Pearland and Friendswood are nearly built out, and the cities must carefully plan how to develop the remaining land.
In 2000, Pearland was a town of roughly 40,000. More than 20 years later in 2023, the city’s population has more than tripled in size to 132,000.
What was once untouched farmland is now nearly 77% built out, yet the city still needs to develop its plan for how to develop the remaining unused land, Community Development Director John McDonald said.
The city’s remaining land is a mixture of undeveloped land, or untouched land, and underdeveloped land, which is land that may have a small structure on it but is now surrounded by larger developments.
Smaller cities, such as nearby Friendswood, which has a population of only 42,556, face different challenges, such as being able to collect enough taxes to balance their budgets despite having aging communities, Friendswood officials said.
“Our population is aging,” said Aubrey Harbin, Friendswood director of community development and city planner, before adding that when residents reach 65, they are eligible for new tax exemptions.
Friendswood officials hope to sustain the city’s budget by allocating 73% of the unused land for commercial development to collect more taxes. Officials must be strategic about zoning and how it issues new development permits, Harbin said.
“We are not getting any more land; we’re landlocked,” Harbin said. “We only have 1,900 acres left to develop, so that’s all we’re getting. We just have to be careful and make sure we keep our goals in mind.”
While Pearland officials hope the city will be completely built out by 2050, McDonald said COVID-19 and higher interest rates slowed development, partially due to the higher cost of building materials. In fiscal year 2019-20, the number of residential permits awarded dipped to 451 from 817 and 658 in the previous two years.
While the number of new development permits diminished, the pandemic years also saw an increase in permits issued for home renovations.
“We saw a lot of renovation permits for residential,” McDonald said. “People who maybe had been thinking about moving out but then decided to upgrade their house or add extra features to it.”
McDonald added that the growth in nearby areas will also affect how Pearland pursues development.
“You also have to look at the development around Pearland as well,” McDonald said. “You know, Manvel is starting to take off; Alvin is starting to grow; Iowa Colony is starting to grow. As those become more of a competition, that could potentially affect how things happen here.”
McDonald said his team will present a comprehensive development plan to Pearland City Council later this year. The plan will include recommendations for how the city should pursue developing the remainder of unused land over the next 20 years.
McDonald shared that while a lot of the larger parcels of land have already been built out, there are many big residential projects moving forward in Pearland, including Massey Oaks and the D.R. Horton planned community being built near Pearland High School.
“I think the goal is just to maintain a sustainable community that grows, that supports itself and grows to meet the needs of its citizens,” McDonald said.
