AUSTIN, Texas — A Liberty County development that has gotten national attention will be center stage at the Texas Capitol today.
The public is expected to get a clearer picture of the status of the Colony Ridge development in Liberty County. That’s because the development will be the central topic at a public hearing for the State Affairs Committee.
Colony Ridge is a 60-square-mile development that has boomed in population over the last decade.
However, the development became a target of conservative media criticism with descriptions of cartel crime and claims of being a haven for undocumented immigrants, all leading to overwhelmed law enforcement.
The developers told KHOU 11 and lawmakers that those accusations were not accurate. They said the level of crime is like other areas of similar population size.
The developers even invited lawmakers to see the development for themselves, and KHOU 11 got their reaction earlier this month.
“I do not believe this is anything to be alarmed about or using taxpayers’ dollars to talk about next week in the special session,” state Rep. Christina Morales, Houston-D, said.
“They took us to the places that we are seeing on the Twitter-sphere on the news they were very transparent. It's not what the majority are seeing. Looks like places in East Texas. My family’s places in Louisiana,” state Rep. Briscoe Cain, Deer Park-R, said.
Gov. Gregg Abbott added the issue to the special session agenda after calls to put the development under state conservatorship.