West Side Petition

The undersigned residents of Fleetwood, Fleetwood West, Memorial Thicket, Barkers Landing, Briar Hills, Marywood, Fleetwood Village, Thornwood, Broken Bayou and Briar Park sub-divisions in West Houston are extremely concerned that TWO high-density housing units (“Memorial at Six” in the 800 Block of Addicks-Howell, and “Caroline at Memorial” on the former Kickerillo property) are being or have been permitted for construction, potentially bringing 647 new multi-family apartments to the area.  We know from experience these will stress our already aged and inadequate infrastructure, as the facts below indicate:

  1. DRAINAGE:
    • These two developments will compound existing storm water drainage deficiencies in an area flooded numerous times due to insufficient drainage capacity and proximity to Buffalo Bayou.
    • During the Harvey flood in 2017, these two locations where developments are being permitted were under several feet of water and sewage.  In addition, vehicular egress to both properties was cut off for days by flooding on Memorial Drive, Eldridge Parkway, Highway 6, and Addicks Howell Road. 
    • “Memorial at Six” and “Caroline at Memorial” will comprises 429,506 sq. ft. (almost 10 acres) of permeable land, the majority of which will be covered by concrete.  Some of this area will presumably be used for detention ponds, although there does not appear to be any planning permission for such ponds at this time. 
    • Further, concreted area will be needed to comply with raising the properties to meet the extensive requirements for properties within the 500 year flood plain
  2. FLOODING: Exposing hundreds of new residences to the risk of life-threatening flooding is irresponsible, and exposes the City and County to future legal liability.  Even if the apartments are built above the Harvey flood level, safe evacuation for all of the people living in these 647 proposed units will put additional strain on the emergency personnel in the area, including police officers and firefighters.
  3. SANITATION: The available sanitary sewer gravity conduits from the two sites to the Turkey Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant are already at or near capacity. Expansion currently underway at the nearby Eagle’s Trace Senior Living Community and the City project already underway to migrate all the apartments and businesses off Park Row (north side of I10) over to the Turkey Creek treatment plant will further compound the strain on this aged sanitary sewer infrastructure.
  4. TRAFFIC AND ROADWAYS:
    • The proposed Addicks Howell project (“Memorial at Six”) will significantly increase traffic crossings at an already congested section of Memorial Drive, where (as recorded by TXDOT records of Peace Officers Reports) there were 620 crashes between HWY6/Addicks & Eldridge between 2015-2022, of which NINE WERE FATAL. Five of those fatalities took place in 2021 alone. The majority of those killed were pedestrians and cyclists. 
    • Overall, the two complexes will add a major load to the already congested Energy Corridor roads and highways, which, as the fatalities demonstrate, lack adequate infrastructure even now. 
    • The children from these two developments would be at risk of further increasing traffic fatalities as both would be required to cross Memorial Drive to walk to Wolfe Elementary.
    • An increase in traffic congestion will also continue to put strain on our already crumbling roadways.
    • At this time, it does not appear that a Traffic Impact Analysis has been performed for either of these properties.
  5. TAXES:
    • These two developments are slated to be exempt from sales and use taxes, as well as ad valorem property taxes.  The properties, leased from Lakeside PFC for 75 and 99 years respectively, have deed restrictions placed on them which require that a certain minimum number of units be set aside as affordable housing. 
    • Though little information about the value of these projects is available, the Harris County Real Property records reflect that the Caroline at Memorial project has been loaned not less than $57,265,000 from Amegy Bank.  It is expected that the developer will add some of its own capital to the construction of the 340 unit project.  The loss of tax revenue, if the value were based solely on the loan amount, is over $1,425,000 annually.  This would greatly impact Katy ISD, which would be denied $774,000 in ad valorem tax revenue annually, but still be required to increase their own cost to provide education to the additional students. 
    • The Memorial at Six property is projected to have a slightly a smaller number of units – 307 units – than its neighbor down the street.  If the cost is proportional (10% fewer units), we can project the lost ad valorem taxes on that project to be $1,282,000. 
    • Between the two proposed new construction projects, the taxing authorities will lose over $2,700,000 in annual tax revenue than if these projects were built without the tax benefits.  This lost revenue to the taxing authorities is not for only a single year, but possibly for the entirety of the 99 and 75 year lease terms.     

6. Katy ISD: These proposed developments will require additional Katy ISD school buses navigating in an area already congested, placing school children at risk at a time when children have been forced to sit on the floors of buses.  These developments, if allowed to proceed, will create a demand that will further exacerbate the current shortage of teachers and shortage of drivers with no additional funding. 

7. PUBLIC HEARINGS: We remain concerned that there has been no Public Notice of, or any opportunity for, a Public Hearing on these properties.

8. PUBLIC UTILITIES:

  • The only available CenterPoint electrical distribution circuits WI41, WI42, ME03 and ME04 should be thoroughly evaluated by CenterPoint as they are likely at or near capacity now.  The substation supporting ME03 and ME04 were the first to go offline during Harvey due to proximity to the bayou and flooding. This resulted in the loss of usage of the Turkey Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, causing raw sewage to back up into many homes. The neighborhoods also lost city water pressure due to pumps going offline.  This combination poses significant health and safety risks to all residents.
  • The existing city water supply mains should be thoroughly evaluated for sufficient capacity, as they too are likely strained due to the nearby expansion at Eagle’s Trace. These high-density apartment complexes will further exacerbate this potential deficiency.

We are requesting that you help us by becoming seriously involved in this situation, and advise which actions can be taken to prevent these developments from happening.

Thank You