November 2024

Houston City Council approved Walkable Places and Special Parking Area designations for the Park Eight Place multi-use development in the Westchase area on Thursday, Nov. 14. Park Eight Place is the first developer-initiated Walkable Place Area application submitted since the ordinance and three city-initiated pilot areas were approved in 2020.

Dubbed an urban village featuring retail, restaurants, recreation and entertainment, hotel, residential office, and green space, Park Eight Place is a 70-acre development located in the Westchase District, north of Bellaire Blvd. and west of Beltway 8 in the former Halliburton Oak Park campus. The development is adjacent to Arthur Storey Park and the Brays Bayou Greenway Trail. Work on infrastructure is expected to start in late 2024.

“The plans for Park Eight show what’s possible when Walkable Places standards work in concert with creative design to improve the Houston pedestrian experience,” said Planning & Development Department Director Vonn Tran.

The Walkable Places designation benefits:

• property owners by reducing building setback requirements, allowing more buildable area and adjusting parking requirements when combined with a special parking area application
• pedestrians by creating safer and more walkable streetscapes, easy entry into buildings and more spaces to gather
• business owners by requiring windows and front door access along sidewalks that increase foot traffic, interest and visibility
• neighborhoods by creating an activated area with more eyes on the street.

Read the full press release.

The Planning and Development Department is proposing amendments to the Sidewalk Network Ordinance (Article XXII of Chapter 40) that will address sidewalk construction exemption criteria, simplify the ordinance, eliminate confusion and redundancy, streamline the application process, and address unconnected sidewalk segments in neighborhoods.

The Department hosted a series of eight in-person and virtual meetings to outline the changes in the proposed sidewalk amendments. If you missed the presentation, please watch this video. The previously announced schedule for Planning Commission consideration, the Council Quality of Life Committee presentation, and City Council consideration has been postponed to allow more time for analysis of feedback and data. Please check the Sidewalk Ordinance Amendments webpage for updates.

City Council approved the designation of the Pat Walsh Memorial Bikeway in honor of the former City of Houston Planning Director, who died of brain cancer in 2018 at the age of 45. Walsh was a proponent of bikeways, and the one that will bear his name is a roughly one-mile stretch of existing bikeway in the Montrose area on Woodhead Street from W. Clay Street to Vassar Street. The City will install commemorative signage in 2025. View a map of the bikeway.

During his tenure Walsh led the adoption of both Plan Houston, the City’s first general plan, in 2015, and the first update to the City’s bicycle master plan in almost 25 years. Walsh's family was present at City Hall to witness this special occasion. The family met with Mayor John Whitmire, who expressed his gratitude for Walsh's dedication to our city.

A comprehensive relaunch of the PlatTracker development application portal is coming your way in the New Year. The new platform replaces an outdated application developed in-house more than 10 years ago. The new PlatTracker is expected to go live in early 2025. The Department will also launch improvements to the Houston Preservation Tracker in Spring 2025.

The new PlatTracker continues to serve the established purposes and will additionally:

• improve efficiency with a dashboard information display
• streamline the application process
•  provide an intuitive user interface that is easy to navigate
•  allows users to build a personalized workspace
• improve routine task workflow for Planning staff
•  improve the integration of external systems such as payments and geographic information systems
• optimize cloud file storage and enable remote access, sharing and exchange of notes

For more information, visit https://plattracker.houstontx.gov/edrc/login.aspx. Subscribe for updates at bit.ly/planning_signup.

The Houston Office of Preservation is working with the Norhill neighborhood to develop a set of historic design guidelines. The Department is hosting meetings to discuss the final draft of the guidelines with property owners in the district. Join us at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 18 at Montie Beach Community Center, 915 Northwood St.

Visit https://www.letstalkhouston.org/historic-district-norhill to view the draft design guidelines.

HISD Austin High School seniors in the Business Career Technology Education course examine a plat on their visit to the Planning and Development Department.

Planning and Development Department team members gave a presentation to a group of Houston Independent School District Austin High School students on Nov. 20. Staff shared an overview of their work, gave career insights and provided demonstrations of Planning-related applications. The students are seniors in the Business Career Technology Education course who are touring various City departments to explore possible internship opportunities.

Presenters included Devin Crittle, Terrance Jackson, Misty Staunton, Davonte Caldwell, Wilson Calvert and Elise Marrion.

The Geographic Information Systems team participated in events at the Houston Area GIS Day at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. Staff displayed maps created by the mapping and demographics team, some informational handouts on using MyCity for GIS data and Map Viewer, and a video highlighting some of the online mapping services such as preparing dashboards and online data portals. Participating staff included Ryan Jost, Rupesh Koshy, Sona Sunny, Milady Quintanilla, and Davonte Caldwell.

This year's GIS Day theme "Mapping Minds, Shaping the World," highlights how GIS technology has changed the way we understand, navigate and shape our world.

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Houston, TX 77002 

832-393-6600

www.houstonplanning.com

planningdepartment@houstontx.gov