AUSTIN, Texas —
The Austin Planning Commission will no longer consider a developer’s controversial proposal to amend the Save Our Springs ordinance for its Hays Commons development.
Austin Planning Commission Chair Claire Hempel said the item was withdrawn from Tuesday’s agenda by the commissioners who initially sponsored the item.
Developer MileStone wanted to increase impervious cover, or manmade surface that doesn’t absorb water, from 15% to 25% in its Hays Commons project.
Seven-hundred single-family homes are part of the mixed-use development, located near State Highway 45 and FM 1626 in the city of Austin’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) and the city of Hays’ unincorporated area.
Hempel said while these requests are often initiated by the city council, in this case, the request was made for the Planning Commission to start the process. She said the Austin Codes and Ordinances Joint Committee voted in October to recommend the Planning Commission consider the initiation of the SOS Ordinance Variance.
Hempel also gave us more insight into the decision, saying, “It was clear that this site is very environmentally sensitive and would be costly for the city to extend utility services to this area, with an unclear set of community benefits in exchange. The request for additional impervious cover from the developer in such a sensitive area also raised significant concerns regarding runoff, water treatment and the impact to the Edwards Aquifer.”
Hempel also said they expect this site to be developed but hope the proposal can be a consensus between neighbors, environmentalists and the developer.
A spokesperson for MileStone said, “Hays Commons development will continue, with or without Austin at the table. Our proposal is offering the ability to expand jurisdiction and SOS protections to hundreds of acres that are currently exempt from regulation.”
Earlier this month, CEO Garett Martin said if the city of Austin doesn’t approve its SOS amendment request, it plans to disannex from the city.
Part of the property used to be part of Hays, but the developers disannexed there. They have benefited from Senate Bill 2038, which went into effect on Sept. 1, 2023, allowing property owners like MileStone to disannex from a city’s ETJ. That means the developer no longer needs to follow city environmental regulations but more lax county and state ones.
The planned development would be on the Edwards Recharge Zone, which has sparked pollution concerns for neighbors who use wells fed by the aquifer. It also feeds Barton Springs.
The Save Our Springs Ordinance, or SOS, is set in place to protect the water quality of the Edwards Aquifer and Barton Springs. It was adopted by the city of Austin in 1992 to protect the EARZ from groundwater contamination, with a strict 15% impervious cover limitation, based on recommendations by karst experts.
According to Hays CommonSense, a website that advocates for the Hays Commons project, MileStone’s proposal would have brought city water and wastewater services to the property and extend SOS protections to the entire site – including areas that are currently exempt.
In July of 2024, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, TCEQ, held a public meeting about the Austin developer’s proposal for a wastewater treatment facility near the Hays Commons development.
Save Our Spring Alliance said the fight is not over as the group is currently contesting a Municipal Utility District proposal submitted to the TCEQ for the Hays County portion of this property.