Kendall County officials are urging residents to participate in a survey to collect data supporting legislation sponsored by Texas House Rep. Ellen Troxclair, R-Austin, in partnership with county leaders.
The drafted legislation comes just one year after Camp Bullis – the military training facility southeast of the county – was designated a sentinel landscape after dozens of organizations came together to protect the rural landscape at the site.
However, the designation left all of Kendall County incorporated into the environmentally protected zone, opening up the county to expanded funding sources to support its ecological efforts over the past several years.
“HB 3995 is a bill of vital importance to Kendall County and the surrounding region. This proposed legislation protects smart development and land uses compatible with the unique features of our special county while preventing uncontrolled development that unfairly depletes our County’s natural resources,” County Judge Shane Stolarczyk tole The Star.
This particular bill was spurred by a large subdivision set for development just outside the United States Department of Defense training base which led to increasing concerns over the facility’s dark-sky training abilities, increased flooding and runoff and a shrinking natural environment to train in.
The draft legislation would allow commissioners courts with jurisdiction over any unincorporated area of a county within the watershed of Camp Bullis to enforce several developmental regulations.
This would allow Kendall County Commissioners the ability to regulate water supply, impervious cover limits, well- spacing, flooding and stormwater mitigation and roadway standards tied to a development in the unincorporated areas of the county.
“This bill protects the watershed and sensitive military areas of Kendall County around Joint Base San Antonio-Camp Bullis,” Stolarczyk said “It ensures the future vitality of our region. This bill will be a win for everyone who is impacted by it, save and except those who want to protect builders’ rights to unregulated development. It is narrowly tailored to impact portions of just four counties and Kendall. Its ultimate goal is the protection of the economy and our citizens as well as the operations on JBSA-Camp Bullis. We elect lawmakers in Texas to enact bills that mirror our values. There is no doubt this bill mirrors the values of Kendall County and most Texans living in areas other than big cities.”
While there has been a lot of public support for the bill, according to local officials, Stolarczyk noted at a commissioners court meeting earlier this year that it would likely face opposition from development lobbyists like the Home Builders Association.
This is not the first attempt made by county officials to reverse decades of eroding development control by drafting legislation. Last year, former Precinct 2 Commissioner Richard Elkins led a charge to use the dwindling reliability of local water sources which are impacted by increased drawdown from booming development in the county and its seat, Boerne.
That legislation was eventually sent to a subcommittee where it was heavily opposed by development lobbyists which successfully left the bill dead on the legislative agenda.
Further, while Troxclair has supported the legislative effort, Kendall County’s State Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, has said she would oppose legislation that granted county’s more development control, stating if she gave county’s an inch, “they’d take a mile.”
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