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Spring residents learn subdivision is in tollway's path — and wonder why they weren't told
Nobody told her that their brand-new neighborhood was in the footprint of the Grand Parkway, a planned highway encircling Houston. Or that most of the nearby houses would likely be bulldozed when construction began on the four-lane tollway that would be her future next-door neighbor."Lennar or the developer should have disclosed this to us, and we would have went to another neighborhood and tried to start our new life," Martin said. "I planned on leaving this house to my grandchildren. But who wants to raise children next to a freeway?" Robert A. Hudson, a Spring developer who partnered with Lennar on the project, said builders knew the highway might come through the subdivision.
It was her dream home until postcard arrived
Spring residents learn subdivision is in tollway's path — and wonder why they weren't told
The red brick home in Spring that Tracy Martin's family bought a year ago seemed to have everything she had ever wanted.
It was close to her husband's job and just a short walk from good schools for her son and daughter. Growing old there wouldn't be a problem with a downstairs master suite. And most importantly, her kids could play freely after years of living in fear in a crime-plagued northwest Houston area.
Nobody told her that their brand-new neighborhood was in the footprint of the Grand Parkway, a planned highway encircling Houston. Or that most of the nearby houses would likely be bulldozed when construction began on the four-lane tollway that would be her future next-door neighbor.
Now she and her neighbors are asking why the Lakes of Avalon Village subdivision was built and why they had to find out about its future in a postcard from the Grand Parkway Association, the nonprofit group organized by the state to facilitate the highway's development, rather than by the home builder, Lennar.
"Lennar or the developer should have disclosed this to us, and we would have went to another neighborhood and tried to start our new life," Martin said. "I planned on leaving this house to my grandchildren. But who wants to raise children next to a freeway?"
State and county agencies are discussing plans to build the parkway's remaining segments as a toll road. Property acquisitions for the Spring segment could begin next year, said David Gornet, executive director of the Grand Parkway Association.
Will traverse 7 counties
Lennar spokesman Scott Shipley said the company could not comment because it was investigating the matter. A spokesman for the subdivision's other builder, J. Patrick Homes, declined comment and would not give his name.
Robert A. Hudson, a Spring developer who partnered with Lennar on the project, said builders knew the highway might come through the subdivision.
"We are not up there on a daily basis to make sure that the builders make it clear to everybody else," he said.
Plans for the Grand Parkway have been on the books for 25 years, but only 28 of its proposed 185 miles have been built. Environmental and neighborhood groups have opposed the project.
It would include 11 segments traversing seven counties. The 12.1-mile Segment F2 would cut directly through the Lakes of Avalon Village, a subdivision with several hundred homes located on FM 2920 just west of Kuykendahl Road.
About 60 homes are in the right-of-way and would have to be demolished to make way for the parkway once construction began, Gornet said. Other homes, like Martin's, are just outside the right-of-way.
Developers won '94 lawsuit
Houston's Planning Commission and Harris County's Public Infrastructure Department could not deny the developers the right to subdivide the land and sell houses on it because no government agency had committed to build the segment, officials said.
Developers sued the city in 1994 after they were denied the right to subdivide land that fell within a different section of the parkway's proposed alignment. They won $1.3 million in a case that was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The current F2 alignment was chosen in 2005 and was included in a draft environmental impact study the association published the following year, Gornet said. The developer applied to the Houston Planning Commission for the plat in late 2005 and received approval in 2006, he said.
Gornet said he met early last year with representatives from the Friendswood Development Company, a Lennar subsidiary that bought all the lots from Hudson, and told them the Grand Parkway would pose a problem for homes being built in its right-of-way.
Developer defends building
However, neighbors said Lennar was building homes on an affected cul-de-sac as recently as a couple of weeks ago. The builder's Web site was still advertising homes for sale in that subdivision on Tuesday.
Hudson, the developer, said it would be wrong to bar building when there is no guarantee this segment of the Grand Parkway will be built at all, let alone in that specific alignment.
"Do they have their funding approved through TxDOT or through the Federal Highway (Administration)? The answer to that is no," Hudson said. "All they are doing is making a statement that they want to come through there."
Agencies involved with the Grand Parkway decided in 2003 to develop the remainder of the project as a toll road. The first 20-mile segment is a free state highway. The Harris County Toll Road Authority is negotiating with TxDOT for the right to build and operate the entire parkway, and it could take some time for a deal to be reached.
The uncertainty is what is really bothering Kevan Lee, whose five-bedroom home would be demolished under the road plan. He and his wife got married in the backyard and are raising their five children while running a dent repair business out of their home.
Lee said he is most concerned about getting a fair price from the government quickly so he and his family can move on. "We don't want to sit here paying mortgages on a home for the next two years knowing that it's going to be torn down."
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