Missouri City officials said they are preparing construction documents for $900,000 in sidewalks and drainage improvements along Texas Parkway, with plans to go out for bids early next year.

This work will follow landscaping and median improvements later this year along the parkway and Cartwright Road, part of a long-awaited redevelopment plan that one Missouri City council member complained is not happening fast enough.

In a project update at the Oct. 19 City Council meeting, City Manager Frank Simpson said the plan is to finance the work through an expanded tax increment reinvestment zone that also would reimburse property owners who demolish old shopping centers so that new development can occur.

Council exchange

The update was punctuated by an exchange between Mayor Pro Tem Jerry Wyatt and District B Councilwoman Cynthia Lenton-Gary, who said she voted against the city’s tax rate Oct. 5 to protest a lack of action on Texas Parkway.

Wyatt chastised her for complaining about a lack of action, and then voting against “the very thing” which is moving the long-awaited project forward.

“Which is the money!” Wyatt said.

On Oct. 5, council voted 5-1 to raise the city’s property tax rate by just over a penny, to 52.84 cents per $100 of assessed property value.

Officials said the increase will allow the city to take advantage of current low interest rates and favorable construction bids to cut costs on capital improvement projects.

Lenton-Gary did not speak against the tax increase or raise the issue of Texas Parkway during the tax vote. But on Oct. 19, she said she could not justify raising taxes in the current down economy when a long-neglected project important to her district is not moving forward fast enough.

“I made some promises to my constituents,” she said.

Her district includes subdivisions along both roadways.

“The changes that my constituents feel need to be made have not been made,” she said.

Mayor’s viewpoint

The redevelopment project led to another exchange when Mayor Allen Owen chastised the representative of a Cartwright Road strip center, Jeff Brock, and said it was “horrible looking” and a “disgrace to this city.”

Quail Valley Shopping Center was on the agenda because of a proposed zoning permit that would allow an adult day-care center to locate there.

Council members approved the permit on a preliminary vote earlier this month, but had demanded that the owner — Palmer Center LP which is owned by Silvestri Investments — be present for the final vote on Oct. 19.

The shopping center west of Cypress Point Drive is one of several along Texas Parkway and Cartwright that city officials said they would like to see upgraded or demolished in favor of new shops, restaurants and other retail establishments.

Planning officials said they were told the owner was out of the country. The senior day-care center was approved, however, after Brock said the owner has leads on more upscale tenants and is willing to repaint the center now.

“The goal is not to leave the center the way it is,” Brock said. “We’re focusing on a medical plaza there.”

Owen said the project illustrates the difficulties of redeveloping Texas Parkway and Cartwright: Property owners won’t upgrade their property unless they have upscale tenants, but good tenants won’t sign leases in locations with poor lighting and landscaping and a run-down façade.

Developer’s perspective

Contacted Oct. 20, Brock said he was surprised both by the mayor’s blunt talk and the city’s plans to redevelop Texas Parkway and Cartwright.

Although Silvestri is “heavily invested” in the area and recently renovated the Hunter Square shopping center on Texas Parkway, Brock said he learned of the city’s redevelopment plans Oct. 19.

“I didn’t have a clue about any of that,” he said. “You’d think somebody would have called to make us aware this was going on.”

Brock said his company has worked hard to find an anchor tenant, and will redevelop the Quail Valley Shopping Center when it does.

“If we could find an anchor, we’d be all over this property,” he said. “The problem is … everybody pulled to Highway 6 and it’s killing me.”

Sidewalk project

Simpson said the first phase of sidewalk improvements along Texas Parkway and Cartwright Road will focus on areas where the city does not need to acquire rights of way or easements.

Landscaping is planned for the City Hall entrance, intersections at Buffalo Run, Lexington, Grand Park and Independence, as well as Cartwright Road medians.

Some work could be done by late 2009, Simpson said.

Financing would come through the existing TIRZ, which the city wants to expand, Simpson said. That process requires a presentation to the TIRZ No. 1 board in November, and will require city and county approval.

A TIRZ operates by freezing property evaluations in the zone, and using the additional tax income from property improvements to refund developers for new infrastructure like streets.

Simpson said other Texas cities also have used TIRZ money to reimburse owners for “making tracts ready for redevelopment/development,” including demolishing existing structures.

The second phase of improvements would include a gateway entrance to the city at Texas Parkway and U.S. 90A, additional sidewalks along Cartwright and where right of way acquisition is necessary, connections with city trails, and “small plaza areas” in front of public buildings.

Other potential sources of funding include Texas Department of Transportation and grants, he said.

“We are moving forward and there have been significant improvements along Texas Parkway,” Owen said.