Kendall County Commissioners have made headway in their dealings with the city of Boerne concerning residents living in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ).
County Precinct 2 Commissioner Andra Wisian briefed the commission Monday about development and planning on property in the ETJ.
At its Aug. 27 meeting, the Boerne City Council approved a change in the Unified Development Code concerning the platting process for ETJ property.
The city’s UDC states, “It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation or organization to construct or cause to be constructed any streets, utilities, buildings or other improvements land has been lawfully platted or has been granted an exemption.”
Section 2.6.A.7.a.ii of Boerne’s UDC, titled, “Plat Exemptions, Exceptions and Waivers,” added exemptions dealing with ETJ land to the existing code.
The code, Wisian told commissioners, now states that if a property is in the ETJ and has a water well and septic and is not in the Camp Bullis Dark Sky boundary, then the development and not the city.
The UDC states, “Where a parcel of land in the ETJ is exempt from city authority to administer its regulations related to plats, subdivision construction plans and subdivisions of land, the county shall have exclusive authority to administer its regulations related to plats, subdivision construction plans and subdivisions of land.”
“Commissioner (Chad) Carpenter and I have been working with Macaluso and Quentin Scott to come to terms on how the county would regulate development in the ETJ,” she said.
“They didn’t want to let the ETJ go, but that was a huge move for them to modify their UDC,” she said.
Wisian said property owners approaching the city will likely get a waiver directing them to the county if they meet the well, septic and Camp Bullis boundary requirements.
“It’s the intention of all of us to see how this works with our residents for the next couple of months, then look at adjusting the interlocal agreement to mirror the change in the UDC,” she added.
For months, county residents have sounded off about having to abide by rules and regulations formulated by a city council whose members they have no say in electing.
Wisian said this is what those residents have asked for.
“They pointed out they can’t vote for city council, yet they have to be under the city council’s UDC,” she said. “This way, this gets them back into the county development office.”
Wisian thanked the city and its current administration for making time to listen to the county’s concerns.
“We’re getting there very slowly. I’m just really grateful the city has listened to us and met with us and helped us figure this out,” she said.
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