Katy Edition | January 2022

TOP STORY

FULSHEAR’S REACH Fulshear city limits cover about 11 square miles with about 40 square miles in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, or ETJ, where a lot of single-family development is taking place. The city and Fort Bend County have both built facilities in response to the growth.

but you are still so close,” he said. “You can get to all those areas so quickly, especially with all the infrastructure that is popping up to serve all of these

years and will house the police depart- ment and all city services.” Gro saidwhile not all residents sup- port the growth, development is inev- itable, and infrastructure is needed to support it. “People say they move here to live in a country town but then want to change it so it isn’t a country town any- more,” said Terry Nestor, a Fulshear resident of 28 years. “I miss being able to drive my tractor to the gas station without fear of getting run over. ... I’m glad I raised my kid in the ‘old Ful- shear.’ It was a great little town. Now it’s just a suburb.” Sams, too, said he understands why not all Fulshear residents are excited about their town changing. “To be perfectly honest, I grewup on a ranch, and if I had 1,000 homes built next to me, I probably wouldn’t have been thrilled at the time either,” Sams said. “But Fulshear does have zoning in place to help protect those folks that were there rst, which I think is good.” Some Fulshear residents, however, support preparing for the growth. Fulshear resident Joan Berger said community involvement can inuence the changes. “Fulshear does have a terric plan, developed by residents, business own- ers and city sta,” Berger said. “Stick- ing to the plan is dicult but doable. ... [Residents should] send suggestions to the city, participate in the change, make it better. It’s going to change, so get involved.” Fulshear’s future According to Gro, the city has a myriad of processes to keep growth

new communities.” Balancing growth

Many recent infrastructure additions in the area aim to increase mobility to keep up with growth, such as Texas Heritage Parkway, a 5.9-mile project connecting the Katy Freeway to FM 1093 that was completed in August. The $55 million project was funded by Fort Bend County, the city of Fulshear, the city of Katy and private developers. Ocials are also working to increase mobility near the Westpark Tollway, adding westbound and eastbound connector roads from the Westpark Tollway to the Grand Parkway’s north- bound roads. The $53.8 million coun- ty-funded project began last fall and is expected to be completed in 2024, according to county ocials. “With the newly opened [Texas] Heritage Parkway that runs between Westpark [Tollway] and I-10, … that has really improved the mobility in and around our little submarket dra- matically,” Bamford said. “We’ve been reframed, so to speak.” To keep up with the population increases, the city of Fulshear and Fort Bend County have built new facilities in the Fulshear area. Fulshear is build- ing a new 44,000-square-foot City Hall near Cross Creek Ranch and the Mar- cel Town Center, which is expected to nish inMay. The $7.2million project is funded by the city. Meanwhile, Fort Bend County built and funded a $4.68 million Public Safety Annex located o

CITY LIMITS

ETJ

TEXAS HERITAGE PKWY.

359

RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENTS Jordan Ranch ( 1,350 acres): 2,800 homes when built out Tamarron ( 1,500 acres) : 4,000 homes when built out Cross Creek Ranch ( 3,200 acres): about 6,000 homes when built out Polo Ranch ( 220 acres): 781 homes when built out 1 2 3 4

1463

1093

WESTPARK TOLLWAY

359

1489

Fort Bend County Public Safety Annex Square feet: 16,800 Cost: $4.68 million Status: Construction complete, opening in early 2022 NEW FACILITIES 5

MAP NOT TO SCALE

Fulshear City Hall Square feet: 44,000 Cost: $7.2 million Status: Under construction, to be nished in May 7

Fort Bend County

Library Square feet: 30,000 Cost: $11.9 million Status: Under construction, opening in late 2022 or early 2023

SOURCES: JOHNSON DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, TAMARRON, POLO RANCH, THE CITY OF FULSHEAR, FORT BEND COUNTYCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

to reach 100,000 students by 2027— making it Texas’ fastest-growing large school district, said KISD ocials. LCISD, which serves most of the ETJ, is especially inuenced by the growth. “It’s growing fast.... Even I’ve moved to Fulshear,” LCISD Superintendent Roosevelt Nivens said. “We have sev- eral more [campuses] that will be out in that area that [will] help with growth.” As the district plans for the growth, developers are planning their build- out. Ocials said Cross Creek Ranch will have 6,000 homes upon build-out, and Rob Bamford, general manager for Cross Creek Ranch, said themarket will drive the build-out timeline. He said he expects it will be built out in the next three or four years. Jordan Ranch General Manager Steve Sams said the city’s location near the Energy Corridor and the Houston metropolitan area is driving some of its popularity. The 1,350-acre develop- ment will ultimately house 2,800 fam- ilies and sold its 1,000th homesite in December. “[Fulshear] gives you a sense of being out in the open in the country,

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Community development According to city documents, 89% of land within Fulshear city limits is zoned residential. Many local busi- nesses were drawn to master-planned communities built in the last 20 years, Johnson Development Corp. ocials said. Recent master-planned develop- ments include Tamarron, Fulbrook, Polo Ranch and Fulbrook at Fulshear Creek with Johnson Development Corp. building Jordan Ranch and Cross Creek Ranch. Cross Creek Ranch, which broke ground in 2006, is located in city limits near the intersection of FM 1094 and FM 1463. As of December, the 3,200- acre community housed 4,600 fami- lies, development ocials said. Jordan Ranch, located south of the Katy Freeway and west of FM 1463 in Fulshear’s ETJ, increased its homesites by nearly 40% with the addition of 415 properties in fall 2021. The school districts, Lamar CISD and Katy ISD, have also seen growth. PASA projected KISD’s enrollment

i n t e n t i o n a l , such as devel- oper agree- ments, amaster mobility plan, an economic deve lopment strategy and a master trails plan. “It’s all part of that plan- ning process,” he said. “As we prepare for the growth through those developer a g r e eme n t s , through the

“FULSHEARHAS BEENAROUND FOR GENERATIONS. IT IS ALL ABOUT KNOWING ITS HISTORYANDHONORING IT, BUTWE ALSOKNOW THAT FULSHEARHAS A BRIGHT FUTURE, AND WE NEED TO LEAVE A LEGACY FOR THE GENERATIONS TO COME.” HERMAN RODRIGUEZ, FULSHEAR DIRECTOR OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

FM 1093, set to open early 2022. The county is also funding the construction of a $11.99 million library near Fulshear High School, open- ing in late 2022 or early 2023, according to county ocials. “City Hall was denitely a response to

plans, the studies that are in place, the city did a lot to make sure we have

growth,” Gro said. “[The facility] will meet the city’s needs for the next 15

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