The City of Boerne continued its new series – Boerne Listens: A Community Q&A – during City Council’s April 8 meeting. The new initiative addresses common themes and feedback from the most recent community survey conducted at the end of last year.
Each session focuses on a topic of interest and features resident comments from each council district. City staff speak directly to these questions and concerns while providing detailed insight.
The focus of the April Boerne Listens conversation was growth and development. With 43 percent of survey respondents citing high-density growth or population increases in their responses, it’s clear this is a top concern. In this 30-minute conversation, City staff unpacked the realities of growth, private property rights, and the complex factors influencing what development looks like in Boerne today.
Read below for key takeaways and watch the full conservation.
What is Boerne?
The City of Boerne is home to about 23,000 residents who live within the city limits. However, the greater Boerne area is home to about 70,000 people. This includes people in the 78006 and 78015 ZIP codes who have a Boerne address, but do not live in the City of Boerne.
Development Considerations
The City of Boerne has many considerations when it comes to adopting rules and regulations around development and planning. These include:
- Federal and State Law
- City Charter
- Code of Ordinances
- Comprehensive Master Plan
- Unified Development Code (UDC)
- Other Regulations
- Citizen Desires
- Property Owners
City Council must take all of these into consideration when making decisions that balance property owner’s rights with citizen desires.
Current State Climate and Moratoriums
The State of Texas is a pro-property rights state, which means state law greatly limits what municipalities can do to restrict growth should a property owner choose to develop. Each legislative session, state lawmakers consider thousands of bills, many of which involve land use.
Adding to the limitations set by the legislature is the fact that Texas is considered to be in a housing shortage as the state continues to grow its population.
One common question voiced by residents is whether or not the City of Boerne can issue a building moratorium to stop growth. According to Chapter 212 of the Texas Local Government Code, a city can only issue a building moratorium based on a shortage of essential public facilities like utilities. Boerne does not qualify for a moratorium because the City has the capacity for its current population and responsibly planning for future needs.
Growth Management
The City of Boerne has many tools it uses to influence growth to better meet the desires of residents while allowing property owners to exercise their rights to development. These include:
- Master Plan
- Unified Development Code (UDC)
- Annexation: Municipal Service Plans
- Development and Utility Agreements
- Engineering Design Manuals
It is important to note that most of the current development taking place in the City of Boerne was approved prior to the adoption of the UDC, which created higher standards for developers.
Learn more about Planning in Boerne.
Improvements to Permitting Process
Some residents voiced concern in the Community Survey that the City’s permitting processes are too difficult to navigate. The City has taken steps recently to improve customer experience in this area. Some key highlights include:
- Streamlined process resulting in greatly reduced review times
- New permitting software to more easily track projects
- Dedicated project manager from City staff
Read more about recent Planning improvements.
Stay tuned for next month’s topic, and in the meantime, watch the full discussion below or on YouTube.
