A proposal to use stormwater dollars to tear down derelict properties heads to a City Council vote, drawing sharp debate between the mayor and city controller.<\/p>\n
HOUSTON \u2014 Houston City Council is set to vote on a proposal that would redirect $30 million in city drainage and stormwater funds<\/strong> to demolish dangerous, derelict buildings across Houston \u2014 a move that has sparked a high-profile dispute at City Hall.<\/p>\n City officials said the plan could address a long-standing problem: more than 2,300 dangerous buildings citywide, with 343 already declared ready for demolition.\u00a0<\/p>\n Supporters argue that tearing down abandoned structures could reduce illegal dumping and fires, while improving drainage by preventing debris from clogging ditches and culverts.<\/p>\n Mayor John Whitmire says demolition can ease multiple neighborhood hazards at once.<\/p>\n \u201cIt blocks the culverts, the drainage, the ditches, which creates flooding in these neighborhoods, so we\u2019ve put more money than any previous administration into the drainage fund,\u201d Whitmire said.<\/p>\n But City Controller Chris Hollins is pushing back, warning that the proposal oversimplifies the issue and may misuse restricted funds.<\/p>\n Near the intersection of Semmes and Noble streets in Houston\u2019s Fifth Ward, an abandoned lot marks where a home once stood. Hollins says the site highlights the limits of demolition as a solution.<\/p>\n \u201cSo clearly, tearing down that building did not solve the problem of illegal dumping,\u201d Hollins said.<\/p>\n At issue is a plan to use money from the city\u2019s drainage and stormwater fund to award a contract for demolishing problem buildings. Hollins argues that while some structures clearly harm communities, the funding source matters.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are certainly some buildings that are blight on the community that we should figure out a way to address, but we can\u2019t illegally raid the stormwater fund in order to do that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The proposal has already been delayed once. City Councilmember Amy Peck, who postponed a previous vote, said her concern centered on how the city would handle money recovered through liens placed on demolished properties.<\/p>\n \u201cMy biggest concern was to make sure that any money that comes back to the City of Houston based on liens of some of these buildings that we\u2019re demolishing, goes back into the stormwater maintenance fund,\u201d Peck said.<\/p>\n Peck says the city\u2019s revised plan now includes rules requiring recovered funds to be returned to the stormwater fund.<\/p>\n Whitmire has dismissed Hollins\u2019 criticism as political, insisting the plan targets illegal dumping that worsens flooding and drainage problems. Hollins maintains the proposal does not offer a true solution to Houston\u2019s long-running issues with blight and stormwater management.<\/p>\n City Council is expected to vote on the item on Wednesday and Whitmire has said he anticipates it will pass.<\/p>\n