Hays County considers potential review division for high-intensity developments

Discussions surrounding water conservation, availability and use by developments continue in Hays County as the Commissioners Court discussed the proposed creation of a division within the Development Services Department to review projects that require significant resources.

What happened

Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra placed an item on the court’s April 14 agenda to consider the creation of a High Intensity Development Review Division.

If approved, the item would have increased the responsibility of a current position within the Development Services Department to include evaluating developments that demand significant water, power, land or infrastructure systems, according to Becerra.

“We're only setting up the mechanism to process what we know is coming,” Becerra said. “We have large industrial users coming. ... We need to weave in water availability studies in addition to proper oversight of those availability studies and the power that is going to be used [by developments].”

The idea for a review division came from Becerra’s March 27 Clear Water Summit, an event that brought local water providers, municipalities and groundwater districts together to discuss how to protect local resources, according to a news release from Becerra.

“We have new challenges, and we need new oversight when it comes to extreme water usage, energy grid stability and nuclear power concerns,” Becerra said. “We must take measures now to ensure that we have resource stability in the future.”

Another viewpoint

Precinct 4 Commissioner Walt Smith raised concerns about the county’s authority to review proposed high-usage developments differently from other projects. A similar concern was raised at a Feb. 24 meeting regarding a proposed moratorium on developments requiring large amounts of water.

“There's not a clear definition of what would be considered high-intensity development,” Smith said. “We are mandated by the state to treat every development in a similar fashion. Whether it's the mom and pop who wants to put an auto shop in their garage or a data center, we have to look at all of them the exact same way.”

Going forward

Following court discussion, the commissioners directed staff to work with the Development Services Department to make recommendations for how best to move the proposed review division forward.

City staff will work with the county budget office, legal counsel and human resources department to address all commissioner concerns as well.

“Let's add this into the mix from our development services and have this discussion with the department head,” Precinct 3 Commissioner Morgan Hammer said. “[Let’s] see where we can potentially add something that would cover some type of area of high density.”