County could potentially permit 2,000 homes

BOLIVAR PENINSULA — Hurricane Ike left about 2,000 houses standing on Bolivar Peninsula, and county engineers will be in Crystal Beach today and Sunday to help residents sort through the permitting process.

Meanwhile, it could be a couple of weeks before the Texas General Land Office marks the peninsula’s vegetation line, which could govern where property owners would be allowed to rebuild.

County Engineer Mike Fitzgerald said county employees would hand out information on the permitting process and issue permits only to owners whose houses sustained what the county deems as less than substantial damage — substantial being more than 50 percent of the value.

Homes that sustained potentially substantial damage must be inspected before the county issues permits, Fitzgerald said.

“We’ve looked at every house on the peninsula,” Fitzgerald said. “And 3,400 are gone.”

Ike’s Sept. 13 landfall on Galveston caused severe flooding and damaged much of the upper Texas Coast. The storm surge swept many homes from their pilings in Gilchrist and Crystal Beach.

Residents wanting to rebuild the 2,000 or so homes that remain will need a building permit issued by the county engineering department, which moved to the County Annex at 174 Calder Road in League City.

Those seeking a permit can call 409-770-5552 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday to seek assistance or to have paperwork faxed to them, Fitzgerald said.

Elizabeth Robertson and Tammy Pilsener of the engineering department will hand out information and issue permits for homes that didn’t have substantial damage at 1987 Matt St. near the Crystal Beach U.S. Post Office today and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Texas General Land Office could decide within two weeks where the vegetation line would be.

The 4½-foot elevation from the beach could be the deciding factor on whether the county issues permits to build on property.

Jim Suydam, spokesman for the land office, said the agency will use a standard of 4½ feet to determine where the vegetation line would likely return, since it was wiped away by the storm surge.

Suydam said the decision to rebuild anywhere between the 4½-foot elevation and the water would be a permitting process decided by the county.