It is 11 p.m.

on Thursday, May 14th, 2026.

My name is Lisa Clark.

I'm the chair of the Houston Planning Commission, and I'm calling this meeting to order as an in-person meeting at City Hall Annex at 900 Bagby.

Speakers, if you wish to address the commission on an item, please fill out the speaker's form before the item is called and turn it into staff near the front door.

I don't think the consent and repeat doesn't count now.

To establish a quorum of 11 members, I'll call the roll.

Chair Clark is present.

Vice Chair Garza.

Present.

Commissioner Baldwin.

Present.

Commissioner Ballard.

Present.

Commissioner Heinz.

Heinz present.

Commissioner Jones.

Commissioner Matez.

Commissioner Pierce.

Commissioner Shepard.

Present.

Commissioner Sykes.

Commissioner Victor.

And Director Von Tran.

Present.

We have 12 members.

So we have a quorum.

Now I'll call for the director's report.

Director Tran.

Commission members, staff, and the public.

I am Von Tran, Secretary of this Commission and Director of the Planning and Development Department.

Welcome.

Thank you all for attending the MTFP.

Our first uh presentation to the public.

And uh so we really appreciate you taking time uh to be here today and seeing us through the process.

Uh just a reminder the meeting rules for today will follow the standard procedures used in the typical planning uh commission meetings uh with one exception.

Applicants will have five minutes for their opening statements instead of the th uh the usual three minutes.

From members of the public, if you have not yet signed up to speak on an item, uh please uh get with the staff at the front desk.

They will assist you with completing the speaker's form.

In closing, for assistance uh with the planning department, you can call 832-393-6600.

You can also reach the planner of the day by calling 832-393-6624.

And of course, our website.

Uh, you can visit our website at Houston Planning.com.

This concludes my report.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next item on the agenda is agenda is item one, our timeline.

Um, but I also want to let you all know that after we hear from staff, I'll call for speakers at that time.

We're not taking any action today.

This is just a workshop.

Mr.

Butler.

Good afternoon, madam chair, members of the Houston Planning Commission.

My name is Jeff Butler.

Today's meeting is the first in a series regarding the 2026 major thoroughfare and freeway plan amendment process.

This is an annual procedure to update the city's long-range transportation plan to support connectivity and mobility.

This year we have seven proposed amendments.

Of the seven, five are in the ETJ, two are within the city of Houston.

Of the five within the ETJ, three are within Harris County, and another applies to attract within the Harris within Harris and Waller Counties.

We're also considering an amendment for a planned thoroughfare within Houston's corporate limit and the Fort Bend County ETJ.

Today's agenda will consist of a timeline for the amendment process as well as a summary of the background and the purpose of the major thoroughfare and freeway plan.

We'll be referred to most in the presentation as MTFP.

Um you'll hear that a lot, just that's what it means.

Um, the applicants will provide statements for each of the amendment requests.

Staff will then go over the next steps followed by public comment and adjournment.

For more information, please go to the MTFP website or contact staff by email at mobility.planning at Houston TX.gov or telephone at 832-393-6660.

You may also contact me directly at Jeff with a G.Butler at Houston TX.gov.

And my direct line is 832-393-6528.

So what is the MTFP?

Uh the MTFP is a city's long-range plan to guide transportation and development.

The plan is a product of city council action, which will ultimately be necessary to approve this year's amendments.

The plan originated in 1942, has largely shaped the current built environment in the greater Houston metropolitan area.

The plan spans five counties and applies to Houston's corporate limit and the ETJ.

The plan has evolved with changing conditions and is the products of decades of coordination between the public, city agencies, and our partners with the respective counties.

As such, any amendments to this plan should be given very careful consideration.

The published plan consists of two documents: a map of the plan depicted over the region and a hierarchy table containing specifications for each street segment within city limits.

The map and table are available on the planning and development department's website.

An interactive version of the map and table is available through Houston Map Viewer in my city, which allows the public to easily view a complete MTFP over a number of map features.

Within the MTFP, each street is classified based on current conditions and anticipated future needs.

Freeways indicate limited access roads, both public and told, and they are shown in green.

Principal thoroughfares represent grade level arterials intended to circulate regional traffic to the freeway system.

Major thoroughfares integrate regional traffic with more local access, and both principal and major are shown in red.

Major and minor collector streets are intended to connect communities at the neighborhood scale, and they're shown in blue and green.

And finally, transit corridors.

They're intended to facilitate high capacity transit along other transportation modes, and they're shown in purple.

Within that framework, the plan ties with development regulations within Chapter 42 to allow for high activity in areas with the capacity for it, while allowing for safe connectivity in more use-sensitive areas.

Each amendment today will be presented with a map and a proposed table amendment based on the applicant's request.

The process itself, the timeline for the amendment process begins in January, where staff conducted pre-submital meetings with the applicants.

The applications ready to move forward were submitted by March 6th, and staff review is underway.

There will be a public open house scheduled for the evening of June 10th between 6 and 7 p.m.

This will be a virtual only meeting.

The public hearing scheduled for July 23rd will take place at 1 p.m.

in the day of planning commission at this location.

This meeting will be in person only.

This will be followed by an update meeting on August 20th, also scheduled for 1 p.m.

at this location.

The update meeting will highlight any updates or revisions to the amendment requests that may come out of staff review.

Planning commission will act on each amendment request on September 3rd, which will also take place at 1 p.m.

at this location.

This will be forwarded to City Council for action by September 30th.

That will conclude this year's amendment process.

For today's workshop, no action will be taken today, and staff will continue coordinating with the applicants as well as affected agencies as the respective counties and the respective counties throughout the amendment process.

No staff recommendations there today, but we will present our findings at the next meeting.

This concludes our presentation.

Thank you.

So Ruman numeral two, major thoroughfare and freeway plan amendment requests.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon.

My name is Amakovana with the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County here to provide an introductory overview of the Golfton Connector Busway project.

Next slide.

Oh, thank you.

So the project is located in the southwest part of the region in the heart of Golfton, one of the most densely populated areas in Houston with a high number of residents that rely on public transportation for their everyday mobility.

Currently, it is a 4.1 mile project, high capacity project with eight stations and connections to uptown, uh gallery, downtown, and other parts of our service area.

The purpose of our application today is to designate the Golfton Connector project as a transit corridor street.

The designation will allow for transit-oriented development at applicable streets surrounding the stations and will help with a future grant application that is uh under progress now along this corridor.

There are a number of uh A stations at West Park at uh West Park at West Park Lower Uptown, Transit Center, West Park at Chimney Rock, Golftain at Chimney Rock, Golfton at Ramwick, Golfton at Westwood, Hillcroft at Sands Point, Hillcroft at Bellet, and the terminus at Hillcroft and Bissinet.

These serve a range of activities, including two major parks are at uh Bennett Bayland and Baylin Park and multiple social services and community services like Baker Ripley Legacy Health and other activity services.

So the purpose of this application is to designate the project alignment along the as a transit corridor street.

The request the the project request reclassification of Chimney Rock Road, Galton Street, and Hillcroft Avenue to transit corridor streets.

And this concludes my uh presentation.

Any questions at this time?

Don't think so.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next item is number three.

B Barker Cypress and proposed North South Minor Collector.

All right, I had a day full of technological issues.

So this is my impromptu speech.

Start with your name, please.

Yes.

Chair and Commissioners and members of the planning and development staff.

My name is Murtaza Nalwala with Riga Engineering Group.

I'm here today representing the property owner and my client, Ibrahim Karimji, regarding the 2026 MTFP amendment request for the property located at Zero Kidsman Road.

Um the request.

Our application formally requests the deletion of two specific designations from the major thoroughfare and freeway plan.

The major thoroughfare T-4-100 designation for Barker Cypress from Grand Parkway to Grant Road, and the minor collector MN-2-60 designation for the proposed north-south segment from Butorax Road to Kidsman Road.

Why are we requesting this?

The primary driver for this request is physical invisibility.

The current alignment crosses a significant floodway as seen on the screen in the Willow Creek watershed, identified as high-risk flood zone.

Constructing a high capacity thoroughfare here would be environmentally environmentally disruptive and prohibitively expensive, likely requiring extensive elevated structures.

Furthermore, the corridor conflicts with critical existing infrastructure, specifically center point energy easements along the east side of the property, and drainage easements that supports existing developed parkland too, which is an established community park.

The another reason why is from the network perspective, these segments are based on our assessment, redundant.

The region is already well served by Cypress Rose Hill, Telge Road, and the Grant Parkway and the Grant Road.

The specific segment of Kidsman does not possess the considerable length necessary to function as a traffic artery.

It seems like right now, currently it's just a local access road.

And our future volume projections are also expected to prove that the traffic count is going to remain low and it's only going to serve the local residents and the weekend park visitors.

Conclusion and request maintaining these designation forces, a hundred foot right-of-way, which severely restricts the development of a low impact gated residential community, which what my client wants.

Removing these designations will actually be physical reality, which is gonna be beneficial to the city, the transportation department, and every entity involved in this, and then would also not restrict the development around that area.

Um, we respectfully request that the commission support this deletion.

I'm available for any questions you or the staff may have.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Commissioners, any questions?

Okay, I'm sure thank you.

I appreciate it.

I'm sure you noted the commissioners that have come in.

Thank you.

Yeah, of course, yes, she got them.

She shook her head at me.

Yes.

Okay, moving on to C.

Kermir Road.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon, Madam Chair, members of the planning commission.

My name is Jennifer Curtis with Meta Planning and Design.

Here to present to you our request for Kermyre Road.

Next slide, please.

Oh, one more, please.

Thank you.

The site is located in Houston ZTJ in northwestern Harris County, south of US 290 in the Hockley area.

Next slide.

Our request is to delete a portion of Kermire Road between Betka Road on the north and Beatty Road on the south.

The segment is about one mile in length.

It is currently not developed, although the intersection of Kermire at Beatty on the south side is being constructed soon as part of the Grand Prairie Development.

Can you go back one, please?

The larger scale one, please.

Thank you.

This segment of Kermyre Road is not essential to the wider thoroughfare grid.

To the north, we have U.S.

290, which is the main commuting route for the region.

All of the thoroughfare connections onto US 290 have on and off ramps, so there's not one prioritized over the other.

Kermyre Road is only half a mile from Warren Ranch Road, which runs in parallel to the east.

As you know, thoroughfares generally are about a one-mile grid apart, so having it less than half a mile apart is a little bit excessive for thoroughfare spacing.

The Beatty Road connection to Kickapoo, which is southwest of the area in red, is um being developed right now as part of the Grand Prairie community.

That um will be constructed probably the middle of next year, and that will complete the grid around the site in question.

So residents in the area will have multiple ways in and out on the rest of the network.

The surrounding uses are primarily single family.

I mentioned the Grand Prairie community.

There's also Grand Prairie Highlands, Jubilee, some other residential communities in the area.

However, on the bottom of this screen, the green area you can see is the northern limits of the coastal prairie conservancy.

The Coastal Prairie Conservancy limits property against development.

So there will not be very many trips originating from that area.

It will remain generally undeveloped, and there will not be a lot of destination trips toward that area.

So there's not a lot of north-south demand south of this general area.

This is kind of the end of where demand is going to happen traffic-wise.

And you can actually see you may not be able to tell at this scale, just south of this tract, the last little piece of Kermire Road is actually just a collector.

Thank you, where the mouse is that curves back into Warren Ranch Road.

So this is already kind of the end of the line as far as Kermyre Road is concerned.

Next slide.

Perfect.

The area shown in red is proposed to be an extension of a data center development that exists on Betco Road.

You can actually see the first building in the top left corner.

The proposed use requires 24-7 security for both personnel and data transfer, which would be severely undermined by a public street of any level cutting through the site.

A public street cutting through the middle of the tract would mean that employees doing nor during normal operations of the property would have to go in and out of security just across the road.

That would be a severe issue.

And aside from security issues, the traffic generated by this development is substantially lower than if the same area were to be developed as single-family homes.

A formal TIA has been prepared that will be submitted to Harris County in the next couple of weeks.

And that TIA found that the proposed development will be contributing at most half the number of daily trips that single family would contribute to the network in the same square footage.

Additionally, we found that only nine percent of the total projected traffic on the surrounding network would be sourced from this project.

Almost all of the traffic in this area is coming from the single family homes.

This data center would be a fraction of a fraction of the total traffic.

Despite the impact, the TAA found that because of the build-up of single family traffic in the area, there are some improvements that are needed to the surrounding network.

Improvements that are needed include two new traffic signals, one at Warren Ranch Road and Betka Road, which is to the northeast, and another at Betka Road and Kermyre Road, which is kind of in the center there.

Thank you.

Three standalone left turn lanes on Warren Ranch Road, Beatty Road, and Betka Road, and some other left-turn lanes associated with some of the intersections and things like that.

The developers committed to providing all of those improvements, despite not contributing total traffic to the grid.

Their pro rata share of the total grid traffic impact is only 9%, like I said.

That's over a million dollars in traffic improvements.

The TIA, like I said, should be submitted in the next couple of weeks, and the developers committed to mitigating any impacts that are identified and working with Harris County on those impacts that would be the result of this development and the removal of Kerrmeyer.

I'm wrapping up.

Next slide.

In conclusion, we are asking for the deletion of Kermaier Road from Betka Road to Beatty Road from the MTFP.

The road is currently proposed as a T4100 major thoroughfare, but does not exist.

Thank you for your time.

I'm available for any questions.

Thank you.

Any questions, Commissioners?

All right.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next item is D.

Mason Road.

Hi, and good afternoon.

My name is Ripley Woodard.

I'm representing meta planning and design the applicants for this request regarding a future portion of major thoroughfare Mason Road.

Next slide, please.

The subject site is located northwest of downtown Houston, within the city's ETJ, just east of the Grand Parkway and west of West Green Boulevard.

Correct.

The requested realignment shown in the exhibit involves an unbuilt segment of a future major thoroughfare Mason Road located between FM 529 and future West Little York Road.

This segment is approximately one mile in length.

From a regional perspective, the proposed realignment is depicted by the red dotted lines.

You can kind of see there, running north-south.

The current mapped alignment goes in a straight line between FM 529 and West Little York, but does not currently exist and is not connecting the regional traffic.

At this scale, the subject realignment request would formalize a correction to the Mason Road alignment previously addressed through a approval of the general plan by the Pinpoint Commercial Property.

For your reference, the current alignment of the road kind of follows the tree line shown to the west of the red dotted lines.

So it runs, like I said, directly north-south along that tree line on the proposed thoroughfare.

Next slide, please.

Yes, and after extensive coordination between Harris County Precinct 4 and the development cons the development consultants of the two trucks affected by this segment of Mason Road.

Our request again is just to realign the proposed thoroughfare to match the approved GPs both north and south of the current tract.

Thank you.

Commissioners, any questions?

All right, thank you.

Moving on to E South Ridge Road.

Good afternoon, Planning Commission.

My name's Jacob Guerrero with Metaplanning Design here to present the MTFP amendment for South Ridge Road.

Next slide, please.

The subject site is located north of downtown Houston within Houston's ETJ, just west of I 45.

Next slide, please.

We are requesting a deletion, as represented in the above exhibit.

The mapped alignment is roughly one mile in ink between major thoroughford Ella Boulevard to the east and Kirkendal Road to the west.

Next slide, please.

I've an exhibit for better reference, not mine.

Document camera.

I'll continue while that's getting uploaded, but the proposed overlaps, excuse me, the proposed alignment overlaps with the existing pipeline and bisects our property and the adjacent property owned by Copano Field Services, a pipeline operator, which is a part of Kender Morgan.

The track is currently currently contained in solid pipeline infrastructure along Kirkendall Road as well as associated equipment as highlighted in the exhibit.

The presence of this existing infrastructure would make it infeasible to maneuver a road through the site.

There's also another pipeline that crosses the Copana pipeline east of this exhibit, which is not shown.

Southridge Road would have to cross the existing pipeline at a 45 degree angle rather than a 90 degree angle preferred by the pipeline operator.

If a connection were to be made, it is ultimately would necessitate the condemnation of property owned by Kinder Morgan, as well as potential relocation of existing pipelines and infrastructure.

And then we can go back to the presentation, please.

Back to presentation.

Next slide, please.

From a regional standpoint.

Oh, one more.

There you go.

From a regional standpoint, the mapped alignment extends less than one mile.

A small portion of South Ridge is fully constructed.

However, the remaining of South Ridge Road remains unbuilt, including this segment within our site.

West of Kirkendal Road lies a large oil and gas field, and due to the presence of existing well heads, the alignment does not extend further west.

Additionally, the area is adjacent to a Spring ISD school facilities east of our subject site.

The Spring ISD school sites to the east already have adequate access to Ella Boulevard.

So this proposed route offers little to no benefit to the area.

We have reached out to Spring ISD, but have not received any response.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Commissioners, any questions?

Yes, Commissioner Matez.

Um you had a comment that it would require uh encroaching on that pipeline property and potentially condemnation, but the alignments away from the pipeline corridor.

I saw it.

So I just want to make sure I understand what you mean when you say that.

Like you're saying that that alignment is shown on top of that pipeline corridor.

It's in close proximity.

Okay, close proximity is not the same as on top of.

Okay, thank you.

And again, a full survey hasn't been prepared.

So once we get that, we'll definitely be able to locate where those pipelines are.

Document camera, please.

Yeah, okay.

So yeah, you wouldn't be taking our encroaching into that pipeline corridor and having to deal with any kind of um condemnation or this is an exhibit.

Like I mentioned, once we get a full survey, we'll be able to identify where the thank you for clarifying.

Great, thank you.

Any other questions?

All right, thank you so much.

Our next one is F.

Vicksburg Boulevard.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon, Planning Commission Chair.

My name is Gerald Grissom.

I'm with BGE.

Um we are presenting Vicksburg Boulevard, which is in the uh southwest Houston.

It's near the intersection of McCard Road and Fort Bentollway.

Uh we're proposing to remove the major thoroughfare alignment in uh 2003.

The original alignment of Hillcroft Road in that area was removed.

Uh the original alignment of Fort Ben Tollway went through that segment.

Uh the alignment changed, and so that alignment never continued through.

So Hillcroft Road, that's what it was originally called, was then removed from the major thoroughfare plan.

In 2015, Fortman County, um, petitioned the city to add Vicksburg Road Boulevard, which is that has the same alignment of the original um Hillcroft Road, and that was added in the 2016 major thoroughfare plan.

The uh since the major thoroughfare uh has been removed from the Fortman County major thoroughfare plan that occurred in April of 2025, and so we're just asking the city to clean up what uh Fortman County has already processed uh by removing the remainder of Vicksburg, which would go nowhere, as you can see.

Um, can you go back?

Show the overall as you can see to the southwest uh on that image there.

Uh Missouri City has already um allowed quite extensive uh development to occur with single-family residential uh and the where the original alignment of Vicksburg Boulevard would have occurred, it uh in Fort Bin County, Vicksburg Boulevard now terminates in a roundabout and goes east and west with new street names.

So there is no um opportunity to have any type of regional connection to Vicksburg in Missouri City.

So that's why we're asking for the amendment today.

Um, it is uh I can't recall, I think it's uh uh T 4100 um for its original um designation.

We're just simply asking for the mission for a thoroughfare plan to be uh brought up to speed with what everybody has done around us.

Okay, thank you.

Commissioners, any questions?

All right, thank you.

Thank you very much.

All right, moving on to G, Coastal Prairie Conservancy.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon.

Um Madam Chair, commissioners, planning staff.

I'm Mary Ann Piacentini.

I'm the president and CEO of the Coastal Prairie Conservancy.

It's a nonprofit land trust, which is um protected about 34,000 acres in nine counties.

Our largest uh preserve system is 20,000 acres, and it's in Harris and Waller County.

Um it is I'm sorry to interrupt you, I this is adjustable.

Oh, thank you.

You saw me standing on my toes.

Sorry.

Um anyway, um, the Katy Prairie Preserve, which is in northern Harris and Eastern Waller, is um, as you can see from the map, is about 20,000 acres, and it is three thirteen times larger than Memorial Park, four-fifths as large as Attics and Barker Reservoir.

Today we are coming with you to you with several amendments, and they generally um, and I'm sorry, I'm gonna read this.

I usually speak extemporaneously, but today I have to read it.

Um we're gonna ask for deleting roads proposed through permanently conserved lands, realigning roads adjacent to conservation lands so that the roadway construction occurs on the adjacent lands, not on ours, and downgrading certain proposed major thoroughfares to minor collector roads.

Why do these amendments matter?

CPC's protected lands provide substantial benefits to the public.

They include wildlife habitat, water quality, air quality, flood mitigation, agricultural operations, then they support recreation, nature tourism, etc.

Many of these lands are accept accessible to the public as well.

They're not vacant lands awaiting development, they are permanently conserved lands that provide long-term ecological, hydrological, agricultural, and community benefits to the Houston region.

Transportation designates designations influence future land use patterns and development expectations.

However, the lands in question are permanently protected and will never be developed.

And either through easement or our ownership.

Conservation lands should be treated as lasting regional assets, not simply as a future transportation corridor.

Map three, okay, shows well that's the total.

Okay, we'll we'll go to the first one.

I guess um map downgrades.

We're requesting that Mound Road, Sharp Road, Abear Road, Jack Road, and Warren Ranch Roads actually remain two-lane, 60-foot minor collector roads, they're all through our land on both sides.

Are they there are protected land?

So we feel like they don't need to be uh expanded.

We don't need more roads through our land.

We have enough ingress and egress to those 20,000 acres.

We also have farm roads, um, agricultural roads and other areas to provide access for visitation.

Um we are requesting the deletion of a number of roads which would impact our lands.

They would trans traverse permanently conserved lands.

There are the extension of Jack Road, the X minor extension of Warren Ranch Road, Kickapoo, Schliff, and Farm to Market 2855.

Um there are a few of those farm to Market 2855 and um that Kickapoo that go through lands that are currently not protected.

However, by the end of the year, those lands will have conservation easements on them.

We're already working with the landowners, they too want to preserve their land.

Given the long term conservation trajectory of these um properties we believe removing the roadway alignments now would better align the MP MTP MTFP with future land use.

You know I'm a planner I should know these things.

Sorry.

That's all right you're you're doing rapid pace.

You're doing well, starting in the five minutes we're also requesting that portions of Mound Road Kickapoo and FM 2855 be realigned so that future roadway construction occur on non-conservation lands we're not trying to stop those lands from being developed but we are saying that if they are developed we should not have our lands condemned to take room for the roadway in closing we recognize that the major thoroughfare and freeway plan was developed as a guide for future development and transportation needs across the region at the same time these conserved lands represent a different and permanent land use decision one that provides substantial public benefits through flood mitigation agriculture water quality wildlife habitat and regional resilience these are protected forever they will never be developed we therefore respectfully ask that the major thoroughfare and freeway plan be amended in a manner that reflects the permanent conservation status of these landscapes and avoids unnecessarily fragmenting lands intentionally protected for the long term benefit of the Houston region.

We will also be working with the Harris County major thoroughfare and freeway plan and the Waller County major major thoroughfare and freeway plan.

Our work benefits wildlife certainly but it also benefits the peach people of the greater Houston region and beyond now and into the future thank you for your conserv for your thank you for your consideration.

Thank you job well done there that was great.

Commissioners any questions all right thank you thank you very much.

Okay.

That takes us to our next steps.

Okay.

Next steps staff will notify affected property owners next week and that will be concluded by the end of May.

From there staff will hope host the virtual open house followed by the planning commission public hearing from there staff will present updates for the amendment requests which will ultimately be acted upon by this commission and city council with the exception of the open house all these meetings we held Thursdays at 1 p.m before regularly scheduled planning commission meetings thank you.

Thank you Mr Butler next item is public comment do I have anyone that would like to make a public comment okay hearing none I'll adjourn this meeting at 1 46 p.m.

Thank you everyone