Conroe City Council voted 3-2 to enact a temporary citywide development moratorium, citing water capacity concerns and state compliance risks.
Concerns about overused water resources led the Conroe City Council to decide 3-2 on May 8 to start the official process of temporarily stopping all new construction in the city. Howard Wood and Harry Hardman, two council members who opposed the move, said it could hurt the economy.
The vote doesn't stop construction immediately, but it gives city staff time to make official documents and set up public meetings. The council will decide on whether to add the moratorium after the hearings. Council Member Marsha Porter clarified that this was not a vote on a ban. "This is a vote on how to set up a ban. If I have to make a choice, I'd rather do it right than mess with the people of Conroe.
City Attorney Mike Garner said that Conroe is not following the rules for water capacity set by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). If they don't, they could face daily fines of up to $25,000 and even state involvement. The city is trying to get a waiver so that they can use a lower water connection threshold for multifamily housing, but things are still unclear.
Brandy Taylor, who manages the city's buying contracts, said that years of water infrastructure projects that didn't get enough money got Conroe to this point. "That's \$112.5 million that we could have spent on water and sewer infrastructure," she stated.
Since last year, the City Council has temporarily suspended certain activities in some parts of the city. Two public meetings will be held in the next few weeks before the wide-scale pause is finally voted on.
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