I was invited to address the City of Houston's City Council Sustainable Growth Committee today by Council Member Brown to make comments on the upcoming Urban Corridors ordinance which is set to be heard by Council in July.
HRG has been engaged in the policy making process throughout the drafting of the Urban Corridors ordinance, providing research and feedback from the real estate community and property owners along the rail line. HRG wants to thank the Mixed Use/TOD committee members, city staff and various stakeholders, for their hard work in creating a policy Houston can be proud of.

This is a letter of endorsment for the Mixed Use/TOD Committee's work on their final draft of the Urban Corridors Ordinance.

We will be coming out with a list of recommendations for the City to proceed with after the passing of the ordinance that will be available for the upcoming public comment hearing at the Planning Commission on June 11th.

Urban Corridor Presentation to Planning Commission
Thurs, June 11 @ 2:30PM

Reg, Dev, & Neighborhood Protection Committee
Urban Corridors, Chp. 42 Amendments
Mon, June 22 @ 3PM
___________________________________________________________________
Houstonians for Responsible Growth is pleased to support and endorse the work of the City of Houston’s Mixed Use/TOD Committee, and the completion of their final draft of the Urban Corridors Ordinance. The committee’s work reflects an ordinance that is respectful to the rights of property owners along the corridor, while improving mobility for pedestrians and removing costly regulatory barriers to urban forms of development. This ordinance will facilitate and support over time the development of a built urban environment driven by private investment where dictated by consumer demands. The two outlined goals set by the COH Mixed Use/TOD committee of improving pedestrian mobility and encouraging urban development within the corridors has been achieved through a predictable and consistent policy that is reflective of Houston’s successful model of supporting market driven growth through public infrastructure and transportation improvements.
The Urban Corridors ordinance achieves the goal of increased pedestrian mobility by mandating that six foot sidewalks be built when the property owner within the corridors chooses to re-develop. This new standard will provide the pedestrian with adequate space and increased mobility around the city’s new transit corridors. This new standard will be applied to all forms of re-development within the corridors which in time will create a more consistent pedestrian realm.
The second goal of encouraging urban development (mixed use/TOD) has been achieved through the creation of an optional set of urban performance standards that the property owner can decide whether or not to utilize. The optional performance standards will permit for a greater range of flexibility allowing private investment to properly respond to market forces which dictate use, density, and design. The creation of a set of optional urban development standards within the corridors will also eliminate the need for costly and cumbersome variances during the permitting process. This option will save valuable time and resources for not only the developer, but the City of Houston planning department. By removing barriers to development, the City has created a level playing field with non-discriminatory standards to which private investment and capital will respond accordingly where the market and consumer demands.
While HRG supports the work and recommendations of the Mixed USE/TOD committee, we recommend to the COH and the planning department to continue actively monitoring development and permitting within the urban corridors in order to adjust the policy accordingly and make improvements in the process where needed. Further study should also be done to explore the possibility of expanding the optional set of urban development standards to a broader area throughout Houston’s urban core. The new performance standards create a model for permitting urban development which we believe could be expanded to help better serve the needs and desires of consumers choosing to live in a denser urban environment.
HRG endorses the work of the COH’s Mixed Use/TOD committee and their final draft of the Urban Corridors Ordinance.
Sincerely,

Joshua Sanders
Executive Director, Houstonians for Responsible Growth

Proposed Urban Corridors Ordinance
http://www.houstontx.gov/planning/Urban/ProposedTransitCorridorOrdinance... [1]

Ordinance Summary
http://www.houstontx.gov/planning/Urban/TransitCorridorOrdinance_summary... [2]