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Timnwendy

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    Silverlake Village Retail Center At 10402 Broadway St.

    in Coastal Prairie and Bay

    Posted

    I was at the Silverlake Petsmart this past week and noticed some construction taking place at the old Circuit City. It looked like the front fascia was being redesigned and extended forward. Does anyone know what is taking over the old Circuit City Silverlake location?

    The seasonal Halloween store is going in where Linens & Things used to be, but I don't know about the old Circuit City bldg. I will ask my friend in the city planning and zoning dept. to find out. Stay tuned.

    Oak Arbor Estates At Shadow Creek Ranch

    in Coastal Prairie and Bay

    Posted

    From a map of SCR, this community is centrally located and is within Clear Lake Loop road. Some of the surrounding communities are Crescent Landing, Crystal Lake, The Gables, and Reflection Pointe.

    Is it located east of Kingsley Drive, or west of it? If it is east of it, you will probably be immune from the landfill affects. I say that based on much personal observation of the area.

    Oak Arbor Estates At Shadow Creek Ranch

    in Coastal Prairie and Bay

    Posted

    Isn't it next to a landfill in a tallow-infested hurricane evacuation zone? Those things just kill all the charm that the aggregate plant, dirt farm, and specialty chemical plant offer.

    If it is located on the far west side of SCR, it can be affected by smells and carrion from the landfill. It's in a district C evac zone, which rarely requires evacuation.

    You know, 20thStDad, your opinion of Pearland is well known here at HAIF. You never miss a chance to cut down the city. Is it really necessary? Can't you just state the facts objectively? Or am I missing some agenda of yours?

    Pearland Fire Station No. 5 At 3100 Kirby Dr.

    in Coastal Prairie and Bay

    Posted

    Update today from the UltimatePearland website:

    April 27, 2010 11:51 am

    Robert Stanton wrote:Pearland City Council on Monday approved a $1.8 million construction contract to build the city’s fifth fire station at 3100 Kirby that will serve residents on the west side of the city.

    The winning bid went to the Crain Group, a Pearland-based general contracting and construction management firm specializing in construction and management of office buildings, hospitals, banks, retail centers, and other projects.

    “This (new fire station) will certainly improve response times to the areas near (Texas) 288,” City Manager Bill Eisen said. “Also the facility will have paid staffing, which in turn will be supplemented by the volunteer firefighters.”

    The planned 9,900 square-foot facility, which also will house EMS personnel, will include a dormitory, kitchen, office, lockers, restrooms and other related support spaces, city officials said.

    The new facility will be built across the street from Dillard’s department store at Pearland Town Center, and adjacent to the city’s new water tower.

    On April 8, the city received 13 bids for the project. The Crain Group, the low bidder, was awarded the contract for their bid of $1,750,000, plus $55,000 to add a natural gas emergency generator. That brought the total bid to $1,805,000.

    The bids from the other 12 contractors ranged in price from $1.86 million to $2.25 million, according to city records.

    “After a thorough review, we think that the Crain Group has the best overall price and value for the city,” Susan Dieterich, of Hall Barnum Lucchesi Architects, stated in an April 16 letter to the city.

    Construction is expected to be completed in early 2011, city officials said.

    Southern Trails Community In Pearland

    in Coastal Prairie and Bay

    Posted

    With the help of our HOA, I put together some stats on occupied rooftops in Southern Trails and the Enclave at Southern Trails. They are shared here for those who have wondered about the growth of these two communities during the recent tough economy.

    FEBRUARY 2009

    ST - 236 occupied homes

    Enclave - 98 occupied homes

    Total - 334 occupied homes

    MARCH 2010

    ST - 314 occupied homes

    Enclave - 147 occupied homes

    Total - 461 occupied homes

    Some derived metrics:

    ST has experienced a growth of 33% in the past 13 months

    Enclave has experienced a growth of 50% in the past 13 months

    ST/Enclave has experienced a growth of 38% in the past 13 months

    Alvin ISD Purchases Land For New School

    in Coastal Prairie and Bay

    Posted

    Today I received this reply from the Alvin ISD, which makes it clear the schematic is only a conceptual draft. We'll have to continue to watch this project unfold, especially when the next bond referendum comes up for it.

    Future High School #3 for Alvin ISD has not yet been designed. The early draft that Mayor Reid was using was only "conceptual", to demonstrate that all of the amenities for a 5A high school will fit on the site.

    Funding for construction of this school will be part of a future bond election and may look nothing like the exhibit that Mayor Reid was using. There are no other drawings available at this time.

    There is much more planning and work to be done.

    Thanks for your interest and support.

    Alvin ISD Purchases Land For New School

    in Coastal Prairie and Bay

    Posted

    On Feb. 18th, 2010, Mayor Reid gave a presentation which included the slide I have attached to this post. The slide discusses the new high school which Alvin ISD will build between The Pearland Towncenter and Southern Trails. What is interesting is the schematic of the footprint of the high school upon the 70 acres in the land parcel. The schematic shows the placement of buildings and sports facilities on the property. The street you see running north/south just west of the tennis courts and soccer fields is Bright Landing Lane, in the Sage Meadows section of Southern Trails.

    Today I contacted Pearland City Planning about the schematic, to ascertain if it is a mock-up, an early draft, etc. They told me they got it from the Alvin ISD. I have a call in to the Alvin ISD to get more information. Meanwhile, the city told me that Alvin ISD has not sent in a building plan for formal application of a building permit for the school. So it seems logical this schematic is only a draft.

    I will post a follow up when I learn more.

    post-4743-12666094476039_thumb.jpg

    Pearland Future Land Use In The West Side Of City

    in Coastal Prairie and Bay

    Posted · Edited by 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."

    Pearland Future Land Use In The West Side Of City

    in Coastal Prairie and Bay

    Posted

    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

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