Harris County To Reconsider Colony Ridge Impacts
On Tuesday, 1/9/24, Harris County Commissioners court will consider a motion by Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey, P.E. to monitor the potential flooding, housing, and environmental impacts of Colony Ridge on Harris County. (See Item 282 on the Agenda.)
Ramsey submitted a similar item for the 10/10/23 session of Commissioners Court. The Court took no action at that time, but agreed to revisit the issue. Now is that time. And the political landscape has changed.
How Tuesday’s Discussion Will Differ from October’s
The discussion on Tuesday will probably differ radically from October’s.
First, Tuesday’s agenda item is broader; it includes housing and environmental impacts, not just flooding.
Second, in October, the discussion quickly devolved into an argument about the credibility of media allegations that triggered a special session of the State Legislature. Among other things, the media allegations concerned illegal immigration. At the time, County Judge Lina Hidalgo characterized them as “conspiracy theories.” Things went downhill from there.
Ultimately, the State Legislature decided not to do anything about Colony Ridge except build a DPS substation there to beef up law enforcement.
But since then, things have changed.
DOJ/CFPB Lawsuit Changes Political Landscape
The U.S. Department of Justice and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have filed a lawsuit against the developer for predatory lending practices targeted mainly at Hispanics.
The 45-page lawsuit alleges that the developer violated the:
- Fair Housing Act
- Consumer Financial Protection Act
- Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act
- Equal Credit Opportunity Act
It also offers specific examples of alleged abuses, including:
- Sky-high interest rates
- Untrue statements in marketing materials
- Omitting material facts
- Failing to provide required accurate translations
- Failing to report and disclose other required information
- Marketing in Spanish but providing legal documents that buyers couldn’t understand in English
- Foreclosing on properties multiple times
The inclusion of housing issues in Tuesday’s agenda may broaden the base of support for action re: Colony Ridge. Suddenly, we’re talking about people allegedly abusing Lina Hidalgo’s, Lesley Briones’ and Adrian Garcia’s core constituents. All three are Hispanic.
The lawsuit has already motivated LULAC (the League of United Latin American Citizens) to join the fight. The headline of this press release on their website says, “LULAC SUPPORTS FEDERAL ACTION IN MASSIVE REAL ESTATE FRAUD CASE THAT TARGETED LATINOS IN TEXAS.” As a result…
Commissioners may now see Colony Ridge as abusing immigrants, not helping them achieve the American Dream.
Plus, Colony Ridge is expanding into Harris County. That brings the issue much closer to home for Commissioners. We could soon be talking about how the Colony Ridge developer affects voters in Harris County, not voters in Liberty county.
Putting a Finer Point on Upstream Flooding Study
Even though Commissioner’s Court did not approve Ramsey’s Colony Ridge motion last October, the other commissioners didn’t totally ignore him. Commissioner Rodney Ellis also expressed concern about flooding issues originating outside Harris County.
On December 5, 2023, Commissioners Court approved a study of several watersheds including the East Fork San Jacinto River, which drains Colony Ridge. The purpose: to identify potential flood impacts due to unmitigated flows coming into Harris County from upstream counties and to evaluate the impacts of the increased flows on erosion and sedimentation issues.
If approved, Ramsey’s agenda item for next Tuesday, could put a much finer point on that. Instead of looking at flooding issues that originate in surrounding counties in general, it would specifically look at erosion issues originating in Colony Ridge. That could potentially lead to more legal action against Colony Ridge depending on what they find.
At a minimum, I hope it stimulates a discussion about two things:
- Putting some teeth in the state law that prohibits flooding neighboring properties.
- Working together with neighboring counties to enforce regulations.
In regard to the latter, I would point out that Harris and Liberty Counties have almost identical regulations for construction of drainage ditches. However, we get very different results.
The image on the right was taken over Colony Ridge. Such erosion contributes to the buildup of sediment that reduces the conveyance of rivers and streams, contributing to flooding.
For more information and issues relating to Colony Ridge, see this post.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 1/5/2024
2320 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
