College Station holds public hearings on middle housing zoning and FY 2024 budget

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) -College Station city leaders held several public hearings on Thursday to discuss matters, including middle housing zoning and the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

During the meeting, the City Council addressed a request to rezone multiple properties to the newly established middle housing zoning district.

The middle housing zoning district allows for a variety of residential product types, ranging from single-family homes to medium multiplexes. The district also allows shared housing uses, which is a use that can allow for more than four unrelated persons to reside in a single unit.

College Station Middle Housing Rezonings by KBTX on Scribd

Michale Ostrowski, the planning and development services director for the city says staff indicated that the request was recommended for approval by the Planning and Zoning Commission, as it aligns with the city’s comprehensive plan and fits within the context of the surrounding areas.

“Our comprehensive plan lays out a larger vision for our entire city of kind of the general areas and what those areas would be appropriate for land use, as well as making sure that it’s consistent with the context of the area, looking at surrounding properties, making sure that we’d see compatibility with those as well,” said Ostrowski.

After careful consideration, the Council approved three of the four middle housing zoning requests.

Another crucial topic on the agenda was the proposed budget for the next fiscal year. The budget, set at $492 million, allocates $357 million for operations and maintenance and $135 million for capital projects. In addition, $6 million is reserved for city staff recruitment and retention, while $56 million is designated for the fire and law enforcement departments.

College Station Budget Public Hearing by KBTX on Scribd

During the public hearing on the budget, Lloyd Davis spoke on behalf of a group of citizens who were primarily concerned about the city’s debt and real estate investments, specifically the purchase of the former Macy’s at Post Oak Mall. Davis highlighted that the city is currently in debt for approximately $435 million and, by the time it is repaid, the total amount will exceed half a billion dollars.

” About 435 million, just over in debt on that 435 million by the time we repay it, this is at the bottom of each table we’ll repay about 131 million dollars for a total that the city’s on the hook for well over a half a billion dollars,’ said Davis.

Despite these concerns, city leaders say they stand by the proposed budget and real estate investments, stating that they will support the growth of the community.

“I can tell you for a fact since November, under this council our land transactions have netted significant dollars for the College Station taxpayers,” said Councilman Bob Yancy.

The council meeting continued late into the night, with presentations on impact fee rates for water, wastewater, and roadway projects. Proposed increases for residential water and roadway rates are scheduled to begin on January 1, with additional increases set for 2025 and 2026. Impact fees are a one-time assessment applied to new developments to fund related capital improvements.

Following the public hearing, the council passed the proposed water, wastewater, and roadway impact fee collection rates with a vote of 5-1.

College Station Impact Fee Collection Rates by KBTX on Scribd

Another issue discussed was truck and trailer parking, with citizen concerns about improper parking locations. The council provided direction to city staff to explore existing ordinances and potentially consider a city-wide ordinance that prohibits all commercial vehicle parking on public streets.

College Station Truck Trailer Parking by KBTX on Scribd