Shoreline Park

About Shoreline Park

Shoreline Park, the KB Home master planned development along Ranger Creek Road is under construction. This first phase of development includes 49 residential lots and three open space lots located in the southeast section of the development along Ranger Creek Road.

This residential development has multiple phases. The development will include a neighborhood center with a pool, 20 acres of open space and a floating dock for safe access to the lake. They have provided a 300 foot open space buffer between the lake and the residential area.

Shoreline Park service by Kendall West Utility

There have been several questions regarding Kendall West Utility’s ability of their wastewater treatment plant to provide service for the Shoreline Park development. The City of Boerne has provided a response with regard to these questions. The following should clarify how wastewater treatment plants serve development in general and then specifically addresses some of the calculations used for wastewater treatment plants.

  • TCEQ is the regulating authority for water and wastewater utility providers. TCEQ will make the determination for when KWU must start planning for a new sewer treatment plant (requirement is 75% of capacity) and expand their plant (begin construction at 90% of capacity). TCEQ does not directly analyze individual project commitments by utility providers. Thus will have no opinion whether existing projects committed to by KWU will exceed the current 150,000 gpd capacity or when that might occur.
  • By TCEQ standards, KWU is many years ahead of schedule in seeking a means to expand their plant while they are currently only at 35% capacity. They are already purchasing property for a new plant, negotiating for an expansion of the existing plant, and doing engineering for both. All well ahead of their requirement to do so at the required 75%.
  • It is not unusual to exceed a wastewater treatment plant’s capacity on a given day. TCEQ looks at running averages for this measurement because a heavy rain will often cause a plant to exceed its maximum treatment limits for a day or more. One of the comments made to P&Z used a 300 person Tapatio Resort event using 67,000 gallons per day (over 40% of the plant’s capacity) to demonstrate KWU exceeding their 150,000 gpd. TCEQ will not look at a single day or even week event. The running average will be only slightly impacted by such an event. As such, KWU is not even in the planning requirement stage let alone construction. The example provided in a letter of comment to P&Z was extreme and contained a lot of escalated assumptions without expressing a time projection, and not how TCEQ measurements work.
  • Attached is the Letter of Serviceability by KWU for Shoreline Park. This Letter, along with several other Letters of Service are required before a final plat can be approved by the P&Z.

The Planning and Zoning Commission tasked staff to further research the following items:

  • Research available KWU discharge information from TCEQ
  • Verify the capacity calculations as provide by concerned citizen
  • Provide the serviceable letter staff had previously received with the Masterplan approval.

KWU discharge information

City staff initiated a public information request from TCEQ after the P&Z meeting and we received a response on October 19 that no monthly discharge information was available. No data is at TCEQ’s offices as the current KWU permit is for a Texas Land Application Permit (TLAP) discharge that is used to irrigate the golf course. The requirements of KWU’s existing permit does not require monthly reporting to TCEQ. Without any public information from TCEQ, we are providing the below graph showing the 24 month flow data staff has received directly from KWU. As shown in the graph, for the last 24 months KWU’s plant has  operated below their permitted volume of 150,000 gallons per day (0.15 MGD).

Chart showing Kendall West Utilities Wastewater Treatment Plant Capacity

As requested, City staff has performed their own calculations of the capacity of KWU sanitary sewer system. As this type of sewer flow information is not provided in current Boerne code, staff used the Infrastructure Planning equivalent Dwelling Unit (EDU) Calculation Sheet” as provided by San Antonio Water System (SAWS) to perform these calculations, attached. Based upon number of single family connections provided by KWU and information available for the Tapatio Resort, the following calculations were preformed:

Chart showing Kendall West Utilities Existing Connections

These staff calculations of 72,510 gallons per day appear to be within acceptable tolerances of the flow data provided by KWU. Next, staff added the additional sewer flows for the entire Shoreline development, 360 single-family lots with an estimated 200 gallons per day for each lot. As seen in image below the existing and future connections combined do not exceed the 150,000 gallons per day (0.15 MGD) that KWU’s existing plant is permitted.

Chart showing Kendall West Utilities Future Connections

Staff received this Serviceability Letter for Shoreline (PDF) with the masterplan submittal for water and sewer service to the entire Shoreline development.

Shoreline Park Background

  • Shoreline Park
    • KB Home development
    • 99.9 acres
    • 360 residential lots
    • 20.8 acres open space
  • Master Plan
    • October 2, 2017 (Tabled by P&Z – postponed)
    • November 6, 2017 (Denied by P&Z)
    • December 4, 2017 (Approved by P&Z with an agreement the developer would provide a master drainage study for the entire development with the first plat)
  • Platting
    • Unit 1 preliminary plat (49 RESIDENTIAL LOTS, 2 OPEN SPACE LOTS)
      • January 7, 2019 - submitted plat to city staff for review with a master drainage study
      • June 3, 2019 (Unit 1 - Discussion with P&Z of stormwater run-off, detention, filtration of run-off for Shoreline Park, Tabled)
      • June 26, 2019 (Unit 1 - Special called meeting, No motion made by P&Z, the plat was approved by operation of law – when no action is taken, it is considered by State law to be an approval on June 28, 2019)
    • Unit 1 final plat
      • March 2, 2019 (Denied by P&Z)
      • March 25, 2020 (Approved by P&Z with condition of modified CCR recordation)
    • Unit 2 preliminary plat (34 RESIDENTIAL LOT and 3 OPEN SPACE LOTS)
      • October 7, 2019 (Tabled by P&Z - postponed)
      • October 21, 2019 special called (Untabled by P&Z and then denied)
      • November 11, 2019 (P&Z reconsidered preliminary plat – no motion made – approved by operation of law)
      • December 11, 2019 (Workshop with P&Z regarding storm water run-off, detention, filtration of run-off for Shoreline Park)
      • January 6, 2020 (Discussion with P&Z regarding storm  water run-off, detention, filtration of run-off for Shoreline Park)

Shoreline Park is a KB Home, 99.9 acre, 360 lot master planned development located off of Ranger Creek Road along the bank of the City of Boerne Lake.

When the development was originally proposed in 2017, it was not located in the city limits of Boerne but in the Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) which is within one mile of the city limits. The City of Boerne has an interlocal agreement with Kendall County that the City oversees platting in the ETJ. State law limits the city’s and county’s ability to regulate development in the county if the development is served by a public utility system. In this case, the Shoreline Park development is receiving water and sewer service from Kendall West Utility (KWU). The lots will not have wells or septic systems.

State law specifies that a municipality shall not regulate (1) the use of any building; (2) the bulk, height, or number of buildings constructed; (3) the size of a building; or (4) the number of residential units that can be built per acre of land. Therefore, the City could not, by law, control density for this development.

Kendall West Utility (KWU), a public utility provider, is able to provide water and sewer to this development; therefore, higher density is allowed in accordance with state law. Subsequent to that agreement between KWU and the developer, the City then annexed the property in July 2019; however, the development regulations in effect prior to annexation still remain.

The development must adhere to the city’s subdivision regulations. Streets, drainage and utilities must be built to city standards. The city also has standards that are specific to any development that occurs along any city waterway.

The first step in platting a multi-phased development is approval of the master plan. The master plan is a conceptual plan that provides a guide for future platting. At the first meeting (October of 2017) the Planning and Zoning Commission Tabled (postponed) consideration of the master plan because the Commission was concerned about the proposed density along the lake. The second meeting (November of 2017) the master plan was again considered and denied by the Commission. At the third meeting (December of 2017) the master plan was approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission.

The first plat was submitted to the Planning and Zoning Commission for consideration in January of 2019 along with a master drainage study. The preliminary plat was approved by the Commission in January of 2020. On March 3, 2020 a final plat was denied by the Planning and Zoning Commission until detailed maintenance costs of the development were provided. On March 25, 2020 the final plat and requested details were reviewed by the Planning and Zoning Commission and approved.

Multiple plans were provided by the developer as follows:

  • A required Traffic Impact Analysis was performed and determined that the developer is required to make street improvements to Ranger Creek Road adjacent to this development to handle future traffic impacts.
  • The proposed 100-acre development by KB Homes is part of a 12,500-acre water shed area and represents less than 1% of that area.
  • Staff will monitor and verify progress on all aspects of the development including drainage.
  • The engineering and drainage reports for Shoreline Park have been performed by TetraTech Engineering.
  • The city hired an outside consultant, Jeff Moeller (Moeller & Associates), to review the TetraTech reports and to assist the City with the technical review of the reports.
  • A master drainage study was provided as required.
    • Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CCR’s) were provided to include detail regarding the funding and maintenance of the filtration system that will filter storm water.
    • KB Homes hired geological and environmental consultants Frost Geosciences, Inc. to conduct independent studies of wildlife habitat on the 100-acre site specifically to include Bald Eagle and Golden Cheeked Warbler habitat. The studies determined that there were no areas of concern on the site that would be impacted by this development.
    • An open space system plan was submitted showing open spaces including a 300 ft. buffer along the lake shore.
    • A tree preservation plan was provided identifying trees to be removed and those to be saved.
    • Various engineering reports and documents regarding drainage and utilities were submitted.
    • A fire protection plan was also submitted.

The City is presently drawing samples once a month from four locations at the lake and testing for bacteria, pesticide and herbicide levels to establish a baseline for the lake. The 12,500 acres of open space, farm and ranch land and other residential developments in the watershed above the lake all impact the lake as do the fish and wildlife within the lake. The City’s water treatment plant continues treating the water impounded at the lake. The City of Boerne Water Utility has been recognized with a Superior water supply system designation by TCEQ.

Staff and partner agencies will monitor every aspect of this complex development in accordance with our standards and state law.

A commonly asked question  - Why didn't the City buy the property to become a city park?  Back in 2008, the land was looked at; however the 39 acre property at Adler and Toepperwein Roads was identified as a better option for the development a community park.