Floodway coalition holds first town hall meeting

Property owners from different neighborhoods share floodway restriction concerns

Over 200 people attended a town hall meeting sponsored by the Floodway Coalition of Houston to discuss the effects of city ordinance 19-43 on property owners in the floodway. The ordinance prohibits building on property in the floodway, or substantially improving or repairing structures in the floodway. The Coalition wants to change the ordinance because they say it "devastates" their property rights and devalues their property. There are up to 10,000 property owners who have been put in the floodway by the redrawn flood maps.

The meeting was one of many the Coalition plans to have in order to inform as many floodway property owners as possible of the implications of the ordinance and how it can be changed. Speakers included Coalition members Diane Mosier, Carol Klieber, Bruce Norcini, Mary Jane O'Fiel, Bruce Mosier, Nancy Wilcox and Council Member Ron Green.

The members urged those in attendance to be proactive in contacting the Mayor and City Council Members about changing the ordinance. They said that the real issue is the taking of land by the city for the moving of water without compensating the land owners. They also emphasized the fact that Harris County has completed floodway mapping for less than half the streams and bayous in the county, so more property will be put in the floodway in the future.

Council Member Green said that the City Council needs to go back and look at the ordinance and see where some changes can be made. He said Council Members are listening to what the Coalition is saying, and many want to see this ordinance changed.

Most attendees at the meeting live in the floodway along White Oak and Little White Oak Bayous. Some live in the Lake Houston and San Jacinto River watersheds. Others live along Sims Bayou, or in neighborhoods like Inwood Forest, Woodland Trails North, and Kingwood. They expressed common concerns about flooding and the impact of floodway restrictions.

Many said they were unaware of the ordinance and said they appreciated the Coalition's efforts to inform them on these issues.