By a narrow margin of 3 to 2, the Wimberley City Council voted to approve a conditional use permit for a proposed property on 202 River Road.
The applicant presented plans to build a two-story, short-term rental with four units, and a one-story building on a .28 acre lot. The lot is zoned single family, residential three, which required a conditional use permit from the city. City sewer is not available and the property would require a septic system. Before any construction could take place, Hays County would have to approve the septic system plans.
Council members expressed concerns that the lot was too small for any septic system to treat the proposed buildings. The architect who drew the plans told the council that the system he specified met requirements.
Earlier in the month, the Planning and Zoning Board, in a 4 to 2 vote, recommended approval for the CUP. The four board members who approved the plan cited its appropriateness for the area – its proximity to downtown and other commercial uses. The two Planning and Zoning members who voted “nay” had concerns about the height and massing of the proposed two-story building.
Several members of the public spoke against the project. One speaker, a civil engineer, opposed the plan because “it is a very large structure on a tiny lot.” He asked that the council pass on the CUP until the county approved the septic permit, as did another citizen.
A neighbor voiced her opposition and asked the council for a more in-depth consideration of the application than was given at the Planning and Zoning meeting. She said a development plan for the area of River Road in which the lot stands should be created, and added that nothing in the proposed plans justified a CUP. “I voted for incorporation 25 years ago because I wanted zoning,” she told the council. “I didn’t want Wimberley to grow with no regard for commercial and lodging structures being built next to longtime, owner-occupied residential properties.”
Another member of the public expressed concerns about the proliferation of short term rentals in the area and a need to cap approvals.
The owner of a lodging business in the downtown overlay district urged the council to review practices adopted by other communities: to establish policies for safe earning over the development of shortterm rentals and to consider the immediate and long-term downstream effects of continuous approvals. She asked the council to consider adopting two policies before approving any further short-term rentals – that the property be zoned commercial prior to the application, and that the property be owner-occupied as a primary residence, not passive or investment properties at the time of application.
City council members discussed the conflict between the need for short-term rentals to support tourism and their impact on residential neighborhoods. They acknowledged their conflicted feelings about the proposed project and the need for a comprehensive plan that includes zoning and infrastructure improvements.
