Development
BY RACHEL LELAND
Friendswood officials said they believe a tax increment reinvestment zone, or TIRZ, west of FM 528 is necessary to bring infrastructure to the area to help prepare for upcoming transportation projects. Friendswood City Council on June 3 voted 5-2 to create a TIRZ for 326 acres of land along FM 528—despite opposition from several nearby residents. A TIRZ is a tool cities can use to help fund development in a specified zone. It does this by freezing property values in the area and investing tax dollars from any new value into the site for development, officials said. The goal of the TIRZ, which is Friendswood’s second one, is to bring in infrastructure that has long been lacking at the site and made it difficult to develop. Friendswood OKs TIRZ to spur development
What they’re saying
Why it matters
Residents and council members who supported the TIRZ said they believe it’s needed to develop a part of the city that several developers declined to pursue due to the area’s lack of infrastructure. With upcoming transportation projects, such as the expansion of Grand Parkway in the coming years, those in favor said a TIRZ could help prepare for increased traffic as the area grows. Council members John Ellisor and Brent Erenw- ert voted against the motion, and several residents spoke in opposition of the TIRZ due to safety and traffic concerns.
Several prospective developers and buyers, including Walmart, Kroger and Hines, have considered the property in recent years but ultimately passed on developing it due to a lack of infrastructure, documents show. According to a city staff presentation, other factors cited for the inability to develop the site included: • Absence of an adequate roadway network • Absence of a regional lift station • Insufficient existing force main and water lines, which cause water pressure issues during peak demand By 2040, population increases in the area could make travel time along FM 518 in Friendswood up to 45 minutes, according to the presentation. To ease traffic congestion, Friendswood has planned for the past 35 years to extend Friendswood Parkway as a parallel roadway from FM 528 to Dixie Farm Road, City Manager Morad Kabiri said. Kabiri added that the revenue generated from the TIRZ can only go toward projects within the zone, and the projects have to directly benefit the TIRZ. “Only the properties bound within the TIRZ are going to pay for these regional infrastructures,” Kabiri said. “So it’s not going to be done on the backs of existing Friendswood taxpayers.”
“According to the current cost estimates for civil infrastructure, design and needs of the city, even at a 100% sell out ... [a project at this site] would lose more than $6 million [without a TIRZ].” LOUIS TANNOS, PRESIDENT, TANNOS DEVELOPMENT in the street, people who walk their dogs in the street. So, if you open up Castlewood, people are not going to be able to do that, and it’s going to cause safety issues.” KATHERINE HILL, FRIENDSWOOD RESIDENT “Our children ride their bikes and their three-wheelers and their go-karts in the street. We have joggers in the street, bicycle riders
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