Asia-Pacific OZ Business Park in Jeopardy

By Gloria Way

    The proposed Asia-Pacific Opportunity Zone Business Park (APOZ) which is to be located on close to 500 acres in Winnie at the I-10 and SH 410 area, is not likely to be approved by Chambers County Commissioners Court any time soon. According to all parties involved with approving the project, the developers/investors of the project have failed to present specific plans or designs as to what the project is perceived to be. Preliminary plans were presented to the county’s Development Review Committee (DRC) in January. Since the initial meeting, no specific plans have been submitted for approval. The job of the DRC is to review all plans for new development and make sure that the developers meet all standards set by the county. Once the plan is submitted, the DRC sends the plan to engineers and drainage experts. The engineers and drainage experts study the plan to ensure all county requirements are met. Once the DRC approves the plan, it is sent to Commissioners Court for approval. This process can take several months.

  According to sources, the representatives of APOZ are heavily lobbying Texas Governor
Gregg Abbott to publicly support the project. The Governor’s office has been told that “Chambers County is very enthusiastic about the project and supports it”. But according to Pct 4 Commissioner Ryan Dagley, “I am 100% against this project.  There is no support from this court for this project. Their story changes daily. The land for the site has yet to be purchased.” Dagley continued, “They say they want to build 2,000 tiny homes. That would completely overwhelm the East Chambers ISD. How do they plan to address that issue?”

  Pct 2 Commissioner Mark Tice echoed similar sentiments. “I am not for this project. A lot of people have asked for more specific information and have not received it.” Pct. 1 Commissioner Jimmy Gore, whose precinct the project is in, stated, “We have to consider the impact 2,000 new homes will have on our schools, our law enforcement, and hospitals. Even if the project is developed in phases, these issues must be addressed.”

  As stated earlier, APOZ developers are lobbying the Governor for support. Dagley emphasized, “What may be good for the Governor (Texas being home to APOZ through a federal program), is not necessarily good for Chambers County. There are too many unanswered questions that must be addressed.”

  In May, the Texas House passed a bill that lets the Governor determine the countries whose residents, governments and other entities could be banned from buying property in Texas. House members gave the Governor such power when they amended Senate Bill 17 that said real estate transactions were previously limited to countries that the US National Director of Intelligence has designated as national security threats. Currently, that lists consists of only China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia.

  The bill takes effect September 1, 2025, and only affects real estate transactions after that date.

For APOZ to become a reality, the land sales must be completed by August 31, 2025. And since, the land purchase is based on a letter of intent, that would infer that the plans would have to be approved by the DRC and Commissioners Court before August 31, 2025, for the land sale to close by August 31, 2025.

  Time is of the essence for APOZ. Hence, the heavy lobbying of the Governor. It can be assumed that APOZ would like to convince the Governor that Chambers County strongly supports the project and that the Governor will declare that the developers and investors of APOZ are not potential national security threats.

  But before any action can be taken by Chambers County, APOZ must present specific and concise information to the DRC and Commissioners Court.