The New Braunfels City Council has decided against waiving utility fees for a proposed affordable housing development known as Park at Dogwood. Despite the refusal to grant the requested relief through the municipal utility system, elected officials stressed their overarching backing for the residential venture and instructed local government staff to explore alternate financial mechanisms to help make up the project's funding deficit.
The decision came during a recent meeting where council members voted unanimously, 5-0, to recommend that the governing board of New Braunfels Utilities decline the requested fee relief. Mayor Michael French and Councilwoman Toni Carter were not present during the vote. Under local guidelines, any fee exemptions involving the city-owned utility require a direct recommendation from the municipal council before they can be considered by the utility board.
Park at Dogwood is designed as a 76-unit apartment community situated at 1869 McQueeney Road. The development is being spearheaded by The Park Companies, which is currently confronting a $2 million financial shortfall in its construction budget, according to details provided by Jeff Jewell, the city's director of economic and community development.
To help bridge that financial deficit, the development firm had approached municipal leaders and New Braunfels Utilities seeking a waiver of up to $500,000 in utility impact fees. These mandatory fees, which are assessed across all incoming developments to support underlying infrastructure requirements, total roughly $1.3 million for the proposed complex. Granting the maximum requested waiver would have translated to an approximate 40 percent reduction in those obligations.
As envisioned, the apartment community is slated to offer affordable living options to local households earning between 30% and 60% of the area median income. Depending on the size of the family, that corresponds to an annual earnings range of approximately $21,000 to $54,000. Projected monthly rental rates at the complex are expected to span between $424 and $1,196, based on unit dimensions and household income tiers.
Municipal records indicate that the overall price tag for the development stands at approximately $22.3 million. The vast majority of the capital was slated to be funded via the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, for which the project successfully secured allocations back in 2024.
However, the venture encountered severe setbacks and delays after the Federal Emergency Management Agency revised its local floodplain maps. The updated mapping compelled the development team to redesign the entire layout, causing significant construction postponements. As a consequence of these complications, the anticipated equity generated from the tax credits fell from an initial $17.6 million down to roughly $15.7 million, directly producing the current budget gap.
In an effort to keep the project viable, local officials have examined other potential relief measures. City documentation points to the possibility of forgiving around $250,000 in roadway impact fees. Furthermore, the developer has established a collaborative agreement with the New Braunfels Housing Authority that allows the land itself to be exempt from property taxes, offering another way to ease the financial strain.
Even with strong sympathy for the development's goals, council members expressed serious reservations about using utility discounts as a subsidy method. A primary concern was the fairness to existing customers of New Braunfels Utilities, which supplies water, wastewater, and electrical services. The utility has raised its customer rates each year since 2023 to keep pace with broader infrastructure demands.
Councilwoman Nikki Shaw voiced strong skepticism about approving fee reductions for a developer while ordinary utility ratepayers are subjected to repeated rate hikes. She stated that reducing impact fees under such circumstances "gives me the ick," emphasizing that the infrastructure required by new construction still carries unavoidable costs. Shaw proposed that the city look instead to the New Braunfels Economic Development Corporation, an entity that utilizes dedicated sales tax revenues to foster local economic expansion, to offer an appropriate incentive.
The council's debate followed a contentious public comment period in which some local citizens expressed skepticism about the apartment complex. Resident Eva Pepitone argued that the complex would harm the surrounding neighborhood and overburden local school systems, claiming the development would attract working single-parent families who would be unable to supervise their children's homework after school.
Council members firmly pushed back against those characterizations during their deliberations. Councilman Michael Capizzi rejected the negative portrayal of prospective tenants, declaring that such attitudes do not represent the community's character. He described the housing initiative as an essential "hand up" for working people, endorsing the project itself while supporting Shaw's recommendation to pursue non-utility funding alternatives.
Councilman D. Lee Edwards delivered an emotional speech highlighting the real-world value of affordable housing initiatives, sharing his own past financial struggles. He recounted how, in 1977, he went from earning a solid living to residing in a single-wide mobile home in South Carolina for $125 a month while caring for a newborn. Edwards noted that subsidized developments provide hard-working residents with the stable foundation needed to overcome hardship and improve their circumstances.
Other community members participating in the meeting echoed the council’s reluctance to tap utility resources, expressing concern that granting utility waivers would ultimately shift financial obligations onto existing ratepayers. While public speakers generally voiced support for the concept of attainable housing, they maintained that utility funds should remain separate from developer incentives.
Following the 5-0 vote against the utility fee exemption, the council formally charged city administrative staff with identifying other viable funding options and strategies to help close the developer's remaining $2 million deficit so the housing project can move forward.
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