City Council takes steps to facilitate new H-E-B

Other actions include updates to special events rules, cancellation of municipal election

The city council approved two measures at its March 4 meeting that bring Dripping Springs a few steps closer to getting a bigger H-E-B.

One of those measures was the rezoning of the current H-E-B property and the adjacent property that was recently purchased by the company.

'The properties are zoned to two different categories of commercial zoning, and we need them to be the same so that we can build a unified development,” H-E-B senior engineer Kathy Strimple said.

The city staff and the Planning and Zoning Commission both gave reports on the zoning amendment request, and recommended that both properties be zoned as Commercial Services. After some discussion, the council voted unanimously to approve the rezoning.

The other measure was to approve a variance allowing for a bigger store. There was significant discussion on the issue. Strimple started her comments by discussing the growth in the area that the store serves.

'In our trade area, since we've built the store, the population has doubled,” Strimple said. “We're also seeing in the next few years a housing growth of another 8,000 homes, which equates to about another 25% population growth.”

Strimple presented a draft site plan for the store, while emphasizing that there is not a current timeline for when the project might happen. The new store would be constructed to the left of the existing store, and would be facing Rob Shelton. The old store would remain in service until the new one is complete.

The requested variance would allow the new store to be a maximum of 150,000 square feet. This could potentially include a mezzanine level for administrative space. City council members asked for the square footage of nearby stores to get a better idea of the proposed size. Strimple said that the store at Nutty Brown is 103,000 square feet. The store at FM 1826 is 90,000 square feet. The current Dripping Springs store is 68,000 square feet.

Mayor Bill Foulds, Jr. asked if the fuel station would have to be moved, and Strimple said no, it will remain where it is. There was also discussion about traffic concerns in the area. Some of those are expected to be addressed by the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) under plans to widen 290.

“TXDOT will reconstruct 290 into 6 lanes and a divided median,” Strimple said. “In the process, they are going to widen the approach to Rob Shelton on both sides, northbound and southbound. The tricky part is TXDOT doesn't have a timeline for when that would happen.”

Council member Wade King asked about the trees on the new site.

“That acreage that you purchased east of the existing store is loaded with large oak trees and maybe a handful of heritage trees,” King said. “I’m just concerned that with TXDOT’s right of way and your new store that every single one of them is going to get bulldozed.”

Strimple said that they do expect to be able to save some of those trees.

“This development will come under your new tree preservation ordinance,” she said. “There are different ways to comply - there’s preservation, there’s replanting by way of mitigation. The combination of all those things is how I see us navigating through it.”

Tory Carpenter, the city’s planning director, gave a report on the variance request and said that the city’s finding is that the request does meet the requirements for variance approval.

The Planning and Zoning Commission also recommended approval by a vote of 7-0. They said that they have had several presentations from HE- B and that all their concerns were satisfied.

Mayor Pro Tem Taline Manassian had several questions about the timing of the variance request.

“I have a worry about approving 150,000 square feet without a plan to put a store there right now,” Manassian said. “In five years you might say you’ve decided to put it somewhere else, and now we’ve got a variance of 150,000 square feet… in the middle of our town. And that causes me some concern.”

Strimple said that while she understands the concern, the company has invested a significant amount in acquiring the new acreage, because they want to build a new store.

Council member Geoffrey Tahuahua said that he didn’t think they would have bought the property if they didn’t intend to build.

“I think they share the same concern that we have about the wastewater, and I think that’s probably the biggest holdup,” Tahuahua said. “I think it's their intent to get some certainty so they can actually figure out what they are going to do.”

Strimple agreed that the wastewater issue is the biggest hold up.

The city is facing difficulties with its limited wastewater capacity, and is involved in a court case that has hindered its efforts to alleviate the problem. The Texas Supreme Court is expected to rule on the case in the next few months.

Manassian asked Strimple if the city had wastewater, the store would be moving forward.

“If I had a checkbook, I could answer your question with certainty,” Strimple said. “But I don’t.”

Strimple went on to say that if they had wastewater, the store would be eligible for capital allocation. They are hoping to get the utility service issue resolved so that the new store could be included in H-E-B’s 2028 capital allocations, which means it would open in 2028.

“We can always accelerate projects, so nothing is really set in stone,” Strimple said. “But it’s not a conversation because of the wastewater. I didn’t want to throw you under the bus, but there we go.”

Discussion concluded and Manassian thanked Strimple for her time.

“I don’t want you to hear me say in any way that we don’t support H-E-B expansion,” Manassian said. “We are supportive, it’s just such a critical location in our community.”

With that, Tahuahua motioned to approve the variance, it was seconded by Travis Crow, and it passed unanimously.

Staff reports were next on the agenda. Council heard and approved some minor updates to the tree and landscaping ordinance and the City of Dripping Springs personnel manual. They also heard and approved changes to the city’s special events and itinerant vendors rules.

The new rules are intended to balance commercial interests with community needs, and to make expectations clearer. They establish three tiers for special events - small, intermediate and large. The event size is determined by several factors, including the number of attendees, the use of amplified sound, and the selling of alcoholic beverages, to mention a few. The rules also include a new conflict resolution process.

Another order of business was a motion to cancel the 2025 municipal election that had been scheduled for May 3. By the filing deadline, the city had received three applications for the three city council places that were on the ballot. All three applications were from the incumbents. As the candidates were unopposed, state code allows the city to declare the candidates elected and cancel the election. The motion was approved.

City council members Geoffrey Tahuahua, Taline Manassian and Sherrie Parks will continue to serve for another term.