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New CS Council looks at growth

Three men who were elected to the College Station City Council after promising to preserve neighborhood integrity said Monday that they've already started formulating strategies on how to keep campaign promises.

Dennis Maloney, who unseated Ron Gay in Saturday's election, said he wants to form a committee of home builders, city staff and elected officials to streamline development processes. John Crompton, who defeated political newcomer Derek Dictson, said he wants to proceed rapidly with implementing rental property registration, impact fees and "green" initiatives. Meanwhile, Larry Stewart, who ousted Chris Scotti, said he plans to spend the next few weeks reading and getting up to speed on city policies and ordinances.

Maloney's plan to create better development policies isn't an entirely new idea. A "blue-ribbon committee" was appointed by former City Manager Tom Brymer in 2004 to study complaints of inefficiencies and communication barriers in the Planning and Development Services Department.

A report issued by the committee showed a "pervasive anti-business attitude [within city government] that most developers are against good development -- or at least cannot be trusted to provide a quality product." Interviews also were conducted with 18 members of the local development community, several of whom said the city's planning department was "inconsistent and unreliable in its decisions and lacking in a service mentality."

The report prompted minor changes, including faster turnaround times for plan review and building inspections. A new department director, Bob Cowell, was hired last year. But still the perception remains that College Station is difficult to work with and some policies are onerous and unnecessary, Maloney said Monday.

"We have a rule that says if you have two steps going up to a home, you have to put in a hand rail," he said. "That's crazy. If a person needs a hand rail, then they can put one in, but not everyone needs one. We need to get the builders in here and talk about what we're doing unnecessarily that's increasing the overhead for these guys."

The department also remains inconsistent, Maloney said, explaining that the permitting and plan review process was fast-tracked for Gander Mountain sporting goods store in 2006, but other developers have to go through a longer, more tedious process.

"Let's make it predictable," he said. "Let's get a handbook and treat everyone equally. Let's have the security of knowing that you're not going to get blindsided by esoteric, bureaucratic processes."

Maloney, who served two terms on the City Council from 1999 to 2005, said he thinks the processes can be changed in a comprehensive review by a committee that includes two developers, two home builders, two members of the Planning and Zoning Commission, two council members, Public Works Director Mark Smith and Cowell.

"That group can determine what it's costing the city when we see sprawl development," he said. "We need to come up with a reasonable and acceptable impact fee schedule to keep up with infrastructure. This is our community, and we have an obligation to everyone in it. People talk about, 'Woe is us, business is going to be in trouble,' but they haven't solved any problems in the last three years. We need to sit down as reasonable people and solve these problems once and for all."

Managed growth

The candidates who won Saturday's election each were criticized by their opponents on the campaign trail for promoting strategies, such as impact fees, that would make development more difficult.

Developers already pay a parkland dedication fee of about $900 per lot and have said that any additional fees would be passed on to new homeowners and force the cost of living in College Station to increase.

Crompton acknowledged Monday that those elected over the weekend likely would pursue higher development fees. He added, however, that he believes the election sent "a clear mandate" that residents want growth to pay for itself, an idea he's been promoting for more than a year.

"This is the beginning of managed growth in College Station," he said. "Of course there will continue to be growth. I have absolutely no problem with growth. But three questions need to be asked: Is it consistent with the comprehensive plan? Does it in any way negatively impact existing neighborhoods? And do we have the infrastructure to accommodate that growth?"

The councilman said there's no evidence that growth is being stymied by onerous regulations.

"Sales figures are through the roof," he said. "Permits are up. Whenever I have asked developers for the details of what the problem is, I have never had a good answer."

The first orders of business for Crompton, now that he's been re-elected, are to move swiftly over the next four to six months to implement impact fees, a rental property registration program, civil penalties for neighborhood nuisances and a code enforcement team to address behavioral issues, he said.

He said he also wants to proceed with a plan to "green" the community. An advisory board was appointed at a recent council meeting and is expected to deliver recommendations in about three months.

Moving forward

Dictson, Crompton's opponent, said Monday that he resigned Sunday from his seat on the College Station Planning and Zoning Commission "so the new council can appoint someone more in line with their views on property rights and city planning." He said he didn't know if he would run again for public office.

"It is very difficult for new ideas and policy proposals to gain traction in the current political environment where one or two hot-button issues trump everything else and 85 percent of registered voters do not participate," he said Monday. "I was honored to have been a participant in the process and I wish Dr. Crompton, Mr. Maloney and Mr. Stewart the best as they represent all of us on the City Council."

Scotti, one of two incumbents who was defeated Saturday, said he doesn't think growth will come to a halt, but the locations where development occurs could change.

"I believe the new council needs to be very careful to avoid encouraging sprawl through their belief in controlling growth," Scotti said. "I see a lot of similarities to what happened in Austin some years back. People and businesses moved in outside the city limits, and ultimately put a huge burden on the infrastructure for which it was not designed."

He said he hopes the council will give close consideration to the projects considered for a November bond issue.

"The citizens, staff and past council highly recommended transportation to be the majority of the focus," Scotti said. "Instead the committee, dominated by my opponent's supporters, pulled the most critical transportation issues off to make room for other important, but not critical, projects including a senior center, city hall and parks.

"This is going to be a hard decision for the new council, because they are either going to have to go against their supporters and do what is best for the city or force the citizens to pay higher taxes and fees to accommodate the transportation projects that must be done," Scotti said.

Gay, the other incumbent ousted in Saturday's election, was in Washington, D.C., on Monday with a delegation from the Bryan-College Station Chamber of Commerce and could not be reached for comment.

Stewart, who will be sworn into office next week alongside Crompton and Maloney, said Monday he was "doing homework" and studying the city he was elected to serve.

"You're in the misinformation business if you're saying this election is the end of growth," he said. "We understand what has to be done, and it's a matter of avoiding Houston-style growth. I was in Houston on Sunday, and when you look down [U.S.] 290, you see what having no zoning does to a city. You've got strip malls right on top of subdivisions, tall buildings right up on expensive homes. You've got streets that are continually having to be rebuilt."

Each of the newly elected candidates dismissed the idea that they are like-minded and will vote as a slate.

"We have different personalities, different backgrounds," Stewart said. "We all bring a different stock of information to the plate, which will be better in the long run for the city."

A City Council retreat is planned for June 30 and July 1, at which the entire panel will map out its vision for the next year.

• April Avison's e-mail address is april.avison@theeagle.com.