The nearly 7.4-acre property at 2002 Hwy. 95, Bastrop, which is currently vacant, is east of the Public Works Department and south of the Bastrop Youth Baseball and Softball Organization’s fields.
Developers will need a zoning change from employment center to planned development district to move forward. Employment center, or P-EC, is a zoning district for a mix of development uses, including commercial, retail and office, according to city documents.
What we know
During a meeting on Aug. 28, the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the zoning change.
However, Bastrop City Council—which is set to vote on the change Oct. 21—gave staff a list of directions, including:
- Request a traffic impact analysis from the developer
- Amend the parking multiplier ratio to be a clearer standard instead of the currently proposed 1.2 parking spaces per unit
- Discuss a possible connection at Linden Street with community members
- Contact the Bastrop Youth Baseball and Softball Organization
Traffic and parking is at the top of Bastrop City Council’s concerns.
“Having 1.2 parking spaces per unit is not going to fly,” Mayor Pro Tem John Kirkland said during a Sept. 9 meeting. “I found three studies written in 2020, 2022 and 2023 that talk about that being a viable number for transit-rich environments. But for rural, car-dependent areas like us, going down to numbers like that is going to create a disaster.”
He stressed that having too few parking spaces could lead to more vehicles parking on Linden Street, as parking is not allowed on Hwy. 95.
Place 2 Council Member Cynthia Meyer agreed with Kirkland.
“I do not ever want to encourage street parking, and I want us to stay true to the reasoning of why we have the parking,” she said.
Also of note
Those unable to attend the town hall can send their questions and comments to [email protected] through Oct. 1.
