The Travis County Commissioners Court spent all morning Tuesday discussing a proposed RV park on Stagecoach Ranch Road in Southwest Travis County, near Hamilton Pool. The court still hasn’t come to a decision on the matter and will take it up again at next week’s meeting.
Just as they did for another RV park on Fitzhugh Road last month, county staffers proposed waiving certain platting requirements that are imposed on traditional subdivisions involving brick-and-stick homes.
Staff members have taken the position that while the county should treat RV parks as subdivisions, it doesn’t make sense to subject RVs to all of the same requirements, especially if there are assurances that the site will be used for camping or temporary stays, not permanent homes.
For instance, relying on water and wastewater standards included in state law, staff said that RVs can be expected to use about 40 gallons of water per day, compared to 450 gallons for a typical single-family home. Thus, an RV camp does not require nearly the same assurances in terms of on-site access to water and wastewater facilities.
Similarly, RV parks do not generate as many vehicle trips as conventional subdivisions, so staff concluded that the 80-pad site does not need to provide a second vehicle access point to the site. Typical subdivisions require secondary access for any development with more than 30 homes.
While similar exemptions for the site on Fitzhugh Road passed fairly easily last month, with only Commissioner Brigid Shea opposed, the Stagecoach Ranch Road project has garnered significant opposition from nearby residents. Twenty-one residents of the area came out to speak against the project, decrying insufficient evacuation measures and threats to the sensitive environment, particularly the groundwater that feeds nearby Hamilton Pool.
Read more from Jack Craver with The Austin Monitor here.