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2007 Cypress Creek Greenway Project (CCPG) Activities
The CCGP is a key focus area for
the Cypress Creek Flood Control Coalition in its efforts
to promote a multi-use
(see Glossary)
approach to land use within the Cypress Creek
watershed. This multi-use approach combines flood
mitigation with preservation and recreation. Under
the stewardship of a committee appointed by the Board to
foster its creation and development, the CCGP proposes,
advocates and coordinates the development of a
continuous greenway along Cypress Creek extending from
west of U.S. Highway 290 to the east where Cypress
Creek joins Spring Creek. As an integral component of
the multi-use design approach for the regional watershed
master plan, it will include a trail system connecting a
series of existing and future anchor parks threaded
along the Greenway. Additional trails along the major
tributaries of Cypress Creek will branch out into
residential areas adjacent to the Cypress Creek
corridor. In short, development of the Cypress Creek
Greenway will serve to mitigate flooding, provide
recreational opportunities, and preserve natural habitat
across the entire Cypress Creek watershed.
While there are existing parks such
as Telge, Meyer and Collins Parks along Cypress Creek,
the CCGP is working to expand both the number and type
of anchor parks. To do this CCGP is working with
developers, HCFCD, the Parks Departments of Harris
County Precincts 3 and 4, and the various MUDs bordering
Cypress Creek. Progress was made in many areas during
2006.
V&W Partners Ltd. (Kickerillo and
Mischer) and General Growth Properties are both
developing significant acreage tracts adjacent to
Cypress Creek, and CCPG has worked with both of them to
encourage the preservation of areas immediately adjacent
to Cypress Creek.
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V&W is developing The Vintage,
a 500-acre retail and residential development north
of Cypress Creek on the east side of SH 249.
Through the efforts of the HP Park Alliance, of
which CCFCC is an active member, V&W has agreed to
set aside approximately 100 acres as the Kickerillo
Mischer Preserve. Title to this acreage will be
conveyed to Harris County sometime during 2007.
This tract lies immediately adjacent to Cypress
Creek, is largely wooded, and includes a 40-acre
lake as well as approximately twenty acres in a
strip along Pillot Gully. The Alliance has been
working with V&W as well as Harris County Precinct 4
Parks Department on the conceptual plans for this
passive recreational area and preserve. The cost to
V&W of the land included in this donation exceeds $9
million. In addition, V&W has discussed the
possibility of including seventy-five acres of
detention pond acreage downstream adjacent to
Cypress Creek in an additional, future donation.
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General Growth Properties is
developing the Bridgeland, a 10,000-acre planned
community adjacent to and south of Cypress Creek,
west of U.S. Highway 290. In meetings with the
developer, CCGP has discussed its plans and hope
that the Bridgeland acreage and trails will connect
to the future Cypress Creek Greenway both upstream
and downstream from their development. Currently,
the conceptual plans for Bridgeland include a
900-acre preserved area with trails along Cypress
Creek at the northern border of their development.
CCGP is very encouraged and pleased
by the preserved areas that both Bridgeland and V&W are
including in their plans, and the potential that these
areas add to the Cypress Creek Greenway.
Presently, activity is underway
that could result in three additional anchor park sites
being developed along Cypress Creek:
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Cypress Park is a 116-acre,
county-owned park tract near the confluence of
Cypress and Little Cypress Creeks. Currently a
regional detention basin is being excavated on this
tract by a private contractor through an agreement
with Harris County. Upon the completion of the
excavation on this tract and on an adjacent 40-acre
privately owned tract, the 40-acre tract will be
deeded over to the County, and the development of a
passive park by Precinct 3 Parks Department on the
combined 156 acres is planned. CCGP has been
working with Precinct 3 Parks Department, HCFCD, and
other stakeholders on the development of a
conceptual park plan which includes a wet bottom
detention pond (lake), trails and other amenities.
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Near Spring Gully, HCFCD has
made an offer to purchase a 75-acre tract adjacent
to Cypress Creek. The subject tract is bordered
both upstream and downstream by currently owned
HCFCD tracts. If this purchase is successful, the
combined tracts will preserve a significant acreage
tract which lies mostly in the floodway, and which
will be suitable for passive recreational use.
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East of the Hardy Toll Road,
the Timber Lane UD has plans for the development of
as much as 268 acres of park along four and a half
miles of Cypress Creek pending the acquisition of
some key acreage tracts and their obtaining adequate
funding for park development.
In addition to creating new anchor
parks, CCGP continues to meet with Homeowner
Associations (HOAs) and MUDs, as well as the Precinct 3
and 4 Parks Departments, to encourage them to consider
undertaking the development of trails along Cypress
Creek that will link the anchor parks. CCGP anticipates
that the first of these links will be a trail connection
between Meyer and Collins Parks undertaken by Precinct 4
Parks Department. Engineering for this trail connection
is largely complete, and right-of-way acquisition is
underway. If plans go according to schedule, this link
could be finished by the end of the third quarter. The
CCGP received a $10,000 grant from REI early in 2006,
which is being applied towards amenities for the
Meyer-Collins connection. In addition, CCGP
participated with REI and Precinct 4 Parks in sponsoring
a work day event for National Trails Day last June
during which sixty volunteers completed several projects
in Meyer Park. We also participated in REI Paddle Day
events in May and September of last year.
During 2006 we provided a grant to
North Harris Montgomery Community College which resulted
in the development of a GIS-based data base to use in
our efforts to identify suitable tracts for preservation
and inclusion within the Cypress Creek Greenway. Having
a tool to effectively use in developing an inventory of
the acreage along Cypress Creek is very important to our
efforts.
CCFCC’s Cypress Creek Greenway
Committee continues to serve as an advocacy,
communication and networking entity which is aware of
activities across the watershed that have an impact on
the development of the Cypress Creek Greenway. We
continue to make more residents aware of our plans and
are working to assist in making connections between and
among the various groups who can work together to make
the Cypress Creek Greenway a reality.
Funding
Securing Greenway acreage and then
arranging for its development will be a time-consuming
and costly endeavor. HCFCD plays an essential role in
securing grant funds to offset scarce county funding.
Associations and organizations that support Greenway
preservation (i.e., Bayou Preservation Association,
Legacy Land Trust, and The Park People) are potential
partners in securing funds and partnering with Harris
County Precincts 3 and 4 and local citizens’ groups (MUDs,
HOAs, etc.) to make such a huge project possible. Cost
estimates for land acquisition, infrastructure
development, personnel, and maintenance are simply not
determinable at this time, but the cost of a typical
recreational park facility, which might include a
pavilion, picnic areas, playground, parking lots, and
comfort stations is significant. Also looming is the
substantial cost of building hike-and-bike trails that
will ultimately connect all of the anchor parks along
the entire length of Cypress Creek.
One potential method of getting
individual homeowners involved in the financial support
of the Cypress Creek Greenway is through small monthly
voluntary contributions collected by neighborhood
MUDs on monthly water bills. This way, every family in
the watershed has the opportunity to become a
stakeholder in their local park system at a minimal (and
voluntary) cost.
Harris County
Precinct 4 Parks
Park Amenities:
Visit:
http://www.hcp4.net/parks/amenities.htm
Park Listings:
Visit:
http://www.hcp4.net/parks/index.htm
Park Index:
Visit:
http://www.hcp4.net/parks/index.htm
For questions or
additional information please contact:
Jim Robertson,
Chairman, Cypress Creek Greenway Project (jhrver@aol.com).
Take a look at the
presentation Jim Robertson made
at the January 2007 AWBD meeting....click on the link
below.
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