Dripping Springs city officials are seeking feedback for a potential amendment to the city’s site development ordinance that would create a new committee.
Originally posted on the city’s blog, the amendment would create the site development review committee which would consist of the city administrator, city engineer and city planner.
“The advantage is that the creation of this committee allows for administrative review for site development variances, and eliminates the need for all variances to go through the full process of Planning and Zoning and City Council approval,” said Anjali Naini, Dripping Springs city planner. “The committee has the technical expertise needed to determine if a requested variance is appropriate or not.”
Naini said the committee can request a variance be considered by the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council if needed for additional input.
At the Aug. 28 meeting, P&Z recommended the city council approve the site development ordinance amendment. The council will discuss and take possible action on the amendment at the Sept. 18 meeting.
For the city, use of the blog is an avenue they believe can forward the city’s goal of transparency.
The blog, called the Dripping Post, consists of a variety of different authors ranging from city staff to department leaders and committee members .
Bonnie Gonzalez, Dripping Springs communications coordinator, said the blog allows citizens to speak with city officials in a more conversational manner, as opposed to reaching out via press releases.
“We want to keep an open dialogue with citizens and want them to be informed of the latest happenings in the city,” Mayor Todd Purcell said. “With the launch of the blog, we are creating one more communications channel to connect with our community.”
