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BASTROP — A trio of building code amendments designed to protect Bastrop’s character and preserve established neighborhoods may slow residential development, according to some local real estate investors.
The updated policies, recently approved by City Council, focus on minimum lot sizes, set-back distances and housing types in older single-family neighborhoods.
“We’ve got refugees from Austin, we’ve got people from all over, and everything we’ve talked about on these items will do nothing but increase the cost of housing because it’s going to reduce the number of houses available,” said Tom Leibowitz, who owns development property in the city. “Supply and demand works in the housing market as well as it works in anything else.”
The amended code, known as the B3 code, was originally adopted in 2019 to guide the urbanization of what was once a semi-rural community.
An extensive list of B3 code changes was created by city staff, approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission and presented to the council March 11.
One ordinance sets a minimum one-acre lot size in designated rural areas, Place Type 2, and a onethird acre lot in the more traditional single-family neighborhood zones, Place Type 3.
The allotted sizes are based on existing averages, according to the council.
Leibowitz told the council that there are currently no empty one-third acre lots available downtown, and of the eight houses that size, five cost at least $1 million.
“If the goal in making these changes is to completely prohibit building downtown then you will have succeeded in doing so by making these changes,” he added. “If people are concerned about housing unaffordability in Bastrop, this is going the opposite direction.”
City Manager Sylvia Carrillo- Trevino countered that curbing downtown growth is necessary because the current infrastructure cannot support high-density development.
“To use the fear factor that we are driving away affordable housing is simply an untrue statement,” she said. “The neighbors who have lived there so long should have some consistency about what’s going to be built there, and the rest of the town shouldn’t have to foot the bill for the infrastructure that’s going to be needed.”
Another ordinance removes the ability to build duplexes in Place Type 2 or 3 neighborhoods, allowing only detached single-family homes in those areas.
“This item is to get traditional single-family neighborhoods back to traditional single family,” Carrillo-Trevino said. A third ordinance requires the distance between a new house and the street to match the average set-back of neighboring homes.
Carrillo-Trevino noted that in some developments, houses are built much closer to the street than surrounding properties.
“You’re going to walk out on your porch and you’re going to see halfway through that house,” she said.
Developers with pre-existing permits that do not meet the new requirements may apply for permission to continue under the old codes, according to the city.
While the council approved these measures, Councilperson Cheryl Lee—who often advocates for affordable housing— acknowledged Leibowitz’s concerns.
“People are getting priced out, not just of Bastrop Proper, but the city in general. It absolutely should be a conversation we need to start addressing,” she said.
