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Waller County tables proposed major-thoroughfare change after residents raise eminent-domain and flooding concerns
Summary
After a long public-comment period, the Waller County Commissioners Court voted to table an amendment that would move a scheduled thoroughfare alignment (item 49). Residents and a local pastor warned the red alignment could cut through multigenerational homes and a 1888 church; a commissioner said the county is not planning imminent condemnation now.
Waller County commissioners voted to table consideration of a proposed amendment to the Major Thoroughfare Plan after dozens of residents and community leaders urged the court to delay action and study alternatives.
Commissioner (speaker 3) opened the item by saying the change would amend an existing mapped corridor rather than create an immediate new roadway and that “we're not in a situation here where we're gonna go out and condemn any property.” Multiple speakers disputed that assurance as inadequate. Carolyn Hosmer Weddeking, whose family has held the land for more than a century, said the red alignment (option C) would “erase a part of Waller County's own heritage” and urged the court not to adopt the route because it would cut through a home her family has preserved for generations.
Residents cited floodplain impacts, loss of rural character and possible damage to property values if the red alignment were adopted. Chance Curry said the designation ‘‘permanently changes the nature of the property’’ and warned that elevation of a new roadway could increase runoff and flood risk. Pastor Dan Ayala of Friendship Church stressed the congregation’s decades-long community service and invoked federal protections for religious uses, urging commissioners to avoid harm to the 1888 church and its burial ground.
After listening to comments and technical clarifications from the county engineer (Ross, speaker 8), the court moved to withdraw the item from consideration and then passed a motion to table item 49 by voice vote. The meeting record shows the motion was carried as unopposed; the transcript records the action as a tabling of the item without a recorded roll-call tally.
What’s next: Commissioners said the Major Thoroughfare Plan is a long-range planning tool and that detailed studies (including right-of-way, hydrologic/drainage and engineering assessments) would occur if and when design proceeds. The tabled item may be returned only if a commissioner places it back on a future agenda and will be publicly posted when that happens.
