Planning & Development

PURPOSE 

Welcome to Mont Belvieu's Planning & Development Department. This section is intended to provide you with general references, answers to common questions, and frequently used forms.

GOALS 

Our department's goal is to implement the City's Comprehensive Plan by supporting consistent construction and development codes and inspection services to protect health, safety, and public welfare.

SUPPLEMENTAL DETENTION CRITERIA

The City of Mont Belvieu (the City) has instituted criteria manual for stormwater detention facilities. The purpose is that the City's existing detention criteria were not stringent enough to require more aesthetically pleasing, or recreationally-capable detention facilities as seen in other municipalities in the Houston-Galveston Metroplex. The aesthetic criterion is categorized as follows: 

1. Geometrics,
2. Landscaping,
3. Hydraulic Facilities,
4. Maintenance,
5. Structural Amenities, and
6. Low Impact Development

The City created the Standard for Aesthetics and Recreation (STAR) Program that utilizes this categorization. The STAR Program is a point system that sets baseline requirements for future detention facilities per land use. In order to achieve that baseline requirement, developers have to score their detention facility by accounting for the various elements that have been incorporated into the facility's design. In implementing this program, there will be an unlimited menu that developers can choose from to create their detention facilities. Moreover, The City programmed the STAR Program to weigh elements that the City views favorably (such as concrete trails and soft-sloped ponds) so that the City can narrow the gaps in achieving its desired conditions.

In an attempt to quantify aesthetics, The City concedes that one's interpretation of aesthetics may vary from that of another's. However, in this case, the final authority will belong to a City Manager Appointee. The City Manager Appointee has certain interpretative powers when using the STAR Program. These limited discretionary powers were implemented to preserve the criteria so that if any loopholes of the STAR Program existed, there would be a check and balance from the City.

Please download the following three files to use on the layout of your pond. All submitted plan sets for review must have a STAR sheet included.

• STAR PLAN (PDF)
• Supplemental Detention Criteria Manual (PDF)
• STAR Review Sheet (PDF)