Less than three months after losing his re-election bid to serve another term on the Cinco Ranch Landscape Maintenance Association board of directors, a controversial Newland Communities employee has been appointed to a different Cinco Ranch board.
After being defeated for re-election to the LMA board, Richard Albrecht has now been appointed to serve on the Cinco Ranch Commercial Property Association.
Cinco Ranch developer Newland has the authority to appoint a board member to the Commercial Property Association board without that person having to stand for election.
Albrecht was one of two LMA board incumbents who were unseated by a pair of challengers during June elections.
He and fellow board member Dana Garnett lost re-election bids after coming under withering criticism by residents over their support of a controversial proposal by Cinco MUD 12 to build a series of monument signs at two major entrances to Cinco Ranch from The Grand Parkway. Albrecht and Garnett’s defeat was widely seen as yet more fallout from their support of the plan.
Critics of the plan, who said the project was a waste of taxpayer money and designed only to benefit Cinco developers and the LaCenterra commercial center, accused Albrecht and Garnett of a conflict of interest in voting to support the measure.
Albrecht is a long-time Newland employee, while Garnett was a vice president for Vista, the management company for LaCenterra.
The two were also roundly criticized for refusing to answer questions about their vote. Neither responded to repeated calls for comment from InstantNewsKaty or from residents who asked why they did not recuse themselves from the vote.
The Landscape Maintenance Association was the only Cinco Ranch body that voted to support the contentious sign plan.
An online poll of Cinco residents resulted in an overwhelming 5-to-1 margin opposing the sign proposal. The Cinco Ranch Neighborhood Representatives Committee also voted against the project by a 21-2 majority.
When the issue came before the LMA, however, that board approved the measure on a 3-1 vote, including the support of Albrecht and Garnett.
The project was eventually scaled down before reaching a final vote by the residential board, with the more controversial elements removed from the proposal.
Although the scaling-down of the project ultimately brought a halt to the controversy, many Cinco residents still wanted Albrecht and Garnett replaced in favor of board members who, in their opinion, had greater loyalty to residents over commercial interests.
Three major boards – the Cinco Ranch Property Owners Association, the Landscape Maintenance Association and the Commercial Property Association – govern most development and maintenance operations in Cinco Ranch.
The Cinco Landscape Maintenance Association is in charge of the setbacks and esplanades of all major boulevards and the entry monument signage throughout Cinco Ranch.
The Cinco Commercial Property Association, established in 1990, is a mandatory membership association that includes all commercial development in Cinco Ranch.
The Commercial Association includes a board of directors and an architectural review committee. The roles of the board include the governing of the commercial covenants, conditions and restrictions and deed restriction enforcement.
The ARC ensures building compliance to the requirements of the Cinco Ranch Commercial Design Guidelines and the “Cinco standards” for future development.
Neither Newland nor Albrecht responded to repeated requests for comment.
