Published by Houston Chronicle 8/27/2024
Many residents of a Lake Conroe community say they have lost their boating access and pristine waterfront views after silt and trash turned their cove into a mud pit, and they want state regulators to take action against a neighboring development.
The Blue Heron Bay residents said the buildup started when construction on the new Pine Lake Cove neighborhood began in 2020. They have watched as runoff from the site flows to a small creek that feeds the cove, then Lake Conroe, and they have taken their battle to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Arizona-based Meritage Homes is getting to work building 865 homes on just over 300 acres adjacent to Blue Heron Bay near Texas 105.
The problems with neighbors and the city began almost immediately.
The city of Conroe had levied $86,000 in fines against the developer over several months for failing to build and maintain silt fencing,which controls soil erosion and runoff from construction sites. City officials said Meritage offered to dredge the cove earlier this year, but the company has yet to start any dredging in Blue Heron Bay, where the water level that was once 8 feet deep is now less than a foot.
The problem for city officials trying to police the problem is that silt doesn’t just have one source, and they have concluded that the silt is not just from Pine Lake Cove.
“There are more developments and other private properties that discharge into the Blue Heron Bay cove outside the city limits that are also contributors to the problem besides Meritage Homes,” said Norm McGuire, assistant city administrator and director of public works.
Kyle Davison, Houston division president for Meritage Homes, said the silt fencing has been repaired.
“Meritage and its consultants maintain silt fencing at Pine Lake Cove,” Davison said. “This fencing undergoes weekly environmental inspections by third-party experts. We have and will continue to work with state and local representatives as well as third-party experts to ensure proper procedure continues to be followed.”
Neighbors say boats have been blocked in for 2 years
Blue Heron Bay is a small gated community on Lake Conroe with homes that sell for more than $500,000, and some for more than $1 million.
Steve Smithers said he moved to the neighborhood in April 2020 to take advantage of the lake life.
“We moved here so we could do water sports,” Smithers said. “We haven’t been able to do water (activities) in two years.”
Smithers said when Meritage began construction on the site, there was no silt fencing or silt pond to help mitigate the sediment that could flow into the creek that feeds the lake.
After around six months, Smithers said Meritage installed the fencing, but as construction continued, the fence was not maintained, and the silt continued to run into the creek and into Lake Conroe.
Resident Cliff Young, who lives next door to Smithers, called the situation in the bay “frustrating.” Young said he and his family had lived in Blue Heron Bay for about a year and a half after building their home.
“We moved out on the water literally so I could have a boat and my family could fish,” Young said. “When it rains, we can get (our boats) out for a little while but what it does is brings more of the silt and then it is worse than it was before.”
Smithers said trash from the site is also washed downstream along with the silt.
After weeks of cleaning up trash from the creek that empties into the lake, Smithers contacted the San Jacinto River Authority, which required Meritage to install a trash screen to collect debris and prevent it from flowing into the lake.
“They never cleaned it,” Smithers said of the debris caught in the screen. “All this trash collected behind the fence and then a big storm came and it broke the fence. A year’s worth of trash flowed out into our cove. It was unreal. It looked like we lived in a dump.”
Conroe has no jurisdiction
McGuire said the city does not have jurisdiction over Blue Heron Bay since it is outside the city limits but said the city’s previous engineer was working with Meritage Homes to dredge the cove.
“In the previous agreement, Meritage had verbally agreed to start the dredging once the development reached 70% completion to prevent any reoccurrence of any potential silt from the development potentially returning,” McGuire said.
Davison did not comment on whether Meritage will dredge the cove.
McGuire said frustration and threatened litigation from residents has stalled the process. Smithers said no lawsuits have been filed.
“Once that happened, what work we had done was no longer viable as a legal team from the corporate office stepped in and stopped the discussions that we were having due to pending litigation,” McGuire said. “Meritage was willing at one time to do more than their part in the cleanup before threatened litigation against them. ”
McGuire said the city again is working with Meritage on a solution for the Blue Heron Bay residents, but there is currently no agreement on how the company might address the issue.
McGuire said the city is monitoring the stormwater prevention of this development and consistently working with the developer to keep runoff to a minimum.
State requirements for construction sites
State law requires companies to have a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan for construction sites, including sediment control with silt ponds and fencing.
According to TCEQ, silt ponds are a type of sediment control used to temporarily detain runoff and prevent sediment from entering water bodies. They control erosion from construction sites or exposed soil during rainfall.
In 2023, several complaints were made to TCEQ about the condition of the job site for Pine Lake Cove, including the silt washing downstream to Lake Conroe.
According to a June 2023 report obtained by the Houston Chronicle, TCEQ officials found “unmaintained silt fences, overloaded silt fences, and unprotected storm water inlets at multiple locations.”
The company was fined $8,000 which has not been paid, according to TCEQ.
TCEQ spokeswoman Victoria Cann said the issue with Meritiage Home and Blue Heron Bay has been referred to the agency’s litigation division, which means a lawsuit against the developer could be looming.
“The executive director’s preliminary report and petition is currently under development and potential corrective actions are being evaluated,” Cann said. “The case can still resolve via settlement, but it may instead resolve through an order after a contested hearing.”
Smithers moved to Blue Heron Bay in April 2020 to take advantage of the lake life.
“We moved here so we could do water sports,” Smithers said. “We haven’t been able to do water (activities) in two years.”
Aug 27, 2024
Reporter
