From hotels and apartments to single-family homes and retail developments, the city of Shenandoah is looking at the possibility of complete build-out within five to seven years, city Mayor Garry Watts said.

“[Build-out is] starting to become a concern,” Watts said. “It’d be nice if we were a home rule city so we can annex more land, but we can’t.”

Home rule status is about 2,600 people away. The 2014 population estimate is 2,327, and it is projected to grow by 15.6 percent in 2019 to 2,689, according to the city. To apply for home rule status, a population of 5,000 must be reached.

If the 40-year-old city is able to establish itself as a home rule city, build out could take longer to occur. A home rule city, as opposed to a general law city, is capable of annexing unincorporated land and developing on it, extending the city’s build-out timeline indefinitely.

“Right now we have to do exactly what the state tells us,” Watts said. “That gives us a lot of flexibility once we become a home rule city. We will rewrite the charter.”

A city’s charter is its constitution, a document that sets out the laws.

“Home rule is decided by the population of the city,” City Administrator Greg Smith said. “There’s a whole lot of moving parts.”

Eye on development

The city’s population growth depends on the sizes of houses in development or to be developed as well as the occupancy rates of multifamily apartments to be developed, such as the Metro Park development to be built by Sam Moon Group, Smith said. Until it is known precisely how many of the studio and larger apartments will be built, the projected number of tenants cannot be determined.

Daniel Moon, vice president of Sam Moon Group, said he knows the apartment sizes will be a mix of studios up to three bedrooms.

“We will be building a total of 900 units in three phases of 300 units at a time,” Moon said. “The first phase should be open by late 2017 to early 2018. The unit mix will have studios, one bedroom, two bedroom and a few three bedrooms.”

Estimates for how many residents a new home can bring into a community can be calculated with a formula, Gracepoint Homes President Tom Cox Jr. said. For homes in Shenandoah, he said a conservative estimate is 2.5 times for each house, and a more inflated estimate is three times each house.

Gracepoint Homes developments in Shenandoah, named Lily and Marion, could increase the city’s population by 265 to 318 people.

These are figures the city accounts for when determining when the population will reach 5,000, which is still unknown, Smith said.

Cox said Gracepoint Homes is watching Shenandoah to consider additional development opportunities.

“Most of the opportunities are on the east side of the freeway,” Cox said. “There’s so much demand for the product in the [Shenandoah] area. There is absolutely a possibility for further development.” 

Watts said if the city became a home rule city, it would annex land up to Hwy. 242, which is outside of Shenandoah’s boundaries and within the city of Conroe’s extraterritorial jurisdiction. ETJs are land areas upon which the city can exercise authority.

“I would try go and north of the Sam Moon [shopping center] and try to go negotiate [with the city of Conroe for land] all the way up [Hwy.] 242,” Watts said. “Squaring up the city boundaries to [Hwy.] 242 would be ideal.”

Shenandoah faces build-outZoning

The city could use zoning strategies to help boost its sales and property tax revenue, Watts said.

Land tracts as zoned residential and as commercial could be rezoned over time. Watts said rezoning requires public hearings and time. 

“To change zoning is quite a process, but it can be done,” Watts said. “There’s various ways of working within a section that has been zoned. We haven’t really had to do that yet.”

Watts said it takes two public hearings and posting and advertising the zoning change proposal. The public can comment to the council should they have any questions or concerns.

Watts said it is not preferable to change zoning designation, but there are times when the city can ask a developer for a sum that will leverage the sales tax the city would have collected on a commercially zoned property. The amount the city collects from the developer would then be used to offset the city’s expenses.

The 2-square-mile city has about 50 acres of land available for commercial development, according to city officials. And with 927 completed homes, 206 residential lots remain open for development.

It is difficult to estimate in what order residential build-out and commercial build-out will occur, said Shenandoah City Council member Darrell Frazier

“The city has several residential developments currently under construction on the west side of I-45,” he said. “There are also several commercial projects in the development phase on the east side of I-45. I would not even take a guess at which would be built out first,” Frazier said.

Residents of the community appear to be satisfied with the amount of development occurring in Shenandoah, Frazier said.

“I walk the community often, and the people I have talked with have been happy with what is going on within the city,” he said.

Watts said he attributes low attendance at public city meetings to residents who are pleased with the progress the city is making. The new park, upgraded swimming pool, clean streets, diversity of medical, residential and retail combined with the lowest tax rate in the county contribute to a satisfied community, he said.

“We have council meetings, budget meetings, and no one really comes,” Watts said. “Silence is contentment.”