BY ETHAN THOMAS
What they’re saying
Assessing the need
Emergency response drive times 1 New Braunfels Fire Department Station No. 4 Current: 7 minutes
Projected: 4 minutes
The city held several public meetings in the eight months leading up to the plan’s adoption, New Braunfels Deputy City Manager Jordan Matney said. Four tracts of road were proposed for removal in an update to City Council on Nov. 4. Seminole Drive, Old Mission Lane, Coun- tryside Drive and Pleasant Lane received the most feedback from community members who were worried about rights of way encroaching on their properties. Ultimately, city staff recommended that no parts of the plan be removed, according to the Dec. 8 presentation. To be removed from the plan means that in those areas, when—and if—development occurs, developers would not be required to designate the right of way to the city, according to the presentation.
Beyond efficiency on the roadways, the thor- oughfare plan takes into account response times for emergency services in the city. For the New Braunfels Fire Department, the plan acts as a “public safety” plan, Fire Chief Ruy Lozano said. Roadways allow for emergency services to get to residences quickly, which could be the difference in saving a home from fire, Lozano said. He said if a thoroughfare plan isn’t designed when new growth occurs, then emergency responders are having to take older roads that are remote from new development. During a Nov. 4 City Council meeting, Lozano, as an example, showed a hypothetical response time from Fire Station No. 4 to the furthest point in Mission Hill Ranch—part of the thoroughfare plan. From the station to the location without the plan, the drive would be about 3.4 miles and take about seven minutes, according to the presentation. However, if the extension within Mission Hills
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SOURCE: NEW BRAUNFELS FIRE DEPARTMENT/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Ranch were to take place, it would cut the distance to 2.3 miles, with a drive time of four minutes, moving the department closer to the National Fire Protection Association’s standards of four-to-five- minute response times, he said.
Going forward
with a proactive framework for managing growth and transportation demand. “[The thoroughfare plan] sets the framework of our city that provides connectivity for vehicles but also connectivity for emergency access,” Ford said. “Then, as development comes in, they start providing right-of-way dedication for that network.”
Changes can be made to the now-adopted thoroughfare plan, but they will come as land is sold, bought and platted for development. Updates help ensure the plan remains a flexible guide rather than a fixed mandate, District 3 council member D. Lee Edwards said. More broadly, plan provides New Braunfels
“At the end of the day, it’s a proposal.” D. LEE EDWARDS, DISTRICT 3 COUNCIL MEMBER
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