Tag Archive for: Ron Holley

Surveyors Staking Out Property on WLHP in New Floodway

3/25/26 – On 3/24/26, I photographed partially cleared property owned by HS Tejas LTD on West Lake Houston Parkway (WLHP) between the Kingwood YMCA and Kings Harbor.

Approximate area of partially cleared land circled in red.

According to Dustin Hodges, Chief of Staff for District E City Council Member Fred Flickinger, the City has received no permit applications for developing the property yet.

From Harris County Appraisal District. HS Tejas also owns the long, narrow property between the highlighted parcel and WHLP.

To be clear, an owner does not need a permit to survey his property. But the survey may be required as preparation for:

  • Subdividing land/plat approval
  • Developing in floodplains
  • Title companies or lenders

So, this is an early sign that something could soon happen with the property. However, it’s not yet clear what HS Tejas plans.

Who Is HS Tejas?

HS Tejas is a company owned in part by Kingwood developer Ron Holley. Holley sold floodplain/floodway property on South Woodland Hills to a company affiliated with Romerica back in 2012. Since then, Romerica has tried repeatedly to develop the property with little luck using various concepts including:

Currently, Holley is also trying to develop Royal Shores Estates in the floodway and floodplain of the San Jacinto East Fork south of Kings Point.

Shifting Floodplain Maps

New flood maps show the floodway has expanded and now encompasses virtually all of Holley’s property. From a flooding perspective, a floodway is more hazardous than a floodplain because of the speed of water. To see how large the floodway has grown, compare the two images below.

Current:

FEMA’s current, effective flood map (dated 2007) shows most of Holley’s property is in a floodplain, not the floodway.

Cross-hatch = floodway. Aqua = 100-year floodplain. Brown = 500-year floodplain. Red oval = approximate area of HS Tejas property.

Updated Draft Map Based on Atlas 14

See below how much the floodway has expanded.

New draft floodplain map From HCFCD. https://www.maapnext.org/Interactive-Map. Dark gray is floodway. Light green ua 100-year floodplain.
New draft floodplain map From HCFCD. See https://www.maapnext.org/Interactive-Map. Dark gray is floodway. Light green is 100-year floodplain.

Once the new draft maps become effective, Holley will have a much harder time developing the property because of restrictions on building in floodways. So, the impending map change may have something to do with the surveying.

Pictures Showing Recent Activity

Below are several pictures taken on 3/24/26 that show the partial clearing.

Note Deerwood golf course and Bens Branch in upper left. Looking slightly east and south from over WLHP.
Looking S toward Self Storage and Memory Care facility in upper right.
Memory Care facility in lower right. Looking E toward Deerwood.
Looking W toward WLHP from over Bens Branch in bottom of frame.

Putting Flood Risk Into Perspective

The areas shown above are about a half mile from the San Jacinto West Fork along Bens Branch.

As a result of Harvey flooding, 12 residents of Kingwood Village Estates died. KVE is an assisted living facility more than a half mile north (farther from the West Fork).

Moreover, ALL of the adjacent businesses, townhomes, apartments and homes flooded in:

A floodway is not only defined by the speed of floodwaters. In Houston, the floodway is regulated as the portion of the floodplain required to convey the 100-year flood with no increase in water surface elevation. However, FEMA-mapped floodways may have been delineated assuming up to a 1-foot rise.

Developers cannot bring fill into a floodway. So, doing anything on this property will likely mean stilts, structural analyses, and more. Chapter 19 of the City’s floodplain regulations lays out the requirements.

Current activity is not visible from WLHP. So, please contact me if you hear or see anything.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/25/26

3130 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.

East Fork Wetlands in Floodplain Sold to Developer Ron Holley

10/11/25 – On 2/28/25, Friendswood Development/Lennar Homes of Texas Land and Construction, Ltd. sold 231 acres to Royal Shores Estates, LLC, a company managed by Ron Holley, a Kingwood developer. The transaction includes two parcels that bracket the existing Royal Shores Courts development.

Maps of Acquired Parcels

The first parcel to the north includes 164.39 acres and the second to the south includes 66.62 acres. They total 231.01 acres, an area approximately 50% larger than Kingwood’s 158-acre East End Park to the north.

Here is the Special Warranty Deed, which includes the maps shown below plus deed restrictions.

North parcel
South parcel

Wetland and Floodplain Status

Both areas include wetlands, as shown on this screen capture from the National Wetlands Inventory.

Wetlands on Holley Property shown in green.

In addition to the wetlands, virtually all of the property lies within the floodplains or floodway of the San Jacinto River East Fork. See the screen capture below from the FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer Viewer.

Aqua color = 100-year floodplain. Tan color = 500-year floodplain. Crosshatch = Floodway.

Note that FEMA based the 2007 map above on data acquired after Tropical Storm Allison in 2001. FEMA has not yet released new maps based on Atlas 14 data acquired after Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

However, Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) believes that FEMA should release new maps before the end of this year and that when they do, the floodplains and floodways will expand significantly.

Floodplain Building Restrictions

All of Holley’s Royal Shores Estates land lies in the City of Houston and Harris County. The following regulations apply.

Houston allows no development in floodplains unless it complies with Chapter 19 – Floodplain of the City Code. Significant restrictions include:

  • New construction must have the lowest habitable floor elevated at least 2 feet above the 500-year flood elevation.
  • No placement of fill in the 100-year floodplain to elevate structures. Instead, structures must use open foundations (e.g. piers, columns) or continuous foundation walls with proper openings.
  • Developers must demonstrate that structures will not restrict storage volume or conveyance capacity of floodplains.
  • Subdivision layouts must prevent increases in flood heights.
  • Plans must preserve natural floodplain storage and drainage paths, and avoid unnatural diversion of floodwaters.
  • Developers may be required to submit a flood study (hydrologic/hydraulic model). 

To enforce these restrictions, Houston requires:

  • Submission of detailed plans with elevations, cross-sections, floodplain mapping, location of proposed structures, and floodproofing certificates (where applicable) for a floodplain development permit.
  • Certifications and engineering analyses from licensed professional engineers for impacts on conveyance or storage.
  • Inspections during construction and before certificate of occupancy to ensure compliance.

How High is Up?

Homebuilders who buy lots from Holley will have to elevate homes significantly. How much?

That depends on the location of individual lots within Holley’s property.

Random sampling of locations using the elevation profile tool within the USGS National Map shows the northern section varies from 41 to 59 feet with an average of 45 feet.

Sampled points in USGS National Map within northern section of Holley Property

Sampled elevations in the southern section also vary from 41 to 59 feet, but have an average of 48 feet.

Sampled points in USGS National Map within southern section of Holley Property

So, how high would a builder have to elevate a home?

The height of a 500-year flood is currently 54 feet on the East Fork at Holley’s property. See graph below.

Source: Fema

Two feet higher would put the minimum height of the “lowest habitable floor” at 56 feet.

So homes would have to be built up 8 to 11 feet on average.

The highest locations would require no additional elevation, but the lowest could require up to 15 feet! And deed restrictions appear to limit the height of homes to two stories. Interesting!

Based on the graph above, the average ground level in the northern area would have a 10% chance of flooding every year.

Perhaps that explains why Friendswood opted to sell.

Friendswood Started Expansion, Stopped, then Sold

Historical satellite images in Google Earth show that a giant pond on the northern parcel was likely used to provide fill for the original homes in Royal Shores. Shortly after clearing started for Royal Shores in 2005, clearing started for the pond. Excavation matched the pace of homebuilding for several years and later stopped.

Then, between 2013 and 2015, both clearing and excavation began again farther north. Friendswood significantly built up the cleared area until…

Expansion abruptly stopped around 2017. Satellite images show heavy erosion around the edges of the raised area. Shortly thereafter, trees started regrowing in the cleared area. No new roads or homes were built north of the pond.

There is little in the public record to explain why Friendswood suddenly stopped Royal Shores expansion after all that work. One theory: they were focusing on Royal Brook about that time. Another theory: flooding concerns caused them to rethink their plans.

The 2016 Tax Day Flood, Hurricane Harvey, Tropical Storm Imelda, and the May 2024 flood inundated all or parts of the property in rapid succession.

Less than a year after the May 2024 flood, Friendswood sold the Royal Shores property to Holley.

What Holley Property Looks Like Today

I took the photos below on 10/11/25.

From north end of property looking south toward Lake Houston. East Fork on left.
Both pond and area in foreground were expanded through early 2016. Then expansion abruptly stopped.
Area on south side of pond was also cleared at same time.
Southern parcel of Royal Shores Estates was originally called “The Eagle Tract” because of bald eagles that nested there.

Friendswood originally had plans to build 53 homes in the Southern/Eagle Tract.

I have not yet obtained copies of Mr. Holley’s plans.

New Flood Maps Could Change Holley’s Assumptions

HCFCD says FEMA will release updated flood maps before the end of 2025. Those could be a game changer if flood heights increase significantly. Check back often as this story develops.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/11/25

2965 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.

January Digest of Flood-Related News in Lake Houston Area

From construction developments to political developments, here’s your January digest of ten stories that could affect flooding or flood mitigation in the Lake Houston Area.

1. New Caney ISD High School #3

This site is located between Sorters-McClellan Road and US59 south of the HCA Kingwood Medical Center. New Caney ISD is building a new high school on the site of the old par 3 golf course behind the car dealerships that front US59. Construction crews are still pouring concrete for foundations and parking lots. Not much happened between flyovers on December 7 and January 1. But then, not much happens anywhere during the holidays. The two photos below show the progress. Construction of the detention pond is nearing completion. However, contractors still need to plant grass to reduce erosion before spring rains arrive.

New Caney ISD High School #3 site as of December 7, 2020
As of January 1, 2021.

New Caney ISD has not posted a project update since last September. Projected occupancy for the building is still Fall 2022.

2. Kingwood Cove Golf Course Redevelopment

I first talked about Ron Holley’s redevelopment of the Kingwood Cove (formerly Forest Cove) Golf Course in April last year. Since then Holley says he has been working with engineers, community groups and regulators to accommodate different interests.

Now, the development is back on the planning commission agenda for this Thursday. Holley is seeking approval of his latest General Plan and Plat. Neither show any detention ponds. The only place they could go would be in “Reserve C.” The General Plan shows that to be in the floodway and 100-year floodplain. Both could soon expand.

The West Fork floodway cuts through the southern part of Holley’s property.

The City raised an issue regarding compliance with regulations governing the re-plat of golf courses at the 12/17/2020 Planning Commission meeting. The City requested information relating to Local Government Code 212.0155.

That regulation requires, among other things, that:

  • Public notice of the re-plat be printed in newspapers
  • The Forest Cove Property Owners Association is notified
  • Residents have an opportunity to voice their opinions at public hearings
  • Owners of all properties within 200 feet of the new plat be notified in writing via US Mail.
  • If 20% of the owners object, the re-plat must win the approval of 3/5ths of the planning commission.
  • The developer proves there is adequate existing or planned infrastructure to support the new development.
  • The new subdivision will not adversely affect health, safety traffic, parking, drainage, water, sewer, or other utilities
  • The development will not have a materially adverse effect on existing single-family property values.
  • The new plat complies with all applicable land-use regulations and restrictive covenants and the City’s land-use policies.

That’s a lot to do over the holidays. So the general plan may need to be withdrawn and resubmitted after all the information has been produced. We should know more by Wednesday afternoon.

3. Dredging

Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin’s January newsletter stated that Disaster Recover Corporation has removed 385,000 cubic yards from the West Fork Mouth Bar out of an estimated total of 400,000 cubic yards.

Then he alluded to dredging another 260,000 cubic yards from the area north of the mouth bar.

He also alluded to a Second Phase: dredging the San Jacinto East Fork and other locations in Lake Houston.

Finally, Martin discussed maintenance dredging. “Additionally,” he says, “during Phase Two of the project, City of Houston, Harris County, HCFCD, SJRA, and Coastal Water Authority (CWA) will develop and execute a plan for the City of Houston or CWA to assume long-term dredging operations on Lake Houston. This effort will include determining funding for dredging operations in perpetuity.”

4. Appointments to SJRA Board

Governor Greg Abbott has appointed Wil Faubel and Rick Mora, M.D. and reappointed Kaaren Cambio to the San Jacinto River Authority Board of Directors. Their terms will expire on October 16, 2025. 

Kaaren Cambio of Kingwood is a field representative for United States Congressman Dan Crenshaw. She is a former member of Women’s Business Enterprise National Investment Recovery Association, Pipeline Contractors Association, and the Houston Pipeliners Association. Cambio received a Bachelor of Business Administration from San Diego State University.

Wil Faubel of Montgomery is President of Borets US Inc. He is a veteran and senior executive in the Oilfield Services industry with more than forty years of service. He has both domestic and international experience and is a lifelong member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and a former board member of the Petroleum Equipment Suppliers Association. Faubel received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Southern Methodist University.

Rick Mora, M.D. of The Woodlands is a partner at US Anesthesia Partners and Chief of Anesthesiology for Memorial Hermann Pinecoft Surgery Center. He has served as chair of the Montgomery County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and is a founding Board member of the non-profit, Los Doctores de The Woodlands. Mora received his MD from the University Of Illinois College Of Medicine.

5. Forest Cove Townhome Buyouts

Harris County Commissioner’s Court will vote today on an item to exercise eminent domain on seven townhomes in the Forest Cove complex. The entire complex was destroyed after Harvey and many owners simply walked away from their properties without leaving forwarding addresses. Flood Control has been unable to find the owners after years of trying. Several may have moved out of the country. Eminent domain on these last few properties will clear the way for demolition of the entire complex and restoration of the area to nature or park land.

The once proud and idyllic townhomes in Forest Cove next to West Fork.

6. Woodridge Village

The purchase of Woodridge Village from Perry Homes is not on today’s Commissioner’s Court Agenda. However, all energies are reportedly still positive. It’s just taking time to work out the complex three-way purchase arrangements.

7. Romerica

Houston PlatTracker shows that the Romerica people may have acquired more land. But so far, they have not returned to the planning commission for approval on the latest iteration of the developer’s plans. No news is good news in this case.

8. Lake Houston Spillway Improvement Project

The City is close to finalizing the Preliminary Engineering Plan. Sources say the benefit/cost ratio looks very positive. We may see the final recommendations this month.

Engineers have examined several alternatives to add more gates to the Lake Houston dam or to increase its spillway capacity.

9. Noxxe Cleanup

The Railroad Commission could start plugging wells, removing storage tanks, and cleaning up the abandoned Noxxe lease in Forest Cove soon. The project manager has submitted work orders for final approval.

Small part of Noxxe lease next to Forest Cove baseball fields.

10. Kings Harbor New Construction

New condos are going up in Kings Harbor faster than Flood Control can tear down the ones in Forest Cove down. And they’re even closer to the river!

See new concrete pads (left center) and new construction (right foreground).

Posted by Bob Rehak on 1/5/2020

1125 Days after 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.

Ron Holley Describes His Vision for Forest Cove Golf-Course Development

In April 2019, Ron Holley, a major Kingwood developer, bought the Kingwood Cove Golf Course. Neighbors immediately started asking questions about how his plans could affect potential flooding. Forty-one Forest Cove residents flooded during Imelda last year. On 4/12 this year, Holley shared his vision for the property in a KPRC radio interview.

Description of Development

The developer says he purchased 110 acres. He will reserve 20 acres of that (18%) for detention. The remaining 90 acres, he says, are all above the 500-year floodplain. The lowest part of the property sits at 50 feet above sea level. That’s 7.5 feet above the average level of Lake Houston. However, he says the highest properties, those closest to Kingwood Drive, are at 90 feet.

Possible names for the development include Kingwood Heights and Holley Heights, to help offset the fear of flooding and communicate the location above the current 500 year floodplain.

Holley says he conducted environmental, wetland, and tree surveys on the property in the last year. He wants to preserve as many trees as possible. Lot sizes will range from half- to 1+ acres.

USGS Shows No Wetlands Issues for Property

USGS shows no wetlands on the Kingwood Cove Golf Course, though it does show two ponds.

FEMA Shows Narrow 500-year Flood Zone

In the map below, the cross-hatched area represents the floodway. The aqua colored area represents the 100-year floodplain and the brown area the 500-year floodplain. The narrowness of the 500-year band indicates a steep slope. In fact, the land rises sharply from a low river terrace to a higher terrace in that transition zone.

FEMA’s National Flood Hazard Layer View shows only the extreme lower portion of the course in flood hazard areas.

Timing of Development

Holley says people could start building homes on the old course early next year. However, he did not say whether the property was permitted yet.

Other local subdivisions developed by Holley include: Kings Harbor, Deer Ridge Estates, Kings Lake Estates, and Summer Lake Ranch. Holley has developed land in the Kingwood area since 1992.

Is Drainage Sufficient?

Mr. Holley did say that 41 Forest Cove homeowners flooded during Imelda last year. Based on their concerns, he said that he is increasing drainage. He declined to answer other questions until he gets “further along in the engineering.”

Many neighbors have expressed concerns about the loss of pervious cover to streets, driveways, rooftops, etc. If the land is going to be developed, low density makes the most sense. And one or two families per acre certainly is better than four to eight. We have seen many such higher-density developments upstream in Montgomery County. Take Northpark Woods, for instance. Many Montgomery County developments do not even require detention ponds.

This project resides both within the City of Houston and Harris County. I will continue to watch it as the engineering evolves.

Detention in Floodways Less Effective

About 4 acres of the 20 acres on the lower terrace sits in the floodway. One flood expert told me, “Generally, detention basins in the floodway aren’t as effective (compared to those in a floodplain) because they get full of water before they can be of much use during a flood event. A detention basin works where it can fill up and store water during a major flood event, basically an extension of the natural floodplain.”

Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/14/2020

959 Days since Hurricane Harvey