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Pastor tells Katy council planning staff misled his church and withdraws petitions
Summary
Pastor Hernan Castano told the Katy council that planning staff promised information they could not provide, imposed requirements his minority church cannot afford, and that an inspector insulted him; he said he received an apology from a Mr. Croes but withdrew petitions and asked for a red-tag removal.
Pastor Hernan Castano of Rivers Memorial Church (Iglesia Rios De Assate) told the City of Katy council during public comment that he and his congregation had been “hindered” by planning-department staff interactions and administrative requirements.
Castano said city planners promised to provide a list of churches that had gone through a permitting process for similar work but could not produce that list when he requested it. He said staff presented a long list of building requirements his congregation could not afford and described conflicting treatment between the building code and zoning code that, he said, forced his church to seek special-use permits.
"Planning department lied to me... They promised to provide me a list of churches that have gone through the process... They didn't have that list this morning," Castano said. He also said an inspector had insulted him when he first purchased the building and that he had recorded that interaction.
Castano said he has received an apology from a Mr. Croes, thanked Council member Dan Smith for listening and said he was withdrawing petitions to the planning department after unsuccessful attempts to resolve the matter at the department level. He asked the council to consider removing a red tag from his property so the church can continue to operate.
A staff member invited Castano to send additional comments to the mayor’s office and noted that the public comment period is the forum for statements to be placed on the record; no further council action or directive to staff was recorded in the meeting minutes or the publicly available transcript at the time of the hearing.
The council did not take immediate action on Castano’s request during the meeting; staff told him he could submit additional information to the mayor's office for follow-up.
