Keep Legacy Park Drive Closed

A commercial business park is currently under construction at the intersection of Legacy Park Drive and Round Up, in northwest Harris County, TX. This business park is being constructed adjacent to two existing neighborhoods, namely Willowlake and Willow Pointe. Legacy Park Drive between Bending Willow and Round-Up has been a stub street, not open to through traffic since Willowlake was developed over 8 years ago. In order to obtain approval from the Houston Planning Commission for the construction of the business park, the property owner was required to extend Legacy Park Drive to Round Up and open the street to through traffic. We, the residents, property owners, and other interested parties DO NOT want Legacy Park Drive opened to through traffic.

Section 4 of Willowlake has been completed for over 8 years. Over those years, the homeowners living there have enjoyed the peace and quiet afforded them by residing in the back of their community. Willowlake is a community with 502 homes and already has 5 outlets to/from the community. We feel that 5 outlets are above average for a community of 502 homes and that no additional outlets are needed or desired.

We have the following concerns related to the planned opening of Legacy Park Drive to through traffic directly into the Willowlake community:

1. Safety: The new Round Up Business Park will bring in many large trucks, including 18-wheelers. We believe these trucks will cut through our community endangering our children, pedestrians, and other vehicles. Our biggest concern is for the safety of our children. Over one-third of the homes on Bending Willow Lane have children under 10 years old.
2. Crime: Opening Legacy Park will change Bending Willow from a quiet street in the back of the neighborhood to the first street of the neighborhood. We fear the homes on Bending Willow will become an easy target for crime as criminals will have a quick and easy exit to the Beltway and Fallbrook via Legacy Park.
3. Traffic Congestion: Opening Legacy Park Drive will result in more traffic congestion at the intersection of Round Up and Legacy Park, especially during the school year. The office building project planned for the northeast corner of Legacy Park and Round Up will cause further congestion.
4. Property Values: The residents on Bending Willow Lane paid a premium for this quiet, peaceful street when they bought their homes. The opening of Legacy Park will directly and negatively impact property values because of the crime and traffic that will now pass through this once quiet street and neighborhood.

We believe that keeping Legacy Park Drive CLOSED will make our streets and our community safer, preserve our property values, and keep our community a desirable place to live.

For these reasons we request that the Houston Planning Commission and/or the Planning & Development Department for the City of Houston/Harris County review the variance request previously submitted to them and APPROVE THE VARIANCE REQUEST TO KEEP LEGACY PARK DRIVE CLOSED! We ask that the variance request be considered based on the existing development and property use as well as the desires of the current residents of Willowlake and Willow Pointe (those directly impacted by this decision) rather than a plan that was created over 10 years ago and prior to the development of this area.