Some context
Council members approved the plan during the Sept. 22 meeting.
The board initially sought community input to help develop the plan in January. Officials noted several benefits associated with forming a comprehensive plan, including:
- Providing a strategic vision for growth
- Offering guidance for land use and development
- Setting goals for economic development
- Providing protective measures for natural resources
- Enhancing grant eligibility
A closer look
According to city documents, the comprehensive plan was drafted by engineering consulting firm Baxter and Woodman and aims to address the challenge of preserving the natural environment of the community while accommodating new residents and businesses by:
- Maintaining the forest canopy as development continues
- Ensuring capital investments for utilities, roads and parks infrastructure
- Adding or expanding roads to connect with surrounding communities
- Creating development standards that maintain the community’s small-town feel
- Adding additional staff and facilities to meet the service demands of new residents
“It will help us possibly shape some development that’s coming in here, and shape it in a way that the citizens told us they’d like it to be,” Parr said during the meeting.
Additionally, the plan highlighted the need for the city to expand or improve its current transportation network and utilities infrastructure.
The plan includes several proposed road projects, including an extension of Galaxy Boulevard to connect to the Grand Parkway, as well as a project included in Montgomery County’s 2016 Master Thoroughfare Plan that proposes a bridge on Roman Forest Boulevard across the San Jacinto River connecting to Plum Grove Road.
Concerning utilities infrastructure, the plan proposes calls for new water infrastructure to serve new development and improve drainage throughout the city.
What they’re saying
While Position 1 council member Mitchell Davis lauded the plan’s historical and current depiction of the city, he questioned how the city would be able to afford some of its recommendations, including a call for buried drainage infrastructure along some roadways.
“We can’t afford to bury our drainage and put sidewalks on Roman Forest [Boulevard],” Davis said during the meeting. “We can’t afford to pave our streets that need paving. We can’t afford swing sets.”
Davis added he wished officials from Baxter and Woodson had included recommendations he believed were more realistic for the city.
“What the city could afford should have been a major factor in developing this plan,” Davis said during the meeting. “Y’all spent months putting together this plan that will go nowhere.”
Baxter and Woodson Project Manager Cristin Emshoff said the city can still make revisions to the plan in the future, noting the plan does not bind the city to any proposed action.
What’s next
While no timeline was offered during the Sep. 22 meeting, council members said revisions to the plan would likely be submitted for council approval in the coming months.
To view the plan, click here.
