Waller County OKs growth plan

Development report claims it will be the first strategically planned county in Texas

Forty miles northwest of downtown Houston, one crosses the boundary into Waller County, a vast swath of prairie land waiting to be developed. There are no hospitals, no county parks and no county drainage district. But growth, over time, has crept its way.

County leaders expect that trend will continue, and they want to manage the change that will come with it. They’ve seen how population growth can transform agricultural Texas landscapes, for better or for worse. The county judge himself grew up in Sugar Land, and watched its pastures be replaced by a bustling, pristine city.

And so, on Thursday, after a day’s delay due to the freezing cold, Waller County commissioners adopted a countywide strategic plan. It is a 98-page document, drafted by the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service, outlining how the rural area aims to take advantage of its good location and open land.

“I’m extremely pleased to present this morning your Waller County long-term comprehensive strategic plan,” said Lisa Mutchler of Texas A&M to the three commissioners present. (One commissioner had a scheduling conflict. Another, like many in Houston, was dealing with a busted pipe in the attic of his home.) “It is your road map to your future.”

Waller County Judge Trey Duhon sat in front of Mutchler as she gave a 19-minute presentation of the plan, explaining the years of

work and large amount of input that had gone into it.

Mutchler commended the commissioners on already working to convert weaknesses in the county into opportunities. She urged them to revisit the plan frequently, and she cautioned that — just as Rome wasn’t built in a day — developing Waller County was going to take time.

For Duhon, who said he campaigned on getting such a plan in place before he took office in 2015, this was what he was most proud of accomplishing during his tenure so far. (He has filed to run for re-election this year and will face two opponents, including Precinct 2 Commissioner Russell Klecka, in the Republican primary.)

Good development, Duhon had noted, only comes with good planning. Here, in a plan intended to be ever-evolving, was a way to express to anyone — including developers or potential new residents — the community’s vision for what it wants Waller County to be: a place defined by qualities such as good infrastructure, ample flood control and affordable housing.

“This is a starting point,” Duhon said after Mutchler’s presentation. “We all kind of have a vision of where we’d like to see Waller County in 20 years .... this now expresses to them, gives them an idea of what that vision is.”

Much of Waller County’s 517.8 square miles today is rural landscape. There is one university, Prairie View A&M. The county seat is Hempstead.

An estimated 50,000 people lived in Waller County in 2016, according to the report. By 2050, the county expects its population to reach at least 86,000 — if not many more.

Managing and encouraging that growth, as the report outlined it, requires keeping an eye on issues such as land use, county services and transportation. Ideas for what to do in the years to come include implementation of plans for tourism, county branding and roads, as well as supporting expansion of the Houston Executive Airport, building a retirement village and ensuring every city has its own zip code.

“Waller County leaders envision a balanced and sustainable economy, which leverages and preserves its natural resources, farm lands and agriculture while also providing opportunities for attracting skilled workers through innovation and job creation,” the report reads. “One path to developing this economy is through the adoption of a single vision: Waller County will be one of the first strategically-planned counties in Texas with a focus on responsible growth that preserves the heritage of the County and its natural resources.”

The county has fought to emerge from the shadow of the death of Sandra Bland, a 28-year-old black woman who became a rallying point for the Black Lives Matter movement after she was pulled over by a state trooper for an alleged traffic violation in 2015 and was found dead following an apparent suicide days later in a Waller County jail cell. The report acknowledges “external perceptions” as a threat to county growth.

Anticipating projects that include its future new jail, the county in the interim hired a construction manager. It also built a community center.

Now, with a hefty new plan, they have more work clearly outlined ahead.