City of Katy purchases land, historic Fussell Home as part of future master parks plan

The city of Katy is one step closer toward a new parks administration building after purchasing 1.42 acres of land located at 5402 Franz Road, which will be incorporated into the city's master parks plan that is being developed.

The purchase was unanimously approved on Nov. 1 at a Katy City Council special session, with the city using roughly $350,000 in reserve funds for the land, according to agenda documents.

Some items included in the purchase was the historic Fussell Home, open space, park equipment, a parking lot and legacy oak trees, Mayor Pro Tem Chris Harris said in a Nov. 4 interview. The Fussell Home, which is a historical Katy home, will house the parks director and assistant and hopefully become a learning center for the parks department, Harris said.

“Right now the city is going through strategic designing on where we want the city to look at in 20 years and more," he said. "Parks is definitely a reason that families move to Katy."

This land purchase comes on the heels of Katy Mayor William Hastings signing an agreement with planning firm Kendig Keast Collaborative at the Oct. 11 City Council meeting. The agreement states KKC will prepare a comprehensive plan as well as a parks, trail and recreation plan for the city.

Katy’s comprehensive plan, which was last updated in 2001, aims to work as a guide for the future development and planning in the city, according to the city’s website.

"[The master parks plan] is a long-term plan and it's the roadmap that we'll be using for many years into the future," Harris said.

The comprehensive plan and the parks plan will be hopefully completed by 2022, according to Harris.

“That’s one thing that comprehensive plans often do is point toward those more specific studies and planning efforts that may be needed in a particular part of the city," KKC President Gary Mitchell said at the Oct. 11 Katy City Council meeting.