The Woodlands Township board of directors voted 6-0 to approve amendments to current covenant administration (CAD) and park user fees at the May 21 board meeting.
In a nutshell
During the board meeting, Director of Covenant Administration Kim McKenna said the initial idea was that the basic service fees would not incur costs, but enhanced services would incur fees.
The modifications are to add items that weren’t included in the initial resolution in 2024. Community Impact previously reported that CAD fees include expenses for permits in both residential and commercial building improvements.
The change would primarily affect commercial improvements. However, two minor adjustments were made to residential permitting costs, including for partial demolitions and to encourage proactive permitting.
What residents should know
The new CAD fee schedule will go into effect July 1, according to agenda documents. The fees would include changes to commercial improvements such as:
- Heating, ventilation and air conditioning/generator improvements: $250 fee
- Parking lot modifications: $150 fee
- Major improvements greater than 2,000 square feet: $0.50 per square foot
- Minor improvements (minimum charge $150.00): $0.50 per square foot
Residential improvement fees include:
- New home construction: $0.50 per square foot
- Patio cover/outdoor living area: $150
- Pools and spas: $450
- Business in home: $500
Casualty damages from incidents like fires or storms will not incur a fee for repairs. However, if there are additions or modifications to those repairs, there could be potential fees, McKenna said.
“It’s something that your development standards committee has looked at in the past when we had compliance deposits where they waived certain allowances because of those types of weather incidences,” McKenna said. "It’s also something that we could certainly look at amending so that there is a disclaimer for casualty damage repair or other related incidents that cause casualty damage.”
In other news
The board also discussed changes to park user fees. Around every five years, park user fees are reviewed with minor tweaks in between, township Chief Operating Officer Chris Nunes said.
Community Impact previously reported the township’s 2026 Parks and Recreation Fees Analysis generated recommendations such as:
- Maintain non-resident pricing at approximately twice the resident rate for most facilities
- Implement modest increases to park pavilion rentals
- Implement a per-space, per-day fee option for nonprofit use of park and ride facilities
- Increase field use fees by 8%. Increase resident pool pass fees by $5 for the 2027 season
One of the biggest changes includes new fees associated with special events held at Waterway Square in Hughes Landing. Event organizers will now have to pay to reserve the Woodlands Waterway features unless the event is expected to create 200 hotel room bookings at Waterway Square, Nunes said.
Fee options to reserve a park will include:
- Waterway Square: $5,000 per day
- Hughes Landing: $3,000 per day
- 200 room nights
What else?
When the township issues a permit for a special event, the following criteria are considered for approval or disapproval according to a presentation by Nunes:
- Likelihood to cause injury to attendees or property
- Any safety interruptions for pedestrians and traffic
- The location is large enough for the size of the event
- The event doesn’t interfere with the use of the area
- The applicant’s ability to put on the event and provide proper insurance coverage
- Event timing and any conflicts with other scheduled events
- Approvals, permits and licenses from other agencies and/or trademark/copyright holders
Board member Shelly Sekula-Gibbs said that keeping the 200 hotel room stipulation in place is valuable, but questioned monetizing the use of major parks. Sekula-Gibbs said her main concern was with any potential competition with smaller venues and event organizers and larger events, which may be able to more easily afford any use fees.
“I just want to bring back the vision of George Mitchell, where he said that he wants The Woodlands to be a place where generations of families can live, work, worship, learn and play and he didn't say that he wanted our parks to be monetized,” Sekula-Gibbs said.
The takeaway
The board voted to approve the proposed amendments that would include park user fees across The Woodlands Township. This would exclude Hughes Landing Park and the Waterway Square Park.
“This was trying to think through the board’s lens of how [to] incentivize or activate the Waterway by using these assets to push more programs that are not being driven by the township, but are not being produced and run [by the township], which are causing additional staff costs, time and effort,” Nunes said.
