Georgetown city council members heard more than a dozen residents and neighborhood leaders at a workshop on draft neighborhood overlay ordinances before directing staff to code a 20-foot maximum in the San Jose neighborhood and 25 feet in the TRG (Tract Ridge & Grasshopper) neighborhood.

The workshop, led by planning staff, focused on translating small-area plan recommendations into enforceable Unified Development Code (UDC) standards for building height. Staff explained the coding step implements the city’s 2030/master plan and the two neighborhoods’ small-area plans and described variance routes under the city’s zoning process.

Residents told the council the adopted neighborhood plans reflected months of local work and asked that the city honor the agreed standards. “As a lifetime resident of Georgetown and more important lifetime resident of San Jose, I asked the city council to help us keep what makes our town unique,” said Terry Pagan, a San Jose resident who traced her family’s history in the neighborhood.

Cristina/Christina (San Jose Neighborhood Association president) told council she represents more than 70 multigenerational homeowners who want to keep the current height limit to avoid displacement and preserve the neighborhood’s character. Carlos Bustillos, president of TRG, said the neighborhood’s plan had been unanimously approved and asked council to leave the limits as originally adopted.

Several residents urged a narrow appeal or variance pathway for exceptional cases. Lance Saunders, a property owner, asked the council to consider grandfathering or a flexibility mechanism for smaller lots where strict limits could make feasible improvements difficult.

Staff explained the code path for exceptions: a variance would be heard by the Zoning Board of Adjustments and requires extraordinary conditions beyond financial hardship. Planning staff showed multiple design options discussed with the neighborhoods, including a 20-foot/story-and-a-half approach for San Jose and a 25-foot option discussed with TRG.

After public comment and staff answers about process and typical building heights, councilmembers said they heard residents’ concerns and supported codifying the lower heights. Council direction to staff was to proceed with draft ordinance language that sets a 20-foot maximum for San Jose and a 25-foot maximum for TRG and to carry the coding forward into the UDC update for formal readings.

The workshop was a direction to staff rather than a final ordinance vote; staff will return with codified ordinance language for formal consideration and readings. Planning staff noted that nonresidential and mixed-use height recommendations in the TRG plan remain distinct (nonresidential up to 35 feet; mixed-use/multifamily 40 feet in the draft plan).