Temporary Moratorium on Development In Relation to Wastewater Availability Lifted – But Challenges Still Exist

DRIPPING SPRINGS, TEXAS – September 14, 2022 – The Dripping Springs City Council last night voted to let the Temporary Development Moratorium in relation to wastewater availability expire on September 18, 2022.

A Temporary Moratorium on development was enacted on November 18, 2021, and was extended in February 2022 to May 21, 2022. In May, the Temporary Moratorium as it related to land use was lifted, as it was instituted as long as statutorily allowed, but the Council extended it as it related to the provision of wastewater through September 18, 2022. Now, that part of the Temporary Moratorium has been lifted as well.

Despite lifting the Temporary Moratorium regarding wastewater, it doesn’t mean the challenge in providing wastewater is solved. The City is very near capacity with providing wastewater to new residents and businesses and is still in litigation regarding the expansion of the South Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant. Until the lawsuit is settled, applicants will continue to face challenges to their proposed projects that depend on wastewater service. Per Deputy City Administrator Ginger Faught, “We still have the same challenges we had before the moratorium. But until we have an end date in sight with the litigation, it doesn’t make sense to continue to extend the moratorium indefinitely. Once the litigation has an end date, we could still enact another moratorium in regard to the provision of wastewater while we work out the best solutions based on how the lawsuit is settled.  Until then, the City is working diligently on preparing to be able to promptly bring wastewater infrastructure online once the litigation is over.”

While the Temporary Moratorium is lifted, the City will continue to work on solutions that work for both the City and the property owners seeking to build in Dripping Springs. The moratorium gave the City the needed time to develop guidelines and steps to follow with applicants who are seeking to build in the growing area. The Council continues to recognize the impact of rapid growth on providing for responsible development in relation to providing adequate wastewater infrastructure for the City but believes that can be done without the formal Temporary Moratorium in place.

“The City’s responsibility is to protect how our community grows. We enacted the Temporary Moratorium to ensure future development was done in a sustainable manner and beneficial to the City,” said Dripping Springs Mayor Bill Foulds. “The moratorium allowed us to pause and make sure we planned for addressing the growth now and in the future and we will continue to do so now that it’s been lifted. Our goal with this and everything we do is to protect the treasured quality of life we have all come to know and love in Dripping Springs.”

During the Temporary Moratorium, City leaders met with developers and builders who had questions or concerns and approved waivers and exceptions primarily for ongoing projects. The City also started the process of revisiting the Comprehensive Plan and studying land use and development in the City limits and Extraterritorial Jurisdiction and hired a professional land planning firm to provide comprehensive plan and development code services.

“The 2045 Comprehensive Plan for Dripping Springs is about 40% through its development,” says Planning Director Howard Koontz. “We’ve conducted one online survey and are in the final stage of a second one. Along with those surveys, we held in-person stakeholder meetings in July and just held our first public meeting earlier this week. We will hold 2-3 more public meetings over the next few months.”

More information on the Comprehensive Plan and the link to the current survey, can be found on the City’s Comprehensive Plan website reimaginedrippingsprings.com. The current survey runs through September 16, 2022.

For information on the lifting of the Temporary Moratorium, please call the City at 512-858-4725. All media inquiries should be directed to Communications at communications@cityofdrippingsprings.com.