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Plan to limit building on beach
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Nueces County has proposed strict new building limits for its 21 miles of beach to the dismay of local cities and developers.
The proposed rule would restrict most construction to 350 feet behind the beach vegetation line, adding 150 feet to the state guideline of 200 feet.
The Texas General Land Office is expected to decide in January whether to certify the proposal. If allowed, Nueces County's rule would be the most restrictive on the Texas coast.
County officials say the rule would provide protection for the beach's dune ridges, which buffer coastal communities from hurricanes.
"We feel very strongly about dune protection in Nueces County, and short-term development interests shouldn't stand in the way of protecting our community," said Jennifer Smith-Engle, a county consultant and professor of environmental science at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.
The county's proposal doesn't sit well with developers or city leaders in Corpus Christi and Port Aransas. Both cities protested the proposal.
They argue that the rule amounts to an illegal land grab and would stifle job creation, lower taxable property values and cheat private landowners of income potential.
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By
Kenya @
Wednesday, December 20, 2006 3:46 AM |
The state will certify Nueces County's plan for Texas' most stringent beachfront construction limit unless it doesn't comply with the law, and an initial review shows that it does, a state official said Monday.
The Nueces County Commissioners Court has approved a limit on construction within 350 feet of the beach vegetation line. That's 150 feet more than the rest of the state.
The plan, approved by commissioners in a public meeting more than a year ago, escaped the notice of its opponents until about a month ago. By that time it had been in the hands of the Texas General Land Office for three months.
Those opponents include landowners, developers and the city governments of Corpus Christi and Port Aransas. They say the 350-foot limit will prevent development of some of the most valuable private beachfront land in Texas, which stifles job creation and cheats landowners of their investment's income potential.
County officials say the rule will protect dunes, which are a natural barrier during hurricanes, from potentially ruinous development pushed by greedy developers.
The land office has completed an initial review of the plan, submitted in August, and it appears to comply with state law, said General Land Office spokesman Jim Suydam.
"They seem to go above and beyond what the law requires," he said. "The state law would allow you to build a lot closer to the dunes than that."
The land office will have a public meeting here in January to hear comment from stakeholders on whether it is consistent with state law before making a final decision. The date and place haven't been chosen.
If the plan meets the legal test, the county can implement it because dune regulations fall to local control, Suydam said. Once the law is in place, Nueces County will have the strictest rule on coastal development in the state.
The county has 21.11 miles of beach frontage from the Kleberg County line to the jetties in Port Aransas. The county has delegated dune permitting authority within Port Aransas city limits to that city. That leaves 13.5 miles of beachfront facing the 350-foot limit. The county is seeking to rescind Port Aransas' dune authority and apply the 350-foot rule there, in an action separate from the one under land office review.
Island developer Buster Hoffmaster said he will attend the hearing to protest the rule because a lot of the property along State Highway 361 has come into development play based on rules that developers and landowners thought were in effect. He does not buy the argument from the county that protesting the rule is the work of greedy developers.
"For them to come in and say you are greedy and you have to give up that 150 feet of your land, they don't know anything about the development process," he said. "Without developers there would not be homes, shopping centers and a post office."
A majority of the Corpus Christi City Council, including Mayor Henry Garrett and council members Brent Chesney, Rex Kinnison, Mark Scott, Melody Cooper, Bill Kelly and Jerry Garcia, said Monday that they are against the proposed rule. It means potential development losses, a degradation of the tax base and the loss of individual property rights, council members said.
"It's just unfair," Garcia said. "If you want to stymie growth and development, do this. We have proper laws in effect with the (General Land Office) and the state of Texas."
Councilman John Marez said he supports the setback. Councilman Jesse Noyola could not be reached.
County Commissioner Oscar Ortiz, the only commissioner who could be reached Monday, said he still supports the new setback line and doesn't think it will rescinded. The Commissioners Court vote was unanimous.
"When this was presented to Commissioners Court, contrary to what I've been hearing, it was not presented in such a way that we're going to make it hard for development or make it burdensome," Ortiz said. "It was presented so it was going to preserve our sand dunes and there wouldn't be any encroachment on it while protecting residents in Nueces County from storms."
Ortiz said people who buy land near the beach of a barrier island have to take the unexpected into account.
"One of the first tenets in dealing with real estate is 'buyer beware,' " Ortiz said. "I don't think this has been a secret - it's information that's readily available. Certainly if they would have contacted the commissioner from that area going back to year 2000, or any of the county commissioners, they would have informed them this is the case." |
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By
Kenya @
Friday, December 22, 2006 7:52 AM |
350-foot change excludes Port Aransas
200-foot set-back still in effect for buildings in Port Aransas city limits
BY PHIL REYNOLDS SOUTH JETTY REPORTER
A Nueces County proposal to extend dune building requirements an additional 150 feet from the vegetation line on Mustang and Padre islands will not affect Port Aransas, county commissioner Chuck Cazalas said. |
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By
Kenya @
Sunday, December 31, 2006 6:24 PM |
A new line in the sand
Nueces County's plan for state's strictest limit on beach developers angers landowners
By Jaime Powell and David Kassabian Caller-Times
Nueces County officials have worked for more than a year to implement the strictest development limit on the Texas coast, an effort that until last month escaped the attention of landowners, developers and city officials in Corpus Christi and Port Aransas.
The rule, if certified by state officials currently reviewing it, would push most construction 350 feet behind the beach vegetation line. That's 150 feet farther inland than along the rest of the Texas coast.
County officials say they are protecting a unique environment on the county's 21 miles of beach from potentially ruinous development motivated by greed. City officials in Corpus Christi and Port Aransas, and some island developers, say the rule would stifle job creation, lower taxable property values and cheat private landowners of income potential. They also say the state's 200-foot guideline is sufficient to protect the environment.
If the Texas General Land Office certifies the plan, which it is reviewing, Nueces County will have the toughest rule on coastal development in the state, land office officials said.
What would be allowed
# Any existing structures closer than 350 feet from the beach vegetation line would not be affected by changing the setback line.
# A variance obtained through the dune permit process would be needed for development in front of the line or partitioned by the line. A builder would have to show there are no dunes on the lot, or because of the way the lot is platted, there is no other way to build an otherwise prohibited structure.
# Certain non-residential or non-commercial structures in front of the line still could be built.
Where to find the Texas Register
To read the most-recent issue of the publication released by the Texas Secretary of State’s office, visit www.sos.state.tx.us
Mail-order subscriptions also are available by contacting the Secretary of State’s Office at (512) 463-5561. There is a fee for mail-order subscriptions.
Nueces County is making a prudent and farsighted decision to protect dunes from development, said Nueces County Commissioner Chuck Cazalas, whose precinct encompasses the county's Padre and Mustang island beaches.
Members of the county's dunes committee developed the amendment and the Nueces County Commissioners Court approved the 350-foot limit on Dec. 7, 2005.
Developers and city officials in Corpus Christi and Port Aransas say the county's proposed new rules would amount to a colossal, potentially illegal land grab that would make some of the most valuable, developable privately owned land in Texas worthless.
"You talk about hogwash," Port Aransas developer Buster Hoffmaster said of the county's plan. "It's not cogent, and it's not well thought out. They did not indicate any science behind this.
"This is private property they are designating this rule for. There are a lot of platted, legal lots that exist presently in that 350 feet - subdivisions that have already been approved where people planned to build their dream home. All of the sudden they wave this big powerful hand and say you cannot build on your lot. That's a real travesty."
Jennifer Smith-Engle, the county's consultant on dune protection and a professor of environmental science at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, said Nueces County has well-developed dune ridges that offer a lot of protection from hurricanes. The 350-foot rule offers further protection to those dunes, she said.
"We feel very strongly about dune protection in Nueces County, and short-term development interests shouldn't stand in the way of protecting our community," she said.
State law already requires the two cities and the county to protect critical dunes between the 200- and 1,000-foot marks, developers and city officials said. Those dunes, which offer hurricane protection, must be identified and avoided, if possible. If builders damage any dunes, they must mitigate that damage by building other dunes.
State officials are reviewing public comments, including opposition letters from the City of Corpus Christi, the City of Port Aransas and developers, and will rule in January whether the plan is consistent with state law, said Eddie Fisher, a coastal resources attorney for the state. He wouldn't say which way the state agency would be inclined to decide.
"In general," the City of Corpus Christi's opposition letter says, "we believe the proposed rules, if adopted, will have a devastating effect on development on North Padre and Mustang Islands. (It) will adversely affect our local economy, severely impact local employment, in both the short term and the long term, violate Chapter 2007, Texas Government Code and otherwise negatively affect both the City of Corpus Christi and the City of Port Aransas."
The actual value of the land that would be affected has been estimated to be in the range of $50 million to $70 million, according to the letter, signed by Corpus Christi City Manager Skip Noe.
"That is land value alone, with the potential for development value to be many times the actual land value," the letter says.
The developable land on the east side of State Highway 361 already is limited because development is not allowed on the dunes and because of the necessity for drainage retention areas, according to the City of Corpus Christi. The city asserts that the county's new plan amounts to an illegal seizure of private property.
"The proposed 150-foot exaction represents a significant portion of the developable property and very significantly the most valuable portion of that property," Noe wrote. "In some cases, platted lots will no longer be developable if these planned amendments are approved; therefore a taking will occur."
Smith-Engle disputes that the new rule constitutes taking.
"No, it isn't," she said. "There are things people can do between the vegetation line and 350 feet that are quite enjoyable. People can still build boardwalks, bird looking towers, small gazebos they might use."
Cazalas said the opposition is motivated by "greed and big money."
Hoffmaster, who owns one lot that would be affected and who builds for other lot owners, countered that many owners spent their life savings buying property with the understanding that the 200-foot rule was in place.
"I know the world does not revolve around economics, but people have invested hundreds of millions in this land and if you say you cannot develop on your best property, the economic impact is huge," Hoffmaster said. "If you lop off 150 feet of the best real estate in Texas and the value is zero, there goes your tax base."
If the land office signs off on the amendment, the proposal is also retroactive, dating to May 2000, because the county has assured the state that developers have complied with the 350-foot rule voluntarily since then. One example occurred earlier this month, when the county approved a 35-story resort on Mustang Island that will be behind the 350-foot line. The county initially held up the permit because the developer planned a boardwalk to the beach that would have included a bar, food service area and bathrooms. The county approved the project after the developer removed those extras from the boardwalk.
The dune permitting process usually starts with the Nueces County Department of Public Works and is followed by a meeting with the County Beach Management Advisory Committee, which makes recommendations to the Commissioners Court. The Commissioners Court decides whether to grant the permit after weighing the land office's comments.
County Judge-elect Loyd Neal said this week that although he has not been a part of the official discussion and has not seen the proposal, he has discussed the county's plan with city officials from Corpus Christi and Port Aransas after they called him with concerns.
"I certainly could not support this until I had been given the opportunity to review the reasoning behind this and the compensation to a landowner who bought the land based on an assumption found in the current plan that 200 feet is what he was working with in developing the land," Neal said.
Smith-Engle said developers supported the county's adoption of the 350-foot line as a guideline in 2000 and it has worked well protecting the dunes. She doesn't understand the objection to making it mandatory.
"Let's . . . put it in the rules," she said. "It allows one to read the beach management plan and allows one to know what all the rules are and not have to ask what are the guidelines."
Cazalas said the plan, "was a reasonable and prudent request of people developing, and all have voluntarily agreed to it."
Jim Urban, an engineer involved with development on the island, said that's not really the case. The county has held developers hostage, he said, by withholding permits until developers agreed to the 350 feet.
"The county commissioner may try to hide it," Urban said, "but I made it clear to Cazalas that this was being extorted from us."
Contact Jaime Powell at 886-3716 or powellj@ caller.com. Contact David Kassabian at 886-3778 or kassabiand@ caller.com
Copyright 2006, Caller.com. All Rights Reserved. |
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By
Kenya @
Sunday, January 07, 2007 12:21 AM |
Dune permitting on forum agenda
Meeting set to review the 350-foot rule
By Dan Kelley Caller-Times
The Coastal Bend Bays Foundation will hold a public forum Monday on dune permitting and island development at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.
Nueces County is in the late stages of turning its guideline of keeping development 350 feet away from dunes into a rule, the most restrictive in Texas. Developers and city officials say the rule would wipe out millions of dollars in property value and potential job-creating projects. County officials say the rule protects the environment and simplifies the permit process.
The rules have been enforced through bureaucratic means and a lengthy permitting process by the Nueces County Beach Management Advisory Committee since 2000.
Engineer John Michael, one of the authors of the policy, said the new rules will streamline development on Mustang and Padre islands by removing two strict regulatory hurdles mandated by the state.
Port Aransas officials also oppose the plan because they fear their authority to issue dune protection permits could be stripped in an unrelated action. That city has jurisdiction over dune permits in its city limits but Nueces County refused to cede the same power to Corpus Christi.
County Commissioner Chuck Cazalas, who has pushed the 350-foot limit and whose precinct includes Padre and Mustang island beaches, said the county will not encroach on Port Aransas' authority.
"I don't see it coming up," he said, "not while I'm commissioner."
The Texas General Land Office intends to hold a public meeting on Nueces County's plan amendments this month. A date has not been set.
The forum is expected to review the roles of state and local agencies in dune permitting, the status of master planned developments, permitting requirements, and an overview of dune protection rules.
Contact Dan Kelley at 886-4316 or kelleyd@ caller.com |
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By
Kenya @
Thursday, January 11, 2007 12:08 AM |
City hopes to control dune permits
BY PHIL REYNOLDS SOUTH JETTY REPORTER
City council members are cautiously optimistic about statements that Port Aransas might continue to operate its own dune permit program, exempt from a proposed Nueces County amendment that would move building construction 350 feet back from the vegetation line.
County commissioners sent the proposed amendment to the Texas General Land Office (GLO) late last year. If the GLO certifies the amendment, habitable buildings – homes, businesses, and the like – could no longer be built 200 feet from the vegetation line as they can be now.
Under state law, the county operates the dune permit program. The GLO can only refuse to certify a dune ordinance if it conflicts with state law. Since 1994, the county and Port Aransas have had an interlocal agreement that allows the city to operate its own dune permit program.
Last month, Commissioner Chuck Cazalas – whose Precinct 4 includes Port Aransas and Mustang and Padre islands – told the South Jetty that the county had never intended to extend the 350-foot amendment into Port Aransas, and that the interlocal agreement would continue.
None of the three other commissioners has returned phone calls seeking comment on their positions on the matter. Peggy Banales is commissioner of Precinct 1, which is the Annaville area; Betty Jean Longoria is Precinct 2 commissioner in western Nueces County; and Oscar Ortiz has Precinct 4, with Robstown, Driscoll and Bluntzer.
Newly-elected County Judge Loyd Neal has said he hasn't had time to study the matter and form an opinion, but Neal is thought to be sympathetic GOOD
The city has sent the GLO a letter outlining its position on the amendment. The public comment period on the proposal closed Dec. 10.
“The county now seems inclined not to include Port Aransas in the 350- foot limit,” City Manager Michael Kovacs told the council at its Dec. 21 meeting.
“I kind of see a pattern of coherent thought that we should rest on our laurels,” Councilman Keith McMullin commented.
Jim Urban, Port Aransas city engineer and a property developer himself, told the council, “I think what's going to happen is that the county's trying to find a way to say we're not going after Port Aransas, even though they really were.”
Urban said he doubted the GLO would refuse to certify the Nueces County proposal, which would give the county the strictest dune protection laws in Texas.
“There may or may not be people over there (at the county courthouse) you do or don't like, but for the long haul the people we need making our decisions are the people in this room,” he said.
The GLO is not expected to have a response to the Nueces County proposal until February, according to Jim Suydam, a GLO spokesman. |
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By
Kenya @
Monday, February 05, 2007 8:14 AM |
City wants to preserve its control over dune permitting
Message to Nueces County from Port Aransas: Respect our authority.
Port Aransas has asked Nueces County to insert language in its beach management plan to exclude the city.
The move would make it harder for the county to revoke Port Aransas' power to regulate dune permitting. Under state rules, counties have the authority to regulate dune permitting but can delegate it to cities. The county delegated its authority in Port Aransas' city limits to that city in 1994. The county has declined Corpus Christi's request for the same authority.
The county can revoke Port Aransas' authority with 30 days' notice.
Dune permitting authority is a hot issue as Nueces County is taking steps to increase the beachfront construction setback to 350 feet. Port Aransas maintains a beachfront dune setback to 200 feet, the standard on most of the Texas coast. Corpus Christi officials also oppose the 350-foot setback.
In November, Port Aransas officials were called to a Nueces County Beach Management Advisory Committee meeting at which the committee was scheduled to discuss revoking the city's dune permitting authority. The committee ultimately decided against the action.
The issue has put County Commissioner Chuck Cazalas, whose precinct includes Padre and Mustang island beaches, in a tough spot with politicians in Port Aransas. Cazalas holds considerable sway in appointing the committee's members.
Cazalas said he supported the dune committee's having the discussion, but had not made a decision on whether to support revoking the city's authority. He has guaranteed that the issue is off the table.
Port Aransas isn't satisfied. For the past three months, city officials have objected to amendments to the county's beach management plan because of the possibility the county still could revoke the city's authority.
Port Aransas City Manager Michael Kovacs said having a shorter setback suits Port Aransas, because many of its beaches are slowly gaining in size. Other beaches in Nueces County are eroding, a factor many on the committee cite as a rationale for increased construction setbacks.
Amending the county's plan would require a vote of the Nueces County Commissioners Court.
Contact Dan Kelley at 886-4316 Caller-Times |
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