Sunday morning at 8 a.m., Perry contractors we’re busy working on Woodridge Village detention ponds. This came after a Saturday when they stopped working after 6 p.m. Surprisingly, this came even as the threat from Tropical Storm Cristobal moved farther east.
After months of relative inactivity, construction has kicked into high gear. Elm Grove resident Jeff Miller took the two shots below from near Mace Street in Porter.
N2 Channel as of 6/4/2020 in afternoon around 5 p.m.Same channel on 6/6 around 10 a.m.
That’s a lot of dirt to move in a little more than a day! Below is how the same channel looked from the air on Sunday morning.
Looking north along western perimeter of Woodridge Village at channel that connects detention pond N1 with N2.
Below, you can see the general layout of Woodridge Village detention ponds.
Other Sunday Morning Photos
Since the last update, the focus of most construction activity seems to be on two detention ponds along the development’s western border – N1 and N2. As the photos below show, contractors have expanded both ponds as well as the ditches connecting them.
Expansion of the Woodridge Village N1 PondWorkers are also deepening and widening N2 toward the left above.Contractors use dirt from the ponds to raise the areas where homes may be built some day.
Dirt from N1 is moving east toward the new Ford Road entrance.
See new Ford Road Entrance through trees at upper right.Dirt excavated from N2 in the background is also moving east toward the foreground, which is the base of N3. Note also how the grass planted last winter in the souther section (upper left) has all turned brown. This could present an erosion problem in the future.Grass in the overflow spillway between the concrete-lined portion of Taylor Gully (left) and detention pond S2 has also died.Looking NE from over S2. Taylor Gully cuts diagonally through the frame from upper left to lower right. Note the vast expanse of treeless, grassless development on the southwest half of the northern section.
The City must also come up with cash (or land in lieu of cash) to cover half of the construction costs of developing the regional detention basin (not just half of the purchase price of the land). Russ Poppe, Director of Harris County Flood Control estimated the construction costs could total $20 to $30 million, although flood control has reportedly not yet started planning the project.
Regarding Option 2
A web search this morning turned up no new bidding documents for any construction beyond the detention ponds. Previously, Perry Homes and LJA have advertised bid opportunities.
Regarding Option 3
Perry still has a for-sale sign at the Woodland Hills entrance to the property. However, the chances of a third party purchase while lawsuits are pending is remote. Still, the completion of detention ponds makes the property more attractive to another developer with an appetite for risk.
The big problem with Options 2 and 3: Perry Homes rushed to get the plans permitted before Atlas-14. That means, even with detention ponds completed, the detention may not be adequate. Estimates of the shortfall range from 30% to 40%.
As a result, Option 1 provides, by far, the highest margin of safety for flood-weary residents.
Unfortunately, the wheels of government move slowly. Neither the County, nor the City has made a public comment about a possible purchase deal since the last commissioner’s court meeting on May 19. The purchase is not listed on the agenda for the June 9, 2020, meeting.
Posted by Bob Rehak with with thanks to Jeff Millerfor photos
1013 Days after Hurricane Harvey and 262 since Imelda
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/20200607-DJI_0055.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=19001200adminadmin2020-06-07 14:08:292020-06-07 14:13:07Contractors Now Working Seven Days Per Week, Dawn to Dusk, on Woodridge Village Detention Ponds
I always associated the word “Riviera” with a coastal region in France and Italy on the Mediterranean. But being a student of language, I frequently look up words that I think I know. Much to my surprise, I learned that the word has a second meaning. It also applies to any coastal region with a subtropical climate and vegetation. The origin of the word stems from 18th century Italian. It literally meant “seashore.”
History and Meanings of Riviera
The 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary (OED), which is really a history book of the language, indicates that railroad barons frequently used the word in the 1900s to lure vacationers to coastal areas around the world. OED’s last entry is from the October 19, 1943 edition of the Saturday Review, an influential magazine at the time. The OED quoted the Saturday Review as saying, “Every properly equipped nation must have a Riviera.”
Getting From There to Here
The term occurred to me when I saw the scene below while flying up the San Jacinto West Fork last Sunday near River Grove Park. So it is with tongue in cheek and humor in my heart that I apply the term to River Grove.
Looking NW. Partying on the sand dune outside Kingwood’s River Grove Park on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Looking northeast at the same sand bar two weeks after Harvey.At this point, the River Grove parking lot was still covered with 4-5 feet of sand.
No Burger Barns or Tatoo Parlors, But…
Now the sand bar seems to be a popular stopping off point for people running the river and trying to squeeze a little more sunshine out of the day.
It may not be the French/Italian Riviera. Nor is it the Redneck Riviera. You won’t find people here for spring breaks, water parks, tattoo parlors, beer joints, crab shacks, burger barns or t-shirts.
But the sunshine is warm, the water cool, and it doesn’t require a trans-Atlantic flight or a 14-hour drive.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/20200530-DJI_0128-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=19001200adminadmin2020-06-06 19:22:032020-06-06 19:41:43River Grove Riviera: Park Adds New Feature
One thousand and twelve days ago, Hurricane Harvey destroyed the Forest Cove townhomes between Hamblen and the West Fork San Jacinto. Yet most still stand – mute reminders of Harvey’s fury and mankind’s folly. They illustrate: a) the need to re-engineer business processes surrounding buyouts and b) rethink multi-family housing in flood-prone areas.
The Love It/Leave It Relationship With Rivers
Jennifer Parks, who lived there for five years and had her wedding ceremony by the river. She and her neighbors loved the area for its quiet, natural beauty and the tightly knit community. People cared for each other. But her family flooded eight times in five years.
During Harvey, her 4-story townhome took on 20 feet of water, a measurement documented by FEMA.
The Parks’ townhome is the 4-story unit behind the one in the foreground.
Three other units in this same building were totally lost to the flood. They extended south (toward the right) in the photo above.
Since the flood, the units have become a magnet for arsonists, looters, squatters, drug dealers, illegal dumpers, and graffiti artists. An arsonist torched the building next to Parks’ last July. See below.
Arson damage last July to a six-unit building on Timberline Drive.Illegal dumping near another unitMore illegal dumping.
Xs represent buildings that have already been torn down.
Green rectangles represent units that have already been purchased.
Purple rectangles represent units that are in the process of being purchased.
Four white rectangles with red arrows pointing to them are in a special category. They appear to be units that were swept away in the flood. HCFCD says, “We’re working with the State on approval for these 4 in the first alternate request we submitted in our HMGP grant. (Hazard Mitigation Grant Program).”
A Flood Control spokesperson said, “As soon as entire buildings are purchased, we’re requesting demolition. We’ve demolished six (red x’s) already.”
The two (red circles) are scheduled for demolition. The district says it is still working on five remaining buildings (numbered). However, Building Number Five appears to be torn down already. (That’s why I say the map is slightly dated. See below.) The flood swept away many of those units. At this point, they may be just land purchases.
Usually, until every unit in a building is purchased, nothing can be torn down.
It’s a complex process made more complex by the facts that owners have all moved and Harvey swept away some units.
Picture of building #5 (nearest river) taken two weeks after Harvey shows only two of seven units left standing. The rest were in pieces and mostly downstream. Residents say they were lucky to escape with their lives when the massive SJRA release arrived in the middle of the night without warning.By March of this year, the rest of Building #5 was just a pile of rubble waiting for a dump truck.
Is It Wise To Build Multi-Family Homes in Floodway?
The length of time it has taken to negotiate these buyouts and the blight that looters have created during the process raise a question.
Should construction of multi-family housing be allowed in a floodway? Or even a floodplain?
Unfortunately, developers like the cheap land in floodways. And young people with little life experience like the romantic views. It’s a marriage made in hell and a recipe for disaster. Greedy sellers meet eager, unknowledgeable buyers.
I raise this question because last year, about a mile downriver from these townhomes, Romerica applied for permits to build 5,000 condos and 50-story high-rises in an equally flood-prone area.
My opinion: The best, cheapest way to avoid these subsidized cycles of building, destruction, buyouts and decay is to avoid building in flood-prone areas in the first place.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/6/2020
1012 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/2020/06/20200604-DJI_0027.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=19001200adminadmin2020-06-06 15:26:302020-06-06 15:36:21Buyouts of Forest Cove Townhomes Progressing, But Slowly
Contractors Now Working Seven Days Per Week, Dawn to Dusk, on Woodridge Village Detention Ponds
Sunday morning at 8 a.m., Perry contractors we’re busy working on Woodridge Village detention ponds. This came after a Saturday when they stopped working after 6 p.m. Surprisingly, this came even as the threat from Tropical Storm Cristobal moved farther east.
Woodridge Village was implicated in flooding Elm Grove and North Kingwood Forest twice last year. Lack of functional detention ponds was one of the key contributors.
Before/After Shots of N2 Channel
After months of relative inactivity, construction has kicked into high gear. Elm Grove resident Jeff Miller took the two shots below from near Mace Street in Porter.
That’s a lot of dirt to move in a little more than a day! Below is how the same channel looked from the air on Sunday morning.
Below, you can see the general layout of Woodridge Village detention ponds.
Other Sunday Morning Photos
Since the last update, the focus of most construction activity seems to be on two detention ponds along the development’s western border – N1 and N2. As the photos below show, contractors have expanded both ponds as well as the ditches connecting them.
Dirt from N1 is moving east toward the new Ford Road entrance.
End Game Still Not Settled
The fate of Woodridge Village, which is still mired in lawsuits, has not been settled. Practically speaking, Perry Homes has said it could/would:
Regarding Option 1
At the last Harris County Commissioner’s Court meeting, commissioners heaped new demands on the City of Houston. They want the City to actually implement a series of changes related to Atlas-14 in its building codes and ETJ (extra territorial jurisdiction. A mere promise to implement them via an inter-local agreement seems insufficient for the commissioners.
The City must also come up with cash (or land in lieu of cash) to cover half of the construction costs of developing the regional detention basin (not just half of the purchase price of the land). Russ Poppe, Director of Harris County Flood Control estimated the construction costs could total $20 to $30 million, although flood control has reportedly not yet started planning the project.
Regarding Option 2
A web search this morning turned up no new bidding documents for any construction beyond the detention ponds. Previously, Perry Homes and LJA have advertised bid opportunities.
Regarding Option 3
Perry still has a for-sale sign at the Woodland Hills entrance to the property. However, the chances of a third party purchase while lawsuits are pending is remote. Still, the completion of detention ponds makes the property more attractive to another developer with an appetite for risk.
The big problem with Options 2 and 3: Perry Homes rushed to get the plans permitted before Atlas-14. That means, even with detention ponds completed, the detention may not be adequate. Estimates of the shortfall range from 30% to 40%.
Unfortunately, the wheels of government move slowly. Neither the County, nor the City has made a public comment about a possible purchase deal since the last commissioner’s court meeting on May 19. The purchase is not listed on the agenda for the June 9, 2020, meeting.
Posted by Bob Rehak with with thanks to Jeff Miller for photos
1013 Days after Hurricane Harvey and 262 since Imelda
River Grove Riviera: Park Adds New Feature
I always associated the word “Riviera” with a coastal region in France and Italy on the Mediterranean. But being a student of language, I frequently look up words that I think I know. Much to my surprise, I learned that the word has a second meaning. It also applies to any coastal region with a subtropical climate and vegetation. The origin of the word stems from 18th century Italian. It literally meant “seashore.”
History and Meanings of Riviera
The 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary (OED), which is really a history book of the language, indicates that railroad barons frequently used the word in the 1900s to lure vacationers to coastal areas around the world. OED’s last entry is from the October 19, 1943 edition of the Saturday Review, an influential magazine at the time. The OED quoted the Saturday Review as saying, “Every properly equipped nation must have a Riviera.”
Getting From There to Here
The term occurred to me when I saw the scene below while flying up the San Jacinto West Fork last Sunday near River Grove Park. So it is with tongue in cheek and humor in my heart that I apply the term to River Grove.
This giant sand dune is the remnant of an even larger quarter-mile-long dune left by Hurricane Harvey. It took the Army Corps of Engineers to cut through it so that the Kingwood Diversion Ditch could empty into the San Jacinto West Fork. Then KSA still had dredge the area near the boat dock before the area became accessible.
No Burger Barns or Tatoo Parlors, But…
Now the sand bar seems to be a popular stopping off point for people running the river and trying to squeeze a little more sunshine out of the day.
It may not be the French/Italian Riviera. Nor is it the Redneck Riviera. You won’t find people here for spring breaks, water parks, tattoo parlors, beer joints, crab shacks, burger barns or t-shirts.
But the sunshine is warm, the water cool, and it doesn’t require a trans-Atlantic flight or a 14-hour drive.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/7/2020
1013 Days after Hurricane Harvey
Buyouts of Forest Cove Townhomes Progressing, But Slowly
One thousand and twelve days ago, Hurricane Harvey destroyed the Forest Cove townhomes between Hamblen and the West Fork San Jacinto. Yet most still stand – mute reminders of Harvey’s fury and mankind’s folly. They illustrate: a) the need to re-engineer business processes surrounding buyouts and b) rethink multi-family housing in flood-prone areas.
The Love It/Leave It Relationship With Rivers
Jennifer Parks, who lived there for five years and had her wedding ceremony by the river. She and her neighbors loved the area for its quiet, natural beauty and the tightly knit community. People cared for each other. But her family flooded eight times in five years.
Three other units in this same building were totally lost to the flood. They extended south (toward the right) in the photo above.
Since the flood, the units have become a magnet for arsonists, looters, squatters, drug dealers, illegal dumpers, and graffiti artists. An arsonist torched the building next to Parks’ last July. See below.
Current Status of Buyouts and Demos
So where do buyouts stand? Harris County Flood Control provided the slightly dated map below.
Four white rectangles with red arrows pointing to them are in a special category. They appear to be units that were swept away in the flood. HCFCD says, “We’re working with the State on approval for these 4 in the first alternate request we submitted in our HMGP grant. (Hazard Mitigation Grant Program).”
A Flood Control spokesperson said, “As soon as entire buildings are purchased, we’re requesting demolition. We’ve demolished six (red x’s) already.”
The two (red circles) are scheduled for demolition. The district says it is still working on five remaining buildings (numbered). However, Building Number Five appears to be torn down already. (That’s why I say the map is slightly dated. See below.) The flood swept away many of those units. At this point, they may be just land purchases.
It’s a complex process made more complex by the facts that owners have all moved and Harvey swept away some units.
Is It Wise To Build Multi-Family Homes in Floodway?
The length of time it has taken to negotiate these buyouts and the blight that looters have created during the process raise a question.
It’s difficult enough to buy out single-family homes. The process stretches through three levels of government. From Houston to Austin to Washington D.C. One of these buildings had twelve units. Aligning all those dominos takes time. And as we have seen, during that time, criminals have turned this neighborhood into a cancer infecting surrounding areas. In fact, the twelve unit building was burned to the ground. And that was just one of three fires.
Unfortunately, developers like the cheap land in floodways. And young people with little life experience like the romantic views. It’s a marriage made in hell and a recipe for disaster. Greedy sellers meet eager, unknowledgeable buyers.
I raise this question because last year, about a mile downriver from these townhomes, Romerica applied for permits to build 5,000 condos and 50-story high-rises in an equally flood-prone area.
My opinion: The best, cheapest way to avoid these subsidized cycles of building, destruction, buyouts and decay is to avoid building in flood-prone areas in the first place.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/6/2020
1012 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.