Privatizing a public street

[sttombiz]

posted this on the city hall forum...

can a neighborhood buy back public streets from the city of houston?

this is in order to make the neighborhood a more private, gated community. the streets are not major but rather normal everyday neighborhood streets

[TheNiche]

posted this on the city hall forum...

can a neighborhood buy back public streets from the city of houston?

this is in order to make the neighborhood a more private, gated community. the streets are not major but rather normal everyday neighborhood streets

Could they? Yes. The HOA could theoretically get the city council to approve street closures. This is pretty frequent, actually, although not typically used for the purposes that you describe. Streets were closed for the Sawyer Heights retail center and are pending as part of the Phase III of Post Midtown.

So the question really becomes whether or not the City Council can be convinced. Personally, I don't think that your proposal is going to be too popular. Also, surrounding neighborhoods would likely show up and protest.

So theoretically, yes. In your case...somehow, I doubt it.

[sttombiz]

the surrounding neighborhoods are one-entry only or gated communities. would that have an adverse effect or be more in our favor? thanks for the reply.

[TheNiche]

the surrounding neighborhoods are one-entry only or gated communities. would that have an adverse effect or be more in our favor? thanks for the reply.

Its hard for me to say with any certainty. I'm far from an expert on the issue, but have observed that street closure and ROW abandonment is technically possible.

If I had to speculate, I'd say that you've got pretty good chances if you can demonstrate that other neighborhoods are supportive and that your HOA will pick up the tab.

If you don't mind my asking, what neighborhood are you referring to?

[sttombiz]

memorial thicket, fleetwood, marywood

...I live in Barkers Landing

[house567]

Old forum but pertinent topic. Did Southgate Neighborhood have to buy Southgate Street (next to the Medical Center) before the City installed the "flexible bollards" at Travis intersection to deflect or prevent TMC cut-thru traffic? Was this a street closure? Was Southgate St. classified as a "collector street"? With changing road building in the TMC area, does the City have the flexibility (or history of) re-classifying roads? To be classified as a "collector street"; what criteria must be met? Does CoH Dept of Public Works share this information? Our neighborhood could certainly use some input on this. Thank you.

[musicman]

Old forum but pertinent topic. Did Southgate Neighborhood have to buy Southgate Street (next to the Medical Center) before the City installed the "flexible bollards" at Travis intersection to deflect or prevent TMC cut-thru traffic?

There were too many people cutting through the neighborhood. It initially started with people parking in the hood which resulted in the neighborhood only parking.

Was this a street closure? Was Southgate St. classified as a "collector street"? With changing road building in the TMC area, does the City have the flexibility (or history of) re-classifying roads? To be classified as a "collector street"; what criteria must be met? Does CoH Dept of Public Works share this information? Our neighborhood could certainly use some input on this. Thank you.

i wouldn't classify this as a street closure, they are just rerouting traffic to limit heavy traffic in a hood. This is not uncommon.

[Original Timmy Chan's]

I don't know if it's possible to abandon a public street ROW when there are multiple owners along the ROW...but to my knowledge it's definitely possible when a single entity owns all the property on both sides of the street. Obviously there are other considerations (traffic, utilities, etc.), but controlling both sides of the ROW makes it easier.

One fairly well-known example is UH's plan to close Cullen between Wheeler and Elgin. It was approved by City Council a year or two ago. The plan is to close the ROW to vehicular traffic, remove the concrete, and return it to pedestrian uses and/or use the land for additional developable space.

[Heights2Bastrop]

We went through this a number of years back with the Timbergrove Hate Gate at where Dian turns into Wynnewood. The main opponents were Timbergrove (east of White Oak) where I lived and Clark Pines, where I grew up, and where my mom still lived. Things got really nasty, and friends for years quit talking to one another.

The issue was before City Council a few times, but then Lanier just told his workers to put the gate up anyway. I’m not sure if it even came up for a vote. Then when Lee Brown became mayor, the gate came down.

The Timbergrove folks claimed the road was used as a cut-through for traffic, and that is why it was necessary. If you live in or know that area, you may know that using Dian/Wynnewood is in no way an advantage, except for people living in adjacent neighborhoods.

If you want to see nice people turn ugly in a hurry, then try putting up one of these gates.

There is a proposed residential development (XS Ranch) going before City Council now. The 10,000-acre project is mostly within the Bastrop ETJ, so it needs the City’s approval. It will be a gated community of both houses and condo/townhomes, and with a wide price range. It will be controlled by a super MUD made up of between 5 and 10 mini-MUDs.

At a meeting last week, it was determined that if and when the City annexes any portion of the development, the gates in the annexed sections must come down. That will be written into the contract.

[Mr. Chenevert]

HOA's can take ownership of city or county owned streets. The issue is cost.

Not only is the HOA then responsible for maintaining the street, but also the stret lights, the water mains, etc, etc.. Since County and City crews no longer have access or responsibility of these area's, they must be done by the HOA.

If you look at the HOA fees of gated communities compared with open communities, you will likely see a huge delta.

Its a liability that many communities cannot afford.

[jgriff]

We've had someone egging cars in our neighborhood every weekend for 5 weeks now. I've had about $10k in damage done to my cars alone. Many people in the neighborhood are trying to get the HOA to buy the street leading to our complex but the HOA says it is not legally possible to do so. So far we've taken them at their word that this is the case but from some of the comments in this thread I'm starting to wonder if they are telling us the truth. So far the HOA has not been very helpful. They just keep telling us that it's just kids and there's nothing we can do. It's amazing how much damage two dozen eggs can do to a car in just a few minutes.

I've attached a drawing showing the layout of our complex. Could some of you give me your opinion on the possibility of buying the private street that connects to Memorial? Does anyone know what I could do to find out for sure if it's possible to buy it?