The Houston Budget and Fiscal Affairs (BFA) Committee has proposed a series of changes to the city’s open space ordinance seeking to enhance funding for public projects and parks. Among these changes preliminarily voted on by the committee, the city will begin collecting developer fees to fund park maintenance and enhancement.
The open space ordinance provides Houston with the funding it needs to ensure residential areas have access to greenspace, including parks, recreational amenities and open space. This would include buying new parkland or improving existing parks.
With the changes advanced, the Houston City Council will now consider requiring multifamily developments to pay fees for park spaces. Currently, the ordinance permits developers to create park space on properties. Should the changes receive approval, developers will no longer be allowed to offer a dedication of land or a fee-in-lieu instead of paying the fee.
The change, implemented to comply with state law, ensures that developers pay a $700 fee per dwelling unit at the issuance of Certificate of Occupancy. The BFA will consider increasing that fee at a later date over the summer. The committee also included the addition of a process for appeal for developers with multifamily developments.
The BFA introduced another addendum to the changes that will allow the city to use 30% of collected fees to be used in different park sectors, allowing a broader distribution of park maintenance funding across the city. The new distribution capabilities will ensure Houston can support underutilized, underfunded parks by pulling the proceeds from higher earning areas. According to a report, five parks in Houston bring in $53 million alone.
Additional changes to the ordinance include:
- Designating all territory as “suburban,” “urban,” or “Central Business District” to meet criteria for setting fee.
- Adopting a low fee option.
- Extending time for paid funds to be obligated from three years to five.
- Revising the ordinance to provide the parks director with the authority to manage and expend funds instead of the parks board.
Photo by Eddie O. from Pexels
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