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Planning commission backs parkland dedication changes and a new park‑enrichment fee
Summary
Commissioners recommended code changes to require larger, continuous park dedications, create a fee‑in‑lieu structure split by development quadrants, and start a $250 per‑dwelling park‑enrichment fee to fund citywide park improvements.
The Bastrop Planning & Zoning Commission on a recommendation supported an amendment to city ordinances to clarify parkland dedication rules and create a new park‑enrichment fee intended to fund park improvements and land acquisition.
Staff told the commission the revision responds to gaps created by the 2019 B‑3 code’s “civic space” approach, which sometimes let developers dedicate marginal floodplain and detention basins as parkland. The proposed changes would (1) require dedicated parkland parcels to meet minimum size and continuity standards (a minimum of one acre when land is dedicated for park purposes in most multifamily/commercial contexts), (2) limit the amount of detention/retention areas that can count as parkland, and (3) divide the city into north/south development quadrants (bisected by Highway 71) so fees collected in one quadrant are prioritized for nearby needs.
Importantly, the commission recommended the city adopt a $250 per‑dwelling “park‑enrichment fee” in addition to existing dedication or fee‑in‑lieu options. Staff showed examples from other Texas cities where similar fees are used to retrofit existing parks (for example: upgrade a splash pad to a recirculating system) and noted the city will maintain accounts for fees and return unused funds to developers if not expended within 10 years, in keeping with common practice cited by staff.
Commissioners and residents questioned how the fee level affects housing costs; staff pointed to sample rates in other cities (one cited at $1,000/unit elsewhere) and said the city’s $250/unit proposal was intended as a modest, initial step. Commissioners also discussed ensuring funds are spent citywide and that fees not be captured by developers in ways that provide little public benefit. The commission voted to forward the draft ordinance and the park enrichment approach to council.
Next steps: staff said they will finalize ordinance language and the fee schedule and present the recommendation to city council.
