“At the time, Friendswood was still deeply involved in the community,” Mincks said. “They had people on every one of the [homeowners associations] providing leadership because ... they were trying to sell real estate, so that meant making sure everyone was doing what they were supposed to do.”
Six years later, however, Kingwood was annexed by Houston and the developer was no longer involved with providing maintenance or oversight. Nearly three decades later, Mincks said he believes litter, broken curbs and downed trees now have a “broken pane effect” on the once pristine community.
In hopes of addressing these issues, Mincks and a handful of other Kingwood residents held the first meeting of the Beautify Kingwood Task Force on April 10 with the goal of providing a voice for Kingwood and helping the community get back to its roots.
“This is really an advocacy [group] for a community that we love,” Mincks said. “It’s just the observation that we’ve just kind of let things slip ... and the feeling like there’s nobody really accountable.”
The newly-formed organization is just one of several initiatives launched in recent years to help maintain and restore Kingwood.
The framework
Although the city of Houston annexed Kingwood in 1996, the maintenance of most of the public spaces in the area has been carried out by a combination of community associations, trails associations and the Kingwood Service Association, KSA President Dee Price said.
While the city of Houston is responsible for maintaining Dylan Duncan Skate Park and portions of the medians along four arterial roadways, Price said individual community associations are responsible for the maintenance of property within their village.
Outside of villages, Price said five trails associations are responsible for maintaining portions of Kingwood’s roughly 75-mile greenbelt system that aren’t already maintained by community associations. The trails associations are also in charge of mowing and maintaining rights of way along major roadways near the trails.
Price said the KSA—a nonprofit established in 1976—is responsible for maintaining the three major entrances to Kingwood and more than 350 acres of land spread across five parks in the area.
“The KSA takes the lead in trying to coordinate things with the city [of Houston],” Price said.
Price said the KSA is funded by dues paid by member organizations, noting the amount of money collected from each member varies depending on the number of housing and commercial units within that organization’s area.
Dig deeper
Also on a mission to restore Kingwood’s beauty, Trees for Kingwood launched in 2022 with a focus on the community’s tree canopy. The volunteer-run nonprofit partners with Trees for Houston and is funded through donations.
“We saw [Kingwood] in its original beauty, and we’ve seen the damage that’s been done and we want to restore it,” said Joyce Chambers, a Trees for Kingwood board member.
Board member Chris Bloch noted Kingwood has lost thousands of trees over the years due to drought, natural disasters and invasive species.
Bloch said the nonprofit works with individual neighborhoods to identify areas where tree plantings should occur. Plantings are followed by a two-year watering schedule, which is carried out manually by volunteers, as the irrigation system in Kingwood’s medians do not meet Houston standards and are therefore unable to be used.
Bloch said the nonprofit also helps pick up litter throughout Kingwood and works with CenterPoint Energy to identify trees that need to be removed to avoid power outages.
Moving forward, Bloch said the organization is working on acquiring land for a tree farm, which would allow volunteers to transplant trees throughout Kingwood as they mature.
What's being done
In November, Houston District E council member Fred Flickinger—whose district covers Kingwood and Clear Lake—launched Median Madness, a series of volunteer-led median clean-up efforts along major roadways in Kingwood, including West Lake Houston Parkway, Northpark Drive, Woodland Hills Drive and Kingwood Drive. A similar initiative was launched in Clear Lake.
Flickinger added the medians in both communities are larger than in other areas of Houston.
“It’s [an issue] the other districts don’t have and don’t typically have to deal with,” he said.
Flickinger noted the initiatives are being funded by council district service funds, which include $500,000 doled out annually to each district to pay for services that aren’t already provided by the city.
“The city’s finances don’t leave us with a lot of extra money to provide additional services, so we’re trying to make the best of what we can with those funds,” Flickinger said.
Next steps
Looking ahead, Mincks said the Beautify Kingwood Task Force is working on building a website and formalizing its core committee. The organization is also planning to host a meeting with officials from KSA and Kingwood’s HOAs to enlist support.
“The resources are here; we just need to coordinate,” Mincks said.
The task force also aims to advocate for Kingwood at Houston City Council meetings and recommend projects ahead of KSA’s next budget adoption in October, Mincks said.
“One of the most positive things that we have going for us is that most Kingwoodians want to make it better,” Beautify Kingwood Task Force member Peter Mantell said. “There’s a certain love people have for this community that’s unique.”
