KINGSVILLE, Tx — As Kleberg County plans to focus on population retention and recruitment the next six months, that growth means future residents need a place to stay.
Kleberg County recently updated its previous subdivision regulations with the idea that more subdivisions will start being built in county areas.
State subdivision regulations came out earlier this year, and Kleberg County officials took a stricter twist on those regulations. For example, when it comes to roads, the state said developers have to wait two years to ask for maintenance help, but new Kleberg rules said developers will have to wait four years before the county can take responsibility.
“Then they can make an application to the county for the county to take over maintenance for those rods. That doesn’t mean we have to accept it,” Kleberg County Commissioner
The new regulations are to provide quality living for residents moving forward, which Kleberg County resident DJ Flores thinks is a good idea.
“They shouldn’t cut corners. We see that in other areas where they build houses too fast and too quick and they forget to do this or that and it creates more problems later on,” Flores said.
Flores said subdivisions could be a great option for people who move into the county and want to get to know their neighbors.
“I have some neighbors here that I’ve known for quite some time. So when we head out, we say ‘hey can you pick up this package I’m having delivered’ or ‘hey can you pick this up for me’,” Flores said
But Flores also knows that with subdivisions comes stricter rules for everyone, not just developers.
“I’m not really about that; where you could tell me what color I can paint my house or what I could do with this or what I could do with that. So there are pros and cons. I do like the neighborhoods. My in-laws live in one. Great pool, great play area for children, but there are rules that become more and more strict about those,” Flores said.
Another major regulation change is setbacks. The old requirement was that houses have a ten-foot setback in front of them with five feet on the other three sides, but Kleberg County officials believed that could still be too close.
“We’ve changed that where we’re saying it's going to be 20 feet in front of the property and 10 on all the other three sides,” Rosse said.
Developers will also be required to drill test wells to prove that there is at least a thirty-year supply of underground water so residents don’t end up high and dry.
“We’re trying to build quality houses and quality subdivisions to make sure that twenty-thirty years down the road, there’s still pride in that property,” Rosse said.
Rosse said there are a few proposed subdivisions in the county. Two in the county recently got approved and there is still one in the preliminary stages out in Baffin Bay.
For the latest local news updates, click here, or download the KRIS 6 News App.
