Decision on new restaurant postponed

New construction for a restaurant along Cypress Creek hit a snag on Monday.

The building is proposed by Texas musician Kevin Fowler to highlight the northwest corner of The Quarter, which are the set of shops along Cypress Creek directly below the Wimberley Square.

Fowler purchased The Quarter about a year ago. The 2,500-square-foot proposed building would have an 800-square-foot deck to seat a maximum of 98 people along the banks of the Cypress Creek.

“I feel like this would be an economic enhancement to our town,” Sheryl Kelly, a local resident at the meeting said. “I feel like people would enjoy it. There is nobody out at night. A lot of reason our town closes up is there is nothing to do at night. This would be a real addition to our town.”

While the proximity to the creek may be its biggest feature, it also may be the project’s undoing.

The city of Wimberley has a “Protective Waterway Overlay District” that follows the floodplain within the city limits. Commercial construction is essentially prohibited in the area unless a variance to the ordinance is given.

The city’s decision to grant the variance is left to the city’s Board of Adjustment. Everyone on the board readily agreed that the project looked promising and would add value to both the general area and Wimberley, but there were some major issues that kept them from approving the variance Monday night.

The issues amounted to three key factors. While the building would be built one foot above the current floodplain, it would be well under the floodplain once new maps, which are still in the approval process, are finalized.

Upstream and downstream property owners expressed concern that the building could either cause greater back up upstream during a flood or that the building would wash downstream on to their property.

“You will flood if you don’t elevate (further),” Scott Way, who is an alternate on the board but was needed this week in order to have a quorum. “…You will have the same flood conditions again. I’m not going to say it will wash away, but it will flood.”

Fowler stated that he wasn’t interested in having his investment wash down the creek and that he was committed to building it right.

The project also does not provide additional parking, a common issue with new developments on the Wimberley Square. The Quarter currently has 15 parking spots and received permission from Ozona Bank to allow customers to use the parking lot across the street. While this satisfied concerns for some commission members, others felt that a more concrete solution was necessary.

The final issue raised was the impact on the creek itself. The Protective Overlay Waterway District is meant to help provide a buffer zone around the creek to allow the riparian area enough space to properly stabilize the bank and filter water.

The board voted to table the decision until November 19 to allow Fowler time to try and address the concerns. Fowler repeatedly stated that he intends to help the environment and the wildlife in the area, but the board requested a more formalized plan on how to address the issues before taking a vote.