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BASTROP — Sweeping changes to city development codes designed to protect the character of neighborhoods will affect how current homeowners are allowed to use their land, officials said.
That’s the word according to City Manager Sylvia Carrillo- Trevino.
“We are marching diligently toward what we heard from the (Planning & Zoning Commission) and from the folks in the audience about what should and shouldn’t be allowed in those districts,” Carrillo-Trevino said, adding a caveat: “If somebody has a particular project that has been passed down a ways, then it would be exempt.”
Referred to as the Bastrop Building Block Code, or B3, the city’s development regulations were adopted in November 2019, before the recent population and industrial boom.
With the fast growth, the city says some aspects of the code have undesired longterm effects in residential segments.
Now, a task force that includes the Planning & Zoning Commission, city staff, City Council, residential developers and others have rewritten those codes.
Council members approved the changes over a series of meetings, and four public input sessions have been announced to discuss what the changes mean to local property owners.
Homeowners who want to build an additional dwelling unit or storage shed on their property, or those planning renovations altering their onsite parking, may be affected by the B3 Code amendments.
Residential developers will find the B3 Code has an impact on lot sizes, types of dwelling, setbacks and other architecture and construction issues.
One amendment will reduce the impervious cover ratio allowed in residential areas. Impervious cover includes concrete as well as buildings on a lot, and refers to manmade surfaces that do not allow water to soak into the soil.
The city says the amendment reduces flood risk and places the needs of residents above the desire for denser development.
In zones P2-P4, up to two additional dwelling units will be allowed subject to meeting the established impervious cover standards, as well as the onsite parking requirements. The same applies to constructing other types of structures.
New parking regulations will also come into play.
“I hear about parking weekly. About parking spilling out onto the street and making it difficult to have our first responders respond but also those bikers and walkers trying to walk through the cars,” said Carillo-Trevino.
The new code will encourage more parking on private property rather than on the street.
The city will put up signs and send out messages through the Courier and social media to alert the community about upcoming public input meetings.
“We are notifying the entire city. We have 70 signs that will go in the city limits and throughout the town,” Carrillo- Trevino said. “Nothing is going to go under the radar at all.”
To find out more about the code amendments and whether a particular property is affected, visit cityofbastrop. org/page/protectingbastrop.
