Astorga plans and builds custom gunite pools across the Richmond master-planned belt, Aliana, Harvest Green, Veranda, and Long Meadow Farms, where the mailing address says Richmond, the county map says unincorporated Fort Bend, and the design review committee is the gate that actually matters.
A Richmond address, a county map
All four of the big communities sit outside the City of Richmond’s incorporated limits, in unincorporated Fort Bend County. The county’s 2023 pool regulations exempt private single-family pools, and its real permitting triggers are floodplain work and enclosed structures of 400 square feet or more. The practical result surprises people: for most lots in this belt there is no city or county pool permit at all. That is not a shortcut, it is a shift, because it makes the community review process the binding approval, and floodplain status a per-parcel question we verify rather than assume.
The review committee is the real permit
Aliana’s Design Review Committee requires pre-approval, takes submissions through TownSq, and expects approved construction to start within six months. Harvest Green’s architectural committee names pools explicitly among the improvements that need approval, and its published guidance warns that skipping review risks being made to remove the finished work. Long Meadow Farms runs an Exterior Modification Request through its architectural review committee, with review windows commonly running to thirty days depending on the section’s management. Three communities, three doors, one truth: the paperwork belongs at the front of the schedule, and we carry it as part of the project.
Two soil stories in one belt
Close to the Brazos, lots sit on Norwood series alluvium, comparatively well drained river soil whose USDA description ties its flood frequency to levee protection. Out on the prairie, the ground changes character: Aris clay holds a perched water table in the wet months of winter, and the Lake Charles and Bernard series carry the high shrink and swell behavior most of Greater Houston builds against. Veranda additionally sits in a levee improvement district on the tax rolls. What this means for a pool is simple and unglamorous: the steel schedule, shell engineering, and drainage plan come from your lot’s soil, not from a template. The full soil story is in pool construction on Houston clay.
What a pool costs here
Richmond-belt pricing follows the same published Houston market bands and the same eight drivers as the rest of the metro, covered with sources on the Houston pool cost guide. New-construction lots here tend to dig easy: open access and no mature roots, with the budget action in finishes, features, and the spa decision.
Common questions
Who permits a swimming pool in the Richmond master-planned communities?
For most of the belt, honestly, nobody at a city counter: Aliana, Harvest Green, Veranda, and Long Meadow Farms carry Richmond mailing addresses but sit outside the city limits in unincorporated Fort Bend County, whose 2023 pool regulations exempt private single-family pools. The county’s real triggers are floodplain work and structures of 400 square feet or more. That makes your community’s design review committee the binding gate, and floodplain status a per-lot check we run from the parcel.
How does pool approval work in Aliana?
Aliana’s Design Review Committee requires pre-approval before work starts, with submissions running through the TownSq platform, and approved projects are required to begin construction within six months of approval. We prepare the submission and sequence the clock into the project plan.
Do Richmond-area soils affect pool construction?
Yes, and the belt has two different stories. Near the Brazos, Norwood series alluvium is comparatively well drained. On the upland prairie, Aris clay carries a perched water table in the wet winter months, and Lake Charles and Bernard series are USDA-documented for high shrink and swell. Which story your lot tells decides the steel, the shell, and the drainage plan, which is why the soil conversation happens before the design is priced.
Nearby, and the rest of the map
The belt continues north into Fulshear and Katy, and the full list lives on our service areas page. For the metro picture, start with custom gunite pools in Houston.