Following a recommendation for denial by the planning and zoning commission, Bastrop City Council voted 4-1 to deny rezoning the 31-acre property east of Buc-ee’s known as Bastrop Gateway.
The issue was tabled at the City Council meeting on May 14 and brought before council again on May 28.
Citizens voiced concerns regarding increased traffic in the area and the need to protect the property's loblolly pines at a public hearing preceding the vote.
What they’re saying
“In that location where we already have one of the worst traffic situations in this entire city, it would be so irresponsible for us to dump more problems,” council member Cynthia Meyer said.
Council member Kevin Plunkett voted against the denial of the rezoning request at the May 28 City Council meeting.
“When we say no to these things in the city limits, what we’re saying no to is the revenue that they generate,” Plunkett said. “We’re not saying no to the traffic because you put the same development a quarter-mile to the east, you have the exact same amount of traffic, only you have no revenue to pay for it.”
Also of note
City Manager Sylvia Carrillo mentioned the need to address impervious cover and tree protections in the existing Bastrop zoning code at the meeting on May 28.
"There are certain things in our code that we absolutely need to touch,” Carrillo said. “If we’re really a tree city and a bird city, and we want to attract those things, let’s make sure those protections are inherent in our code and not glossed over.”
