Council approves reimbursement deal for Town Center traffic signal after split vote

Pearland City Council on Monday approved Resolution R2025-98 authorizing a reimbursement agreement with Pelican Builders for a traffic signal at Business Center Drive and the south driveway into Town Center, passing 4-3.

The agreement lets Pelican install and pay the initial cost for the signal; the city will reimburse Pelican later from pro rata shares paid by adjacent or future developments. Council Member Cozza moved approval; the motion passed with four ayes and three noes.

Council members and staff focused on how the pro rata shares were calculated. Council Member Patel questioned the reliability of separate traffic-engineer trip counts used by different developers, noting the Residence Inn now faces a roughly $68,000 contribution and asking whether that cost was fair because the apartment project triggered the need for the signal. “So why are we penalizing everybody else now?” Council Member Patel asked, arguing the timing left the nearly-complete hotel with a sizable bill.

Staff member Raj explained the city relied on trip-generation estimates provided by traffic engineers for the hotel, apartments and other nearby projects and that the signal was already designed and warranted. Raj said the pro rata shares were developed from the engineers’ AM and PM peak trips and the same methodology was applied for the eastern future-development acreage. Raj told council the signal would not be installed without meeting warrants and that construction permits are conditioned so certificates of occupancy will not be issued until required improvements are installed or contributions made.

Council and staff reviewed sample trip numbers used in the calculation: the hotel estimate (97 rooms, 8,900 square feet of meeting space) was listed as 95 AM/PM peak trips, and the apartment estimate (337 units) was presented as 189 AM/PM peak trips. Staff said the apartment trip generation used an apartment-specific factor and that the engineers’ AM/PM peak counts, not 24-hour totals, were the basis for the pro rata shares.

Supporters of the agreement noted the pro rata approach is a common way to fund intersection signals in commercial corridors and pointed to similar arrangements used on other Pearland corridors. Opponents said the timing left some projects unexpectedly liable and asked the city to revisit the exhibit explaining the pro rata math.

The final recorded vote was: Member Kosa: Aye; Member Carbone: Aye; Member Chavarria: No; Member Cade: No; Member Fernandez: Aye; Member Patel: No; Mayor Pro Tem Barham: Aye. The motion passed 4 to 3.

Council directed staff to continue sharing the traffic studies among developers and to provide clearer documentation of the pro rata methodology for future agreements.

The reimbursement agreement is effective immediately; staff said property owners in future phases will be charged their pro rata share when their developments move forward or per the reimbursement agreement terms.