Boerne council tables vote on zoning for 71-acre Birch at Spencer Ranch amid safety and platting concerns

The Boerne City Council on Jan. 28 tabled a final decision on zoning for the Birch at Spencer Ranch, a 71.12-acre tract west of Interstate 10 at West State Highway 46, after more than an hour of presentations and debate about traffic safety, prior plat approvals and the limits of the city’s authority.

Planning staff and the applicant asked the council to adopt R-2N (moderate-density residential) zoning for the site, which Nathan Crane, planning staff, said “would allow for [a] 201 lot, single family subdivision.” The council moved to postpone a vote to Feb. 25 to allow further discussion, and the tabling motion passed 4-0.

The project has a long approval history: a master community plan was approved in October 2018 and a development agreement was approved by the council on June 8, 2021. The current request applies only to a 71.12-acre portion of a larger Spencer Ranch master plan; frontage areas designated for mixed use and multifamily were not before the council.

Why it matters

The dispute combines questions of public safety on Highway 46, legal and procedural limits tied to plats and prior approvals, and whether the city should change the zoning after infrastructure and plats already were approved in the county and then annexed. Planning and Zoning unanimously recommended denial of the original R-2M request; the applicant subsequently asked the council to consider R-2N.

What the council heard

Nathan Crane, the city planning staff member presenting the item, summarized the site and application and said the requested R-2N classification aligns with the council’s…