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Neighbors say CityRise expansion could worsen flooding; church points to underground detention
Summary
Neighbors at the CityRise SUP hearing told commissioners the proposed increase in lot coverage threatens to raise flood risk, while the applicant said a designed underground detention system and city engineering review will mitigate runoff.
At the July 9 public hearing on SUP2026-01, several neighbors highlighted local flood experience as a central concern if CityRise Church's lot coverage increases.
"I remember Hurricane Harvey... The house on Betty Street flooded with 23 inches of water," neighbor Thomas Golden told the commission, adding that the church property currently exceeds the 50% lot-coverage standard and that the proposal would push coverage higher. Golden presented figures during his remarks asserting the property is at about 64.92% coverage and the project would add roughly 8.78 percentage points.
Applicant representatives and staff responded that the project includes an engineered underground detention system intended to capture on-site runoff. "We are building an underground detention system that captures all the water that falls on our land... the city engineers will independently verify," Craig Ward said. Staff reiterated that a detailed drainage design and independent engineering review are required during permitting if the SUP moves forward.
The technical capacity of the detention design and the final permit-level drainage calculations were not presented at the hearing and remain pending review by city engineering staff.
