The June 9, 2023, Planning and Zoning meeting was short, but interesting. It included a public hearing regarding proposed ordinance amendments and a presentation of the proposed 5-Year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). Find a link to the meeting here.
Public Hearing
Public comments were encouraged on changes to the following zoning ordinances:
- Through Lots Prohibited, to allow for the approval of through lots if a property meets certain zoning requirements. No public comments.
- To increase the necessary documentation submittal requirements during city plan review related to environmental assessment reporting. No public comments.
- To increase the allowable scoreboard signage area and allow team accolades as apart of the scoreboard signage – to allow team accolades. Two comments.
The Draft CIP FY2023-2027
Each year as Bellaire City Council begins budget discussions for the upcoming fiscal year 5-year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) may be updated. A proposed 5-year CIP was presented to P&Z by Joshua Pascua, Capital Projects and Grants Manager in Public Works, on June 8, 2023.
Most totals are tentative. There is a footer on some pages that reads *Project Total is sum of budget shown, plus past expenditures and unexpended FY23 budget. It Here are some highlights:
- Serious drainage issues need to be addressed and Bellaire will be expected to pay for all or some of the projects including a multi-million dollar project for Cypress Ditch, which is located in Houston. Ardurra consultants are involved and there is a grant request in work.
- More waterline improvements are needed. There’s a $3.1 million grant request in work for a portion of the replacement costs.
- The $8 million paid to Siemens for the Wastewater Treatment Plant overhaul a few years ago apparently did not cover all repairs. More are needed.
- City Parks seem to require more funding every year. A $5 million project for Evergreen Park is included. Find an earlier proposal for the park updates here. Thanks to Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher, a $600,000 grant for park improvements has been received.
- There are a number of new buildings and building repairs on the list, including $9.8 million for a new Public Works building and $11 million for a new Library.
- Also a $479,000 generator, pending a grant request.
- A project to add solar panels to City Hall at a cost of $269k to reduce utility costs. There may be some tax credits associated with that proposal, here’s the ESB proposal for the project. P&Z members expressed some concern over this project.
A similar promise of savings was promised by Siemens when they replaced water meters at a cost of $4.6 million. Good luck finding a simple spreadsheet showing these savings. Find their annual savings report for 2019-2020. Meanwhile Bellaire has paid them $96,435 for the first 2 years of Project Management. Find more on this project here.
Tens of millions in costs are listed in the CIP over the next 5 years. The Chair queried whether this proposed budget was consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and was ssured it is. P&Z members were encouraged to recommend the proposed budget at this meeting.
Find the current 5-year CIP here.
Bonded debt stands at about $100 million. Debt Service (P&I) will run about $9 million this year. No suggestions for bond issues for now. Stay tuned!
Construction on the new Bellaire High school is complete. The original building was demolished during the week of July 13-17, 2021. 
FEMA imposes requirements for new structures and limits on existing structures in flood zones. Check with Development Services for more information,
