Riedel Communities

How will rising gas prices affect living in the Texas Hill Country?  If you are retired, it may not matter much but if you are commuting, it may matter a lot.  It depends on your level of income to absorb the additional cost or your desire to live in the Hill Country regardless of the extra expense.

Buying more fuel efficient cars can obviously minimize the affect but also can life style changes and better travel planning.  I think twice before driving 20 miles to HEB for a gallon of milk.  Paying an extra $1.00 a gallon at the convenience store just up the road makes much more sense than the $6.00 cost for round-trip gas to HEB.

If you find yourself constantly needing to return to the city for shopping and entertainment, than that is probably where you need to be living.  I think the Hill Country is for those who would see that as a burden and would try avoiding those trips as much as possible.

My vision for the future of living in the Hill Country is a Village type community, where most everything we need is within or close to the Village.  People are already working more-and-more from their homes thanks to today’s communication technology.  Villagers could produce most of their own food which could be shared at a local growers market?  Smaller family owned stores could also provide some of the more basic needs, thus limiting trips to the city.  Local entertainment would not have to be costly, just simple activities and events that bring neighbors together.

Houses in villages will be smaller and definitely more energy efficient, thus reducing reliance on the grid.  Water could be supplied by proven rainwater collection systems.

The bottom line is that Village living would significantly minimize the effects of rising gas prices, possibly making it of no consequence.

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County building regulations and federal flood plain designations were more relaxed and less stringent when older commercial buildings were originally constructed.  Although they are typically grand fathered from today’s more stringent regulations, that protection can be lost if the owner either by choice or by necessity makes significant improvements or updates to the building.  In such cases, the owner can be faced with making substantial and very costly improvements to the building in order to bring the building up to today’s more stringent standards.

When FEMA changed its flood plain maps in September of ’09, many owners found their properties in flood plains that prior to the change were not located in a flood plain.  Like the building regulations, those properties are grandfathered until the owner by choice or by necessity makes substantial improvements to the building.  In such cases, should the foundation of that building be determined to lie below the base flood plain elevation, BFE, the owner risks having to raise the entire building above that elevation, essentially tearing it down and rebuilding.

In many cases, the cost of bringing an old building up to today’s standards can exceed the value of the building.  The owner must then decide whether to it is more prudent to upgrade the old building or tear it down and rebuild.  The point is to be aware of the potential pitfalls of regulatory depreciation of older commercial properties due to increasingly more stringent building standards and expanding flood plain designated areas.

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It amazes me I when come across a particular lot in a sold-out subdivision that would appear to have little if any desirable building characteristics and to know that someone has purchased that lot.  I once shared that sentiment with a land salesman whose response was “it just proves there is a shoe for every foot.”  I’m not so sure that is the full truth of the matter given that land salesmen are responsible to the developer and are given the responsibility of selling every piece of dirt.

Developers typically hire surveyors and engineers to lay out communities with the primary goal of achieving the highest number of lots to sell for the least amount of development costs.  That goal often compromises the best location for streets, utilities, and property lines relative to the building site.  A good building site is often simply the luck of an engineer’s pen rather than good planning.

I admit that even with the best of land planning, it would be extremely difficult to design a community in which every lot was a premier building site where every lot had a level building area with ideal orientation and unblockable backyard views.  On the other hand, I have come across lots as I first described where simple adjustments to the land plan could have made a world of difference in the quality of the building site.  I guess for the developer it is easier and more profitable to simply wait for the right foot to come along.

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I often get requests for unrestricted acreage in the Hill Country which I myself find desirable at times.  Most people like the freedom to do their own thing.  Why not?  It’s their property.

First of all, it is very difficult to find affordable un-restricted tracts of land, especially in a desirable location for a home.  It is typically found along public highways where a rancher sells part of his ranch that fronts the highway.  It’s quick and easy money for the rancher because he does not have to build any roads to the property.

Second of all, if you can do whatever you want on your property, so can your neighbor.  That may not bother some people but most people want to know their property values and living environment will not be de-valued or impaired by their neighbor’s use of property.

If doing your own thing is important enough to risk the same from your neighbor then go for it but there is a better solution for those seeking more freedom in property use and that is reasonable and sensible restrictions.

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According to an article at TAMU.edu, Texas rangeland accounts for sixty percent of the area of Texas.  Rain that falls on Texas rangeland accounts for the majority of water that recharges our aquifers yet it is estimated that barely one percent of that rainfall actually makes it into our sub-surface water supply.  Forty-two percent evaporates directly back into the atmosphere and Forty-seven percent is lost through plant transpiration. The remaining ten percent is runoff that becomes stream flow.

Stream flow is obviously a necessity for our rivers and lakes that provide not only our surface supply of water but also recreational needs which ironically contributes to the attraction of the Texas Hill Country and additional demand for potable water. Don’t forget where our cities dump their sewers?

Despite the necessities of stream flow, recapturing a small portion of that runoff through rainwater harvesting systems could significantly reduce our demand on sub-surface water.  The precious one percent that makes it back into our aquifers will simply not sustain the current growth of the Texas Hill Country.

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