Windrow is a single-family residential subdivision located north of Highway 290 and west of SH 99 within HCMUD No. 319. It comprises eight sections, a regional detention basin and conveyance channel, two sanitary lift stations, a recreation center, and a water well site. It is located within the Little Cypress Creek regional detention basin program, where large regional detention basins will be constructed instead of smaller basins within individual projects. Windrow is situated between two of these large regional detention basins and required nearly two years of coordination with Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) and their Master Drainage Plan consultant to arrange a system of regional detention basins and conveyance channels to mitigate flooding in the region and the impact on developments downstream. Costello worked with HCFCD to help them move this program forward by designing and constructing a conveyance channel connecting two of the regional detention basins and constructing a portion of one of the regional detention basins.

Costello assisted HCFCD in setting up their new regional Storm Water Quality (SWQ) Program for the Little Cypress Creek watershed during the beginning stages of development. The Windrow development was the first project to agree to participate in the program and help get it up and running. This innovative program takes the burden of SWQ establishment and management from the developer or the MUD and allows HCFCD to manage SWQ within their basins/ROW. This program allows the MUD to save money that would have normally been allocated to SWQ maintenance. Those funds can now be utilized on other projects within the MUD.

Costello also worked with CenterPoint Energy (CNP) to coordinate their new gas line installation that bisects the project. Costello coordinated the locations of the proposed roadway, utility, and drainage crossings of the CNP easement/fee strip to prevent costly pipeline relocations and delays to the development. CNP was able to construct their pipelines at greater depths at these crossings to prevent potential future conflicts with the development’s proposed utility locations.

7gen Planning, a division of Costello, was hired to provide master planning, lot and street layouts, preliminary platting, and entitlement services. Driving opportunities and constraints for this parcel were: an existing pond on site, roadway access constraints, providing HCFCD regional detention and channels, and tying it all into an overall MPC.

The original project encompassed 174 acres. HCFCD notified the developer that they required 100 of those acres to connect a north side regional detention basin to one located on the south side of the development due to increased flooding in the area. Rather than pull the plug on the project, Costello worked with a landowner located on the west side boundary of the initial project to discuss splitting the cost of a channel that would save the project and still provide the drainage needed for the area. After some discussion, the landowner decided to sell his property to the developer instead, increasing the project to 316 acres, providing ample space for the much-needed drainage channel to mitigate flooding to the adjacent regional detention basins.