The rapid growth The Woodlands area has experienced during the past two years has led to a host of benefits, such as increased tax revenues, lower property taxes and more jobs. But the same development trends that have resulted in more than a dozen commercial or residential projects announced since 2012 has also led to growing concerns among area residents.

Representatives of local community organizations say residents are concerned about growing traffic problems and the environmental effect of cutting down trees to make room for large-scale developments.

"Development is a good thing—we have a very healthy environment in our whole region—and we're blessed to have it," said Steve Leakey, president of the Alden Bridge Village Association in The Woodlands. "But [resident concerns are] less about the pace of development and more about how [developers] manage it. Because it's not going to slow down."

In a 2012 survey conducted by The Woodlands Township, 12 percent of residents said new construction and over development was the most important issue facing The Woodlands, while 15 percent said the most important issue was traffic control and congestion.

Population is also on the rise. According to a study by demographic research firm Esri, the population within a 15-mile radius of The Woodlands Town Center increased from 840,826 in 2010 to 900,882 in 2013, a 7 percent increase. The population in the same area is expected to increase by another 11 percent to 1 million by 2018.

Land development

The majority of recent developments announced, such as the 75-acre Woodland Creek by PinPoint Commercial on Sawdust Road, are located outside of The Woodlands boundaries on unincorporated Montgomery County land. Woodlands Development Company co-president Alex Sutton said The Woodlands Development Company develops projects only on land it owns or purchases.

"Any land that we do not own that gets platted and developed, we have no control over that," said Woodlands Development Company co-president Tim Welbes. "And nobody else can make their lands part of The Woodlands."

Sutton said the Development Company purchases land occasionally for future development, which then falls under the governing authority of The Woodlands Township.

Montgomery County Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack said county authorities have little control over what land gets developed or the type of developments that are planned.

"We can't tell a developer what to put on their land," he said. "There's not a lot of power that we have to force developers to do anything, really."

Noack said his office does work closely with many developers looking to build projects in south Montgomery County. He said his office will often work with developers to solve infrastructure and road issues.

Jim Holcomb, president of Holcomb Properties, which has developed communities like Imperial Oaks and The Falls at Imperial Oaks, said he has often funded road projects designed to improve mobility in areas along Rayford Road.

"The developers really can't receive any help from the county," Holcomb said. "So developers have to go fund [road projects] themselves, sometimes with the help of federal programs. But [government agencies] are stretched with their own budgets. There's not a whole lot of money left."

Traffic concerns

Paul Cote, president of the Rayford Road Civic Association, an organization representing residents east of I-45, said the resulting traffic that recent development has brought is the main concern of residents in the unincorporated Montgomery County area.

"The increased growth in the area continues to stress existing infrastructure," Cote said. "The area needs new access roads connecting north, south, east and west in and out of the area east of I-45 to help relieve congestion."

An April 2013 traffic study conducted by The Woodlands Development Company and Atkins Engineering revealed significant increases in traffic since 2011 at many of the most traveled thoroughfares in The Woodlands.

Welbes and Sutton said plans for addressing the growth the community is experiencing have long been in place. Those plans included setting land aside along major thoroughfares such as Woodlands Parkway and Research Forest Drive for future lane expansions.

"We planned for today's reality," Welbes said. "The road widths are there. Those road improvements would be relatively easy to install when funding is secured. We have [planned] for the growth and made the capacity of size to exist."

To solve transportation challenges, Leakey said area leaders and developers should form not only local partnerships but also work with regional entities in coming up with new concepts.

"This area has not done that historically, and still isn't," Leakey said. "We can't think of just The Woodlands, Shenandoah or Harris County, we have to think of the whole region. People are resistant to that."

Land clearing

The environmental effect of the many new commercial and residential developments in the area is the clearing of large expanses of trees, a by-product of growth that troubles some residents.

In the 2012 survey of Woodlands residents, 4 percent of those polled said developers should stop cutting down trees in order to improve The Woodlands.

"I remain very concerned about the clear-cutting [of trees]," Leakey said. "The Development Company won't change their approach to that. They are still putting up first-rate properties, but they still won't be as good as trees."

According to the Development Company, there are 3,600 acres of open spaces and 1,780 acres of forest preserves in The Woodlands.

Sutton and Welbes said The Woodlands Development Company has maintained its standards for preserving open spaces, vegetation and forests since its establishment.

Those standards are established through covenants and are applicable to any company building projects on land owned by the Development Company, whether it is the Development Company or another entity doing the building, they said.

"[Vegetation requirements] have not changed," Sutton said. "I've been here 20 years, and I have heard [the concern about cutting down trees] every time we start something new."

Sutton does acknowledge the greenery restrictions were changed for development in Town Center, where the densest development in The Woodlands has occurred with commercial, retail and residential projects.

"We've created the Town Center, which is an urban area and a desirable place to be," he said. "But when we moved into [the Village of] Alden Bridge, the [vegetation] doesn't look any different."

Susan Catts, who moved to The Woodlands in 1992, said she believes the image of The Woodlands could change with recent development.

"Unfortunately, it seems The Woodlands Development Company may never be done here," she said. "Residents are forced to live in an area filled with constant road and building construction, which disrupt and slow down our daily commutes, as well as personal activities, as we sit in traffic generated by the overdevelopment. The woods are sacrificed for economic growth."

Woodlands residents will be able to again voice their thoughts on development in the community and various other subject matters through a new survey that is now being distributed by the township.

According to the township, Woodlands residents are being surveyed via home telephone, cell phone, email or mail.

For more information about the survey, visit www.thewoodlandstownship-tx.gov.