HOUSTON — A proposal set to be considered by Houston City Council on Sept. 11 aims to address a chronic issue of the city’s growing development: "sidewalks to nowhere."
In 2023, the council revised the city’s sidewalks requirement for new, single-family homes by allowing developers to opt out of the mandatory building of sidewalks through a fee.
But now, councilmembers believe the effort did not serve its intended purpose and are putting forth a proposal to change the requirements.
“This amendment aims to remove the mandatory sidewalk construction requirement for new single[1]family residential developments, thereby eliminating both the construction requirement and the fee-in[1]lieu option,” the agenda item’s background said.
Councilmember Edward Pollard of District J is among those leading the effort to change the ordinance.
“Residents have been complaining that esthetically, it doesn't make sense, connectivity wise, it doesn't make sense,” Pollard told KHOU 11 News. “And then for the developers, they have to pay a fee not to put it there, but the fee costs so much that they go ahead and put it there anyways, which goes against the intended purpose.”
The funds collected by the fee were set to go to a dedicated fund for city sidewalks, but Pollard said in the year since the fees began being collected, there hasn’t been much to gain from it.
“We have about $700,000 that have been put in that dedicated fund, that $700,000 may provide for four sidewalks,” Pollard said.
Critics argue the proposal would exacerbate the city’s issues with walkability.
“We should be working on figuring how to add sidewalks, not subtract,” Kevin Strickland, the co-founder of Walk and Roll Houston, said in an interview.
Strickland’s organization advocates for more infrastructure that is friendly for pedestrians, cyclists and people with mobility issues.
He believes the proposed change would have an unintended consequence.
“You could be turning what is a block with sidewalks into one without, so we're getting the opposite of what we should be,” Stickland said.
Pollard hopes the council can work on other ways to improve sidewalks and connectivity in the city, without adding to the "sidewalks to nowhere" issue.
“We have areas in our city that want sidewalks that we need to prioritize, instead of forcing the neighborhoods who currently don't have them, to have them,” Pollard said.
The council is set to consider the proposal on Wednesday, Sept. 11. The public can comment on Tuesday, Sept. 10.
The agenda item can be seen here: