Leander City Council approved 15 amendments to the city’s composite zoning ordinance during meetings in July.

The zoning ordinance determines what a building and the land on which it sits can be used for as well as which materials can be used in its construction, Assistant City Manager Tom Yantis said. City staffers bring small amendments to the ordinance before City Council about once a year, he said.

One of the amendments that received attention during a meeting July 7 was a 35 percent cap on the amount of stucco used on the exterior walls of residential and commercial buildings. The other was a requirement that visible concrete in drainage and detention ponds be clad in stone.

A handful of real estate representatives said limiting stucco to 35 percent on the exterior of buildings would essentially ban stucco in Leander, since the material would not be financially viable for builders to use.

Nancy Schroeder, who works with builder Taylor Morrison and is chairwoman of the Leander Real Estate Advisory Board, said her customers ask for stucco.

“We see that there is a market demand for it, and if it’s not allowed in Leander, I’m worried that they’ll go to Cedar Park or Round Rock or Liberty Hill,” she said.

City Council opted to pull the stucco amendment and talk with homebuilders in order to better shape that part of the ordinance, Yantis said.

“You know the council’s intention is, ‘We don’t want these 100 percent flat stucco walls. We don’t feel like that is aesthetically good and maintenance-wise good; so how do we get a compromise?’” he said.

Other homebuilders raised concerns about the drainage and detention pond amendment that would require visible concrete be covered in stone. Yantis said it was intended to make the ponds look more decorative.

Geoffrey Tahuahua, the vice president of public policy for the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin, said stone would add costs to facilities because the engineers would have to re-engineer the additional weight of the stone. He suggested continuing to allow stamping and tinting of concrete.

Yantis said the council compromised by adding to the amendment that the plan would have to be approved by the city’s director of planning.

The amendments, aside from the cap on stucco, were approved by City Council during a July 21 meeting. Other amendments included updating definitions, such as the color “dark sky,” and clarifications, such as adding the number of children that are permitted at an in-home day care.

Yantis said the city would see another round of zoning ordinance amendments later in the year, such as adding new zoning district categories and making changes to landscaping requirements on major corridors.