City staff outlines B3 zoning rewrite, sets Planning & Zoning hearing for Feb. 17

City staff updated the Bastrop City Council on proposed building-code changes to B3 and related text amendments during a Jan. 22 special meeting, and said the Planning and Zoning Commission will hold an initial public hearing on Feb. 17.

The discussion centers on three related proposals labeled P1, P2 and P3 that would change lot-size minimums, setbacks and allowable housing types in parts of the city’s B3 zoning. The City Manager said P1 and P2 are “simple text amendments on lot size minimums and setbacks,” while P3 is “more significant” and would alter what multifamily types are allowed in that zone.

City staff said they will notify the entire city and property owners within 200 feet of affected parcels. “So we’re blanketing the city plus…200 feet around the city,” the City Manager said. The Manager added that vesting and a nonconforming-relief provision adopted last summer will still apply to qualifying projects and that staff will report how many lots each zoning designation and lot-size band would affect.

Staff described P3 as moving “more toward multifamily” in some respects but removing triplexes and allowing duplexes in certain instances. The Manager told council members the work will include reviewing impervious-cover rules and parking, and said the city is considering retaining a form-based code only in the Iredell District while reverting the rest of the city to more conventional zoning practices. “We have a huge workload in front of us in the next 6 weeks,” the City Manager said.

Legal counsel has suggested using an overlay within a district as a way to retain a form-based code in limited areas, the Manager said. The Manager also noted the city must follow public-notice procedures: staff must advertise in the newspaper by the end of the week of Jan. 22 and the first hearing window placed 16 days after publication, which resulted in the Feb. 17 Planning and Zoning date. The Manager said some surrounding agencies will observe the Presidents Day holiday but that the city is not closed for the Feb. 17 meeting.

Council members asked procedural questions about the number of hearings; the Manager confirmed the sequence will be Planning and Zoning, a second P&Z, then first and second readings at council, giving four formal public opportunities for input. Staff said it will place roughly 70 notice signs in the city and will invite residents, developers and members of other boards and commissions to participate in advisory conversations.

Next steps: staff will finalize the notice list, publish the legal ad, and present analytics to council showing how many lots and which parcels would be affected by the proposed amendments. The Planning and Zoning Commission’s initial hearing is scheduled for Feb. 17; subsequent P&Z and council hearings will follow in the normal first/second review sequence.