West side story: League City looks ahead to new west side master plan

However, much of that owned land remains without a set plan, Executive Director of Development Services Christopher Sims said.

As a result, city staff are calling for a bevy of options from commercial and mixed-use developments, as well as natural features and park space.

The final plan, which will need two total approvals by City Council, comes at a time when the city’s population is projected to increase by nearly 40% from 2020-2030. More growth could happen due to state plans to extend Grand Parkway through the city in 2027, per city and state documents. The plan received the first approval at the May 13 meeting.

Assessing the needs

The new plan calls for a variety of features, including new districts that help create what Carpenter called “a sense of place” on the west side, as well new road networks, drainage features and a higher portion of land for commercial and industrial businesses, according to the plan’s breakdown.

Within the plan are four new districts, according to city documents. They include:

• The Gateway, which will welcome visitors with mixed properties, signage and artistic elements.
• The Preserve, which will include parks and open spaces.
• The Groves, which will highlight trees in the area and include different types of land.
• The Quarry, which will include ponds, greenways, a new park and water-based activities.

Expanding the city’s water and wastewater capacities to keep up with the anticipated 6.5 million gallons of water per day needed for the west side are part of the plan too, documents show.

A higher portion of land will also go to commercial use, Carpenter and Sims said. Land for open space, roads and detention totals around 45% of the land. More than one-third of that remaining 55% of land will go to commercial use.

Sims said the city looked at how to incorporate more commercial land into the area to help take the tax burden off residents. He said much of that land will be concentrated along Grand Parkway, which acts as a natural spot to draw in business.

The approach

The west side’s population starting in 2030 is expected to more than double by 2060, according to city data. The total number of households and employment numbers will roughly triple in that time as well.

As a result, city officials are looking at meeting the needs of the new area—and learning from the hangups that came with developing the city’s east side, Sims said.

On the already-developed east side, much of the city's planning dates back to 1999, when the city’s first zoning was approved, Carpenter said. Over time, however, standards for items such as drainage, as well as the infrastructure needs, were changing rapidly due to how fast the city grew.

"I think on the west side we’re trying to be more proactive and establish good corridors, right-of-way width,” Sims said.

Public input

Across two surveys, a town hall and survey comments, the city received roughly 2,000 total responses from residents. Those results showed parks and green space, detention and traffic, housing and mixed-use land were among the top priorities for residents.

Residents were also provided two overarching options of planning, documents show. One was a more traditional build-out—emphasizing detention for each parcel with commercial land built in.

The second option, titled Option B, received about 64% of the vote from residents and calls for using land throughout the area in multiple ways. This would see parks and multiuse developments used to meet needs such as drainage, Carpenter said. The hope is for this approach to help make the quick growth more sustainable in the decades ahead.

“Ultimately, Option B provides a vision for a well-balanced, integrated development approach that prioritizes both economic growth and quality of life,” a passage from the plan reads.

In one of the surveys, documents show residents supported the following:

• 59% had interest in more shopping opportunities
• 69% had interest in more employment opportunities
• 72% had interest in more entertainment opportunities
• 65% had interest in more retail and restaurant options

What they're saying

Developers were included in the planning process, Sims said.

Hillwood Communities Vice President Brian Gates, whose company is building out the Legacy development on the west side, said he played an “active role” in the plan’s development. He said among several goals, one was to focus on balancing the west side while “preserving the unique character of the area.”

Among the topics of focus, Gates said he felt the city needed to prioritize its infrastructure investments and balancing its land usage on the west side. Legacy will include more than 1,600 homes on the west side and take seven to nine years to build out, Gates said.

Looking ahead

The plan is set for its second and final vote on May 27, according to agenda documents. League City City Council will meet at 6 p.m. at City Council Chambers, 200 W. Walker St., League City.

Once approved, the plan will act as a guide toward future development—as opposed to the city rezoning and making adjustments to match what the plan calls for. Currently, the entire west side is zoned for residential.

“When they [developers] come in and buy [land], negotiations with city staff starts at everything being residential,” Sims said. “Whereas once this plan is adopted, those negotiations start at what we’re showing [in the plan].”

As a result, little action is expected in the immediate future related to the plan itself, Sims said, adding that next steps for upgrades will be more “developer driven.”

The exception to this will be some small updates across other established master plans to match the new west side plan given slight changes made as a result of the new plan. Those include the city’s transportation master plan and parks master plan.

Reporter Haley Velasco contributed to this article.