Sustainability commission urges delay of Dog’s Head TIRZ vote, calls for full environmental study

The Joint Sustainability Committee recommended on June 24 that City Council delay a vote to extend a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) for the Dog’s Head development and require additional studies and public input before proceeding. Aaron read the committee’s resolution into the record and commissioners adopted the recommendation by voice vote.

The resolution asks Council to postpone any TIRZ vote until January 2027 or later, to include the Joint Sustainability Committee and other commissions in review, and to require a full environmental assessment covering flood maps, an environmental-resource inventory, heritage-tree mapping and a hydrological survey of the alluvial aquifer. "Delay a vote on the tax increment reinvestment zone until January 2027 or later," the committee recommended in the adopted language.

Committee members highlighted several concerns raised in the recommendation: rapid annexation and short community notice, substantial public funds (the committee cited approximately $1,100,000,000 across 45 years in the draft recommendation), and the late disclosure that Amazon Robotics would be the tenant. Commissioners pointed to risks associated with massive lithium-ion battery arrays and noted comparable sites had required about 9.5 megawatts in smaller installations, raising local energy and safety questions.

Members also debated impervious cover limits. The draft asked to reduce overall impervious cover to 45%; several members said that fixed figure could be inappropriate if it counts parkland and river-protection areas. Rather than lock to a single project-wide percentage, the committee adopted amended language requiring that stormwater management "meet or exceed best practices for riparian development" and that impervious cover of developable areas be reduced to protect the alluvial aquifer and prevent local and regional flooding.

Commissioners underscored downstream water-quality concerns for Bastrop and other communities, asked for surveys of existing pollutants on the property and raised questions about the Longhorn Dam’s hazard status. The committee’s recommendation also requested that the developer commit to no data centers or chip-manufacturing plants and that reclaimed water be used where appropriate, and it urged transparency about infrastructure and bridge proposals impacting the Colorado River.

Aaron moved to adopt the committee recommendation and the committee voted in favor by voice; the record shows a motion, a second and the recommendation’s adoption but no roll-call tally was recorded in the meeting transcript.