Beacon beckons

An interesting case of community action is unfolding as a special interest group called Families for the Responsible Development of Beacon Island (FRDBI) wrangles with a developer's plans to install high-density residential assets on League City's long-undeveloped "lighthouse" island. 

How it is, and how it might be: 
Googlemaps screengrab compared with the developer's concept.  You might be able to access the plans here if the paywall doesn't kick in. 

This is the kind of thing that doesn't impact Centerpointers directly, but I like watching these cases evolve because it basically "shows us how it's done".  I don't know that we'll ever need to petition regarding any development that may be proposed for our subdivision's vacant adjacent tracts, but it's nice to have a template, and it's instructive to follow the logic of what works or doesn't work in terms of dealing with the City.

FRDBI's chief concern is with the relatively high density of proposed development.  As I commented on a report in this morning's Galveston Daily News (paywalled), my immediate concern was the potential future impacts of Biggert-Waters, aka the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012.  Here we are moaning and wailing about how Biggert-Waters will catastrophically destroy real estate values in vulnerable areas, and yet at the same time, League City is entertaining a development proposal that, at first glance, puts a lot of real assets on or near grade in what appears to be a vulnerable area.  One of the most comprehensive local news reports (paywalled?) concerned the financial impacts of Biggert-Waters on the City of Nassau Bay.  Well, you could practically hit Nassau Bay with a rock from Beacon Island.  Would a lot of Beacon Island's improvements as proposed still be insurable four years from now after we get done with the delays and political obscurations surrounding Biggert-Waters?  The answer to that remains to be seen, but it's an important consideration for the viability of the development. 

Sooner or later, waterfront homeowners are going to have to pay the federal piper, and they're going to be paying a lot. 

Cute graphic screengrabbed from this site.