RICHMOND, Texas — Richmond residents are not the only ones infuriated with Fort Bend County's plan to take private land using eminent domain. The idea is not sitting well with Richmond city officials either.
Richmond Commissioner Alex BeMent said he too doesn’t want to see the historic homes on the S. 5th Street block and old oaks knocked down for a possible parking lot.
“Richmond, was founded in 1837, and so, it’s our responsibility to keep that and pass it on to the next generation and not build a parking lot,” he said.
BeMent said if the plan to pave the block does move forward, it would put some city officials at odds with Fort Bend County. BeMent is hoping that doesn’t happen.
“Based on our conversations with the county up to this point, we believe that they are taking a second look," he said. "We appreciate that.”
On Tuesday, about a dozen or so residents showed up to the commissioner’s court meeting to protest the eminent domain plan, which is the right of a government to seize private land for public use for a fair market price.
“We are showing up to be heard and seen,” said Richmond resident Jillian Reed.
Rita and Paul Cinquemani own one of the properties and said they don’t want to sell.
“We got a letter that stated that the county wanted to turn our property and the entire block into a parking lot,” Rita Cinquemani explained. “We want to keep the trees. We want to keep the historic buildings.”
Others don’t want the county to get the land either and have signed a petition started by Reed.
Reed says the whole process has been confusing and residents feel kept in the dark.
“I feel like most of my information is coming from elsewhere,” she said. “The county is being very vague.”
Dexter McCoy, Fort Bend County Pct 4 Commissioner, said nothing is final yet, but confirmed one option for the land is to possibly make it into a parking lot.
“We don’t have a plan yet,” said McCoy. “We are a growing county and so have a lot of work to do to serve the nearly one million residents that we have here. We definitely are sensitive to residents’ concerns here and that’s a part of the process.”
Commissioner McCoy said they’re also surveying other nearby land options too.
The protestors who went to the commissioner’s court meeting on Tuesday want the county to know that they are paying attention.
“We are here we are listening,” said Reed. “We are not going to stand by and be steamrolled. We are ready to stand up for ourselves.”
KHOU 11 reached out to County Judge KP George several times. On Tuesday, during the meeting, he said he didn’t have a comment at this time because the item wasn’t on the agenda and the plan is still in the early stages.