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BASTROP — The City Council postponed approving a zoning change for a new retail center until after a much-anticipated impervious- cover amendment is passed early next year.
The revised ordinance, which limits how much land can be affected by a developer’s impervious cover, is being crafted by the Planning and Zoning Commission. It is expected to be ready for council approval Jan. 14. The issue was brought up at the Dec. 10 City Council meeting, during an ordinance requesting a zoning change for FM 969 Retail Center, owned by SIS Bastrop LLC. Impervious cover is a human-made surface — roads, roofs, brick, concrete and more — that prevents or limits how much water can soak into the ground. It can also affect runoff and lead to flooding, officials said.
“You add retail buildings of about this size, you fill the land with parking and a building, and then you put a foot of water in someone’s yard that already lives there. Maybe there’s not houses directly around it today, but there will be,” said Mayor Pro Tem John Kirkland. “How do we keep from flooding the neighbors is the underlying question.”
Kirkland referenced a complaint he received from a resident in Riverside Grove. After a gym was built nearby, the resident said his yard has flooded during storms.
City Manager Sylvia Carrillo-Trevino said the amendment to the city’s impervious cover ordinance will decrease the amount of land a developer is allowed to cover with concrete or other non-draining surfaces from 80% to 65% for Place Type P5-Core, which covers high-density and retail developments.
The developer is planning a retail strip mall and a convenience store with a gas station on about 10.56 acres nestled between the Valverde and The Colony subdivisions on FM 969. The land was recently annexed into the city, and automatically assigned as Place Type P2-Rural.
According to the city’s land plan, Place Type P5 has a tight network of streets and sidewalks and should be a highly walkable area.
“A continuous line of buildings is critical to define the public frontage and allow for visible activity along the street edge,” the document reads.
Senior Planner Kennedy Higgins said the center would provide “muchneeded commercial relief” for the area.
The center will be built in two phases. First will be a 6,000-square-foot general retail and convenience store that includes a gas station with 12 fueling pumps. The second phase will be a separate building featuring 7,400 square feet of general retail with multiple tenants. Pam Gamache with PSCE Inc., an engineering firm representing the developer, told council the project would adhere to city standards, and they are not requesting any variances.
Kirkland noted the standards would soon change. A day after the meeting, Gamache said her firm had already worked out the specifics with the city and was confident they would be able to proceed under the new ordinance when it passes.
Carrillo-Trevino pointed out the reduction in impervious cover could benefit the developers.
Reducing concrete can be done through several methods including sharing parking spaces between the two buildings, leading to cost efficiency. Having more open space also increases groundwater absorption, which means the developer could save money by building a smaller retention pond.
“It’s not necessarily not making the site developable, it’s essentially not over-parking the site. That’s a win for you, it’s a win for us, it’s a win for the environment,” Carrillo-Trevino said.
