On May 30 at 4:30 p.m., Conroe City Council will hold its second public hearing on implementing a citywide temporary development moratorium. After the second public hearing, council members will then consider implementing a citywide moratorium, according to the May 30 agenda.

Looking back

Conroe City Council held the first public hearing about the moratorium May 22, during which developers, health care representatives and other business leaders spoke about the potential impact a citywide moratorium would have, Community Impact previously reported.

City Council first discussed a citywide moratorium during its meetings in late April, according to prior reporting. The city has already enacted a temporary development moratorium for its northern portion.



Some context

In an undated memo attached to the May 30 agenda, Norman McGuire, director of public works and assistant city administrator, and Tara Gaha, senior assistant city engineer of design, said:
  • The city’s water facilities are at and above capacity
  • Any further development will continue to exacerbate the strained capacity of the city’s water plants
In that same memo, McGuire and Gaha also said that allowing development under permits that may be exempted from the moratorium also poses “an imminent threat of destruction of property or injury to persons,” and asserts that denying such development is necessary.



Diving in deeper


In a May 6 memo to the city, Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, Inc.—a full-service engineering consulting firm—found that as of this April, the city had 51,221 connections and its water system capacity is over 100% of the required capacity. Once Water Plants Nos. 29 and 30 are complete this fall, the city’s water system will still be operating at 96% capacity, according to LAN, and that is with the assumption that no new connections are made.

Four new water plants are recommended to be in service by or after 2027, according to LAN. The new plants would combine for an additional 8,000 gallons-per-minute and increase to 16,000 gallons-per-minute when a second well is installed at each plant.



Before you go


Conroe City Council’s next meeting will take place May 30 at 4:30 p.m. at City Hall, 300 W. Davis St., Conroe.

View the proposed moratorium ordinance below.



View a map of Conroe’s pressure planes below.