DEVELOPMENT In Dripping Springs, most new builds remain under moratorium
2022 REAL ESTATE EDITION
BY ANDREA ANDERSON
in Hays County, among the fastest growing in the state. The solution, city ocials had hoped, was an expansion of its wastewater treatment plant. The move was signicant for the city as well as developers but is still halted by ongoing litigation, Koontz said. A lawsuit to keep the city from releasing treated wastewater into Onion Creek is still pending in the Eighth District Court of Appeals in El Paso. Dripping Springs ocials could not say how many projects in the pipeline are being delayed by the moratorium. In recent months, the city has issued more than 33 waivers or exemptions. But those projects were approved before the moratorium went into eect or do not rely on public waste- water facilities. “You can’t just tell everybody to hang up their hammers and go home,” Koontz said.
Plans to build new housing, com- mercial developments or just about anything else in Dripping Springs have been on hold since last year. The city issued a moratorium to developers and builders in November, when its wastewater plant was near capacity—putting a cap on future construction to help salvage what little was left. The halt on land use has since been lifted, but the council has extended the moratorium a few more times with the latest extension set to expire in September. “We have a lot of challenges with wastewater,” Dripping Springs Plan- ning Director Howard Koontz said. “You just don’t know if the systems are functional.” Unprecedented growth has contrib- uted to the issue with the population of Dripping Springs doubling in the past ve years. The city is located
In the Cortaro development, homes were selling prior to the start of the development moratorium in November.(Community Impact Newspaper sta)
The city of Dripping Springs has voted to extend its temporary development moratorium twice. It is now set to end Sept. 18. WASTEWATER WOES Sept. 18
Feb. 20 Temporary moratorium extended 90 days for all new development related to continuing wastewater issues
Temporary moratorium set to expire
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Nov. 18 Temporary moratorium implemented when wastewater was near capacity
May 21 Temporary moratorium extended another 120 days
SOURCE: CITY OF DRIPPING SPRINGSCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
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SOUTHWEST AUSTIN DRIPPING SPRINGS EDITION • JULY 2022
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