BY JAMES T. NORMAN
The approach
What they’re saying
Developers were included in the planning process, Sims said. Hillwood Communities Vice President Brian Gates, whose company is building out the Legacy development on the west side, said he played an “active role” in the plan’s development. He said among several goals, one was to focus on balancing the west side while “preserving the unique character of the area.” Among the topics of focus, Gates said he felt the city needed to prioritize its infra- structure investments and balancing its land usage on the west side. Legacy will include more than 1,600 homes on the west side and take seven to nine years to build out, Gates said.
On the already-developed east side, much of the city's planning dates back to 1999, when the city’s first zoning was approved, Carpenter said. Over time, however, standards for items such as drainage, as well as the infrastructure needs, were changing rapidly due to how fast the city grew. “I think on the west side we’re trying to be more proactive and establish good corridors, right-of-way width,” Sims said.
The west side’s population starting in 2030 is expected to more than double by 2060, according to city data. The total number of households and employment numbers will roughly triple in that time as well. As a result, city officials are looking at meeting the needs of the new area—and learning from the hangups that came with developing the city’s east side, Sims said.
Projected League City population League City total population
West side
18.06% projected increase over the next +30 years
188,609
183,509
173,067
159,756
131% projected increase over the next +30 years
37,080
33,103
25,414
16,052
Looking ahead
SOURCE: LEAGUE CITY/ COMMUNITY IMPACT
2040
2060
2050
2030
Sims and Carpenter said the plan could go in front of City Council on May 13 and May 27, as the plan will need two separate approvals before becoming official. Once approved, the plan will act as a guide toward future development— as opposed to the city rezoning and making adjustments to match what the plan calls for. Currently, the entire west side is zoned for residential. “When they [developers] come in and buy [land], negotiations with city staff starts at everything being residential,” Sims said. “Whereas once this plan is adopted, those negotiations start at what we’re showing [in the plan].” As a result, little action is expected in the immediate future related to the plan itself, Sims said, adding that next steps for upgrades will be more “developer driven.” The exception to this will be some small updates across other established master plans to match the new west side plan given slight changes made as a result of the new plan. Those include the city’s transportation master plan and parks master plan.
League City resident survey for west side
Public input
Residents were asked to rank their preferences based on importance, with the higher score out of eight total points indicating the most important preference for residents.
Across two surveys, a town hall and survey comments, the city received roughly 2,000 total responses from residents. Those results showed parks and green space, detention and traffic, housing and mixed-use land were among the top priorities for residents. Residents were also provided two overarching options of planning, documents show. One was a more traditional build-out—emphasizing detention for each parcel with commercial land built in. The second option, titled Option B, received about 64% of the vote from residents and calls for using land throughout the area in multiple ways. This would see parks and multiuse devel- opments used to meet needs such as drainage, Carpenter said. The hope is for this approach to help make the quick growth more sustainable in the decades ahead. “Ultimately, Option B provides a vision for a well-balanced, integrated development approach that prioritizes both economic growth and quality of life,” a passage from the plan reads.
Parks 7.54 Open green space 7.44 Detention 6.07 Single-family residential 5.05 Civic opportunities 4.8 Mixed-use 4.69 Commercial opportunities 4.27 Multifamily 2.5 Industrial 1.66
In a separate survey, residents were asked their thoughts on specific topics and additions to the west side.
59% had interest in more shopping opportunities 72% had interest in more entertainment opportunities
69% had interest in more employment opportunities 65% had interest in more retail and restaurant options
SOURCE: LEAGUE CITY/COMMUNITY IMPACT
13
BAY AREA EDITION
Powered by FlippingBook