TABA's Take on New Belton Standards

If you've been following this column, you'd know that TABA leadership has spent a considerable amount of time over the past six months working with the City of Belton on a document called the Belton Design Standards.  These new standards are billed as the guidelines builders will have to abide by when they do projects in the City and they impact everything from landscaping to roof pitch considerations.  These standards will have varying ramifications on residential and non-residential projects.

Though we appreciated the opportunity to participate in the process, in the end we weren't able to fully support the new Belton Design Standards for a handful of reasons.  As we noted in correspondence to Belton leadership, we believe government could and should strive to maintain the character of its City, to control potential blight, and to protect its natural resources.  TABA continues to subscribe to the philosophy that government should not try to control personal taste and choice through regulation.  For these reasons, we worked hard with Belton to try and reach agreement on numerous items in a document that will have a substantial impact on our local builders and developers.

The document can be viewed in its entirety at http://ci.belton.tx.us/DocumentView.aspx?DID=292 .  Based on information received at the last Council meeting on the subject, I can report the following as it pertains to the final items we tried to get worked out toward the end of the process.

Concerning the masonry provisions in the document, it was reported that stucco had been included with brick and stone as an allowable material and that an appendix had been created for “alternative compliance materials.”  Pictures of allowable alternatives that have been presented by staff in the past have revealed a tolerance for materials that won’t be permitted by right, including high percentage concrete fiber board (think Hardi) homes.  Unfortunately this type of material will require approval from staff prior to its residential use in Belton.  We’ve advocated that this particular product (and others) be allowed by right from the very beginning.  We believe it should be approved by right due to its durability, warranty and the extent of its current use in the area.  

Throughout the process, we've noted our level of discomfort with provisions on what are to be called "Belton Heritage Trees."  Trees that receive this designation in Belton won't even be able to be pruned without a permit.  During the meeting, it was noted that Belton provided a more thorough definition of “Belton Heritage Trees” and that the types of trees considered for this status will be greater than 30 inches in diameter and will be “pristine and picturesque.”  That is helpful, but we at no point indicated a tolerance for the tree provisions and will just have to wait and see how that works out.  On trees, it has been our position all along that nobody understands and appreciates the value of desirable hardwood trees more than builders and we don’t believe the government needs to oversee this property rights issue.

The above are the most notable remaining items of concern that I presented in final testimony on the document.  In all, TABA managed to submit about 25 points of concern with the original draft, along with some recommendations on how they could be changed.  We thank the Belton leadership for working with us to resolve some of those issues throughout the process.  One of the final items they changed had to do with an issue we had raised with their proposed requirements requiring the use of landscape architects on certain projects.  In the end, Belton decided that a landscape architect will no longer be required to verify the plans or the development for residential applications.  Other items we reached some level of agreement on included provisions for screening, chimney stacks, residential landscaping and xeriscaping, roof pitch, and roof shingles.

I'm told that Belton is working on a booklet that will guide builders and developers through the new process and help ease the transition to understanding the new standards.  This will be added to the City of Belton website as it becomes available.

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