2/14/25 – Mark your calendars, Kingwood residents. Two important upcoming events will affect most of you: Median Madness Round 2 and a total Northpark Drive closure lasting 3-days at the UnionPacific Railroad near Loop 494. Here are details of each.
Median Madness Round 2
City Council Member Fred Flickinger has organized another vine trimming event on Kingwood Drive. It’s called Median Madness, Round 2. Please consider volunteering.
Round 1, held last November was a fun success. Dozens of volunteers from all of Kingwood got to vent their pent-up frustrations on vines that were taking over Kingwood Drive. And they did it with a vengeance.
Median Madness Round 1 in November 2024.
They used chain saws, lopping shears, pruning saws and sheer muscle power to push back the wall of vines on a half mile stretch of median. But the best part beyond the results was the camaraderie that came from neighbors working together to improve their community.
Median Madness Round 2 will take place on Saturday, February 22, 2025, between 8:30 AM and 12:00 PM from Kings Creek Drive to Forest Shores Drive. That’s roughly a block past Kings Forest Drive and a block short of Shady Run.
This time parking will be on the westbound lanes (north side) of Kingwood Drive. The organizers request that volunteers carpool.
Remember to bring water and gloves, and to wear closed-toe shoes. Anyone under 16 should be accompanied by an adult.
Once registered, you’ll receive an email with a waiver and helpful tips to prepare for the event. Be sure to complete the waiver and bring a printed copy with you on the day of Median Madness, Saturday, February 22nd.
Northpark Drive Closure March 5-7
As part of the Northpark Drive expansion project, both inbound and both outbound lanes will be closed from March 5-7 at the UnionPacific Railroad Tracks. That’s Wednesday through Friday. We’ve known this was coming for years. Now it’s here.
UPRR Crews will need to shut down Northpark within the red box for three days to replace existing track with a SINGLE 200-foot-long section of new track.
The new track will stretch under and across ten full lanes of traffic. Those include:
Three lanes of westbound traffic over a bridge yet to be built
Three lanes of eastbound traffic over the same bridge
Two westbound surface lanes, one for turning north, the other for turning south
Two eastbound surface lanes, one for traffic entering from the north and the other for traffic entering from the south.
To accomplish this feat, they need to close down Northpark Drive in BOTH directions simultaneously to work with massive cranes.
Ralph De Leon, project manager for the Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority, stressed that the remainder of Northpark Drive will remain open so that people may access businesses.
Just plan on getting across the tracks some way other than Northpark. Contractors will construct a U-turn just before the track closure so that people can get to/from nearby businesses, such as Dunkin’ Donuts.
Start planning your detours now.
UPRR has two crews that handle projects like this throughout the entire country. Missing the opening in their schedule would mean waiting for years before they could return.
So pack your patience. Work from home if possible. And if not, plan extra time for your commute.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/14/25
2726 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/20250209-DJI_20250209145918_0866_D-copy.jpg?fit=1100%2C619&ssl=16191100adminadmin2025-02-14 15:52:492025-02-14 16:02:15Mark Your Calendar: Median Madness Round 2, Northpark Closure
2/13/25 – Phase I of the new 40-acre Meritage development in Atascocita between Pinehurst and Kings River overflowed after less than two inches of rain on Tuesday 2/11/25. Approximately an inch of that fell in a half hour.
While that is a pretty heavy downpour, it still falls short of the 1.43 inches per half hour needed to qualify as a 1-year rain on the Atlas-14 rainfall-probability scale.
Even when totaling the peak rainfall for an hour (less than 1.5 inches), it still doesn’t qualify as a one year rain.
The point is that this rainfall was far from extraordinary, yet the Meritage drainage system failed.
Video Shows Half-Flooded Street
A local resident sent me these videos of Pinehurst Trail Drive which runs between Phases I and II. In both videos, you’re looking toward Phase I, west of the street.
Still Photos Show Problems with Pollution Prevention Measures
I took the still photos below after the rain stopped. You can see how the accumulated rain overwhelmed the silt fence. Water ran over and under the fence, and into the street.
Meritage silt fence on N side of Pinehurst Trail Drive on 2/11/25Meritage silt fence on N side of Pinehurst Trail Drive on 2/11/25Water pouring into street from Phase One of Meritage Development Water built up in the street below the entry point (upper left)On the opposite side of the street, water poured out of Phase 2 through the site entrance, crested over the wattle rolls and went straight into the storm sewerand then Lake Houston.
Insufficient Urgency
The silt fences and wattle roles visible in the photos and videos above certainly helped contain sediment-laden runoff. But they didn’t stop it.
The riskiest time during development happens between clearing and completion of construction when grass and landscaping are installed. All that erosion can reduce the conveyance of drains and ditches, increasing flood risk.
Yet virtually all of Phase I was cleared 11 months ago. Since then, the developer has installed a detention basin, but still not paved the streets, installed all the storm sewers or started home construction.
The excessive delays expose the neighborhood, its infrastructure and Lake Houston to more sediment pollution than necessary. But that’s not all. One neighbor complained that the water on Kings Park Way hasn’t dried out in five months. I have also heard complaints about mosquitoes because of constantly standing water.
One even quipped that they should advertise that they have a “lazy river.” (See below how the site looked a month earlier on January 8.)
Phase I in foreground. Phase II in background, looking E across Pinehurst Trail Drive. Residents call water running down the area on the left the “lazy river.”
Water entered the street on Feb. 11, exactly where that lazy river ends in the photo above.
It seems the street flooding we saw Tuesday resulted from a failure to build quickly once the land was cleared. It also resulted from a failure to contain water the developer couldn’t channel into the detention basin.
These failures don’t bode well for the future of the neighborhood.
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.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/20250211-DSC_1762.jpg?fit=1100%2C733&ssl=17331100adminadmin2025-02-13 20:36:482025-02-14 06:35:56Meritage Site Overflows Despite Detention Basin
The controversial Colony Ridge development in Liberty county, which targets Hispanics and which has been labeled a “foreclosure mill” by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, appears to routinely ignore Texas law when sending out foreclosure notices.
Section 51.0075 (e)of the Texas Property Code requires that “the name and a street address for a trustee or substitute trustees shall be disclosed on the notice required by Section 51.002 (b).” But all sampled Colony Ridge foreclosure notices do not include the trustee’s street address.
Nor do they include the location of foreclosure sales, which state law also requires.
These and other irregularities may explain why Paxton found the foreclosure rate in Colony Ridge is 50 times the national average.
They also could theoretically invalidate thousands of foreclosures, according to sources consulted for this post.
The massive Colony Ridge development in Liberty County primarily sells owner-financed land on which buyers put their own homes. Shown above, one small portion of the development now 50% larger than Manhattan.
Colony Ridge Foreclosure Notices Contain No Street Address for Trustee
A random sampling of foreclosure notices for Liberty County properties outside of Colony Ridge shows that all trustees have complied with the street address provision.
However, a second sampling of foreclosure notices on properties inside Colony Ridge shows that none of the 58 notices contains a street address for the trustee. Instead, they include only a Post Office Box number.
In Texas, a “street address” includes the name and number of a building, along with the street or road it’s located on. It’s needed for driver’s licenses and other official documents, such as foreclosure notices.
According to ChatGPT, in Texas, foreclosure notices must include the street address of the trusteeor substitute trustee to ensure transparency and accessibility for borrowers and interested parties. This requirement serves several key purposes. It:
Prevents Fraud and Confusion – Clearly identifying the trustee’s location reduces the risk of fraudulent or misleading foreclosure practices by ensuring that the foreclosure is managed by a verifiable, accessible entity.
Facilitates Communication – The trustee is responsible for conducting the foreclosure sale, so providing a physical address allows borrowers, lienholders, and other interested parties to contact them for inquiries, legal matters, or foreclosure-related issues.
Ensures Proper Notice – Texas law mandates that foreclosure procedures follow due process, which includes proper notice to homeowners. Listing the trustee’s address helps ensure that homeowners know where to send requests for information, reinstatement payments, or legal disputes.
Complies with Texas Property Code – Texas law, including Section 51.0075 (e) of the Texas Property Code, sets strict requirements for foreclosure notices. The inclusion of a trustee’s street address aligns with these legal requirements, helping to protect both lenders and borrowers.
Location of Foreclosure Sale Also Omitted
Texas law also requires that foreclosure notices include the location of the foreclosure sale itself.
Properties outside of Colony Ridge list this information. However, all 58 of these Colony Ridge foreclosure notices only say, “At a place designated by the Commissioner’s Court of Liberty County, Texas.”
People from south of the border may not know the customary location of such sales – at county courthouses. That makes it difficult for non-English speakers to figure out where to go if they want to bid on their property. It also increases the likelihood that foreclosures will sale through uncontested.
Finally, it helps explain why investigative journalist Wayne Dolcefino found that Colony Ridge successfully repurchased all properties in a foreclosure sale around Thanksgiving, 2020. In the first 11 months that year, the developer foreclosed on approximately 2,900 properties out of 22,956 that reportedly existed in the development at that time – 13% in less than a year.
Today, the development is at least 50% larger than Manhattan. So, the number of foreclosures each year since 2020 has likely increased.
Contested Foreclosures Possible And Other Implications
Failure to disclose such information could potentially invalidate a foreclosure sale if challenged in court. Texas foreclosure law is strict about proper notice requirements, and any defect in the notice could give borrowers grounds to contest the foreclosure. Here’s why:
1. Strict Compliance Required
Texas courts have ruled that failure to strictly follow foreclosure notice requirements can be grounds to invalidate a sale.
If the foreclosure has already occurred, a borrower could challenge it and request that the court void the sale due to non-compliance.
2. Violation of Texas Property Code
Under Texas Property Code § 51.002(b), a foreclosure notice must include key information, including the date, time, location of the sale, and the name and street address of the trustee.
If this information is missing or incorrect, the notice might not meet statutory requirements, making the foreclosure legally defective.
3. Borrower’s Right to Challenge the Foreclosure
If a borrower can show that the missing trustee address caused harm or confusion, they may file a lawsuit to halt or reverse the foreclosure.
A court could issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) or injunction, delaying the foreclosure until the notice is corrected.
4. Lender May Have to Restart the Process
If a court finds that the notice was defective, the lender may have to start the foreclosure process over, sending a corrected notice and waiting the required 21-day period before conducting a new sale.
5. Trustee and Lender Liability
A defective notice could also expose the trustee and lender to legal claims, including wrongful foreclosure or violations of Texas consumer protection laws.
Bottom Line
According to one lawyer consulted for this post, missing addresses for the trustee and/or sale location represent serious defects that could invalidate a Texas foreclosure if properly challenged. If you or someone you know face foreclosure and notices are an issue, consulting a real estate attorney to explore your legal options may help.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/12/2025
2724 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.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230812-RJR_1929.jpg?fit=1100%2C733&ssl=17331100adminadmin2025-02-12 19:53:132025-02-12 22:46:49Colony Ridge Foreclosure Notices Appear to Routinely Ignore Texas Law
Mark Your Calendar: Median Madness Round 2, Northpark Closure
2/14/25 – Mark your calendars, Kingwood residents. Two important upcoming events will affect most of you: Median Madness Round 2 and a total Northpark Drive closure lasting 3-days at the UnionPacific Railroad near Loop 494. Here are details of each.
Median Madness Round 2
City Council Member Fred Flickinger has organized another vine trimming event on Kingwood Drive. It’s called Median Madness, Round 2. Please consider volunteering.
Round 1, held last November was a fun success. Dozens of volunteers from all of Kingwood got to vent their pent-up frustrations on vines that were taking over Kingwood Drive. And they did it with a vengeance.
They used chain saws, lopping shears, pruning saws and sheer muscle power to push back the wall of vines on a half mile stretch of median. But the best part beyond the results was the camaraderie that came from neighbors working together to improve their community.
Median Madness Round 2 will take place on Saturday, February 22, 2025, between 8:30 AM and 12:00 PM from Kings Creek Drive to Forest Shores Drive. That’s roughly a block past Kings Forest Drive and a block short of Shady Run.
This time parking will be on the westbound lanes (north side) of Kingwood Drive. The organizers request that volunteers carpool.
Please Register HERE for the Event
Remember to bring water and gloves, and to wear closed-toe shoes. Anyone under 16 should be accompanied by an adult.
Once registered, you’ll receive an email with a waiver and helpful tips to prepare for the event. Be sure to complete the waiver and bring a printed copy with you on the day of Median Madness, Saturday, February 22nd.
Northpark Drive Closure March 5-7
As part of the Northpark Drive expansion project, both inbound and both outbound lanes will be closed from March 5-7 at the UnionPacific Railroad Tracks. That’s Wednesday through Friday. We’ve known this was coming for years. Now it’s here.
The new track will stretch under and across ten full lanes of traffic. Those include:
To accomplish this feat, they need to close down Northpark Drive in BOTH directions simultaneously to work with massive cranes.
Ralph De Leon, project manager for the Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority, stressed that the remainder of Northpark Drive will remain open so that people may access businesses.
Just plan on getting across the tracks some way other than Northpark. Contractors will construct a U-turn just before the track closure so that people can get to/from nearby businesses, such as Dunkin’ Donuts.
Start planning your detours now.
UPRR has two crews that handle projects like this throughout the entire country. Missing the opening in their schedule would mean waiting for years before they could return.
So pack your patience. Work from home if possible. And if not, plan extra time for your commute.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/14/25
2726 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Meritage Site Overflows Despite Detention Basin
2/13/25 – Phase I of the new 40-acre Meritage development in Atascocita between Pinehurst and Kings River overflowed after less than two inches of rain on Tuesday 2/11/25. Approximately an inch of that fell in a half hour.
While that is a pretty heavy downpour, it still falls short of the 1.43 inches per half hour needed to qualify as a 1-year rain on the Atlas-14 rainfall-probability scale.
Even when totaling the peak rainfall for an hour (less than 1.5 inches), it still doesn’t qualify as a one year rain.
The point is that this rainfall was far from extraordinary, yet the Meritage drainage system failed.
Video Shows Half-Flooded Street
A local resident sent me these videos of Pinehurst Trail Drive which runs between Phases I and II. In both videos, you’re looking toward Phase I, west of the street.
Still Photos Show Problems with Pollution Prevention Measures
I took the still photos below after the rain stopped. You can see how the accumulated rain overwhelmed the silt fence. Water ran over and under the fence, and into the street.
Insufficient Urgency
The silt fences and wattle roles visible in the photos and videos above certainly helped contain sediment-laden runoff. But they didn’t stop it.
The riskiest time during development happens between clearing and completion of construction when grass and landscaping are installed. All that erosion can reduce the conveyance of drains and ditches, increasing flood risk.
Yet virtually all of Phase I was cleared 11 months ago. Since then, the developer has installed a detention basin, but still not paved the streets, installed all the storm sewers or started home construction.
The excessive delays expose the neighborhood, its infrastructure and Lake Houston to more sediment pollution than necessary. But that’s not all. One neighbor complained that the water on Kings Park Way hasn’t dried out in five months. I have also heard complaints about mosquitoes because of constantly standing water.
One even quipped that they should advertise that they have a “lazy river.” (See below how the site looked a month earlier on January 8.)
Water entered the street on Feb. 11, exactly where that lazy river ends in the photo above.
It seems the street flooding we saw Tuesday resulted from a failure to build quickly once the land was cleared. It also resulted from a failure to contain water the developer couldn’t channel into the detention basin.
These failures don’t bode well for the future of the neighborhood.
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.
12/23/24 – Meritage Finishes Clearing 40 Acres Between Pinehurst and Kings River
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 2/13/25
2725 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.
Colony Ridge Foreclosure Notices Appear to Routinely Ignore Texas Law
The controversial Colony Ridge development in Liberty county, which targets Hispanics and which has been labeled a “foreclosure mill” by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, appears to routinely ignore Texas law when sending out foreclosure notices.
Section 51.0075 (e) of the Texas Property Code requires that “the name and a street address for a trustee or substitute trustees shall be disclosed on the notice required by Section 51.002 (b).” But all sampled Colony Ridge foreclosure notices do not include the trustee’s street address.
Nor do they include the location of foreclosure sales, which state law also requires.
These and other irregularities may explain why Paxton found the foreclosure rate in Colony Ridge is 50 times the national average.
They also could theoretically invalidate thousands of foreclosures, according to sources consulted for this post.
Colony Ridge Foreclosure Notices Contain No Street Address for Trustee
A random sampling of foreclosure notices for Liberty County properties outside of Colony Ridge shows that all trustees have complied with the street address provision.
However, a second sampling of foreclosure notices on properties inside Colony Ridge shows that none of the 58 notices contains a street address for the trustee. Instead, they include only a Post Office Box number.
In Texas, a “street address” includes the name and number of a building, along with the street or road it’s located on. It’s needed for driver’s licenses and other official documents, such as foreclosure notices.
According to ChatGPT, in Texas, foreclosure notices must include the street address of the trustee or substitute trustee to ensure transparency and accessibility for borrowers and interested parties. This requirement serves several key purposes. It:
Location of Foreclosure Sale Also Omitted
Texas law also requires that foreclosure notices include the location of the foreclosure sale itself.
Properties outside of Colony Ridge list this information. However, all 58 of these Colony Ridge foreclosure notices only say, “At a place designated by the Commissioner’s Court of Liberty County, Texas.”
People from south of the border may not know the customary location of such sales – at county courthouses. That makes it difficult for non-English speakers to figure out where to go if they want to bid on their property. It also increases the likelihood that foreclosures will sale through uncontested.
Finally, it helps explain why investigative journalist Wayne Dolcefino found that Colony Ridge successfully repurchased all properties in a foreclosure sale around Thanksgiving, 2020. In the first 11 months that year, the developer foreclosed on approximately 2,900 properties out of 22,956 that reportedly existed in the development at that time – 13% in less than a year.
Today, the development is at least 50% larger than Manhattan. So, the number of foreclosures each year since 2020 has likely increased.
Contested Foreclosures Possible And Other Implications
Failure to disclose such information could potentially invalidate a foreclosure sale if challenged in court. Texas foreclosure law is strict about proper notice requirements, and any defect in the notice could give borrowers grounds to contest the foreclosure. Here’s why:
1. Strict Compliance Required
2. Violation of Texas Property Code
3. Borrower’s Right to Challenge the Foreclosure
4. Lender May Have to Restart the Process
5. Trustee and Lender Liability
Bottom Line
According to one lawyer consulted for this post, missing addresses for the trustee and/or sale location represent serious defects that could invalidate a Texas foreclosure if properly challenged. If you or someone you know face foreclosure and notices are an issue, consulting a real estate attorney to explore your legal options may help.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/12/2025
2724 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.