Bastrop City Council moves to give developments more flexibility

Austin American-Statesman
Keaton Peters, Special to Bastrop Advertiser
July 13, 2023

The Bastrop City Council on Tuesday moved forward an exception from city codes to allow some developments more flexibility in the planning process, and it filled one vacancy on the Planning and Zoning Commission.

The council unanimously approved a process to create Planned Development Districts, or PDDs, which will give city officials flexibility to stray away from the B3 codes, or land-use regulations, the city instituted in 2019. A final vote on allowing for PDDs is scheduled for the July 25 meeting.

A PDD is “a tool that’s been in the development toolbox for several decades now,” City Manager Sylvia Carrillo said. “It allows the staff to be flexible and work through the segments of the code that don’t necessarily work for that particular development scheme.”

Following elections for mayor and two council seats this year, the City Council has set its sights on providing a more user-friendly experience with city permitting and making it easier for commercial development to come to Bastrop. The Bastrop Building Block Code, known as B3, is widely seen as too restrictive, and officials said the creation of PDDs will allow projects to move forward more quickly.

The creation of a PDD “gives the planning commission, the residents and the council an opportunity” to view new development proposals "at a 50,000-feet level from a conceptual component and then staff goes through and works through the details,” Carrillo said.

Sylvia Carrillo

The new ordinance will require written notice of proposed PPDs in the Bastrop Advertiser. A sign will be required at the property asking for the PDD exemption, and multiple public hearings will be held to gather input on the project. The city intends to complete the review of proposals for a PDD within 30 days, Carrillo said.

In addition to the B3 codes, the city’s volunteer Planning and Zoning Commission also has become a source of controversy after two commissioners were stripped of their roles at the June 27 council meeting. The contentious vote centered around how quickly the commission was moving forward with changes to the codes, such as allowing for PDDs.

The action by the council created two more vacancies on the commission for a total of three, and the council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve Mayor Lyle Nelson’s appointment of Gary Moss to one of the three openings. The council also outlined a timeline for the other two vacancies to be filled sometime in August following a boards and commissions fair on July 26.

Gary Moss

“Mr. Moss is a citizen developer and I thought he could bring some insight,” Nelson said.

At the time of Tuesday’s meeting, the city had received seven applications for the commission. Council Member Cynthia Meyer initially asked about postponing the vote because she had not been able to review all of the applications and talk to the candidates.

“I know that we all absolutely take the confirmation very seriously, but in order to do that, I need as much information as I can have,” Meyer said.

After some discussion of creating a timeline for reviewing additional applications and filling the next two vacancies, Meyer voted for the confirmation, citing Moss’ community involvement and experience as a builder listed on his application. At a recent meeting, the council also approved requirements that three of the nine commissioners must have property development experience. Moss will fill one of those three roles.

The council also approved a contract with Universal Natural Gas and heard a presentation from the city's Recreation Department on its draft master plan for parks and open spaces, which includes upgrades to several parks and a proposed baseball and soccer complex. The plan is still being revised and will come before the council for a vote in the coming months.