Megan Navarro
SAN MARCOS — Hays County is undergoing a major rewrite of its development regulations — the first that has been conducted since 2013.
These regulations are local orders designed to help in and act as a guiding source for the creation of neighborhoods, communities, commercial establishments, parks, roads and infrastructure, according to interim Development Services director Michael Berlad.
Hays County started implementing tracking subdivisions and platting regulations in the early 1970s, Berlad explained. These would later be revised with small amendments and minor updates every couple of years; however, a major rewrite has not occurred since 2013, he said, leading the county to begin the process last year.
This is also due to staying in compliance with Texas Local Government Code Chapter 232, which governs platting requirements for counties, as well as road, infrastructure, drainage and floodplain standards, the director noted. Rewriting rules ensures that the county is maintaining the most up-to-date standards with new laws, as well as keying in any environmental concerns that the community has.
“The county itself has grown vastly since 2013. There's been a lot of different legislative impacts, specifically in [20]19, [20]21 and [20]23,” Berlad said. “They kind of put some parts of our regulations kind of obsolete or really no longer applicable, since the state statute would supersede our local regulations and so, we decided it's time for an overhaul and refresh of our current regulations just to bring them up to a modern day standard.”
Hays County is taking a multi-phased approach when it comes to the rewrite. Third-party consultant Freese and Nichols Inc. was tasked with looking at the county’s current regulations and statutes as they exist today to create a diagnostic report.
“Our phase one approach was basically looking at it, seeing what was wrong, what was outdated and just kind of seeing where we stood. Then, they went ahead and looked at other counties adjacent to us to see how we compare with those other counties,” Berlad said.
Now is the second phase, which is the creation of the preliminary draft that uses information from the diagnostic report, as well as feedback from various stakeholders and the Hays County Commissioners Court.
The major changes that are going to come from the rewrite are for subdivisions, water and wastewater utilities, drainage and infrastructure, Berlad said.
According to the most recent presentation given to the commissioners court by Freese and Nichols Inc. July 7, the following are some of the recommendations from the diagnostic report findings.
Water availability and groundwater coordination
• Strengthens water availability certification procedures before final plat recording.
• Clarifies the role of coordination with the groundwater conservation district.
• Improves documentation expectations for water service and capacity.
Variances, waivers, appeals and enforcement
• Clarifies variance criteria, required findings and review bodies.
• Improves distinction between administrative interpretation, technical waiver and policy variance.
• Strengthens recordkeeping and conditions of approval.
Platting and subdivision standards
• Adds minor plat path for small, low-complexity subdivisions.
• Formalizes flag lot standards and limits ambiguity around lot access and frontage.
• Clarifies plat prerequisites, recording requirements and conditions of approval.
• Clarifies requirements for condominium plats.
Transportation, access and road standards
• Strengthens the link between plat approval and required public improvements.
• Clarifies when traffic, access, right-of-way and construction requirements must be resolved.
• Supports coordination with county transportation planning, cities and adjacent jurisdictions.
Conservation subdivisions and context-sensitive design
• Creates standards for conservation subdivision standards design, rather than ad hoc negotiation.
• Encourages clustering and preservation of meaningful open space where appropriate.
• Connects open-space design to drainage, water quality, habitat and rural character objectives.
• Establishes review expectations so conservation tools are not used as density or infrastructure loopholes.
As water has been a major concern for several members of the community, that is also noted in the draft rewrite. The direction, as presented by Freese and Nichols Inc., would be to do the following: consolidate expectations for drainage, stormwater, erosion control and floodplain review; better connect development layout to protect natural drainage systems and sensitive areas; support stronger construction phase controls and post-construction accountability; and improve coordination with regional water-quality objectives and watershed protection concerns.
A large component of the second phase is garnering feedback from the community, as there were multiple open houses held in September 2025 and July 2026. Residents are also still encouraged to provide their feedback on the draft regulations rewrite on the county’s website.
“The community has been very open and honest, which I think has been great. Getting that feedback means that hopefully, we get buy-in from the community through new regulations, but also through new processes and just trying overall to just make a more inclusive and transparent process,” Berlad said. “I know when you say government, everybody has a view of what government is and so, we want to make sure that we're here working for the people, we understand their concerns and we try to address those as best as possible.”
Berlad said he anticipates that the full rewrite will be finalized in the late fall or early winter, in which at that time, it would go before the Hays County Commissioners Court for adoption and an effective date.
To view the full preliminary draft of the development regulations, as well as provide feedback, visit www.hayscountytx.gov/565/Development-Regulations-Re-Write.
