Belton Council to Consider New Standards
Though not final, the proposed Belton Design Standards have come one step closer to reality as they were passed by the Planning and Zoning Commission at their mid-May meeting. TABA has made every effort to inform the City of our concerns to this point. Last month I reported on the concerns that the Commission had indicated a willingness to compromise on. Our remaining concerns will be presented to the Council members in the coming days. A City Council workshop is scheduled for 6pm on June 11th.
For a list of concerns that TABA has presented to Belton staff and commissioners (and an indication of the compromises we believe we have reached), please see the presentations page of our website.
Temple Introduces New Standards for Interstate 35
The City of Temple I-35 Overlay was presented to Council and voted out without any fireworks in May. A majority of property owners along the corridor had been meeting with the City of Temple the past several months to put together some corridor-specific development standards for what is often described as the “Window to Temple.” The standards for this area have been ramped up considerably in terms of landscaping and other aesthetically related requirements. TABA did not take a position on this issue for many reasons. Among them, the ordinance impacts only a specific area of the city, not the whole city; residential development will not be impacted; and the City invited all of the property owners along the interstate to participate in the development of the standards.
Since the initial Council vote, the City has gone back to the community to review the provisions with other stakeholder groups prior to scheduling a second and final reading. I understand that there remains an opportunity for all concerns to be addressed. Staff would like to receive a list of concerns by June 5th and another public hearing will occur at the June 18th City Council meeting.
To view the new standards, please check out the presentations page of the TABA website (scroll to bottom of page).
Couple of more notes...
Good news regarding the first time homebuyer tax credit (HUD Statement to NAHB). Late last week, HUD announced that first time home buyers using FHA approved lenders can get an advance on the $8,000 tax credit created by the stimulus package. Homebuyers can now apply the credit toward their down payment. To qualify to use the credit for down payment, buyers must come up with 3.5% of the down payment on their own to meet FHA guidelines.
Finally, the 81st Texas Legislative session has come to an end. There were numerous issues that the Texas Association of Builders had been tracking throughout the session about which I will receive a report at a meeting toward the end of June. Look for my summary of their report in the July edition of On the Level.
In the meantime a word from the Texas Association of Builders about the Texas Residential Construction Commission:
With the certain demise of the Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC), TAB urges all homebuilders across the state to continue business as usual because the Commission and the TRCC Act remain in full effect until at least September 1, 2009. The TRCC statutes and rules will remain on the books in their current form until this date per state law. HB 1959, commonly referred to as the Sunset “safety-net” bill, contained specific wind-down provisions for the TRCC, which superseded the boiler-plate wind-down provisions found in the Sunset statutes. That bill, however, failed to pass and will likely result in a special legislative session to address the numerous agencies that essentially were sunsetted when HB 1959 died. As such, it is yet to be determined how the wind-down of the Commission will fully play out. Rest assured that TAB will keep abreast of the issue and inform the membership once a final determination is made by the Legislature.
