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The Dripping Springs City Council voted to let the temporary development moratorium in relation to wastewater availability expire on September 18. The temporary moratorium on development was enacted for both wastewater and land use purposes on November 18, 2021, and it was extended in February to end in May. In May, the moratorium as it related to land use was lifted, but the council extended the moratorium as it related to the provision of wastewater through September 18. Now, that part of the temporary development moratorium has been lifted as well.
Despite lifting the moratorium regarding wastewater, the city’s challenge in providing wastewater still exists. “The city is very near capacity with providing wastewater to new residents and businesses and is still in litigation regarding the expansion of the South Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant,” the city said in a statement. “Until the lawsuit is settled, applicants will continue to face challenges to their proposed projects that depend on wastewater service.”
Ultimately, the city council decided this challenge could be solved without the moratorium, thanks to guidelines and processes developed by the city during the moratorium.
“Until we have an end date in sight with the litigation, it doesn’t make sense to continue to extend the moratorium indefinitely,” Deputy City Administrator Ginger Faught said. “Once the litigation has an end date, we could still enact another moratorium in regard to the provision of wastewater while we work out the best solutions based on how the lawsuit is settled. Until then, the City is working diligently on preparing to be able to promptly bring wastewater infrastructure online once the litigation is over.”
The city said it will continue to work on solutions that work for both the city and the property owners seeking to build in Dripping Springs.
“The city’s responsibility is to protect how our community grows,” Dripping Springs Mayor Bill Foulds, Jr. said. “We enacted the temporary moratorium to ensure future development was done in a sustainable manner and beneficial to the city. The moratorium allowed us to pause and make sure we planned for addressing the growth now and in the future, and we will continue to do so now that it’s been lifted. Our goal with this, and everything we do is, to protect the treasured quality of life we have all come to know and love in Dripping Springs.”
During the moratorium, city leaders met with developers and builders who had questions or concerns and approved waivers and exceptions — primarily for ongoing projects.
The city also started the process of revisiting its Comprehensive Plan, studying land use and development in the city limits and extraterritorial jurisdiction and hiring a professional land planning firm to provide comprehensive plan and development code services.
“The 2045 Comprehensive Plan for Dripping Springs is about 40% through its development,” said Planning Director Howard Koontz on Sept. 13. “We’ve conducted one online survey and are in the final stage of a second one. We held in-person stakeholder meetings in July and just held our first public meeting earlier this week. We will hold two to three more public meetings over the next few months.”
More information on the Comprehensive Plan can be found at reimaginedrippingsprings. com.
