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 Seabrook only. Every government →
-
Second reading of ordinance defining nonprofit service dog training campus use
Ordinance 2026-20 amends the city zoning code to create a definition for 'Nonprofit Therapeutic Service Dog Training and Wellness Campus' and adds this as a permitted use in the Land Use Activity matrix. This expands permitted uses in the zoning code.
Oct 20, 2026 agenda, item 4.3: the agenda's words
Consider and take all appropriate action on the second reading of Ordinance 2026-20 a request to amend the Code of the City of Seabrook Appendix A, “Comprehensive Zoning,” Article 1, “In General” Section 1.10 “Definitions,” by creating a definition for “Nonprofit Therapeutic Service Dog Training and Wellness Campus”; and consider amending the Code of the City of Seabrook Appendix A, “Comprehensive Zoning,” Article 3, “Establishment of Zoning Districts and Associated Regulations,” Section 3.15 “Comprehensive Land Use Regulation Matrix,” by adding “Nonprofit Therapeutic Service Dog Training and Wellness Campus” to Table 3-A “Uses Permitted by Right and Conditional Uses,” determining permitted use by condition or by right within the “Land Use Activity”; and consider amending the Code of the City of Seabrook Appendix A, “Comprehensive Zoning,” Article 5, “Off-Street Parking, Loading, Ingress, and Egress,” Section 5.04 “Comprehensive Parking Regulation Matrix,” Table 5-C “Required Parking Spaces by Land Use Category” by adding “Nonprofit Therapeutic Service Dog Training and Wellness Campus,” and creating new associated parking regulations.
-
Second reading of ordinance establishing conditional use permit for bar
Ordinance 2026-18 seeks to establish a Bar as a conditional use at 2900 E. NASA Parkway, Suite 250 under Seabrook City Code zoning regulations. The ordinance would add a new permitted conditional use to the city's zoning code.
Oct 20, 2026 agenda, item 4.2: the agenda's words
Consider and take all appropriate action on the second reading of Ordinance 2026-18 a request for a Conditional Use Permit to establish a “Bar” at 2900 E. NASA Parkway, Suite 250, pursuant to the Seabrook City Code, Appendix A, Comprehensive Zoning, Article 4, “Special Use Regulations,” Section 4.11, “Conditional use permit criteria and procedures”.
-
Second reading of ordinance updating speed limits on State Highway 146 frontage roads
Second and final reading of ordinance 2026-21 updates prima facie speed limits on State Highway 146 frontage roads based on TxDOT engineering study, reducing East Meyer Avenue speed limit from 35 MPH to 30 MPH.
Oct 6, 2026 agenda, item 7.1: the agenda's words
Consider and take all appropriate action on the approval of the second and final reading of Ordinance 2026-21, updating the prima facie speed limits along State Highway 146 frontage roads based on an engineering and traffic study by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), and reducing the posted speed limit on East Meyer Avenue from 35 MPH to 30 MPH based on a City traffic study.
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.