Now or Never: Friday is Last Day to Protest High-Rise Development in Floodplain Near River Grove Park
Only five more days remain to protest the proposed high-rise development near River Grove Park. The deadline for public comments? Friday, March 1.
About the High-Rise Development
Two developers from Mexico have bought up land east of Woodland Hills between Kingwood Lakes and the San Jacinto River. They hope to build 5000 condos, a retail mail, parking for 8,800 vehicles (some below ground), commercial high-rises, residential high-rises, a 50-story hotel, and a marina for 640 boats and 200 jet-skis.
Altogether, they plan to build more than 3 million square feet of residential, commercial and retail space around the Barrington. To put that in perspective, it’s roughly three times the size of Deerbrook Mall … at the end of a dead end street … four miles from the nearest highway. On the edge of the floodway. In an old meander of the San Jacinto. Without any consideration for the traffic it would add to Kingwood Drive. Or dedicating any land for additional school facilities.
What Corps and TCEQ are Considering
The Army Corps of Engineers and TCEQ are currently reviewing the developer’s proposal. The Corps is evaluating the impact of adding up to 12 feet of fill to wetlands and streams in the area against the need for the project. They also review more than a dozen other “public interest” factors, such as safety, environmental impact, navigation on the San Jacinto, sedimentation, and potential to worsen flooding. The TCEQ is evaluating water-quality issues only.
For More Information
To read more about the controversy swirling around this project, review the “High-Rises” Page of this web site. On it, you will find links to the Army Corps’ Public Notice describing the project as well as sample letters that other groups and individuals have already written. You will also find a series of posts that I have written to give you more background about the proposal and the people behind it.
The developers refused multiple requests for a public meeting to answer questions about the project, such as how they intended to get around “single family residential” deed restrictions and height requirements in Kingwood’s commercial development guidelines.
Instead, to communicate their vision, they are relying on a series of promotional websites with information that often conflicts with the Public Notice and ignore the public’s concerns. (See VTRUSA.com, RomericaGroup.com, AmericanVisionEB5.com, Torrisi-Procopio.com, YouTube, and TheHeronsKingwood.com).
If you have concerns about this development, please register them NOW with the TCEQ and Army Corps.
It May Be Now or Never!
Dave Martin, Houston City Council Member for District E, has stated that the City has no power to stop this development. In fact, the City has already issued a permit to begin excavation of the marina. So the Army Corps may be your best hope to stop this project.
Please send this post to all your friends, neighbors, relatives, kids, etc. Have them write letters, too. If you have already submitted a letter and have thought of new concerns, you may submit an additional letter.
Email Preferred to Snail Mail
Make sure you include the project number in the subject line of your email. It’s the same for either group: SWG-2016-00384.
Army Corps
swg_public_notice@usace.army.mil
TCEQ
As always, the thoughts in these posts represent my opinions on matters of public policy. They are protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP statute of the great State of Texas.
Posted by Bob Rehak on February 25, 2019
545 Days since Hurricane Harvey
