Katy development proposal wins New Urbanism award

But it may not be implemented

Steve Hawley, Apr 07, 10.

A proposal for a master-planned development near Katy is one of 11 international winners of the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) 2010 Charter Awards. The awards are meant to encourage sustainable urban developments that improve both quality of life and the environment, and winning submissions came from the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Andorra.

The Katy proposal, called Salon Des Refuses, was submitted to a local sustainable design competition in January. The competition sought sustainable proposals for the 640-acre Ventana Lakes master-planned community near Katy. The Salon Des Refuses proposal would have concentrated the development’s houses, schools, and businesses in traditional neighborhoods on one-quarter of the land, reducing commute times and infrastructure costs and leaving the remaining 480 acres to open space and agriculture.

Mischer Investments, the developer, had already designed Ventana Lakes, but it helped sponsor the competition anyway. A representative told the Houston Chronicle that the company could potentially alter its plans to incorporate some of the proposals, but that it is not obligated to use the winning designs.

Although Salon Des Refuses won CNU acclaim, it was not one of the local finalists, and it is unclear if Mischer Investments will include any of the Salon Des Refuses elements. The competition submissions, including the finalists and winners, are available at the Houston Land/Water Sustainability Forum website.

The Salon Des Refuses team consisted of Martin Dreiling of Dreiling Terrones Architecture, Inc., Paul Crabtree of Crabtree Group, Inc., Daniel B. Barnum of HBL Architects, John Jacob of Texas Sea Grant, and David Wallin of Gulf Coast Lofts and Eco-Structural Systems.

Ventana Lakes will be the second master-planned community in the Katy Prairie after the controversial 11,400-acre Bridgeland development. But some have questioned whether any development in the ecologically valuable Katy Prairie is truly sustainable. “Probably there should not be much more development out there at all,” Jacob told the Houston Chronicle in January. However, he said that if development is inevitable, it should consist of compact, mixed-use communities potentially linked by transit.

The Texas Sea Grant project website states:

The Katy Prairie is a unique resource with irreplaceable prime farmland and prime habitat. Paving it over entirely and adding a few water quality practices, laudable though they are, does not make up for the loss of this most precious of resources.The [Salon Des Refuses] Team has demonstrated that we can build on the prairie in such a way that conserves most of the land, and provides better habitat for both humans and nature.

Slide show: Salon Des Refuses competition submittal