The details
The Birch is part of a 183-acre project, which will include other residential and mixed-use areas. However, the zoning change under consideration applies only to The Birch, according to city documents.
The developer, Forestar Real Estate Group, has requested a zoning change from interim holding, a designation used as a placeholder for annexed property, to R2-M, a residential zoning that allows for moderate density.
However, council may approve a less dense zoning classification, R2-N—neighborhood density residential—after the developer unofficially amended its request. This would reduce the number of homes allowed per acre.
How we got here
On Dec. 2, the Boerne Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended denying the R2-M zoning request.
“I’ve got real concerns about density,” Planning and Zoning Chair Tim Bannwolf said at the meeting. “I think we have tried to represent the sense of Boerne citizens in terms of trying to properly manage the growth that’s come. We keep hearing constantly with cases like this that [people] want less dense developments, not more dense developments.”
In June, Boerne City Council approved the annexation of The Birch, bringing it into the city limits.
Since the property was in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, annexation was required to establish zoning. However, Forestar had already built out some of the property and infrastructure prior to the zoning change request.
Prior to annexation, two agreements were already in place regarding the property:
- 2021 development agreement, which outlined the annexation of the full 183 acres and spelled out development specifics
- 2018 master development plan, which approved 209 homes at The Birch across three phases of construction
Council member Quinten Scott said he wants to prioritize the initial agreements made that the developer has been following, particularly after the allotted number of homes already decreased from 209 to 201 to account for spacing.
“If you created the environment which required the developer to reduce the platted number of lots below 209, we are no longer in compliance with our own agreement,” Scott said. “We have a development agreement that was agreed to by City Council in the past. ... By [the developer] coming to us suggesting they would accept a lower zoning, I think it is another concession on their part.”
In their own words
Forestar, a nationwide residential developer based in Arlington, has been working on the project since 2018.
“At all times during planning and development approvals related to this development, this site ... was contemplated for a single-family residential development,” Forestar representative Kevin DeAnda said. "Everything leading to this point has been done with an eye towards Boerne policies or guidelines that are in place.”
Council also discussed potentially separating the zoning of The Birch, but Forestar representative Emiliano Guerrero said that would be difficult for the project moving forward.
“That much infrastructure already in, we need to spread that over as many lots as possible,” Guerrero said. “We did take it down to 201 [homes], but we still feel that is a reasonable number to make this work.”
The other side
Local residents Pat and Lee Carriker, who own 65 acres north of Spencer Road, said at the Nov. 4 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting they have safety and traffic concerns should the zoning change be approved.
“We’ve lived out there for 35 years, and it’s a really dangerous road,” Pat Carriker said. “That housing development ... opens onto [SH] 46 in a dangerous location between these two blind curves. ... We risk our lives often just trying to get on [SH] 46 from Spencer Road with the current busy traffic going both directions.”
Since 2020, there have been 947 traffic accidents on SH 46 in Boerne, with the majority concentrated near the I-10 intersection, according to data from the Texas Department of Transportation.
Forestar will help pay for a new traffic signal at the intersection of Spencer Ranch Boulevard, the road constructed by Forestar for the development, and SH 46, but the exact installment timeline is unknown, according to city documents.
What happens next?
City Council will discuss and decide on the zoning change at its next meeting Feb. 25 to allow council members more time to review the materials and speak with the developers.
