Primary Department: County Engineer
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Milton Rahman, PhD, P.E., PMP, CFM, ENV-SP
Secondary Department: Choose an item.
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official:
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Report
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A - Not a grant item
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
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Request for approval of the amendment process for Harris County Major Thoroughfare and Freeway Plan for the unincorporated non-Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) areas.
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Background and Discussion:
Thoroughfare planning throughout most of Harris County is led by the City of Houston through the city subdivision regulations in Chapter 42 of the City’s Code of Ordinances. An interim-Harris County Major Thoroughfare and Freeway Plan (MTFP) was adopted in July 2024 to address the unincorporated, non-ETJ areas of the county (37 square miles) that do not fall under another jurisdiction’s thoroughfare plan.
Amendments to the county’s MTFP are typically reflective of the amendments conducted through the individual jurisdictions’ thoroughfare plans; however, there is a portion of Harris County near Crosby and Barrett that falls within Harris County’s jurisdiction in the non-ETJ area. In addition, the State of Texas passed Senate Bill 2038 in 2023 that allows for the disannexation of unincorporated areas in the ETJ, upon request by a majority of the property owner(s) of the area requesting disannexation. Once the disannexation takes effect, the subject area is not subject to the City of Houston’s or any other city’s throughfare requirements, leaving them solely the responsibility of Harris County.
In addition to the disannexation legislation, the State of Texas also enacted legislation in 2023 that requires county MTFPs to receive Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) review and approval to be enforceable; this also applies to proposed plan amendments.
Harris County currently has no formal procedure to amend the county MTFP in the unincorporated non-ETJ areas. Harris County Transportation Master Plan is in development and is expected to be approved in 2026. This master plan will include an MTFP component that includes the unincorporated, non-ETJ areas. When approved, this amendment process will be incorporated into the Transportation Master plan.
The attached amendment process includes steps and timeline (March-January) of the annual process. The proposed process includes the following steps:
1. Harris County Office of the County Engineer (OCE) receives an MTFP amendment request for unincorporated non-ETJ areas through ePermits
2. Coordination with applicant and the OCE staff review will be conducted. Precinct and stakeholder coordination will be conducted
3. Public outreach (public notification, open house and public hearing) will be conducted
4. Harris County Commissioners Court approval will be requested
5. County approved amendments will be submitted to TxDOT’s approval. A County Corridor agreement between Harris County and TxDOT will be executed. Upon the TxDOT’s approval the proposed amendment is approved and enforceable.
Expected Impact:
This amendment process will provide a predictable schedule and process to developers and property owners and assure timely approval of the future amendments to the Major Thoroughfare and Freeway Plan.
Alternative Options:
Review of major thoroughfare amendments throughout the year without consistent process adopted by the court, resulting in delays for development process in the non- ETJ areas of Harris County.
County Strategic Plan Goal: 2. Connect our community with safe, reliable, equitably distributed, and well-maintained infrastructure.
County Strategic Plan Objective: H: Improve the condition and resilience of County transportation, flood control, and other infrastructure.
Justice/Safety Initiative (Goal 1): Choose an item.
Infrastructure Initiative (Goal 2): H4: Consistently embed sustainability considerations in the project planning and design process.
Economy Initiative (Goal 3): Choose an item.
Health Initiative (Goal 4): Choose an item.
Climate/Resilience Initiative (Goal 5): Choose an item.
Housing Initiative (Goal 6): Choose an item.
Additional notes related to the Strategic Plan:
Prior Court Action (if any):
Location: Countywide
Address (if applicable):
Precinct(s): Countywide
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Anticipated Court Date: 8/26/2025
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): 8/26/2025
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or ARPA related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Patrick Mandapaka, PhD, AICP, Senior Director, Planning and Development Services, OCE
Attachments (if applicable): Amendment Process for Harris County Major Thoroughfare and Freeway Plan