The Fine Print: Houston
What they put in the agenda
Every agenda the site reads, from Commissioners Court and City Council to the port, the transit authority, the college districts and the school boards, is checked item by item. Anything that adds a rule, a fee, debt, surveillance or land control, or that happens behind closed doors, is logged here with the agenda's own words. Anything that cuts or repeals one is logged too, as a rollback.
Showing City of Baytown only. Every government →
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Add annexed properties to City Council District No. 6
Ordinance adding the 60 acres at 5359 East Grand Parkway South to City Council District No. 6 following annexation.
Oct 22, 2026 agenda, item 4.b: the agenda's words
Consider an ordinance adding the newly-annexed properties generally described as approximately 60 acres, located at 5359 East Grand Parkway South to City Council District No. 6.
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Voluntary annexation of 60 acres at East Grand Parkway South
Second reading of ordinance for voluntary annexation of approximately 60 acres at 5359 East Grand Parkway South. Expands city boundaries.
Oct 22, 2026 agenda, item 4.a: the agenda's words
Consider an ordinance for the second reading of the proposed voluntary annexation of approximately 60 acres at 5359 East Grand Parkway South.
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Baytown Blue Hydrogen Agreement with Exxon Mobil; abandon 23.5558 acres of street rights-of-way
Ordinance approves agreement between city and Exxon Mobil Corporation, abandons city's interest in 23.5558 acres of street rights-of-way within project area adjacent to Bayway Drive, and authorizes Quitclaim Deed to corporation. This removes public street rights and conveys land to private entity.
Oct 8, 2026 agenda, item 7.a: the agenda's words
Consider an ordinance approving the Baytown Blue Hydrogen Agreement between the City of Baytown and Exxon Mobil Corporation, abandoning the City’s interest in street rights-of-way totaling 23.5558 acres within the project area adjacent to Bayway Drive, and authorizing a Quitclaim Deed to Exxon Mobil Corporation.
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Ordinance to assign recently annexed 78.952 acres to District No. 4
Ordinance to add approximately 78.952 acres of recently annexed property to City Council District No. 4. This assigns district representation to the annexed territory.
Oct 8, 2026 agenda, item 6.c: the agenda's words
Consider an ordinance adding the properties recently annexed for limited purposes, approximately 78.952 acres, generally located east of North Main Street, west of Hadden Road and north of East Wallisville Road, to City Council District No. 4.
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Second reading of limited purpose annexation of 78.952 acres
Second reading of ordinance for limited purpose annexation of approximately 78.952 acres located generally east of North Main Street, west of Hadden Road and north of East Wallisville Road. This extends city jurisdiction over the annexed territory.
Oct 8, 2026 agenda, item 6.b: the agenda's words
Consider an ordinance for the second reading of the proposed limited purpose annexation of approximately 78.952 acres, located generally east of North Main Street, west of Hadden Road and north of East Wallisville Road.
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Ordinance to rezone 0.998 acres from Open Space to Commercial
Ordinance to amend official zoning map and rezone approximately 0.998 acres at 8220 N State Highway 146 from Open Space/Recreation to General Commercial Zoning District. This implements the rezoning proposed in the public hearing.
Oct 8, 2026 agenda, item 6.a: the agenda's words
Consider an ordinance authorizing a request to amend the official zoning map to rezone approximately 0.998 acres of land, located east of North State Highway 146, south of Old Needlepoint Road, north of Redwood Drive, at 8220 N SH 146, from the Open Space/Recreation (OR) to a General Commercial (GC) Zoning District.
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Public hearing on rezoning 0.998 acres from Open Space to Commercial
Public hearing to consider rezoning approximately 0.998 acres at 8220 N State Highway 146 from Open Space/Recreation to General Commercial Zoning District to allow commercial development. This affects the property owner and surrounding area.
Oct 8, 2026 agenda, item 5.a: the agenda's words
Conduct a public hearing regarding a request to amend the official zoning map to rezone approximately 0.998 acres located at 8220 N State Highway 146, from Open Space/Recreation (OR) to a General Commercial (GC) Zoning District to allow for commercial development.
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Voluntary annexation of approximately 60 acres at 5359 East Grand Parkway South
First reading of ordinance for proposed voluntary annexation of approximately 60 acres in the City of Baytown.
Sep 24, 2026 agenda, item 6.a: the agenda's words
Consider an ordinance for the first reading of the proposed voluntary annexation of approximately 60 acres at 5359 East Grand Parkway South.
Deed restrictions
Houston has no zoning; deed restrictions are what keep a business out of a neighborhood, and the city's Legal Department enforces them for neighborhoods. Complaints don't go through 311: they go to drcomplaints@houstontx.gov or the city's complaint form.
- Deed restriction cases reviewed and enforced by the city: 530 in 2024-25, an estimated 550 in 2025-26, and a target of 550 for 2026-27. Nuisance lawsuits handled: 15 in 2024-25, an estimated 10 in 2025-26. [City of Houston FY2027 budget, Legal Department]
- The city's list of reported deed restriction violations has not been updated since Oct. 20, 2015. [data.houstontx.gov]
Code enforcement
- 40% of the City of Houston's Neighborhoods code citations and 36% of Public Works citations were dismissed; the top reasons were "Nolle Prosequi" (the city dropped it), "Officer Not Present" and "Insufficient Evidence." Inspectors made 95,688 residential inspections from Jan. 1, 2024. [KPRC, Nov. 21, 2025]
- Code enforcement inspectors from Neighborhoods and Public Works have been merged into one Community Code Enforcement division in Houston Public Works. Targets for 2026-27: 13,500 weeded-lot cuts, 87% voluntary compliance, 325 demolitions. [City of Houston FY2027 budget, Neighborhoods]
- The Municipal Courts do not publish code citations and how each ended (fined, dismissed, deferred), and the city's code violation dataset was last updated in 2023.
Code and nuisance complaints to Houston 311, by type, and the average days each took to close, from the city's 311 extract.
| Case type | Cases | Closed | Average days to close |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parking Violation | 1,175 | 643 | 6.3 |
| Traffic Signal Maintenance | 1,162 | 882 | 1.2 |
| Container Replacement | 984 | 945 | 1.4 |
| Weeds/Trash/Stagnant Water on Property | 950 | 88 | 5 |
| Trash Dumping or Illegal Dumpsite | 562 | 179 | 4.8 |
| Traffic Signs | 509 | 367 | 4 |
| New Resident Container | 494 | 471 | 1.3 |
| Building Code Violation | 403 | 337 | 2 |
| Container Repair | 340 | 311 | 1.3 |
| Heavy Trash Code Violation | 335 | 119 | 5.4 |
| Health Code | 261 | 25 | 5.7 |
| Junk Motor Vehicle - Private Property | 163 | 34 | 5.1 |
| Bandit Sign - Right of Way | 157 | 148 | 1.8 |
| Traffic Signals | 104 | 54 | 4.9 |
| Dangerous Buildings | 54 | 12 | 3.9 |
| MultiFamily Habitability Violation | 49 | 28 | 1.8 |
| Fire Code Complaint | 49 | 40 | 2.6 |
| Occupancy Violation | 38 | 36 | 2.4 |
| Container Placement | 25 | 3 | 4 |
| Graffiti on Private/Commercial Property | 12 | 4 | 4.5 |
| Drainage System Violation | 11 | 5 | 4.6 |
| Donation Box Violation | 8 | 6 | 2.1 |
| Sign Code Violation | 7 | 5 | 4.5 |
| Malfunctioning Railroad Signal | 4 | 0 | |
| Graffiti - ATT Telephone Equipment | 4 | 0 |
By council district: A 707 (2.5 days) · B 978 (2 days) · C 1,066 (3.1 days) · D 1,118 (2.6 days) · E 370 (2.2 days) · F 337 (3 days) · G 512 (2 days) · H 1,037 (2.7 days) · I 822 (2.7 days) · J 328 (3.1 days) · K 557 (4.1 days) ·
Ghosts in the machine
These cities pass ordinances, set tax rates and sign contracts, and none of it appears here: their agendas could not be read by machine in the last 90 days (scanned images, script-only pages, or no posted agendas). Unseen is not clean.
- 9,613 residents · Jacinto City (0 agendas read, 0 new items; newest agenda posted is for May 28, 2026)
- 4,385 residents · City of Hunters Creek Village Its website does not answer this site's public-records reader, and has since Oct 23, 2026. Its meeting agendas are public records the city must post under the Texas Open Meetings Act; nothing it approves can be shown here until it lets them be read.
- 3,704 residents · City of Taylor Lake Village Its website answers "forbidden" to this site's public-records reader, and has since Oct 23, 2026. Its meeting agendas are public records the city must post under the Texas Open Meetings Act; nothing it approves can be shown here until it lets them be read.
- 3,128 residents · City of Piney Point Village (0 agendas read, 0 new items)
- 816 residents · City of Hilshire Village (0 agendas read, 0 new items)
Scorecard, last 12 months
Points: New rules 3 · Money 4 · Surveillance 4 · Land control 3 · Strings attached 2 · Secrecy 2 · Rollback −3 · the same weights The Fine Print uses everywhere. The Fuckery Meter adds tax rates, consent agendas, closed sessions, missing notice and withheld records.