded that we can issue $7.5 million in bonds for this project without a tax rate increase,” Fain said.

So they say. But if I lived in one of those MUD districts, I'd expect to see my tax rate creep up in the years ahead, if this passes the voters.

[BrianSCR]

Thanks for your effort on this! It's really appreciated!

[LTAWACS]

Cliffs?

[Timnwendy]

In case anyone missed it, the voters did NOT approve the sports park. So the project is currently dead. It may be revived at a later date.

[LTAWACS]

What where the numbers?

[Timnwendy]

What where the numbers?

The vote was 52% no, to 48% yes. That actual difference was only 78 votes. You can read more at this link below:

http://www.hcnonline.com/pearland/news/article_5abb264d-9bc6-5e85-b244-af0a6843b2ba.html