FAQ

A. Yes, alarm permits are required. You can find more information, along with the permit application here.

A. The decals are available at The Clubhouse at Fall Creek.  To obtain one, you will be asked to show your Texas Driver’s License or other ID showing your Fall Creek address.

The decal is observed by Sheriff officers during the Shell Houston Open at the checkpoints in tournament traffic to identify residents and allow them through without questioning. The decals are removable and can be put back onto the card backing that it comes on.  During the Shell Houston Open the decal should be placed on the driver’s side of the front windshield where your other stickers are at.

A. If an actual crime is in progress, call 911 immediately!  For anything that looks suspicious contact the Harris County Sheriff Non-Emergency at (713)221-6000 and be ready to provide as much information as possible.

A. The short answer is no, and we will explain why.

The neighborhood was originally planned as a master planned community with public streets, with the exception of Fairway Crossing and Serrano Creek. The community is located in unincorporated Harris County (HC) and is within the City of Houston’s (COH) Extra Territorial Jurisdiction (ETJ). Since the community is located within the COH ETJ, the COH has review authority for platting. The COH platting criteria is setup to promote mobility, and HC has also adopted the same rules and criteria. When planning a community, the Developer, COH, and HC all review the general plan for the community and initially address mobility and connectivity.

If there are any major thoroughfares planned in the community, both the COH and HC require that the Developer include connection points for this thoroughfares. The current Major Thoroughfare Plan (MTP) for the COH and HC includes three major thoroughfares in the community, Mesa, Wilson, and Aldine Bender (http://www.houstontx.gov/planning/mobility/MTFPMap/MTFP_MAP_2015.pdf ). Now just because they are on the map, does not necessarily mean that they will get constructed any time soon, but it does mean that the COH and HC want the ability to connect them in the future.

This brings up issue number one regarding gating the community. If the community wanted to gate the major thoroughfares, then the community would have to have the MTP modified, and would have to get a variance from the COH to their planning requirements. While there is a process to do this, these variances would be difficult to get.

So, let’s assume that we do not want to gate the thoroughfares, and just the other streets. The first issue that is created is the cost associated with physically installing the gates. This would mean that instead of 5 entrance gates (Mesa, Bellow Falls, Wilson, Fall Creek View, and Fall Creek Reserve), there would be 15 entrance gates (Amber Wood, Piney Point, Pine Grove, Laurel Oaks, Redstone Bend (2), Rose Creek, Fall Creek Bend (3), Soaring Pines, Shadow Brook, Bellow Falls, Water Crest, Heather Glen, Fall Creek View, and Fall Creek Preserve).

If somehow the HOA were to be able to gain the funds necessary to install the 15 gates, the next funding issue is the streets. Currently, HC is responsible for the maintenance of the streets, but if the streets were gated, the County would no longer pay for this. The current cost of concrete pavement replacement is approximately $15,000 per lot, and if we were to assume that the pavement would last for 30 years; this means that each homeowner would need to pay approximately $500 per year in addition to their normal assessments. This estimate does not include inflation, and so most likely would be more than the $500 per year.

Again, if somehow the HOA were to be able to convince the members to accept a 50% increase in dues, there are still additional hurdles. In order to make the street private, and “take” them away from the County, the HOA would need to file replats for each individual plat in the community. This is approximately 30 plats that make up the community, and each one (except Serrano Creek and Fairway Crossing plats) of them would have to be modified. If we assume that the surveying cost to prepare the replats along with the platting fees was $25,000, then the initial cost for just the platting would be $450,000, or roughly a $300 per homeowner in a special assessment.

The replatting process is the most difficult hurdle of all of the hurdles in the process. Each plat would have to have 100% participation in the process. If one property owner does not sign the plat, then the replat will not move forward. In the assumption above regarding 15 entrance gates, this is assuming a number of villages would not have a gate, and so if one of the replats fail, this could dramatically impact the number of gates. In addition to having each property owner approve the plat, each lienholder would also have to sign the plat. This means that every person with a mortgage would have to have their bank sign-off on the plat. Additionally, HC will not allow a plat to be recorded unless all property taxes have been paid to all taxing jurisdictions. This means that if one property owner within the plat is delinquent on their taxes, then the plat cannot be recorded. I am not sure about the school taxes and HC taxes, but I know that HCWCID 96 and HCMUD 49 have property owners that have not paid their taxes, so this would have to be addressed.

In summary, technically, it is possible to gate the community, but the likelihood is so slim, that it would be better for us to spend the HOA money on more reasonable ways.

Thank you,

Board of Directors
Fall Creek HOA