Cibolo planning commission backs Old Town UDC exemptions for parking, drainage and small expansions

The Cibolo Planning & Zoning Commission voted to recommend that City Council consider amendments to the city’s 2024 Unified Development Code (UDC) to ease certain requirements for properties inside the Old Town District, including exemptions from mandatory platting, on‑site parking requirements and some drainage study triggers.

Commissioners said the changes are intended to help owners of small, preexisting properties in Downtown Cibolo convert or expand buildings for commercial use without the high upfront cost and delay imposed by current UDC rules. Commissioners voted to forward the draft ordinance with additional language requested by the commission, including a list of acceptable alternative paving materials, limiting approval authority to the planning director and city engineer, and clarifying drainage expectations.

City planning staff described the package as an interim accommodation while the UDC rewrite and Old Town master plan proceed. The draft ordinance would exempt existing structures in Old Town from certain requirements “unless the cumulative square footage of all existing structures is increased by more than 30%,” a threshold staff proposed as the trigger to require full drainage and subdivision review. Staff said the 30% figure was an initial proposal and is editable before Council consideration.

Local property owners and business operators gave public testimony in favor. Cassandra Kearns, who said she owns multiple Old Town properties, said: “In the 10 years that I've owned the properties, it's been challenging with the current UDC to do anything.” She described repeated variance requests and high costs that deter improvements and new tenants. Ron Henry, identifying himself as a property owner and real‑estate broker, said parking and drainage study costs were a barrier to converting homes to commercial uses: “When you wanna continue to beautify and add these, our costs add up very quickly. Hundreds of thousands of dollars just to have places here.” David Freimark, another Old Town property owner, urged commissioners to approve the changes and said more small businesses would increase sales tax revenue and relieve property tax pressure.

Staff explained how the proposed changes would work in practice. The draft removes the blanket on‑site parking requirement inside Old Town and instead allows property owners to decide whether to provide parking; if parking is provided, design standards in Article 10.6 would apply. The ordinance would permit alternative paving materials (example language in the draft: “where a site is properly graded, engineered to direct surface drainage away from the public right of way, alternative paving materials may be permitted”), subject to review and approval by the planning director and city engineer. Planning staff said alternative materials already exist on Main Street in places such as recycled asphalt and mixed gravel/asphalt lots.

Staff also outlined cost impacts for small projects: the city’s platting process for unplatted parcels typically requires engineering and review fees that staff estimated at $10,000–$15,000, and a site‑level drainage study can cost roughly $15,000. Staff said the Economic Development Corporation has been asked to fund an area‑wide drainage study to avoid forcing each property owner to pay for an individual study.

Commissioners asked for added clarity before the ordinance reaches Council: a defined list of acceptable alternative paving materials, whether the 30% trigger should match the 20% trigger used elsewhere in the UDC for site plan thresholds, and how the change would interact with existing lot coverage/impervious surface limits. Commissioner Hines asked staff to examine the lot coverage math so the exemption does not “trigger” other compliance problems. Staff said the draft can be revised to address impervious‑cover language and will be emailed to commissioners before the Council hearing so they can confirm the intended edits.

The commission’s recommendation to Council included the additional language agreed at the meeting (material list, planning director and city engineer as approving authorities for alternative materials, and a note about internal drainage expectations). The commission’s motion passed in a roll‑call vote.

Commissioners and speakers emphasized the recommendation is intended to be tailor‑made for Old Town’s historic, small‑lot pattern rather than a broad rollback of development standards across the city. Staff and commissioners repeatedly noted the amendment applies only to existing structures and that larger expansions would still trigger full subdivision and drainage review.