Bee Cave City Council passed several changes to its multifamily development code as the city considers its affordable housing goals.

The overview

Workshops reviewing the city's multifamily and mixed-use regulations began in June, with the purpose of updating the code language, requirements and zoning, according to a staff report.

After receiving developer and resident feedback, four changes to the Unified Development Code were passed unanimously at an Aug. 27 regular city council meeting and include:

• Adjustments to standards for mixed-use developments, including building heights and the proportion of land allocated for residential and commercial space in a mixed-use development
• Updates to the Special Use Permit (SUP) process to be easier, faster and less expensive for applicants by removing the fully-engineered site plan requirement alongside allowing a simpler process for requests to increase building height or footprint when appropriate.
• Amendment reversing the ban on Planned Development Districts (such as the Hill Country Galleria or the Falconhead neighborhood)
• Addition which allows commercial amenity uses within multifamily zones and addition of new commercial zones

How it works

A developer can request an SUP when their building plans fall outside the requirements of current zoning ordinances.

"[This] makes that SUP process more attainable. It was very expensive and very risky and almost impossible before," Director of Planning & Development Carly Pearson said at the meeting. "Council direction was make it cheaper, faster, smoother and, most importantly, more consistent for applicants."

What's next

Next, Pearson said the council will review possible changes to the comprehensive plan zoning and future land use map, both of which outline how the city plans to develop in the coming years.

Currently, 42% of residential units in Bee Cave's city limits and extrajudicial territory are multifamily units, but the way the city is currently zoned, that proportion could nearly double, Pearson said at a June 18 workshop.

"What we'll have to do now is recalibrate [the zoning], because the way it is zoned right now, you'd be way out of whack from what your comprehensive plan says. You just have to make sure how you want it," Pearson said. "That's the question that all this poses: what does Bee Cave want to look and live like in the future?"

The date of the next public workshop could not be confirmed as of press time.