Dripping Springs council conditionally approves schooltree removals tied to mitigation and May 1 interlocal deadline

The Dripping Springs City Council on Tuesday approved an appeal by Dripping Springs Independent School District to remove a set of heritage trees for the construction of High School No. 2, but tied the approval to strict mitigation requirements and a firm interlocal agreement deadline.

The decision allows the district to proceed with planned site work around a detention pond and other campus infrastructure while holding the district to mitigation obligations under the city's landscaping ordinance. A motion approved by the council set a mitigation cap of $594,420 "or as otherwise agreed to between the city and Dripping Springs ISD by 05/01/2026, in default of which the maximum value of mitigation fees shall become immediately due and payable." The motion passed after a roll‑call vote.

The issue centered on two waiver requests: a focused request to remove 14 heritage trees (about 316 caliper inches) in the detention‑pond area and a sitewide request affecting about 85 heritage trees. Tory Carpenter, the city's planning director, told the council the site contains roughly 158 heritage trees and that removing those proposed would create a significant mitigation obligation under the code's 3:1 mitigation ratio for heritage trees.

"There's about 1,600 inches of heritage trees that would need to be mitigated for with this request," Carpenter said, explaining the mitigation calculation and the city's rules for standard/credit trees. Carpenter said DRC (the Development Review Committee) denied the waiver but had directed the district to explore site adjustments and other mitigation methods prior to appeal.

District representatives told the council the selected detention‑pond location followed engineering and regulatory guidance and that moving the pond would require new Texas Commission on Environmental Quality permitting and could delay opening the school by up to a year. "The drainage pond design is fully compliant with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, TCEQ standards," the district's engineer said, adding the placement maximizes drainage effectiveness and protects neighboring properties.

District and council members also discussed alternatives intended to reduce removals, including planting plans on site, preserving smaller "credit" trees to offset inches, and pursuing a Chapter 210 water reuse permit to irrigate new plantings. The district said the site plan yields roughly 1,700 inches of on‑site tree credits and that additional trees will be planted as part of construction.

Council members repeatedly stressed the tradeoffs: the need to open a school to relieve severe overcrowding at the existing campus versus the community's desire to preserve heritage trees and enforce the ordinance. Olivia Bernard, who identified herself as a parent, taxpayer and trustee at Dripping Springs ISD, urged the council to consider the student population and the district's timeline: "...please think of the 8,500 students, and over 1,100 employees and our entire community that resoundingly asked for this high school...to be ready and operational by our 2028, 2029 academic year," she said.

To bridge those interests, council members framed the approval as conditional: the district may remove the trees as depicted in the waiver request but must perform mitigation measures that meet the landscaping ordinance and must finalize the ILA terms by May 1, 2026. Councilmembers said that if the ILA is not completed by that date the district will be responsible for the full mitigation fees, at the amount identified in the motion, or another amount mutually agreed in writing.

Mayor (on the record) and several council members emphasized the city would prefer mitigation by replanting or other on‑site measures but that fee‑in‑lieu is an available backstop under the code. The council's motion and vote provide a pathway for the district to maintain its construction schedule while requiring accountability on mitigation.

The council's conditional approval concludes the appeal before the city; staff and council said they will continue negotiating the ILA and associated mitigation details in a working group intended to meet quickly to finalize outstanding items.

What happens next: the school district will continue limited grading and permitted work that avoids heritage trees while the city and district work to finalize mitigation plans and the ILA. If the ILA is not in place by May 1, the council's motion makes the mitigation fee amount immediately due under the terms it approved.