The Woodlands Township board of directors met Oct. 15 to discuss items including an update on covenants from the Development Standards Committee. Board members voted 6-0 to receive the report. Arthur Bredehoft, chairman of the committee, provided a presentation on updates such as revised roofing standards, generator standards and more.
What happened?
Community Impact previously reported the board approved several amendments to the Covenant Administration Department, or CAD, fees earlier this year.
During the Oct. 15 meeting, Bredehoft noted several recent changes to standards are intended to improve the experience of residents and to make standards fair and equitable. Per the presentation, roofing standard revisions will include:
Generator standard revisions include:
Bredehoft said the goal is to reduce the timeframe to approve generators for residents.
“Now we’re dealing with a major investment by residents and sometimes it’s a tight turnaround time to get that generator in, [especially] before hurricane season and before the winter. Covenants have reduced time frames in certain categories from 15 days to six days to turn a permit around,” Bredehoft said.
Revisions to watercraft and aquatic equipment include:
Looking ahead
Residential covenant requirements for 2027 will see changes to hardscape and landscape requirements and trash/recycle cart locations.
Between 2025 and 2026, almost 50% of trash can enforcement notices were sent to residents within The Village of Alden Bridge, Director of Covenant Administration Kimberly McKenna said. DSC meetings will continue to discuss further updates.
What’s next?
Commercial development standards revisions were discussed with the township last December, and Bredehoft said it took three years for the three committees to revise the standards. Commercial revisions included updates such as parking ratios, window graphics and reserved parking signage.
However, board of directors Chair Brad Bailey suggested a better system must be created moving forward to work more efficiently.
“I understand these are legacy programs that we’ve always done this way, but this board and future boards really need to look at modernizing this process … we should be using AI to help streamline the process,” Bailey said. "We have a system right now that isn’t working and we’ve got to bring in subject matter experts that are facing this problem from our community.”
Get involved
The DSC is also calling for volunteers and listed deadlines for anyone interested in applying. Two members currently on the committee have an expiring term in December.
The deadlines are:
Oct. 30, 5 p.m.: All applications due
Nov. 19: 2026 candidate interviews with the board
Dec. 3: Board will appoint candidates
