Brian Crimmons, the senior city planner who deals with parking, landscaping, and policy; Ryan Allbright, planner involved in hotel & motel; and Richard, discuss how the city gets involved in development. Houston is a developer driven city. Cheap fees makes it attractive to redevelop or develop within or without the city. They went on to discuss what Houston does about sprawl in their city. Development impact fees are higher for sprawling areas. Electrical and cable companies charge more the further out you go. Wastewater is paid for by the developer. Also developers have to pay for roads if there aren't roads already. They have to pay as they go. The city's goal is to create incentives for infill developments i.e. transit corridor incentives. They focus on "node" type development. Nevertheless, there are always people who are going to want to live outside the city. People who live in the city generally rent as opposed to owning their houses. The three discussed Ch. 42, and how it was a constantly changing set of rules, as developers tend to make the laws fit them!
Houston doesn't get into nitty-gritty such as height restrictions, or different types of residential, and Mutlti-family has no density limits.
The city does enforce deed restrictions however. The rail line is bringing new growth to the east side of town. There has been 5 M allocated to the West End to remediate brownfields. There are also incentives to build near light rail. Environmental issues: they prefer to lead with a carrot than beat with a stick. Houston's flexibility allows for development creativity.
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