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The Woodlands taking in stray parcels near Houston line

Woodlands action removes Houston's jurisdiction over sites

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When leaders of The Woodlands and the city of Houston signed an agreement in 2006 to protect the prosperous suburb from annexation for at least four decades, it allowed the township to set a path separate from that of the nation's fourth-most populous city.

However, the agreement didn't protect every piece of land in The Woodlands. Like holes on Swiss cheese, there are parcels of land scattered throughout The Woodlands that remain part of Houston's extraterritorial jurisdiction, meaning they could be annexed by the city even though those parcels aren't contiguous to it.

It has prompted some land owners to try to secure the character of existing neighborhoods by petitioning The Woodlands to annex the properties.

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Two weeks ago, The Woodlands board and Houston officials agreed to amend the 2006 agreement to allow six parcels to become part of the township. The parcels annexed are located in the Creekside Park, Indian Springs and Grogan's Mills communities and will together add about 90 acres to The Woodlands.

But this wave of annexations may not be the last.

Leaders in The Woodlands are having ongoing talks about whether to incorporate and form a new form of government someday. The Woodlands has at least six other tracts within its geographical area that are "not in the township, but are within Houston's extraterritorial jurisdiction," said John Powers, assistant general manager for The Woodlands.

Although there aren't any immediate plans for The Woodlands to annex the remaining properties, he said, board members support taking steps to convert the master-planned community of 107,000 residents into a municipality.

But to do that, officials and staff in The Woodlands say, it's important to fill in the holes in its boundaries with the parcels, some of which are owned by residential developers.

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Municipal groundwork

Gordy Bunch, a member of The Woodlands board, said it's the board's mission to lay the groundwork for becoming a town or city.

"That's my goal and that's what I want The Woodlands to achieve," he said. "That's what we should be working toward, because that's our ultimate goal."

The Woodlands has until 2057 to incorporate. If it doesn't, it leaves a door open for Houston to take in the 28,000-acre community.

Under the 2006 agreement, The Woodlands pays Houston one-sixteenth of 1 percent of its sales tax - or $1.3 million a year - in exchange for protection from annexation by the city.

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The deal also allows The Woodlands to incorporate starting this year, but with a consultant reporting that property taxes would rise 70 percent, officials haven't rushed to do so.

Under the agreement, Houston must agree to any annexations by The Woodlands. Due to the location of the parcels, though, Houston officials say it is "highly unlikely that (Houston) would even consider the parcels for annexation."

A 2-year-long process

Mike Page, legal counsel for The Woodlands, said the parcels are owned by The Woodlands Land Development Co. and third-party residential developers. Page said the annexation has been a two-year-long process and allows the developers "to protect their flanks with additional development."

According to township documents, the recently annexed properties are intended for residential and commercial development. Page said the annexation helps preserve The Woodlands' boundaries.

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The benefits of annexing the parcels are numerous, said Paul Layne, executive vice president of The Howard Hughes Corp., the parent organization of The Woodlands Development Co.

The annexations allow The Woodlands to maintain "phenomenal quality control" over architectural and signage, he said. Layne said that kind of control is a benefit to future residential and business development. He added that without the annexation, it would be difficult to provide utility services like water and sewer to the properties.

"When you're a part of The Woodlands, you're a part of a community that many others outside of the community don't get to enjoy," he said. "The annexation allows us to provide all of the benefits of being in The Woodlands."

John D. Harden is a data and breaking news reporter for the Houston Chronicle.

He joined the Chronicle in spring 2014.

In 2017, National Press Foundation honored the Houston Chronicle for it's series Chemical Breakdown. The judges praised the application John helped code, which was central to the series. The application allowed readers to look up chemical facilities with a "potential for harm" that exist in their backyards.