Two officials—Scott Burrer, asset manager at United Development Funding, and Chris Patterson, vice president of RVI Planning & Architecture—presented the Magnolia Ridge plan to Magnolia City Council during the Oct. 13 meeting.[/caption]

In its early stages, a new plan is being ironed out to guide additional development in one of the largest subdivisions in the city of Magnolia—Magnolia Ridge.

Two officials—Scott Burrer, asset manager at United Development Funding, and Chris Patterson, vice president of RVi Planning + Landscape—presented the plan to Magnolia City Council during the Oct. 13 meeting.

“We are excited about this project,” Patterson said. “With everything we’ve got, it is very preliminary. We are just beginning our process—it’s very conceptual in nature.”

New additions, amenities

The conceptual land-use plan for the 550-acre subdivision takes into account the existing infrastructure in the first two sections on 65 acres of the property and topography of the area, Patterson said. The plan highlights the local flavor of Magnolia and a vision to create an active, family-friendly and environmentally sensitive community for existing and future residents, he said.

One idea includes creating an open-space system throughout the property with hiking, biking and walking trails.

“We see this as an opportunity to create kind of a green belt throughout the community by creating open-space areas and linking them with trail systems,” Patterson said. “We will be creating a sense of place, creating an active walkable community with trail systems and creating a place for residents to congregate get together while being sensitive to the natural features we have.”

In addition, another part of the plan is to create a community recreation center with a possible pavilion, splash pad, playground and several pocket parks throughout the property.

“We want to see some place that provides a place for the community to get together and have Fourth of July picnics and birthday parties—bringing folks together within the community,” Patterson said.

To achieve the vision, RVI and United Development Funding plan to work with the city to finalize development agreements moving forward, he said. The developers will need to go through the due-diligence process and will engage existing residents in the plan, Burrer said.

“They are living there, we are not, so we need to embrace them and bring them into the plan and make sure they are crystal clear on what we’re going to do,” Burrer said. “They are going to be part of our success.”

Funding the improvements

The plan and the remainder of development in Magnolia Ridge is expected to take place over the next eight to 15 years, Burrer said. The new community features will largely be funded through a public improvement district that will collect fees from a portion of residents, Magnolia Mayor Todd Kana said.

After several months of deliberation with attorneys, the city of Magnolia opted to move forward Oct. 13 with a proposed PID assessment plan for the existing 240 lots on the property, Kana said. The fee amounts residents will pay have yet to be determined yet, he said.

A number of residents have expressed concerns with Magnolia Ridge Development about not being informed about a possible future PID when purchasing their homes and a lack of amenities that were expected. With the PID in tact, Magnolia Ridge Development would collect fees from residents to reimburse the cost of infrastructure in the subdivision, Kana said.

“The way I look at it is we’re trying to help the current developer get out of a problem he created for himself but still understanding we have to represent the homeowners there because that’s what we’re here to do,” Kana said. “The homeowners obviously need to understand the developer has to be reimbursed somehow for all the pipes he put in the ground.”

In addition to the PID, the city is considering implementing a tax increment reinvestment zone for the entire Magnolia Ridge property to reimburse Magnolia Ridge Development with a small portion of value increases on the land over the next 20 years, he said.

It is also likely the undeveloped portion of the property will be encompassed as the first in-city municipal utility district for the new development moving forward, Kana said. The remaining details regarding the possible TIRZ and MUD as well as PID fee assessments could be determined by the end of the year, he said.

“In my opinion, [the developer] should’ve had all this in place before one single home in there was sold, and it’s probably because the property it changed hands in the big drop in the real estate market,” Kana said. “It’s just been a bad situation over there all the way around. They made the mistake of selling homes and trying to after the fact put the assessment in.”