Hays County denies agreement with 340-acre development over Edwards Aquifer recharge zone

Milestone Community Builders, an Austin-based homebuilding company, brought a proposed development agreement for the Hays Commons subdivision before the Hays County Commissioners Court on June 9.

After a period of community input and an effort by Precinct 4 Commissioner Walt Smith to table the item for a waiting period of more than 30-days, the court voted to deny the development agreement.

The overview

The Hays Commons subdivision is a 340-acre multiuse development that, under the proposed development agreement, would feature:

• 10.53 acres of commercial space
• 346 single-family residential lots
• An amenity center
• Approximately 200 acres of undeveloped land

The proposed development agreement included no creek crossings, Edwards Aquifer wells, septic tanks, or access points on Carpenter Lane or McKinnon Loop. The development’s water supply would come from a centralized, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality-approved, Lower Trinity well, according to agenda documents.

Without the agreement, the development would necessitate over 100 individual, privately owned wells pulling from the Edwards Aquifer and over 100 septic systems, according to agenda documents.

Developers included two site plans detailing how the property may look under the development agreement and under the residential Hays County code. The proposed site plan, without the development agreement’s approval, featured 102 residential lots.

Community members voiced concerns regarding the project’s location over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone. The recharge zone features cracks, holes, fissures and caves that allow rainfall to directly enter the aquifer.

“I voted against the proposed Hays Commons development agreement during the recent Commissioners Court session due to critical environmental concerns,” Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra said in a statement to Community Impact.

Becerra had previously worked with the Hays Commons developers to find a solution for the development but had not been involved in the most recent negotiations, according to his statement.

“In light of the substantial community outrage and the unresolved environmental impacts, I chose not to support the current version of the measure,” Becerra said in his statement. “I always remain open to future possibilities that strictly ensure absolute protection over the aquifer recharge zone.”

Smith, the agenda item’s sponsor, worked with the developers to bring forward the proposed development agreement to provide a solution for the land that would help benefit the public, he said.

“A development under the state guidelines will probably happen,” Smith said. “Whether it's this development agreement or not, something will go there, I have full confidence. We don't have the tools to stop it here in Hays County.”

Smith proposed tabling the agenda item for an additional 30-day period to receive additional community feedback and honor a postponement request made by the city of Austin in an email sent to Becerra and the commissioners.

Becerra, Precinct 1 Commissioner Debbie Ingalsbe and Precinct 3 Commissioner Morgan Hammer voted to deny the development agreement as opposed to postponing it. Precinct 2 Commissioner Michelle Cohen was not present at the meeting and did not cast a vote.

Hammer identified a number of concerns with the proposed development agreement, including locating wastewater lines under a creek on the site and a contingency allowing the development up to 10% more residential lots than the 346 proposed.

“Not only was it not done with good intentions and not done with our environment in mind, [it was] done in a way that seemed like they were trying to get out of some things,” Hammer said. “This was a win situation for them and a lose situation for us, from the county perspective, the neighbors' perspective and the environmental perspective.”