Perry Homes left the future of a popular Kingwood trail in doubt when it abruptly removed its excavation equipment from Woodridge Village before Christmas. The trail, owned by the Sherwood/Elm Grove Trail Association (SEGTA) runs along the northern border of Kingwood, parallel to Woodridge Village. Hundreds of students used it to get to Kingwood Park High School via foot and bicycle. And residents used it to get to shopping in the Northpark Place Commercial District. But not now. Perry Home’s contractors destroyed a section about 500 feet long. And with their construction equipment now gone, only warning signs remain.
Approximate Location of Destroyed Trail
The map below shows the approximate location of the portion of the trail that Perry Homes destroyed. Hikers and bikers must now detour through streets – none of which have sidewalks. That poses a safety hazard.
How Could This Happen?
According to Ethel McCormick of Kingwood Association Management, Friendswood initially built the trail then gave it to SEGTA. However, part of it wandered onto property that Friendswood also owned but did not give to SEGTA. They later sold that adjacent property to Lennar. No one developed the property through seven changes of ownership. Then in 2018, it became Woodridge Village.
Friendswood sold the parcel of land to Lennar in 1994. 24 years later, the wandering trail finally got in the way of Perry Homes/Figure Four Partners plans..
When Perry Home started the new development, surveyors found that the part of the trail was not on SEGTA land but belonged to Perry Homes’ subsidiary, Figure Four Partners. The developer destroyed that part.
However, they intended to reconnect it later when they became part of the Kingwood network. But with Perry Homes apparently abandoning plans to finish the development, the trail’s fate is now in limbo.
The SEGTA Board does not have any information about what will happen at this time, according to McCormick. But it was a major topic of discussion at SEGTA’s last board meeting.
Perry Homes left abruptly before Christmas without restoring the missing part, removing warning signs or taking down construction fencing.
In the meantime, residents and their children do not have use of the remaining trail on Association property. And they must detour several blocks on streets around the interruption below.
Looking west from a point about a hundred feet west of Fair Grove.Looking east from a point several hundred feet east of Friarwood Trail toward Fair Grove.
Options for Association
At this point, it appears the Sherwood-Elm Grove Trail association has three options.
Move the trail back onto its own property.
Abandon it.
Hope that Perry Homes or whoever buys this property reconnects it to an expanded trail network.
As of this morning, Perry Homes still had no construction equipment on either the southern or northern sections of Woodridge Village. They only had tree mulching equipment working on the northern portion of the site. With Perry Homes’ intentions unclear, option three could take years.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/27/2019
850 Days after Hurricane Harvey and 89 after Imelda
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/20191227-RJR_6255.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=18001200adminadmin2019-12-27 14:02:432019-12-27 14:04:32Perry Homes’ Departure Leaves Future of Sherwood-Elm Grove Trail in Doubt
Instead of accelerating completion of detention ponds on Woodridge Village as Perry Homes promised, the company appears to have pulled all excavation equipment from the site. Contractors who were supposed to have been working on detention pond N-1 have gone…BEFORE they finished S2 and BEFORE they finished a berm sealing off the southern portion of the site at Fair Grove Drive.
Equipment Left Site Instead of Beginning On Next Pond
Perry Homes had promised in its letter to accelerate construction, but this will slow it down – if they ever return. The only work being done Friday? Removal of some dead tree piles on the northern portion of the site.
Jeff Miller took all the pictures and videos below on Friday and Saturday. He also monitored work on the site and provided this scouting report.
Looking south toward Taylor Gully and the Harris County Line along the eastern embankment of the S2 detention pond.The channel along the eastern portion of Taylor Gully is now lined with concrete. The spillway into the S2 detention pond has been widened and smoothed. The S2 detention pond is behind the camera position. Looking East.Looking west across S2 detention pond. The dirt that eroded into the pond has been scooped back up onto the banks and compacted.Still no grass on the banks, however, so it could all wash back in with the next big rain.Looking north. The grassy area in the background was supposed to have contained the N3 detention pond. However, contractors have simply excavated a channel from the northern section directly into Taylor Gully so now runoff can accumulate even more quickly.Contractors widened and concreted the Taylor Gully channel along the eastern side of Woodridge Village. But they left the most vulnerable part of the channel without concrete. At the end corner by the telephone poles, water comes from the left. But no concrete protects the area where the water makes a sharp 120 degree turn. Expect water to erode behind the concrete and peel it away in the next big rain.
Woodridge Village Section One Now a Virtual “Ghost Town”
This weekend, Woodridge Village Section One looked like a ghost town, not a bustling construction site with people working against a deadline.
Heavy construction equipment used to be parked by dumpster in the background. Now it’s nowhere on the property. Looking south. Another view of the same area that held construction equipment. It’s all gone and the berm sealing the site off from Fair Grove Drive is missing.
Still Removing Dead Trees/Mulch on Northern Section
On Friday, only smaller equipment turning tree piles into mulch remained.
Perry Homes Intentions Now a Mystery
As of Sunday morning 12/22/2019, no equipment actually working on construction could be seen on the site. The excavators and dump trucks parked at Fair Grove for months have been removed.
Perry Homes is NOT accelerating completion of detention ponds as it promised the City of Houston.
Instead, Perry Homes has thrown a curtain of silence around this job. It’s hard to know what their intentions are. At this point, Perry Homes’ lawyer J. Carey Gray has as much mud on his face as Elm Grove residents had in their homes.
The only thing we can say with certainty: Lowering flood risk for the people of Elm Grove does not seem high on Perry Homes’ priority list.
For Sale And For Lease Signs Serve as Christmas Yard Decorations
Meanwhile, a drive down Shady Maple or Village Springs, the two streets that border Taylor Gully, revealed residents’ attempts to salvage Christmas from the chaos of floodwaters. Dumpsters and debris still line the streets. Some people still live in trailers in their driveways. No apple cider around the hearth for them. They’ll be lucky to find space for a table top Christmas tree. For Sale and For Lease signs outnumber Christmas yard decorations ten to one.
On a street called Right Way in North Kingwood Forest, I found nine For Lease signs in a row. Sad reminders of Imelda and Perry Homes.Only three months ago, these homes were filled with families who flooded for the second time.
Kathy Perry Britton just added another credit to her resume, “The CEO Who Stole Christmas.”
Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/22/2019with reporting and images by Jeff Miller
845 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 94 since Imelda
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/2019/12/IMG_0679.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=19001200adminadmin2019-12-22 12:09:152019-12-22 12:58:38Perry Homes Pulls Excavation Equipment From Woodridge Village Before Finishing Detention Ponds
The pictures below show why you should never, ever buy a home built over wetlands.
Standing water after one month with only an inch of rain. Perry Homes’ Woodridge Village in Montgomery County, Texas.
Standing Water One Inch of Rain A Month Before
I took these shots while circling Perry Homes’ Woodridge Village construction site in Montgomery County, Texas, on 12/3/2019. At that point, the nearest USGS rain gage (at US59 and the San Jacinto West Fork) indicated we had only had one inch of rain in the previous month. The most recent rain at the time was a quarter inch three weeks prior!
That’s far below the normal 4.3 inches of rainfall for November in Houston. So it was less than one quarter of the normal rainfall. Still, the land held standing water in numerous places, despite having been cleared and graded for months.
Soupy soil on the northeast portion of Perry Homes Woodridge Village.
Standing water should have soaked in long before I took these shots. But when you build a development on wetlands, that’s not always true.
These pictures vividly illustrate how unstable wetlands soil can be.
Looking west over the northern portion of Perry Homes’ Woodridge VillageSouthwestern portion of Perry Homes’ Woodridge Village fronting Woodland Hills Drive.
They remind me of the famous saying the Bible.
Matthew 7:24-27: Build Your House on the Rock
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Area classified as wetlands in the USGS National Wetlands Inventory within Perry Homes’ Woodridge Village.Perry Homes’ contractors mired in more muck on the northern portion of Woodridge Village where wetlands once stood.
That sinking feeling you get when you try to build over wetlands
Environmental Survey Not on File with Montgomery County
Perry Homes claims to have done an environmental survey. But if they did, they did not file it with Montgomery County. A FOIA request with the county turned up no such document. A survey, performed by a private consultant, cleared the way for developing this property.
Normally, the Army Corps would investigate wetlands and determine whether they fell under their jurisdiction. If so, developing them would have required permitting and possible mitigation.
That process would have taken much longer and Perry Homes was trying to beat the clock. They were trying to start development before new, stricter Atlas-14 regulations took effect that would have required 40% more detention.
USGS National Wetlands Inventory showing Perry Homes Woodridge Village
Be a wise man or woman. Consult these databases before you buy a home to determine whether your property was once wetlands.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/15/2019
838 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 87 since Imelda
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/2019/12/20191203-RJR_5520.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=18001200adminadmin2019-12-15 14:40:362019-12-15 14:40:48Why You Never Want to Buy a Home Built Over Wetlands
At the current rate of work, Perry Homes could easily take 3-4 years to complete the detention ponds on its Woodridge Village development. The chances of getting another rain event like May 7th during that period? 27.1% if it takes Perry 3 years and 34.4% if it takes 4.
This significantly raises Perry Homes’ legal liability if Elm Grove floods again.
How to Determine Cumulative Probabilities
How do you compile those statistics? Start by classifying the storm. The May 7th storm that flooded approximately 200 homes was a 10-year event, according to USGS, NOAA and National Weather Service statistics below.
Hourly rainfall totals for the USGS gage at US59 and the West Fork. Whether you consider six inches in six hours or 3.6 inches in one hour, May 7th storm still classifies as a 10-year event.
Next, figure the cumulative probability of it happening again during a given time period. If you ask, “What are the chances of another May 7th happening in any year,” the answer is always 10%. But if you ask, “What are the chances of another May 7th happening in the next three-years,” the answer is different.
You calculate the cumulative probability using the following formula:
Probability of at least one 10-year storm in next 3 years = 1 – (9/10)3rd = 27.1%. Four years equals 34.4%.
The possibility exists that the rainfall rate may have been slightly higher in Elm Grove on May 7th. But these are official statistics and conservative for the purposes of estimating risk. They don’t even include the chances of getting hit by even larger storms in the same year (as we did with Imelda).
Legal Risk of Not Mitigating Flood Risk
Perry Homes has shown little desire to mitigate flood risk by expanding detention capacity at Woodridge – even after promising the City of Houston it would do so.
After clearcutting virtually the entire site, Perry had installed only 7% of the required detention ponds when the May 7th flood hit and only 23% by the time Imelda hit on September 19. Since then? Virtually nothing!
Where three detention ponds should be on the northern portion of Woodridge Village. 77% of detention capacity is still missing after four months of inactivity.
What Perry Homes Has and Hasn’t Done
Since the October 17th letter laying out a 26-month timetable for completing work on Woodridge detention ponds, Perry Homes HAS:
Removed several brush piles from their northern property (shown above)
Slightly widened 300 feet of Taylor Gully
Concreted a portion of the 300 feet (see below).
Moved a small amount of dirt from the S2 pond that eroded into it back up onto the banks (see below).
Spread some grass seed on the northern portion of the development (see two photos below)
Perry Homes moves eroded dirt from S2 detention pond back onto banks on 12/3/2019. The area where the N3 detention pond should be now has a small amount of grass.Photo by Jeff Miller.
Perry Homes has NOT:
Finished work on the S2 detention pond.
Started work on other detention ponds.
Managed to keep ponding water from reducing the volume of S2.
Established grass on pond banks to reduce erosion as regulations require.
Finished the spillway into S2 from Taylor Gully.
Fenced in their detention ponds as regulations require.
Installed maintenance roads around the ponds as regulations require.
Released its internal investigation into the causes of Elm Grove flooding as it promised Channel 2 news.
Section 7 of Montgomery County Drainage Criteria Manual shows many items still missing from Perry Homes’ existing detention ponds.Close up of spillway into S2 pond and its north bank as of 12/5/2019. Photo courtesy of Jeff Miller.
Perry Homes Increases Risk to Residents and Itself
Since August when Perry Homes virtually stopped working on Woodridge, the company has done nothing to allay the major causes of flooding: clearcutting and lack of detention. It has slow-walked this project. Whatever its motivation, Perry Homes has significantly increased the risk of flooding Elm Grove residents again. In doing so, it also increases its own risks.
If Perry Homes does flood Elm Grove again, its slowdown and disregard for the promises it made to the City in its October 17th letter could prove the difference between negligence, gross negligence and punitive damages.
According to the Sawaya Law Firm, “Gross negligence is the extreme indifference to or reckless disregard for the safety of others. Gross negligence is more than simple carelessness or failure to act. It is willful behavior done with extreme disregard for the health and safety of others. It is conduct likely to cause foreseeable harm.”
Kathy Perry Britton knows that slow-walking the expansion of detention capacity will increase the risk of another major storm hitting Elm Grove before she finishes. But I doubt her lawyers are telling her that risk could be as high as 34%.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/15/2019with help from Jeff Miller
838 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 87 since Imelda
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/2019/12/Missing-Detention.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=18001200adminadmin2019-12-15 00:19:172019-12-15 08:39:56More Delays on Fixing Perry Homes’ Drainage Debacle Increases Risk of Yet More Elm Grove Flooding
The taxpayer-funded Grand Parkway (State Highway 99) extension will make many people happy. Proximity to transportation drives home-buying decisions. People eager to “get away from it all” will find the lure of saving 10 minutes on a longer commute irresistible. They will marvel at all the trees around them and speak with pride about their growing community in the forest.
Eastward expansion of SH99 from I-69.
It will also make the sand miners happy. It takes lots of sand to make concrete.
West Fork San Jacinto mine
Developers and homebuilders will take advantage of lax regulations in Montgomery County to boost their profitability.
Perry Homes’ Woodridge Village
And the flooding, caused by all the environmental destruction, means that downstream residents get to remodel their homes. Or move farther out to avoid future flooding. At which point the cycle will repeat itself in a few years.
Elm Grove Home below Perry’s Woodridge
From a marketing point of view, it’s a perfect, perpetual production-consumption cycle. How could you possibly improve it?
Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/8/2019
831 Days after Hurricane Harvey and 79 Days after Imelda
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.
Chapter 9 of the Montgomery County Drainage Criteria Manual discusses development in flood plains. Perry Homes and LJA Engineering somehow “overlooked” many of the points in this chapter. A flood plain ran through the property, but FEMA had not yet mapped it. LJA used that as an excuse to claim none existed.
Notice how flood plain mapping stops at county line. Perry Homes has the undeveloped property along and above the county line.Color code: Cross-hatched = floodway; aqua = hundred year flood plain; brown = 500-year flood plain.Source: MoCo Maps
Unfortunately, physical boundaries of flood plains do not observe political boundaries. Taylor Gully bisects this property, if you look at the flood maps, it magically defies flooding on the MoCo side of the county line.
Montgomery County Regulations Affecting Flood Plains
Below are guidelines from the Montgomery County Drainage Criteria Manual that Perry Homes would have had to follow had the property been mapped.
From Section 9.1.1 Floodplain Regulations:
“No fill or encroachment is permitted within the 100-year floodway which will impair its ability to discharge the 100-year peak flow rate except where the effect on flood heights has been fully offset by stream improvements.” [Emphasis added.]
“Placement of fill material within the floodplain requires a permit from the County Drainage Administrator. Appropriate fill compaction data and hydrologic and hydraulic data are required before a permit will be issued.”
From Section 9.1.2 Floodplain Development Guidelines and Procedures
“Construction within the floodway is limited to structures which will not obstruct the 100-year flood flow unless fully offsetting conveyance capacity is provided.”
“The existing designated 100-year floodplain and floodway should be plotted on a map of the proposed development.”
“The effect of the proposed development and the encroachment into the flood plain area should be incorporated into the hydraulic model and the resulting flood plain determined.”
“Careful consideration should be given to providing an accurate modeling of effective flow areas taking into account the expansion and contraction of the flow.”
“Once it has been determined that the proposed improvements adequately offset the encroachment, a revised floodway for the stream must be computed and delineated.”
From Section 9.2 Downstream Impact Analysis
“Pursuant to the official policy for Montgomery County, development will not be allowed in a manner which will increase the frequency or severity of flooding in areas that are currently subject to flooding or which will cause areas to flood which were not previously subject to flooding.”
What LJA Said About Perry Homes’ Project
On Page 1-2 of its Drainage Analysis, LJA Engineering explicitly states, “As shown on Exhibit 3, the proposed development is outside the 100-year floodplain.”
LJA Exhibit 3 shows the floodplain stopping at the county line. LJA also did its best to make the .2 percent risk area blend into the area of minimal flood risk. This visually minimizes the amount of floodplain bordering MoCo, so the abrupt stoppage at the county line becomes less visible.Source: LJA.
Ms. Mbewe then states in her conclusion, “Based on these findings, the proposed development of the 268-acre tract creates no adverse drainage impacts for events up to and including the 100-year event.” [Emphasis added.]
What Does “No Adverse Impact” Really Mean?
People often twist the definition of terms you think are self evident. Especially in legal, technical, and political contexts.
To me, “No Adverse Impact” should mean, “Downstream people who didn’t flood before won’t flood after development.” That’s what section 9.2 states explicitly.
But when I talked to a flood professional, I got a different answer. To that person, “no adverse impact” meant, “the amount of water flowing across the property did not increase after development.” Much narrower! And seemingly contradictory to the spirit of 9.2.
“Floodplain” Definition Shocked Me
But that person’s definition of floodplain really shocked me. To me, floodplain means “the area adjacent to a stream that fills with floodwater after a very heavy rain.” But the professional told me I was WRONG. To the professional, a floodplain was “an area on a map that FEMA designated a floodplain for insurance purposes.”
In that person’s mind, because FEMA had never mapped the area in question, a floodplain did NOT EXIST. Whether or not the area flooded!
To me, that’s like saying an apple is something you see in a Kroger’s flyer, not something you eat. We’re talking about the difference between a symbol of something and the reality of it.
This discussion proved once again that words and phrases have different meanings that depend on the social context of usage.
In the minimum compliance environment of Montgomery County, LJA and Perry Homes argued that there was no floodplain. They found someone in the county engineer’s office who agreed with them…or was told to agree with them.
FYI, the official FEMA definition says, “Any land area susceptible to being inundated by floodwaters from any source.”
Consequences of Overly Narrow Definition
So did Elm Grove flood because Perry Homes, LJA and Montgomery County did not enforce the floodplain regs in section 9.2 of the Drainage Criteria Manual?
They did not plot the REAL-WORLD floodway and floodplain on a map of the proposed development (see above).
LJA did not incorporate encroachment into the floodplain in its hydraulic modeling, because they denied a floodplain existed.
Neither did LJA provide “an accurate modeling of effective flow areas taking into account the expansion and contraction of the flow.”
Finally, LJA did not compute, revise and delineate the floodway for the stream.
Had they done all these things, perhaps people would have seen that downstream homes that had never flooded were now subject to greater flood risk. But that’s really something for the jury to decide. And it would require FEMA to model the floodplain after the fact.
But like the narrow definition of floodplain, this whole discussion symbolizes a bigger problem.
How Do You Fix a Permissive, Minimum-Compliance Environment?
Perry Homes could have demanded honest answers from its engineers, not the ones they wanted to hear.
FEMA could label areas like Woodridge Village “UNMAPPED”. This would send a signal to potential home buyers if sellers tell them they’re NOT in a floodplain. That might make developers think twice.
Home buyers need to demand integrity in this process. They need to ask better questions. They need to learn more about flooding.
But at the end of the day, Montgomery County Commissioners must define the kind of future they want. Do they want constant flooding? Or not. Because right now, they’re competing with other areas for new development on the basis of willful blindness and self-serving definitions.
Thirty years down the road, when it’s too late to fix the infrastructure problems they ignore today, MOCO residents will be paying the price. Some, who have flooded repeatedly, might argue they already are.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/26/2019 with help from Jeff Miller
820 Days after Harvey and 69 since Imelda
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/2019/11/HarrisMocoCountyLineFloodPlain.jpg?fit=1500%2C883&ssl=18831500adminadmin2019-11-26 20:52:182019-11-26 21:42:44What Went Wrong, Part IV: Perry Homes Develops Flood Plain That Wasn’t
This morning, I was talking to a friend, John Knoezer, about flooding in Elm Grove when he suddenly blurted out, “You know, the National Flood Insurance people should sue Perry Homes and turn that Woodridge Village into a giant detention pond.”
I knew John had a genius for heating and air conditioning. But I had no idea he also had a genius for politics, too. Boom. There it was. One simple idea to fix multiple problems. The NFIP budget deficit. Flood mitigation. Mushrooming tax bills. And rogue developers who ignore flood regulations at others’ peril. And all it requires is getting NFIP to act like any other insurance company.
Get NFIP to Behave Like a Normal Insurance Company
If the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) sued the people responsible for flooding Elm Grove, North Kingwood Forest and Porter, it could likely recover enough payouts to fix the lack of detention in Woodridge Village, Perry Homes’ troubled development in Montgomery County.
All we’re really talking about is getting NFIP to behave like a normal commercial insurance company. For instance, if someone rear-ends your car, your insurance company sues the person who did it (or their insurance company) to recover the amount of your claim. But not NFIP, according to everyone I’ve talked to.
Elm Grove after the May 7th storm, where block after block, homes were being gutted. Several feet of water from Perry Homes Woodridge Village development inundated homes that had never flooded before.
That money could easily buy the Woodridge Village land and construct a massive detention pond that would prevent future flooding.
Such lawsuits, if won, could also help reduce future taxpayer-subsidized flood-mitigation expenditures, most of which the federal government helps underwrite in some manner. But that’s just for starters.
Get Developers to Stop Pushing the Flood-Risk Envelope
Going after flagrant developers might help in another way, too. It might change the economics of pushing the flood-risk envelope. Right now, the economics favor those who push it hardest and furthest.
Land costs are the largest component of development costs. They’re also the fastest rising component. So buying cheap, flood-prone land rewards developers.
According to residents, not one home flooded in this neighborhood west of Woodridge Village flooded before May 7, 2019. However, on May 7th, the vast majority of homes did flood…after Woodridge Village contractors altered the drainage going out of the subdivision. Flood data from Montgomery County. Flood Story Map hosted by ESRI.
If NFIP successfully sued the developer, the precedent might encourage all developers everywhere to follow the rules instead of bending them.
Save Tax Dollars
The precedent of NFIP suing a developer might also deter other developers in the future from pushing flood-prone projects or developing them in ways that contribute to flooding. So it could further reduce NFIP payouts and overhead. That could save even more dollars for this taxpayer subsidized program.
Bypass County Commissioners Who Refuse to Enforce Their Own Regulations
Another benefit of John’s brilliant suggestion: it eliminates a political battle with Montgomery County Judges and Commissioners – which may be unwindable for people in another county. Just get NFIP to make an example of a high-profile developer, such as Perry Homes. That might change some developers’ behavior who operate under the protective cover of local politicians. Those politicians compete for development dollars by not enforcing their own regulations. And that’s a huge part of the problem. Especially when a county line divides the perpetrators and victims as it does in this case.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 11/26/2019, with inspiration from John Knoezer
819 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 68 since Imelda
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/2019/11/Elm-Grove-Flood_67.jpg?fit=1500%2C1000&ssl=110001500adminadmin2019-11-25 19:29:122019-11-25 19:58:58A Simple Proposal to Fix NFIP, Reduce Elm Grove’s Flood Risk, Save Taxpayer Dollars, and Force Perry Homes to Follow Rules
Note: This is the third in a five part series about What Went Wrong in Woodridge Village that may have contributed to flooding in Elm Grove and North Kingwood Forest.It focuses on Detention Ponds.
Section 7 of the Montgomery County Drainage Criteria Manual cautions, “The introduction of impervious cover and improved runoff conveyance serves in many cases to increase flood peaks quite dramatically over those for existing conditions.” And that’s exactly what happened in Elm Grove and North Kingwood Forest in May and September of this year. Two subdivisions that had never flooded before were inundated with several feet of water from Woodridge Village.
Perry Homes failed to observe numerous regulations in the Drainage Criteria Manual including provisions for:
Erosion control measures such as pond linings, revegetation, backslope swales
Maintenance roads
Increases in downstream flooding
Geotechnical reports for detention ponds
Drainage of detention ponds
Critically, they also failed to construct all the detention ponds they promised.
Less than a Quarter of Detention Ponds Built
When listing factors that contributed to the flooding, the absence of several promised detention ponds should rank near the top.
Before the September flood, contractors substantially completed a second detention pond (S2) that added another 16% of promised detention capacity.
Since then, no work has been done on additional excavation to protect against flooding.
While clearcutting ALL of the land, Perry Homes installed only PART of the detention.
According to LJA Engineering, Perry Homes was supposed to develop the project in two phases and clearcut only 30 acres in the northern section during Phase 1. However, something changed. Instead, Perry Homes clearcut the entire northern section. And they still haven’t excavated any of the three detention ponds there.
By May 2019, only S1 was substantially complete. By September, S2 was also substantially complete, but overwhelmed.
Had Perry Homes installed all the detention that it promised, the site should have detained a foot of rainfall. But it didn’t. When Imelda came along, it was like trying to pour 100 gallons of water into a 23 gallon jug. Water spilled out of the development into adjacent streets and homes.
Erosion Control Measures Missing for Detention Ponds
“The erosion potential for a detention basin is similar to that of an open channel. For this reason the same types of erosion protection are necessary, including the use of backslope swales and drainage systems (as outlined In SECTION 6), proper revegetation and pond surface lining where necessary. Proper protection must especially be provided at pipe outfalls into the facility, pond outlet structures and overflow spillways where excessive turbulence and velocities will cause erosion.” (See page page 123 of pdf, numbered 113 in doc.)
Revegetation?
Not much grass in S1 (right of the road) or the area that drains into it.All aerial photos below taken on 11/4/2019.Not much grass on the slopes of S2 either, although Perry Homes did make an ineffective attempt to hydromulch the south (right) border.
No Protection for Overflow Spillway
Perry Homes quality! This spillway from Taylor Gully (right) was supposed to have a grass lining, but still does not.Picture taken 11/4/2019.As of 11/21/19 work still had not started on the lining.Perry Homes has done virtually no work on this pond for three months.However, they did start lining the channel on the right today.
Backslope Interceptor Swales?
The northern edge of the S2 pond has no backslope interceptor swale. As a consequence, water from Taylor Gully at the top of this frame flows over the edge of the pond and erodes it. This may not be a sustainable solution. In the long run, the Gully could erode its way into the pond from the north (top of the frame).
Maintenance Road Missing at Critical Point
Section 7.2.8 talks about Maintenance of Detention Facilities. It states, “A 30-foot wide access and maintenance easement shall be provided around the entire detention pond.” The most critical place in the entire chain of detention ponds, the final outflow culvert into Taylor Gully, has no room for a maintenance road. That’s because when they installed the required backslope interceptor swale, the only place left for it was the maintenance road. That’s planning for you!
S2 has no maintenance easement or road at final outfall into Taylor Gully.The backslope interceptor swale takes up that space.
No Increase in Downstream Flood Levels Allowed
Section 7.3 talks about DETENTION DESIGN PROCEDURES. It clearly lays out the design goal when it says…
No increase in downstream flow rates or flood levels will be allowed.
Further down in this section, the regulations state: “The maximum 100-year water surface elevation in all detention facilities shall be a minimum of 1 foot below the minimum top of bank elevation of the basin.”
No Geotechnical Report for Groundwater Level at Pond Sites
Section 7.5 discusses GEOTECHNICAL INVESTIGATIONS. It says, “Before initiating final design of a detention pond, a detailed soils investigation by a geotechnical engineer should be undertaken.” Regulations state that the ground water investigation must be “at the proposed site.” Montgomery County has no record of such an investigation or report.
A company called Terracon prepared a Preliminary Geotechnical Report for Perry that addressed issues pertaining to utilities, road pavement and residential foundations. But it makes no mention of detention ponds.
The company took four widely spaced borings around the perimeter of the site that managed to miss all the detention pond locations. Significantly, they missed all the wetlands, too.
Page 17 of Terracon Report. Red lines added to improve visibility of locations.
MoCo Claims It Has No Further Geotechnical Reports
If Perry Homes did additional investigations into ground water on this site, Montgomery County says it doesn’t have them.
If no further investigations were conducted, this could be a fatal flaw affecting the economics of the entire development. Note the presence of standing water in the photo below.
S2 Pond (left), Taylor Gully (center), and area where N3 pond will go (right) all have standing water that will reduce their rated capacity.
The presence of standing water reduces the rated capacity of detention ponds and channels. Only the area above the standing water counts as capacity. Regulations say that these ponds should drain completely (see below).
Thus, S2 likely has lost a third of its designed capacity. N3, when eventually built, could fare worse. Note how close the water is to the surface in the small pond on the right.
If you can’t go deep to get your detention pond capacity, you have to go wide. And that will mean fewer homesites than the 896 they planned. This site might not even make economic sense for building homes.
Problems with Homes Built Over Wetlands
The presence of wetlands in the northern section, which the Terracon report never mentions, would also significantly reduce the site’s suitability for building homes.
This article describes the problems with homes built on wetlands. The title: “Caution: Building in a Wetland Can Be Hazardous to Your House.” A biologist for the US Fish and Wildlife service who investigated filled wetlands in Pennsylvania warned: “Build your house in a wetland, and you’ve got a hobby for the rest of your life. You will be fighting that water forever.” He discusses cracked foundations and also warns, “When wetlands are filled, the water that made them wet has to go somewhere. … the water likely is leaking into formerly dry homes of downstream property owners.”
I’m sure Perry Homes would divulge the presence of former wetlands to the future buyers of homes on this site. It’s the only ethical thing to do and Kathy Perry Britton, CEO, has standards to maintain.
Incomplete Drainage of Detention Ponds
Section 7.6 of the Drainage Criteria Manual addresses GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR DETENTION POND CONSTRUCTION. It states: “A pilot channel shall be provided in detention facilities to insure that proper and complete drainage of the storage facility will occur.” (Emphasis added.)
Complete drainage will likely never occur in S2 and N3 because of the high water table.
To excavate S2 to the required design depth, contractors had to continuously pump water out of it as they worked. It still retains water to this day.
Photo by Jeff Miller on June 2, three days after contractors started digging to the final depth.No surface linings were ever added to this portion of the pond per Section 7.2.7 of the MoCo Drainage Criteria Manual.Photo taken on June 3 shows contractors were pumping water out of pond as they continued excavating.
The new statistics would require 40% more capacity to ensure downstream safety.
Where Does Perry Homes Go from here?
After ignoring regulations, hundreds of homes flooded. And they will flood again. Owning this site is like hanging a millstone around one’s neck. It could drown the entire company in perpetual litigation and debt.
Future Posts in this series will look at:
Contradictions in Perry Homes’ Plans
The Dirt on Perry Homes’ Soil Test
The Floodplain that Wasn’t
Posted by Bob Rehak on 11/21/2019 with help from Jeff Miller
814 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 63 since Imelda
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/2019/11/RJR_4350-2.jpg?fit=1500%2C1089&ssl=110891500adminadmin2019-11-21 17:48:092019-11-21 18:26:13What Went Wrong, Part III: Perry Homes’ Woodridge Village Detention Pond Catastrophe
The Army Corps of Engineers is investigating whether Perry Homes, its subsidiaries and contractors violated Section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act. The Corps has regulatory authority for any fill material dumped into waters of the U.S. Those include perennial tributaries and adjacent wetlands.
No Record of Request for Jurisdictional Determination
When developers encounter wetlands, normally they seek a jurisdictional determination from the Corps. They want to ensure they are not violating the Clean Water Act. However, neither Perry Homes nor their subsidiaries (PSWA and Figure Four Partners) apparently sought such a determination. Neither did LJA Engineering, according to Corps records.
Army Corps response to June 5, 2019, request for records pertaining to a request for jurisdictional determination on Woodridge Village Wetlands.
The LJA Engineering Drainage Analysis never even mentions wetlands. Wetlands are highly protected because of their ability to filter and retain floodwater, among other things. This multipage article by the USGS describes all the functions of wetlands and legislation affecting them.
Elm Grove Director Requests Investigation
In October, 2019, Beth Guide, a director of the Elm Grove Homeowners Association, went a step further than my FOIA request. She asked the Corps to investigate the legality of the loss of Woodridge Village wetlands. On November 13, 2019, US Congressman Dan Crenshaw received a letter from the Corps stating that the Corps was, in fact, investigating Ms. Guide’s request.
Corps Seeking Access to Property
The Corps is currently contacting Perry Homes (or subsidiary, Figure Four Partners) for access to the site. The Corps characterized the investigation as “an open purported unauthorized activity investigation.”
Colonel Timothy R. Vail, the Corps’ District Commander said, “…we continue to gather all the facts to determine if there is a violation of any of our statutes and if so, determine what might be the appropriate resolution.”
Ms. Guide believes loss of these wetlands played a role in three floods which struck Elm Grove on May 3, May 7 and September 19 of this year. Before the loss of the wetlands, none of the surrounding neighborhoods ever flooded, according to nearby neighbors. Some of them lived in their homes for more than 30 years.
Accelerating runoff reduces the time of accumulation for floodwaters. That means more water reaches ditches faster and at the same time; none is retained upstream. That, in turn, makes floods peak higher.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 11/16/2019
809 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 58 since Imelda
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.
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Usually when you make an investment, the worst thing that could happen is that you lose all your principle. But Perry Homes could loose a hundred times more than they paid for Woodridge Village land. That takes special talent.
Out-of-Pocket Costs
The land that Woodridge Village sits on didn’t cost much; much of it was wetlands and many streams converged there. Regardless, a Perry Homes subsidiary, Figure Four Partners, bought the land. Montgomery County Appraisal District values the two main parcels at less than a million dollars. Together they comprise more than 80% of the 268-acre project. (See screen captures below from Montgomery County Appraisal District website.)
Real Costs Could Be 100X Greater
Now let’s look at the real costs to Perry. Just to screw up the land, they paid for:
Excavating two detention ponds (out of five they promised)
Soil tests and a geotechnical report
A mile of pavement to the middle of nowhere
Two large box culverts
Storm drains
Let’s say that cost another five million.
But all of that contributed to the flooding of approximately 200 homes in May and 350 in September. Let’s assume the damage to each home totaled $100,000. That comes to about $55,000,000.
Furniture, appliances, rugs, window coverings and other contents? Let’s assume an average of $40,000. That would total another $22,000,000.
Let’s also assume that 300 cars flooded. Average cost – $30,000. Bingo. $9 million.
Now let’s estimate the reduced marketability of homes that flooded. To do this, let’s assume an average price of $200,000 per home and a 20% reduction. That would cost homeowners $40,000 each in the market value of their homes. That’s another $22,000,000.
If juries rule in favor of the flood victims, that million dollar investment could add up to more than $100 million in potential liabilities…before any penalties for negligence and/or gross negligence kick in.
But perhaps Perry Homes went too far. People did notice. The wetlands that they conveniently ignored fall under the jurisdiction of the Army Corps. And the Corps is now investigating potential violations of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. That could get expensive all by itself.
Like Building Homes at the End of a Gunnery Range
It just keeps getting worse for Perry. This was kind of like buying land to build homes at the end of a gunnery range. A little risky.
But it’s too late to rethink that decision. No one will ever want to buy a home on this site. It’s less marketable than swampland near Chernobyl.
There’s another rule of thumb in business. When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. And that’s exactly what Perry has done. They have stopped work on the site for months. Work on detention ponds that would help protect people downstream from future flooding is going undone.
That means the numbers above could balloon with the next big rain. Or a negligence ruling by a jury. Yep, we’re in double Jeopardy now.
Career-Limiting Moves
Whoever made the decision to develop Woodridge Village definitely made a CLM (career-limiting move). At this point, even Perry Homes employees not associated with the decision must worry about their Christmas turkeys. Few careers or companies survive blunders that become case studies for how not to do something.
Eroding Profit Margins
Because of faulty assumptions and corner cutting, Perry Homes put itself between a rock and a hard place. They’ve managed to turn a million dollar investment into a potential $100 million liability. They can’t develop this property profitably now. And they can’t sell it. Who would want to buy this land and inherit the liability every time a storm cloud floats by?
To protect downstream homes from flooding, they would have to expand the detention ponds by at least 40%. And that would eliminate so many homesites that costs could exceed income. I say “at least” because the issue is not just Atlas-14 compliance. While digging the S2 detention pond, contractors hit water that’s not going away.
The S2 Detention Pond has lost about 20-30% of its capacity. The bottom 3-5 feet have been filled with ground watersince contractors started digging to the target depth.
That means they can’t achieve their detention goals by going deeper; they’ll have to go wider. And that will cut into marketable land even more.
Toxic for Perry Homes
Let’s face it. When Perry Homes bought this property, Kathy Perry Britton swallowed a poison pill. Woodridge Village now has a toxic reputation that will infect the rest of Perry Homes. No one will ever be able to trust anything Perry Homes says again.
But what to do with this land? If you’re Kathy Perry Britton trying to spit shine the legacy of dear old dad, you can’t keep it. And you can’t sell it. You can’t even give it away. No land conservancy organization would take it until the damage done to wetlands and streams was remediated. That could take decades.
The Real Value of Wetlands
However, there are two pieces of good news in this mess.
If Perry Homes implodes, it won’t take a lot of investors with it; the company is private.
Perry Homes may serve as a lesson to other developers and teach them that the real value of wetlands is their downstream legal costs.
Time To Be Decisive
Just remember, Ms. Britton. Historically, 85% of Houston floods are non-tropical. So if you think you have eight more months to figure this out, think again.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 11/15/2019
808 Days after Hurricane Harvey and 57 after Imelda
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/2019/11/RJR_4344.jpg?fit=1500%2C1000&ssl=110001500adminadmin2019-11-15 17:45:182019-11-16 09:51:58Perry Homes’ Woodridge Village Investment Could Be Costliest Ever
