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Liberty Hill postpones sidewalk ordinance; staff to refine fee-in-lieu details
Summary
The council postponed consideration of Ordinance 2025-O-001, which would amend UDC section 5.06 to add sidewalk requirements and a fee-in-lieu option; staff said they will work with a consultant and finance to bring a revised proposal in February.
The City of Liberty Hill postponed consideration of Ordinance 2025-O-001, which would amend section 5.06 of the city Unified Development Code to add requirements for sidewalks and a fee-in-lieu mechanism.
Planning staff member Mackenzie said, “I have emailed you all and let you all know that I'll be postponing this. I'll be working with Kimberly Horn, our third party consultant, to go through this a little more thoroughly and also be running it by finance since we're gonna be creating a separate fund for this.” Mackenzie told the council she expects to provide an update at the February 4 meeting.
The staff explanation said the fee would be set as a per-square-foot (or comparable) amount and deposited into a separate general fund account that would be used only for sidewalks as part of capital improvements. Mackenzie characterized the account as “not an enterprise fund or anything like that. It'd be a general fund, but it would be a separate fund. Only used for sidewalks, like CIPs.”
Council members and staff discussed whether money collected under the fee should be eligible for trails or managed by Parks and Recreation. A councilmember said the trails master plan was the logical place to prioritize projects but also voiced concern about creating a fund that accumulates money without resulting sidewalk construction. Planning staff said the city can evaluate how peer cities use similar funds and will return with recommendations.
Because the council postponed the item, no ordinance text was adopted and no vote on the ordinance itself occurred. Mackenzie said staff will continue to work with the consultant and finance to present a refined proposal to the council in February.
The postponement preserves the status quo on sidewalk requirements while staff develops fee calculations, fund structure and any proposed links to the trails master plan and Parks and Recreation.
