(Seguin) — The Guadalupe County Commissioners Court is taking action to make sure that future roads in subdivisions are up to the county’s standards. The court recently approved an upgrade to the county’s subdivision rule book.
County Engineer Clay Forister explained the change.
“This is a minor addition to clarify our road frontage requirements. Under local government code, we can only regulate lot frontage along existing county roads. That current standard is 200 feet. What this addition seeks to do is add the authority to regulate lot frontage along new subdivision roads, rural developments, whatever they are — those interior streets that are not intended for through traffic to knock that down to 80 feet,” said Forister.
Counties don’t have the same kind of rule-making authority, like cities, when it comes to residential developments. Because of those limitations, Forister says this amended rule will give the county a little more wiggle room to encourage developers to make sure their roads meet the county’s standards.
“If a development wanted to come in with smaller lots, we would just not accept those streets for maintenance but it would not preclude plat approval on that basis,” said Forister.
County Judge Kyle Kutscher says the change makes the county’s expectations clear for these roads that are being built in the growing number of subdivisions across the county.
“Again, this is very important to look at and say and realize and understand, this does not, as Clay said, ‘have an impact on whether a plat gets approved or not.’ We do not have the ability to do that but it is definitely tied to 100 percent on whether we are going to consider accepting that as a county road or not. So, if a developer comes in and they say, ‘I don’t want to do that,’ well, we can’t technically stop you but we also don’t have to use taxpayer money to fix roads that you aren’t willing to build to the standard that we think is in the best interest of the citizens of the county. So, that’s really what it boils down to. That’s our message. We are not trying to stop anything other than protect what is going to be built and what is going to be here down the road,” said Kutscher.
Copies of the rules regarding subdivision development can be found on the county’s website www.co.guadalupe.tx.us, under the Environmental Health Department’s tab.