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Guadalupe County approves excavation permit for Terminal Loop property after staff and resident engineers say proposal improves environmental setbacks
Summary
Commissioners approved an excavation and septic system permit for two adjacent lots on Terminal Loop Road after staff said the proposed system meets current TCEQ Chapter 285 setbacks, will be combined by affidavit and likely improves environmental protection over the unknown existing system.
The Guadalupe County Commissioners Court on Sept. 16 approved an excavation permit allowing a conventional onsite sewage facility to be installed beneath Terminal Loop Road to serve two lots that together total about 0.244 acres.
Commissioner discussion and staff presentations focused on precedent, right‑of‑way protection and environmental safeguards. County environmental health staff said the design would place the tank and pump tank on one side of the road, bore a sleeve under the roadway and pump effluent to chambers on the owner’s adjoining lot; the owners will execute a lot‑combination affidavit to prevent separate sale of the two parcels.
“Under Chapter 285 this is allowed as long as both lots are owned by the same person,” Environmental Health staff member Daniela told the court, referencing Texas Commission on Environmental Quality rules for onsite sewage facilities. Staff said the combined acreage of the two parcels is about 0.244 acres and that the design meets the required setbacks, including a 50‑foot water‑well setback that older systems in the area may not meet.
Staff and the project’s registered sanitarian, Nicholas Colby, said the work likely improves environmental protection because the present system’s location is not known and older systems were installed before modern permitting rules. Colby, who said he prepared parts of the submittal and worked with the project engineer, told the court that in older subdivisions “we’re looking at 0.15 acres … we have to make a system work on what was platted in the sixties,” and that tying the two lots together is a common accommodation in similar neighborhoods.
County staff described construction safeguards designed to protect the county right‑of‑way, including a sleeved bore under the road and minimum offsets for bore pits so that any future repairs fall on the private property rather than the county. Several commissioners voiced concern about setting a precedent for future cross‑road installations but agreed staff had required measures to protect the public right‑of‑way.
After discussion, Commissioner Ott moved to approve the excavation permit request for 1733 Terminal Loop Road (property IDs 29129 and 167652) in Precinct 1; the court seconded the motion and voted to approve the permit with no opposition recorded on the public voice vote.
County staff said the lot combination affidavit and the septic permitting process will be completed as part of the permit and that the system must be engineered and stamped by a professional engineer because the property lies in a floodway.
