CITY& COUNTY
News from Katy, Harris County & Fort Bend County
NUMBER TOKNOW awarded by Fort Bend County Commissioners Court to seven local nonpro ts $404,578 LOCAL HIGHLIGHTS HARRIS COUNTY Three Harris County senior employees are facing indictments for the felony charges of misuse of o cial information and tampering with records as of April 11, according to Harris County district clerk online records. The indictments come one month after search warrants were rst executed in connection with a controversial county contract. Aaron Dunn, Wallis Nader and Alex Triantaphyllis are each facing warrants for their arrests for the criminal charges, according to the district clerk’s records. HARRIS COUNTY Commissioners in Harris County approved the allocation of federal pandemic relief money to fund prosecutor positions at the district attorney’s o ce at their April 5 meeting after hearing an update on the county’s criminal court case backlog—which consists of 24,000 misdemeanor cases more than six months old and 18,000 felony cases more than a year old, o cials said. Katy City Council meets the second and fourth Mondays of the month at 6:30 p.m. The next meeting is May 23 at 910 Ave. C, Katy. 281-391-4800. www.cityo aty.com Harris County Commissioners Court usually meets Tuesday mornings twice a month. The next meeting is May 24 at 1001 Preston Ave., Ste. 934, Houston. 713-755-5000. www.harriscountytx.gov Fort Bend County Commissioners Court meets at 1 p.m. the rst, second and fourth Tuesdays each month. The next meeting is May 24 at 401 Jackson St., Richmond. 281-342-3411. www.fortbendcountytx.gov MEETINGSWE COVER
City denies rezoning request
Katy City Council moves forwardwith redistrictedmap
BY ASIA ARMOUR
top of that.” Pertile also said the City Council could vote to make zoning adjust- ments. Mayor Pro Tem Chris Harris motioned to start the process of rezoning the north side of Franz Road from commercial to residential space as soon as possible in an e ort to have both sides of the road zoned the same way. Harris’ motion passed, starting the process of getting the rezoning item before City Council on May 23.
KATY On April 11, Katy City Council denied a request to rezone 17 acres of residential land as commercial use near the Pine Meadows neigh- borhood. This came after city sta recommended the denial and 14 residents spoke up in opposition at the April 11 hearing. The area, designated as residential single-family land, is located at the southwest intersection of Franz Court and Avenue D. O cials at a Feb. 8 Katy Planning and Zoning Commission meeting rec- ommended the denial based on the request’s timing, citing commercial land uses are slated to be updated in May and a future land use plan is being developed as part of Katy’s new comprehensive plan. That plan will be nalized in spring 2023. City o cials described Franz Road as a high-interest area based on the public hearing. According to City Attorney Arthur Pertile III, city o cials must base zoning maps and ordinances on the comprehensive plan. “That is why you do your com- prehensive plan rst,” Pertile said. “Then you overlay your zoning on
BY ASIA ARMOUR
KATY O cials in Katy are deter- mining new boundaries for Ward A and Ward B, per an April 11 meet- ing. Gunnar Seaquist from the legal team of Bickersta Heath Delgado Acosta LLP presented a potential remapping at the meeting. The redistricting will redraw boundaries for electoral districts, per the Texas comptroller’s website. Katy’s population, according to data from the 2020 census, is 21,949 people. To comply with requirements, that population must be equally distributed in each district. Thus the ideal size of each ward is roughly 10,975 people, Seaquist said . There are 10,139 people residing in Ward A, Seaquist said, with 11,810 in Ward B. City Council will present the map at a May 23 public hearing.
REQUEST DENIED
A request made by residents in the southwest corner of Franz Road and Avenue D to change the area from residential single-family zoning to commercial property zoning was denied by Katy City Council on April 11.
FRANZ RD.
DATE TO KNOW A public hearing at 6:30 p.m. will collect resident input on the map. MAY 23
PINE MEADOWDR.
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SOURCE: CITY OF KATY COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Countyo cialsawardCDBGfunding BY ASIA ARMOUR FORT BEND COUNTY Seven nonpro t organizations in Fort Bend County were awarded $404,578 from Commu- nity Development Block Grant funds by commissioners on April 12 as part of the scal year 2021-22 Consolidated Annual Action Plan approved in September. The CDBG Entitlement Program is administered by
the Fort Bend County Community Development Depart- ment, which develops programs and funding priorities, according to county documents. The program aims to develop viable urban communities to bene t low- and moderate-income residents. Fort Bend County o cials are still in the process of developing its 2021 action plan for the com- munity development department, according to Fort Bend County’s website.
Katy Studio Opens May 1 - 1627 S. Fry Road / 281.676.4260 Sugar Land Opens June 1 - 3219 Highway 6 / 281.720.6540 www.CordovanArtSchool.com
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KATY EDITION • MAY 2022
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