BOERNE– While City Council voted to approve a citywide thoroughfare plan which was met with much controversy from resident in and around the city limits, the officials also adopted city code amendments to quell concerns in the extra-territorial jurisdiction.
The agreement between the city and Kendall County remains in limbo after several years of regular renewal, but municipal leaders in both camps are continuing conversations on the matter.
In the meantime, city staff and officials worked to adopt the city’s first platting exemptions in the city’s ETJ as the last agreement between the city and county remains in play until an agreement is reached, leaving ETJ platting up to city staffers.
“City staff has been working for several months now to appropriately include modifications to the Unified Development Code for residents in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction to ensure the code is working to the best of its ability, while not overly burdening residents who are looking to complete smaller projects on their property,” Communications Director Chris Shadrock said in a statement.
The amendment incorporates language proposed by the city in an amended agreement between the county and the city over platting in the ETJ which has been put on hold while county officials consider the agreement.
Among the exemptions, a project on 5 acres of land or less which results in impervious cover of 25% of the property area or less will no longer require platting with the city, leaving the property free of right-of-way designations .
There are several more exemptions identified in the amendment, but this seems to most clearly answer the concerns voiced by hundreds of residents.
“The one- and five-acre figures provided to city council are examples – since the vast a majority of the residents in the ETJ have property around that size – but there is no size limit,” Planning Director Laura Haning said. “As long as the proposed improvements do not exceed the 25 percent impervious cover Kendall County will administer its regulations related to plats, subdivision construction plans and subdivisions of land. This is the first time we have included exemptions within the ETJ as a response to residents’ concerns about burdensome requirements for smaller projects.”
While city officials said the 25% figure was chosen to help future-proof the thoroughfare plan trigger, a project that requires platting may not necessarily be required to widen any roads. City officials explained the impervious cover limitation will, however, warrant right-of-way designation.
'In the nearly 50 years since the city of Boerne has had a thoroughfare plan, more than a dozen road/sidewalk/ bike lane projects have been built and/or land set aside,” Development Services Director Jeff Carroll said. “These were required of the developer who purchased private property from the seller. Without the Major Thoroughfare Plan, the city and taxpayers would have been on the hook for building or buying the required land for future mobility needs. The MTP only comes into play if a developer buys and develops property in the city’s ETJ.”
While the future of the agreement between the city and county over who will control platting in the ETJ remains a mystery, officials on both sides have confirmed they continue to work towards a solution.
“We continue to work with the Kendall County Commissioners on the updated interlocal agreement. The previously approved agreement remains in effect during this time,” Shadrock said.
Comment
Comments