League City officials to share 'new directions' on planning March 23

League City's planners will host an open house on March 23 to share what
they say are big changes in the city's approach to development and
transportation.

"It's not just looking at the Comprehensive Plan," says planner Tony
Allender. "It's looking at a number of additional studies that specifically
address certain topics, specifically the economic development strategic
plan, the branding study that was completed last year, the master trails
plan, as well as updates to our water, wastewater, and stormwater plans."

Allender says the changes the city will roll out are a direct response to
citizen input and "a departure from the way we've looked at things in the
past."

"We have built beautiful neighborhoods, but they're not well-connected
neighborhoods," Allender says. Specifically, he says he'd like to see
subdivisions better-connected to each other, but also to jobs and retail.
"The city outgrew itself in many ways... the congestion that people deal
with literally starts at trying to get out of their subdivisions."

Allender says people told the city to consider everything from cutting down
fewer trees to making walking and biking more convenient, and also to
recognize that "we have people that come from urban environments, people
that come from rural developments.

During the open house, Allender wants to hear "thoughts on what we did right
or wrong." He says he hopes League City can be more of a "proactive player"
when it comes to guiding development and making sure that the city's
infrastructure supports new growth.

"Obviously there's only so much water we can get, there's only so many miles
of pavement we can create, so how do we deal with that?" he adds.

The open house will take place Wednesday, March 23 at 6 p.m. at the Johnnie
Arolfo Civic Center, 400 W. Walker St.