Council voices concerns of potential subdivision

HUNTSVILLE Huntsville City Council seems to have an issue with several aspects of plans for a new subdivision on the south side of town.

Representatives from the Texas Grand Ranch Subdivision, which will be located off of FM 1374, presented their plans for a 2,100-acre, 746-lot neighborhood.

Renee Howes, who represents the developers, said they are requesting six variances from the city development code for the nearly half of the lots that would fall under city jurisdiction, so they can build under the county requirements. They include street width, lot depth and width ratio, streetlights, water lines, and sewage lines.

If Huntsville Planning and Zoning Commission approves the variances on May 15, each potential property owner would have to install their own wells and septic systems. Council members had issues with the number of wells that would be required.

Councilmembers Don Johnson and Tish Humphrey both questioned the ability for that many customers to draw from the same well.

Im surprised the state of Texas still allows that many wells to draw from the same place, Humphrey said. Thats a lot of straws.

Howes said the company performed a groundwater study that showed that the Jasper Aquifer, where the subdivision would draw from, has very good quality water. That aquifer is not connected to the Huntsville water supply.

We talked to (city development director Aron Kulhavy) the city would like to provide us water, but unfortunately...the nearest water supply is more than 7 miles away, Howes said.

Jeff Brown, the engineer helping the company develop plans, said the nearest water plant is 11 miles away, and the nearest sewer treatment plant is 7 miles. That would provide a total cost of more than $10 million, according to the city, and more than $12 million, according to Brown.

Following the code that you have, we dont think thats economically feasible for anybody, Brown said. Yes, well have 750 customers one day. ... But they will build their house when they want to, when they need to.

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Council voices concerns of potential subdivision