City leaders present at monthly Chamber of Commerce luncheon

Staff from the City of Dripping Springs gave their annual State of the City presentation to members of the Chamber of Commerce at its monthly luncheon on Jan. 28.

The event sold out, and participants packed the tables at the Deep Eddy Tasting Room. Mayor Bill Foulds, Jr. welcomed the crowd. One of the first topics on the agenda was growth in the area.

“Today we’re going to have our city team speak a little bit about what’s going on,” Foulds said. “We’re going to continue to grow. Hopefully it’s managed growth. We’re working on some major problems with roads, as everybody knows. These are all being addressed, it’s just a snail’s space to do it.”

Planning and Growth

Planning Director Tory Carpenter was first to speak, and he started by clarifying the difference between the planning authority that the city has in the city limits versus in its extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ). Many local residents do not understand the difference.

“That’s an area that we have some regulation but don’t have full zoning regulation, and some standards don’t apply,” Carpenter said.

The ETJ is very large compared to the area that is actually in Dripping Springs city limits.

In the city limits, the city can regulate zoning and land use, parking, building setbacks, residential density, ADUs, building permits and inspections, and outdoor lighting.

None of those are included in what the city can regulate within the ETJ.

Within the ETJ, the city can only regulate signage and site development, which includes things like impervious cover, water quality, tree preservation and sidewalk requirements. Subdivision standards and hotel and occupancy taxes are also included.

Carpenter also covered historical growth in the area as well as projected growth.

“We have quite a few large-scale residential developments that have either started construction or will be building homes soon,” Carpenter said.

These include Double L, which is the largest by far, Wild Ridge, Canyon Ranch, the Ranch at Caliterra, and Village Grove. The area is continuing to add homes at a steady rate of about 400 to 500 per year.

“We are starting to see more multi-family in the area as well,” Carpenter said.

The Ariza Springs apartment complex on 290 east of Dripping Springs is one of those. It has 300 units. It is in the ETJ, so the city is involved in the permitting process, but doesn’t have authority over many of the details.

Carpenter also gave an update on new businesses that have either recently opened or are in the planning stages. That includes the recently opened Oakwood Public Market and the future Dripping Springs Sports Club, as well as two new restaurants in the downtown area - Short Mama’s and Roxie’s Hill Country Kitchen.

Water supply is another hot topic that Carpenter covered. Again, he gave some background on what entities are involved.

“Water for us is really a pretty different game, because there are three water providers in the area,” Carpenter said.

Those are the West Travis County PUA, the City of Dripping Springs, and Dripping Springs Water Supply Corp.

“West Travis County PUA, they’re sort of unique in this equation,” Carpenter said. “They’re the ones directly pulling the water from Lake Travis, and they are the wholesale provider for both the city of Dripping Springs and the Dripping Springs Water Supply Corp. But, the West Travis County PUA is also a retail provider, where they sell directly to customers.”

Having three different organizations that are involved in water use issues in Dripping Springs and the ETJ also can lead to public confusion over who is controlling and making decisions about water use.

On wastewater, Carpenter said that the city is still working on getting additional funding for its new wastewater facility. The city has an application pending for that with the Texas Water Development Board. The city also plans to apply for an amendment for additional capacity this fiscal year. Due to the additional costs, the city is evaluating a potential rate increase.

The last topic from Carpenter was transportation. He said most of the proposed roads are driven by new development, and are designed to divert traffic away from 12 and 290, to alleviate congestion in that area.

He also gave a brief update on the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT) plan to widen 290.

“They heard from the community, and they heard from the workshops, that what they were selling needed significant changes. So they are going back to the drawing board,” Carpenter said. “We know they’re working on it, but we don’t have a good time line for what they’re going to be resubmitting and coming out with.”

He suggested following the city’s social media pages to stay informed on that subject.

Tax Incentive Reinvestment Zone

Michelle Fischer, City Administrator, was next up to discuss Tax Incentive Reinvestment Zone projects.

“You probably have seen a lot of activity at the intersection of Old Fitzhugh and Mercer. The Stephenson building is finally under construction, and we’re doing an addition to it for office space and some backstage space,” Fischer said. “There’s still the original stage from that being an elementary school, it’s really neat.”

There’s also a downtown parking lot under construction there that will have 70 parking spaces in it. The building and parking lot will be run by the Parks and Community Services Department, and it can be used for programs, meetings, music events, plays and more. It will be available for rent as well.

Fischer said that in conjunction with that, they have the Mercer Street Paseo project, which basically would be sidewalks, landscaping and a garden area that would tie together the Mercer Street warehouse district, the restrooms and the Stephenson building.

The Old Fitzhugh Road project is also another effort to help revitalize the downtown area. As part of that project, the old road will be torn out, and a new road complete with sidewalks, benches, bike racks and other pedestrian amenities will be constructed. The plans are currently under review by TxDOT.

“We’re hoping that they approve them soon and we can put this out to bid in spring, and then it will take about two years to build it,” Fischer said.

Parks

Next, Andrew Binz, Parks and Community Services Director, gave an update on park improvements around the city, including at Sports and Recreation Park, Founders Memorial Park and Dripping Springs Ranch Park.

“We have a new outdoor arena at Dripping Springs Ranch Park, as mentioned earlier,” Binz said. “Our ribbon cutting is going to be on February 11.”

He also gave an update on changes for Founders’ Day, which is set for April 24-26.

All carnival rides will be located on DSISD property This will provide more space for rides and hopefully shorter lines. There will be no middle row of vendor booths down Mercer Street for better walkability and improved safety - displaced vendor booths will move to the west end of Mercer Street .The Main Stage will be moved to the City Hall parking lot. The parade will be a walking parade only, no vehicles, for improved safety. It will start and end at DSISD property as in the past. The route will not go on Hwy 290 for improved safety of the participants.

Finance

Shawn Cox, Deputy City Administrator, spoke next.

“I just wanted to give y’all a little insight on FY ‘25, how we did, and what we’ve got planned for FY ‘26. Last year our biggest driver was sales tax at almost $5 million dollars,” Cox said. “That’s a pretty significant increase from FY ‘24, so thank you to everybody who’s shopping in Dripping Springs.”

However, local Hotel Occupancy Tax revenues received were down about 8.5%.

“Total general fund revenues for last year is a little over $14.2 million, total expenditures a little over 14.9. Not that we’re running a deficit. We have a strong balance forward. We bring in over every year,” Cox said. “Again, very strong year.”

Cox also reviewed appraisal values, property tax revenue and the tax rate.

Tourism

Closing the presentation was Tourism Director Pam King. She discussed the Stars of Dripping Springs project, which has brought star sculptures designed by local artists to various locations around town. In 2026, they are moving into Phase 3 of that project, and hoping to bring another 8 to 10 stars into the community.

“In my perfect world, we’re going to have 25 stars by the end of this year,” King said.

The goal is to create a tour of the stars that visitors to the city can follow when they come to Dripping Springs, and it will take them around to a lot of different areas.

King also discussed the Wedding Capital of Texas Winter Showcase, which was scheduled for Jan. 25, but was postponed due to the icy weather conditions. It has been rescheduled for Mar. 8 at Patriots’ Hall.

Another big event, the Songwriters Festival, is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 16-18.

The city has posted the slide presentation from the meeting on their website at www.cityofdrippingsprings.com for those who are interested in more details.