Friday, March 29, 2024

Aesthetically (un)pleasing

Posted

For years, Granbury has been known for masonry requirements that gave the city an upscale, cohesive look, even if they sometimes made builders grumble.

Now, such a home or building could end up with a metal building next to it due to new laws adopted by the Legislature that take control away from local elected officials. The laws went into effect Sept. 1.

Two laws impacting local control were the subject of agenda items at last week’s regular meeting of the Gran-bury City Council.

House Bill 2439 and House Bill 3167 change building material standards and the time-line in which cities have to respond to plans and plats.

To adhere to the new laws, the council voted to amend select sections of the city’s zoning and subdivision ordinances.

The new laws could mean cost-savings for builders and homeowners. But they could also mean time-consuming challenges for city staff and a less visually appealing city.

At the council meeting, audience member Julia Pannell took to the podium to make sure she had understood correctly after Planning Director Scott Sopchak gave a brief presentation about the new laws and what they mean.

“The Legislature removed our ability to enforce masonry standards. Simple as that,” City Manager Chris Coffman told Pannell.

“Anything to do with building materials, we cannot regulate unless it’s not approved in the last three international residential code cycles. In other words, like, a galvanized metal building can be built anywhere it wants to be built in the city right now.”

Pannell responded, “Well, that stinks.”

According to Coffman, both of Granbury’s representatives – state Sen. Brian Birdwell and state Rep. Mike Lang – supported the measures.

Sopchak said that House Bill 3167, also referred to as the “shot clock bill,” will be “somewhat problematic” for city staff because conditional approvals or denials will require “certified responses back to the developer with the citation of where they fell short.”

Sopchak and Coffman said that the new time-line rules strip away the city’s flexibility.

For example, a developer who barely misses the deadline for obtaining a letter of credit will now have to start over in the rotation, causing a month’s delay. Before, the city could sometimes allow them an extra day or so.

It was noted during the meeting that Granbury officials had attempted to appeal to lawmakers before laws taking away local control were adopted.

Coffman said that lawmakers “did not support cities” in the recent legislative session.

“Whatever the cities were doing was evil,” he said of the prevailing attitude. “They really alienated themselves from cities, I would say, statewide.”