R-2008-06 adopt 2008 Update of Year 2002 Parks, Trails, and Open Space Master

Browse Search

- City of La Porte Parh. Ie Open Space Mader Plan 2.4 Land Use La Porte's future land use projection, prepared by Wilbur Smith and Associates in 1998 for the La Porte Comprehensive Plan Update, indicates that much of the anticipated growth in La Porte will be medium and low density single family residential, and some industrial expansion. Most of the still available residential zoning can be found around the airport going west and north towards Hwy 225. Since La Porte is somewhat restricted in its annexing possibilities because of the close neighborhood of Deer Park, Pasadena, Shoreacres, Morgans Point and the Battleground and Bayport Industrial Districts, much emphasis is put on future in-fill development in existing, deteriorated neighborhoods with high vacancy rates or underused lots. These are some areas of "Old La Porte", east of Hwy 146 towards Galveston Bay. In the 1998 Comprehensive Plan Update it is strongly suggested that the City of La Porte should monitor industrial expansion around the Bayport Channel on the southeastern boundary of La Porte, as well as the industrial port at Barbour's Cut channel at the northeastern side of town. This is also an important factor for the Parks and Open Space Master Plan, because the waterfront property can be considered very valuable for recreation and open space preservation efforts in the future; the importance of developing and enhancing attractiveness of the waterfront is also documented in La Porte's 1993 Bayfront Master Plan. 2.5 2008 Plan Update Table 2.5-1 below illustrates the updated current and projected growth of La Porte and Harris County over the next 20 years. The population projections are derived from United States Census data and City-data.com (see table). The assumption is made here that the population growth will continue at approximately the same level of the actual growth shown between 2000 and 2006, at 1.05% annually for the City of La Porte, and 2.05% for Harris County. The actual growth of the City of La Porte and Harris County is about one-half of the projected growth level that was cited in the original Park Master Plan. That information was derived from the 1998 La Porte Comprehensive Plan Update (see Table 2.1 above). This assumption may prove to be higher than actual future growth of the city because of the recent recessionary trends in the U.S. economy, the uncertainty of future energy and other economic forces. The effect of these forces on the future growth of La Porte and Harris County cannot be forecast with any certainty at this time. Chapter 2 - La Porte locla" Po.e 8