With some growth studies projecting the city’s population to surpass 20,000 by 2025, Buda’s $150,000 unified development code rewrite is coming at just the right time, Mayor Todd Ruge said.
“There’s a storm coming—a storm has been coming with people for the past 10 years, and there’s no end in sight,” he said. “We’re trying our best to not only accommodate the new people and businesses but also keep up the quality of life for our current citizens. It’s a delicate balance.”
Unified development codes are used by cities to consolidate zoning requirements, design standards and other development-related regulations. Buda has used the same code since 2002.
Since then, the population has nearly quadrupled, according to the Texas State Data Center.
Ruge said the new code will give the city “a clearer path and a clearer vision” when it comes to the future of Buda.
“We are in a desirable area, and Hays County doesn’t have trouble at this point attracting housing developments or business, so we are able to really regulate and pick and choose the type of developments and design that we want. We’re really trying to up the standards,” he said.
The new code will lay out specific guidelines for all aspects of development, ranging from historic tree preservation to flood resiliency.
“With our [new] standards, we can maybe make Buda a little more appealing than other communities around us,” he said. “People are coming here in droves, and that’s not going to stop.”
Ruge said the people who will be most affected by the new code are the Buda residents who have not moved to town yet. Developments created before the rewrite will be grandfathered in, even if they are out of compliance with the new code. What Buda citizens will notice is the stricter standards for the new buildings coming in, Ruge said.
The city planning department has one more code workshop left with City Council, said Chance Sparks, assistant city manager and planning director, followed by council’s likely approval of a resolution to establish the public hearing process, leading to the new code potentially becoming law in late June.
“I think we’ve got a document that the public can be pretty proud of,” Sparks said.
A new kind of code
Sparks said the city’s new code is being driven by priorities laid out in the city’s comprehensive plan, the document that provides a road map for future growth.
“One of the things in the comprehensive plan is maintaining the small-town feel, the small-town charm,” Sparks said. “We’re a high-growth city and recognize that growth is not going to slow down. How do you keep that charm? That’s why we’re transitioning to using that form-based code for portions of the city.”
Buda currently has a traditional zoning code, which Sparks called “reactive” and based on what the city does not want to occur. A form-based code is more proactive, he said, and emphasizes what a city wants and includes regulations that will result in desired outcomes.
“[Downtown Buda is] a wonderful place, but it’s not huge. If you put all your eggs exclusively in that basket, it can end up being loved to death, and you end up with an outcome that we might lose that charm,” he said. “What a form-based code does instead is says, ‘What do people love about this place? How do we replicate that? How can we give everybody in the city access to that kind of place?’”
A form-based code is not weaker than a traditional code, but it is more useful, Sparks said, and features language that anyone can understand—not just developers or design professionals. He said he hopes the new code and the accessible language within it will create an environment that empowers Buda residents to take the plunge to start their own businesses.
“When you look around Buda, you see a lot of independent small businesses. They’re not professional developers. They don’t need a whole bunch of confusing jargon,” he said. “What they need is people communicating clearly and providing tools and information in their language.”
