DEVELOPMENT Residents voice concerns over proposed housing
THE VIEWAT LAKE HOUSTON The proposed 90.5-acre master-planned community would include amenities including an amphitheater, boardwalk, boat dock and lakefront trail. Single-family homes Multifamily homes
BY WESLEY GARDNER
20 residents who spoke in opposition of the development—including Humble ISD trustees Robert Sitton and Robert Scarfo—said the property would be better suited for HISD’s 11th middle school. While the district owns roughly 150 acres of property across the street from the 90.5 acres in question, HISD Superintendent Elizabeth Fagen said she believes the additional property is necessary for the district because the area is rapidly expanding. Sitton said HISD sent a letter of intent to HCHA ocials in January to purchase the property. Jim Brissee, Harris County assistant county attorney, said if the district had oered an amount of money that was “substantially more” than what was presented, a deal could have been possible. Sitton said the district has since submitted a second oer that is 10% higher that the initial proposal. District ocials said they could not conrm the amount of the oer due to ongoing negotiations. HCHA board Chair Gerald Womack said the housing authority will consider HISD’s oer but did not indicate when a decision would be made. Community response J.K. Washington, a local homeowner who has taken the lead in the community response to
More than 150 Lake Houston-area residents attended a March 23 public meeting to voice their concerns about a proposed housing development planned for a 90.5-acre tract of land located o West Lake Houston Parkway. The property, located in the 77044 ZIP code near Lake Houston, was initially acquired by the Harris County Housing Authority in February 2009 with plans to build The View at Lake Houston—a mixed- use, mixed-income, master-planned community including both properties for purchase and rent. HCHA CEO Horace Allison stressed the devel- opment is not considered public housing and will be funded through the Texas General Land Oce, private debt and HCHA tax credits. “I want people to understand this is not ... the Fifth Ward,” Allison said at the March 23 meeting. “These are new, modern, well-designed facilities.” Allison noted the housing would be available to residents meeting the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s denition of low to mod- erate income, which falls between $26,500-$63,350 a year for a family of four. Humble ISD interest At the March 23 meeting, many of the roughly
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SOURCE: HARRIS COUNTY HOUSING AUTHORITY COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
the proposal, listed several concerns, including whether the development might contribute to added crime in the area, how the project would aect neighboring property values and who would pay for police and emergency services. Because the HCHA is a tax-exempt entity, the only properties in the development that would generate property tax revenue would be the single-family homes available for purchase. “That means that the residents who live in the general area who are being taxed are responsible for [those additional expenses],” Washington said.
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LAKE HOUSTON HUMBLE KINGWOOD EDITION • APRIL 2022
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