Manufactured rental home community OK’d despite groundwater worries
Wild Wing Acres manufactured rental home community will be located near the intersection of U.S. 183 and CR 211 in northeast Burnet County. The planned development was approved despite concerns about groundwater availability in the area. Google Maps image
With the approval of a septic plan Oct. 14, the Burnet County Commissioners Court reluctantly gave way to a 53-acre manufactured rental home community in northeast Burnet County.
County leaders had concerns about groundwater availability at the Wild Wing Acres development’s site near the intersection of U.S. 183 and CR 211, just outside of the unincorporated community of Briggs. However, commissioners’ hands are tied due to the limitations of local groundwater management and state law.
The development already consists of 14 manufactured rental homes, which will be bumped up to 50 after the septic plan approval.
“(The Wild Wing developer) met all requirements from the county, (Central Texas Groundwater Conservation District), (Burnet County Emergency Services District No. 8), and the State,” wrote Burnet County Commissioner Damon Beierle in a Facebook post on Tuesday following the Commissioners Court meeting. “(The development) was held to every standard and statute we have in our tool box.”
Under Texas law, the county cannot impose any restrictions that go beyond or conflict with the state’s subdivision regulations. Going against those minimal regulations could open the county up to legal action from developers.
Beierle represents Precinct 2 and has a record of pushing for more county authority on regulating subdivisions in unincorporated areas, especially when it comes to groundwater.
“Everybody is worried (about groundwater),” he said during Tuesday’s meeting. “I just want it to be clear, and on the record, that this is one of the areas that is very vulnerable to low groundwater.”
Wild Wing Acres is exempt from a groundwater study or thorough regulation because it is only being permitted for 9.9 acre-feet annually, which is just below the 10-acre-foot threshold used by the Central Texas Groundwater Conservation District to require groundwater testing in Burnet County.
“There were no actual requirements on pump tests or hydrogeological requirements,” GCD General Manager Mitchell Sodek told the court on Tuesday. “The (groundwater use permit) has been issued.”
The development lies in a spot of concern to the groundwater district, which is currently seeking to form a special management zone to further regulate groundwater use near the Briggs-Oakalla area due fears of struggling aquifers.
The Wild Wing developer did voluntarily agree to allow annual testing of the site’s wells to see if local groundwater levels were significantly impacted by the proposed 50 homes, but this won’t be done until they are already built.
According to Sodek, the community will get its water from two wells: one producing 17 gallons per minute and the other 30 gpm for a combined 47 gpm, which is also just below the threshold of 50 gpm that would require further testing from the groundwater district.
The property is also not subject to Burnet County subdivision regulations and doesn’t require platting because the land isn’t being sold off, just rented, according to Burnet County Development Services Director Herb Darling.
“We cannot require a plat under statute,” Darling told the Commissioners Court on Tuesday.
Normal subdivisions require platting approval from the county, which comes with the need for roadways meeting specific standards, adequate drainage and rights of way, and groundwater availability studies.
Commissioner Beierle noted that county residents’ concerns about development and groundwater might best be served by contacting state legislators.
“I encourage you to reach out to our state reps if you think we need more tools to help protect our groundwater,” he wrote, closing out his Facebook post on Tuesday.
Reach Burnet County’s state representatives at the following links: