89-Acre Mobile Home Park — 360-Space Development Civil Engineering in Santa Fe, TX
Santa Fe · Galveston County · Texas
Residential & Multifamily Development
Civil engineering for a 360-space mobile home park in Galveston County
JRH Engineering delivered complete civil engineering design for a 360-space mobile home park with a welcome center in Santa Fe, Texas — a Galveston County site partially located within the floodplain and facing active opposition from local residents and the county. JRH cut through both the technical and political challenges by delivering practical, code-compliant solutions quickly — resolving fire code, floodplain, and drainage requirements before they became permitting obstacles.
AT A GLANCE
Site civil design
Full site civil design for a 360-space mobile home park including road layout, grading, pad design, and welcome center
Two access roads placed approximately 80 feet apart — the specific configuration required by the fire marshal for a development of this scale and length
Fire code compliance resolved in design before submittal, eliminating a common permitting delay on large mobile home park projects
All floodplain mitigation and detention contained entirely on-site
Utility infrastructure
On-site water well and sewage treatment plant designed and permitted — eliminating any dependency on municipal utility extensions
Private utility system avoided the timeline risk of waiting for city or MUD infrastructure to reach the site
Sewage treatment plant designed to handle 360-space capacity
Stormwater and drainage
All detention contained on-site — no off-site drainage coordination required
Storm sewer outfall designed to Dickinson Bayou within Galveston County Drainage District No. 1 boundaries
GCDD#1 approval secured concurrently with Galveston County permitti
Permitting and agency coordination
Active community opposition navigated through code-compliant design — every objection addressed with a documented engineering solution
Fire marshal requirement for dual access resolved immediately with two roads placed 80 feet apart — accepted without additional negotiation
Galveston County and GCDD#1 approvals pursued simultaneously
The Challenge — opposition, floodplain and no utilities, all at once
The Santa Fe mobile home park faced opposition that went beyond typical permitting friction — local residents were actively working against the project, and the county was paying close attention. On top of the political environment, the site sat partially in the floodplain, required fire marshal sign-off on access, and had no municipal utilities available. Any one of these issues could have stalled the project indefinitely.
JRH’s Approach — converting every objection into a solved engineering problem
JRH’s response to opposition is always the same: deliver technically sound, code-compliant solutions that leave no room for objection. The fire marshal dual-access requirement was resolved immediately — two roads, 80 feet apart, placed in the design before the first submittal. Floodplain mitigation and detention were handled entirely on-site. A private well and sewage treatment plant eliminated utility dependency
The Results
01
360 spaces permitted on a partially floodplain site despite active community opposition
02
Fire code dual-access requirement resolved in design before submittal — no fire marshal negotiation delays
03
Utility independence achieved through an on-site well and sewage treatment plant — no municipal extension required
04
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the main engineering challenge on the 89-acre mobile home park project?
The 360-space mobile home park faced active opposition from local residents and the county, plus fire code, floodplain, and drainage requirements on a site partially located within the floodplain.
How did JRH Engineering approach the mobile home park design?
JRH resolved the fire marshal's dual-access requirement with two roads placed 80 feet apart, contained all floodplain mitigation and detention on-site, and designed a private well and sewage treatment plant to eliminate dependency on municipal utilities.
What were the results of the 89-acre mobile home park project?
JRH delivered 360 permitted spaces on a partially floodplain site despite active community opposition, resolved the fire code access requirement before submittal, and achieved full utility independence through an on-site well and treatment plant.