Standards for multi-family housing, trees are updated
Josh Schroeder
This summer, Georgetown’s Unified Development Code — which sets standards and building codes for landowners and developers — will get a major update for the first time since 2003.
The UDC leads to more predictable and reliable development, Mayor Josh Schroeder explained. Having a defined code gives residents a good sense of what could be built across town, and what is and isn’t allowed with home renovations.
Changes will come to city council for approval in July and include updates to multi-family housing standards, accessory dwelling units rules, tree codes and more. A major goal, Mr. Schroeder said, is making sure the code is readable to the average resident, not just professional engineers and development lawyers.
“Most of the time, it is going to be developers and builders that are looking [at the code], but one thing we really did think about was, could a normal human being that doesn’t do this for a living pick this book up, read it and understand what they can do on their property,” he said.
Common residential requests — like adding a pool or obtaining a permit for a new fence — will be streamlined, said Zane Brown, development support manager.
“When [residents] go to do it in the future, they’re gonna have an easier time than somebody last year,” Mr. Brown said.
Mr. Schroeder said the code will also be easier to amend in the future after this initial revamp. He said the code used to be “impossible” to amend, and it took months for changes to be implemented.
“We acknowledge that in this very dynamic, ever changing environment, we’re going to be looking at the UDC to see if things are working or not working,” he said. “Now it’s not this big constitutional amendment process to fix things. It’s easier to fix problems when they arise.”
Changes to housing standards
When looking at housing and multi-family code standards, city staff and the UDC steering committee considered affordability, the shifting Georgetown housing market and the demand for various housing types.
Mayor Schroeder said Georgetown’s development landscape has shifted greatly since the early 2000s, when the current UDC was created.
“Everyone [in 2003] would have told you that the maximum density west of Lake Georgetown was going to be one unit per acre,” Mr. Schroeder said, compared to the higher density and multi-family seen today.
Although there are still empty lots and properties around the city, he said land won’t stay vacant for long. The UDC will help guide and manage growth, he said, to ensure high-quality development that he believes the community wants.
“The realtor that said that empty lot behind your house is going to be a bird sanctuary was lying,” Mr. Schroeder said. “It’s Texas, the land is going to get developed.”
For single-family housing, discussions involved modern lot sizes and single-family neighborhood density.
Similarly, projects including townhomes and duplexes look different today, and come with a different price range, than in the early 2000s.
“Townhomes and those sorts of things, looking at the standards and the existing code, that worked for townhomes being built in the early 2000s,” Mr. Brown said. “What does that product look like today, and what does the community want out of that?”
For mixed-density housing, there will be more density, but it’s going to be done in a “thoughtful, innovative” way, the mayor said, with amenities in addition to the housing.
With the proposed UDC changes, however, it may be a while before any new, traditional multi-family developments are built. New stipulations encourage mixed-use growth to create a more “urban” apartment building with commercial components.
The next steps
Before city council can approve UDC changes, residents have the following opportunities to provide input. Specific dates have not yet been announced.
- Joint Planning and Zoning, City Council and UDC Steering Committee meeting - June
- City Council workshop - June
- Planning and Zoning Commission hearing - July
- City Council first and second readings - July and August
Additionally, informational post cards — required by state law — will be sent to residents to explain that the UDC will be changing, and that land rules could be impacted. While the notices may sound daunting, Mayor Schroeder said the legal language makes the changes sound more intimidating than they are.
“I would argue that there is absolutely nothing we are doing that is taking one ounce of property rights away from any human being in the City of Georgetown,” Mr. Schroeder said. “I would argue that we are doing nothing but adding property rights to anyone.”
The full UDC with changes and additional FAQs can be found at https://tinyurl.com/r8zrhncx.
Proposed UDC Changes
There are many chapters in the Unified Development Code, but here are some highlights that detail changes compared to the 2003 code.
Single family zoning
In the new UDC, there are four options for single-family housing zoning: Residential Estate District, Residential Traditional District, Residential Suburban District and Residential Mix District.
- Residential Estate: large-lot, low-density residential and associated uses; lot size minimum is 1 acre
- Residential Traditional: large-lot, rural-to-urban transition to provide incremental changes in density; lot size minimum square feet is 7,500
- Residential Suburban: smaller-lot, single-family detached and attached, and zero lot line homes; lot size minimum square feet ranges from 2,700-5,500
- Residential Mix: an assortment of single-family residential, two-family residential, duplexes, single-family attached and townhomes; lot size minimum square feet ranges from 1,300-4,400.
Commercial zoning
Zoning classifications will be updated. Zane Brown, Georgetown’s development support manager, said the city’s 2003 code had C1, C2 and C3. But when C2 got removed, C1 and C3 remained as the two commercial zoning for properties.
“Now we have a C1 and C3, so we just did some cleanup on naming,” he said.
General Commercial, now called C3, will be renamed C2 Regional Commercial.
According to the UDC, C2 provides for “medium to large-scale development” for restaurant, entertainment, retail, service and office uses. Businesses that fit into this category include big box stores, anchor retailers and restaurants.
Planned Unit Development
“We’ve seen so much of this advanced manufacturing, industrial type growth,” Mr. Schroeder said. “And we’ve spent so much time going through these industrial [Planned Unit Development’s] that we kind of really worked on that zoning category.”
For industrial businesses that used to apply for PUDs, they will now apply for an I-1 zoning.
“There’s a lot of things in these PUDs that if we can just include these in this new zoning category as limitations or requirements, we can just go straight zoning on a lot of this stuff,” Mr. Schroeder said.
In the UDC, it states that Planned Unit Developments can be used to “permit a unique development that does not meet the use and/or development standards included within the UDC.”
Tree rules
The chapter on trees and its changes has already been approved by the city council. According to the city’s FAQ’s on the UDC updates, changes encourage the preservation of existing trees and ensure responsible water management. It also encourages the planting of native, low water-use plant species.