Houston planning commission recommends amended zoning resolution

HOUSTON — A controversial re-zoning measure was amended and then passed on to the city council by a 3-1 vote Thursday.

The proposal, which seeks to re-zone two parcels owned by the Knikatnu Native Corporation from residential to heavy industrial, drew a capacity crowd (at one point, fire officials asked interested parties to stand in the hallway of the City Hall or on the building’s entry porch) to the Houston City Council Chambers, and about a dozen members of the public commented on the issue.

Knikatnu corporate officials say the rezone will allow them to move forward with pans to build a light manufacturing plant on the parcel for unidirectional LED street lights designed to reduce light effects from the now-ubiquitous arc sodium lights, said Richard Porter, an executive director with the Knik Tribal Council, who spoke not on behalf of the Council, but from his background with the Environmental Protection Agency.

“We’re looking at being a good neighbor,” he said. “We welcome this type of dialog and we’re hoping to be good neighbors.”

An attempt to modify the resolution to keep the smaller of the two parcels — which abuts several residential properties — zoned residential failed by a 2-2 vote. Commission chair Christian Hartley proposed the amendment as a compromise, in which the lion’s share of the property would be available for industrial use, but the buffer would still screen potential off-site hazards from houses.

“My first amendment had the opportunity to create a compromise between the proposed industrial area and people’s houses,” he said. “It’s currently being re-written.”

Planning and city officials say the plant itself could bring about 100 new jobs to the city and an additional $20,000 in tax revenue, with additional potential growth from plant employees relocating to Houston. That revenue could allow the city to provide additional services, like restoring the city’s police department, said mayor Virgie Thompson.

“The city of Houston’s motto is ‘Live, Work, and Play,’” she said. “We live and play, but not work. I receive calls that there are junk cars or trash in the city limits. We are expected to drop everything and check on this. What the city needs is a code compliance division within the city. That costs money.”’

ATV enforcement in the city also causes complaints but would require police, Thompson said.

“How do we fund a police department without further development?” she said. “We don’t.”

Opponents to the measure, who vastly outnumbered supporters at the planning meeting, generally said the potential for growth was overstated. Heavy industrial construction could lower property values, adversely impact their quality of life, and destroy the public credibility of the commission, according to opponents like Cheri Hagen, whose property abuts the parcels.

“My husband I bought the property almost 10 years ago with the plans to build our retirement home on it,” she said. “Now we are faced with having heavy industry behind us. You cannot tell me that is not going to effect the value of our home when we want to sell it or when our heirs want to sell it. It will make a difference … that is not conducive to good valuation.”

Nor were opponents limited to city of Houston residents. Chris Olson lives in the borough on the other side of the Port MacKenzie rail extension, and owns and operates a family farm, technically outside the Houston city limits. The presence of industry could hurt his business.

“We moved out there for the reason of being able to start a family farm and to raise horses and chickens and pigs and cows,” he said. “We have quite an investment in what we have out there. We also came out for peace and quiet.”

“I have a number of huge problems with this project,” Olson added. “It is well-documented that agriculture and heavy industry do not go hand in hand, due to sound, due to noise, due to dirt coming off of heavy industrial areas, it makes having an agricultural setting impossible.”

Others were more circumspect. Rick Dilley told commissioners he wasn’t opposed to development.

“I don’t want noise and dust and pollutants at my house on Pick-A-Dilly (Road) either,” he said. “I feel like we can come to a compromise.”

Several opponents, like commission vice-chair Patricia Faye-Brazel, who eventually cast the lone dissenting vote, alluded vaguely to closed-door meetings between city and Knikatnu officials, or a concerted effort to advance the deal without public input. Faye-Brazel told commissioners she considered resigning over the issue.

“I think tonight we’re seeing the whole thing erupt, and it’s all based on process, and open and transparent governance,” she said. “There were a lot of meetings had, in backrooms between people, meetings off the record. I don’t know. I’m on the commission and I don’t know. So how does the public know? I have a problem with that, a very deep, deep problem. This is a process problem. Whatever happens with the decision, this process is corrupted and it needs to be fixed.”

Faye-Brazel then told a story she claimed to have heard from an Alaska Native storyteller in upstate New York, wherein animals and people make a decision about where to move without including the then-peaceful Brother Wolf. When the wolf returns, he preys upon the animals and people, and when he’s asked why, he tells the people that he wasn’t included and must now eat them to survive, Faye-Brazel said.

“I vote with Brother Wolf,” she said at another point.

City officials — several members of the city council were present for the public hearing — bristled at the suggestion of corruption.

“I’m the most transparent mayor this city has ever had,” Thompson said, during a recess in the meeting.

State law required only the notification of 10 adjacent property owners, but the city notified 102. Of the 10 required to be notified, only two returned their public comment forms.

Hartley told commissioners and the members of the public he was viewing the specifics for the first time that evening.

City officials say concerns about adverse impact on property values were overstated in a 13-signature petition presented to them. Property values at houses near a large industrial park in Palmer are more strongly correlated with property and development size, deputy mayor Lance Wilson told commissioners. Hartley alluded to two studies he said show a potential increase in property taxes.

The three-hour meeting grew heated and unruly at several points. At one point, Hartley asked Faye-Brazel if she knew what would happen on her land in 50 years. Faye-Brazel responded that she wasn’t likely to be here.

“You’ll probably be here just to spite us,” Hartley said.

Several members of the public mentioned the possibility of a coal-fired plant on the site.

“This resolution is not at the petitioner’s request,” Hartley said. “At this time, I will say, the only plan, period, that I have ever heard is an LED light manufacturing plant period. The only time I’ve ever seen the word coal was on Facebook.”

The measure now heads to the next Houston city council meeting Aug. 14.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269 or brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com.