Meritage Finishes Clearing 40 Acres between Pinehurst and Kings River

Meritage has finished clearing all of its 40 acres between Pinehurst and Kings River. The property is just east of West Lake Houston Parkway and borders Kings Park Way, Texas Laurel Trail, and Pinehurst Trail Drive. The company plans to build 210 homes on the site in two phases.

Status of Phases 1 and 2

Meritage finished clearing the first 20 acres for Phase One west of Pinehurst Trail Drive in March this year. The company has already installed a large stormwater detention basin that occupies about a quarter of the site. But no homes have been built on the site yet.

*Phase One in foreground looking east toward Lake Houston. Note large detention basin on right which already has grass growing around it to protect the slopes from erosion.*

For the 20 acres east of Pinehurst Trail Drive, Meritage appears to be finished cutting trees. But they have yet to haul them all away. And Meritage has not yet done any drainage work for the second 20 acres. See below.

*Looking east over Pinehurst Trail Drive. Contractors have cleared Phase 2, but trees have not all been hauled away yet.*

However, no streets or homes have been constructed on either phase yet. Meritage’s website shows they build homes similar in size, look and price points to those found in surrounding neighborhoods.

So far, Meritage has managed to avoid any drainage fiascos similar to those associated with a nearby Trammell Crow apartment development.

But a drainage analysis by R.G. Miller Engineers for Meritage raised many questions about the sufficiency of the plans. The analysis:

Omitted data
Contained misstatements
Left out related reports
Included alarming assumptions.

*Looking west toward West Lake Houston Parkway (out of sight at top of frame). Note pond in foreground.*

Say Goodbye to the Wetlands

Parts of both phases of this development contained wetlands before Meritage cleared and graded the land.

Meritage Wetlands — *From USGS National Wetlands Inventory*

The saying in the engineering business is, “Water has a memory.” It tends to go where it has gone before. I’m sure Meritage will do a good job grading and compacting the land. But building over wetlands usually entails environmental, structural and economic risks.

The environmental risks include:

Loss of Biodiversity
Water-Quality Degradation
Increased Flood Risk
Carbon Storage Loss
Erosion and sedimentation

Structural risks include:

Foundation Instability
Water Intrusion and Damage from High Water Tables and Mold Growth
Drainage Issues such as Water Pooling and Flooding Around Homes.

Homes built over wetlands also often have higher insurance costs due to these issues, which may also cause property value to decline over time.

For More Information

Meritage builds homes in 11 states. Their website also shows they build homes in 34 communities in the Houston area alone. The posts below contain photos of and background materials about the development.

10/27/24 – Concerns About Fill Height in New Atascocita Development

3/11/24 – New Kings River Development Gets a Buzz Cut

2/13/24 – Meritage Begins Clearing 40 Acres for 210 Homes, Many Over Wetlands

2/26/24 – New Kings River Development Drainage Analysis, Plans Raise Questions

Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/23/24

2673 Days since Hurricane Harvey