Big Changes to Planning Process

September 16th's Rollingwood City Council meeting was packed with agenda items on the comprehensive planning process, and the Council made very significant changes to the process moving forward.

First, the Council decided to create a citizen advisory group to put together a draft comprehensive plan for Council's review. If you received a text message or email from the City soliciting applications for the citizen "Strike Force," that's what the message was about. There will be 13 members of the advisory group. Five members will be selected by individual Council members; six members will represent a Rollingwood board or commission; one member will represent the Westlake Chamber of Commerce; and one member will be a commercial property owner. We strongly encourage you to apply for a position on the citizen advisory group. You can fill out the form application here: https://www.rollingwoodtx.gov/citycouncil/page/apply-now-rollingwood-comprehensive-plan-strike-force. The deadline to apply is October 1, 2020.

Second, the Council gave two pieces of direction in the preparation of the comprehensive plan: (1) the Council voted 5-0 to call for a lot-by-lot analysis of commercial tracts on Bee Caves Road and to remove from consideration any proposal to increase building height limits on commercial tracts on the north side of Bee Caves Road adjacent to single-family residences; and (2) the Council voted 4-1 to limit consideration of any proposal to reassess or reanalyze drainage issues in the community or to impose impervious cover limitations. Several Council Members also stated that they will not support any proposal to double or triple the population of Rollingwood. Neither of those votes changes any existing laws; they simply removed those topics from the scope of the comprehensive planning process.

We are greatly appreciative of the steps the Council has taken to make the comprehensive planning process a citizen-driven process and to take off the table the two most intensive upzoning proposals in the City consultant's initial presentation to Council. We are also greatly appreciative of each of you for helping us work to preserve everything we love about our community. We will continue to keep everyone informed as the process moves forward.