Pearland creates Smith Ranch Road public-improvement district to fund $6.1 million sewer improvements; Rockefeller Group to contribute $1.5M

Pearland’s City Council on Aug. 11 approved creating a Smith Ranch Road public improvement district to finance sewer infrastructure needed for a proposed Rockefeller Group mixed‑use development, voting 5‑1 to form the district while reserving final assessment amounts for later hearings.

Council members approved the resolution to create the district after a staff presentation that described an approximately $6,100,000 engineering estimate to add gravity sewer lines on Hughes Ranch Road and Smith Ranch Road No. 2, a new lift station and a force main to route flows to the city’s Reflection Bay treatment plant. City staff and the developer told council the Rockefeller Group will contribute $1,500,000 toward the improvements and that the Pearland Economic Development Corporation (PEDC) will advance roughly $4,600,000 under a reimbursement agreement; assessments to individual parcels will be set later and paid under options that include a single prepayment, annual installments up to 20 years, or payment at the time of sale or development.

The council vote created the PID but did not levy assessments. Staff and the PID consultant said the next steps are a formal preliminary service-and-assessment plan, a September cost‑determination resolution, and additional public hearings before the council considers an assessment ordinance that would be recorded in the county property records.

The project arose after engineers determined existing sewer capacity along Smith Ranch Road would not support a previously approved 320‑unit apartment project and other nearby development. To avoid funding the work through the city’s water‑and‑sewer enterprise fund or forming a municipal utility district (MUD), property owners petitioned to form a PID that would allocate the infrastructure cost as assessments on benefiting parcels.

City staff, the PID consultant and the Rockefeller Group described three payment pathways for property owners: a single lump sum paid before infrastructure acceptance (no interest), annual installments (up to 20 years if started at the outset), or a special option in this PID to delay payment until property sale or development, at which time interest accrued would be paid. Interest on unpaid assessments will be set using a bond‑buyers index roughly aligned to current tax‑exempt borrowing (the consultant and staff cited roughly 5%–5.5% as the market reference at the time of the presentation); the exact rate and assessment allocations will be finalized in the upcoming assessment plan and hearings.

Several landowners who own property inside the proposed district spoke in favor. Richard Acheson, the owner of the largest tract, said the sewer access “dramatically improves my property” and that he was “very, very much for it.” Nick Modemedi, another owner who supports the project, said sales comparables on nearby parcels with utilities show land values rising to $12–$15 per square foot once utilities are in place, arguing the assessment will be a small fraction of future value. Paul Edwards, an owner of a parcel shown as excluded because it lacks legal access to a public right‑of‑way, asked the council to include his tract, saying exclusion would “cause me irreparable harm.” Staff and the developer said the excluded parcel lacks current access to the roadway and sewer alignment; staff explained that an excluded parcel may be added only if it was part of the original petition or if the owner later consents and the property is demonstrated to receive a direct and special benefit.

Council also approved, by a separate unanimous vote, the development agreement and a reimbursement agreement intended to pass PEDC funds through the city to the developer to construct the improvements. Staff said any costs above the current $6.1 million estimate would be borne by the EDC and would not be reimbursed by assessments.

The council’s action creates the administrative district. Assessment levies, exact rider amounts per parcel and the schedule for collection will be decided at future hearings after staff completes the preliminary service‑and‑assessment plan and posts required notices to property owners.

Ending: The council directed staff to return with cost determinations and the formal assessment plan in September and to conduct the statutorily required public hearings before any assessments are recorded. The developer and several landowners said they intend to pursue construction as soon as permitting and financing are complete.