Conroe council denies exemptions to development moratorium amid water-capacity concerns

CONROE, Texas — The Conroe City Council on June 12 denied requests by developers to exempt several subdivisions from the city’s temporary moratorium on new development, concluding that adding connections would further stress the city’s North End water system.

The 
motion, made by Councilwoman Porter and approved in a 4-1 vote, rejected exemption requests for projects including Clopton Farms and Westridge Cove and left the temporary moratorium in place while the city completes planned infrastructure improvements. Councilman Wood cast the lone dissenting vote.

The council’s decision responds to a moratorium first put in place in August after city engineers reported low pressure in parts of the system. City staff and outside consultants told the council they have not added new supply to the North End since that moratorium and that the system lacks the available water to serve additional connections without jeopardizing service for existing customers.

Developers and their representatives told the council the appealed projects are either contractually committed to receive service or are "grandfathered" and therefore should not be subject to the moratorium. Omar Isfar, identifying himself as representative for Tri Pointe Homes, said the probability of litigation is high if the exclusions are denied: "I think as time goes on in the next few weeks, the probability approaches a 100%."

Developer representatives…