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Bulverde board grants variance for Highway 46 veterinary clinic buffer
Summary
The Bulverde Board of Adjustment approved a variance allowing a veterinary clinic on Highway 46 to deviate from the city's 25‑foot Scenic Gateway Overlay tree‑planting requirement after staff and the applicant said overhead utilities and a GBRA transmission line severely limit the plantable area.
The Bulverde Board of Adjustment on Thursday approved a variance that lets a proposed veterinary clinic on Highway 46 reduce the number of trees required in the city's Scenic Gateway Overlay.
Aaron Christian of RBK Architecture, representing the Fern Feather Vet Clinic, told the board the 25‑foot scenic buffer along the property contains a 20‑foot electrical easement and a GBRA transmission water line that together leave only a narrow strip available for planting. Christian said the site could only accommodate about five feet of new plantings on the buffer, well short of the ordinance's numerical requirement.
The variance request centered on the overlay's tree‑planting rule, which calls for a number of trees based on lot width. City staff showed the board maps and explained that utilities and a retaining wall below the road limit visibility from Highway 46, reducing the buffer's intended effect in this location.
Board members questioned whether TxDOT or other right‑of‑way takings had affected the parcel and whether overhead utilities preclude planting; staff confirmed an overhead utility and the GBRA water line within the buffer. No members of the public spoke in favor or opposition during the public‑comment period.
After discussing the three legal criteria for a variance (public interest, special conditions and upholding the spirit of the ordinance), the board moved and voted to approve the variance for the Scenic Gateway Overlay. The board cited the limited plantable area caused by easements and the site's reduced visibility from the parkway as factors that supported the finding of special conditions.
The approval permits the developer to proceed with the clinic site plan as presented to the board. The applicant and staff did not specify any follow‑up conditions in the hearing record; any required revisions, permits or inspections will proceed through the city's standard planning and building review process.
