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Advisory committee revisits catalyst areas: downtown, ETJ limits and pattern zoning options
Summary
Consultants and staff asked committee members to reassess catalyst areas from the 2018 plan—especially downtown and Nimitz Lake—because recent ETJ law changes limit city control; members discussed pattern/form-based zoning and opportunities near the hospital and mall site.
Consultants working on Kerrville’s comprehensive plan update asked the advisory committee to reassess catalyst areas that were identified in the 2018 plan, warning that recent changes to extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) law reduce the city’s control over some areas originally shown as catalyst sites.
Caitlin Admire, project manager for Freese and Nichols, said the 2018 plan’s catalyst map included many areas now partly or wholly in the ETJ. That reality raises a question: should the plan continue to treat those ETJ parcels as viable city-led catalyst sites when annexation is voluntary and city authority has been curtailed? "ETJ laws have recently changed with the last legislative session," Admire noted, and committee members agreed voluntary annexation will likely be the only path to add city control in most cases.
The panel focused first on downtown and a southern portion of the TIRZ/TIRS boundary where mixed use and entertainment were envisioned but reinvestment has not materialized. Staff suggested considering pattern or form-based zoning for that southern slice to permit a broader mix of uses (clean light industrial, maker spaces, small multifamily) that fit existing scale and could encourage reinvestment.
Catalyst area 2 (south of downtown) drew particular attention because a nearby hospital recently annexed 157 acres and is pursuing a master plan. Consultants and members said that annexation could change development dynamics and make denser housing near jobs (hospital staff) more feasible if voluntary annexation proceeds.
For the Nimitz Lake area (catalyst 3), participants noted floodplain constraints near the river, steep topography on the western edge and water-pressure considerations that complicate dense development. The Guadalupe River Center parcel was described as privately acquired and partially developed; speakers recommended examining how riverfront uses, recreation and floodplain management should be reconciled in the small-area plan.
Consultants said they will dig into downtown and the Nimitz Lake small-area plans in more detail and circulate the other seven catalyst-area maps for committee review ahead of the next meeting in late January. No land-use changes or ordinances were adopted at this session.
