Travis County Commissioners Court
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 (Agenda)
Item 19
Number 19, consider and take appropriate action on the construction of floating habitable structures on Lake Travis.
>> good afternoon, judge and Commissioners.
steve meadow with tnr, with me stacy chefel from the floodplain management program and anna bolen from floodplain services program.
what is presented is a draft resolution that we would like you to consider sending to the lcra.
it has to do with some recent information that we received about the possibility of the placement of threat--habitable structures on Lake Travis, structures that people sleep in overnight.
it's not like they go there for the day and go away.
they actually live on the lake in these boats.
we don't think that is a good idea.
there's issues with how you will construct in a way that anyone living on it could be evacuated in the event of an emergency, how you construct on a lake that rises and false up--falls up to 40 feet and can happen over night.
the environment of the lake in the vicinity of these structures a number of questions that need to be answered.
lcra has taken a lead and put a moratorium on the payment of --complaint --placement of these on the lake.
goes through October and meeting for public input this week.
with Commissioner Huber's lead, if you wish to add anything to it.
>> I thought it was important that we get out front and look at this.
it does have impact on county services.
potential for serious financial impact from a standpoint of esd servicing fire and the health and safety.
this isn't something that absolutely has to happen today.
if there was more information that was required.
but because lcra is going through this process of rough--reviewing the rule, the lakes ordinance does not necessarily prohibit this and they recognize a potential problem.
I thought it prudent to lay this out to the court and if court is support , move forward or if you need more information, we get it.
I don't see any upside for the county.
>> questions or comments?
>> what I'm trying to determine, do you know if, in other words, if we support any of this, at the end of day is it that lcar that will come in and maybe help regulate this if the county ends up supporting this?
they say okay, Travis County would not like to have this on its lakes as far as house boats, movable structures or whatever, who would actually be able to enforce what we are doing?
who would be the enforcing arm of this?
>> stacy?
do you want to take that?
>> yes.
lcra already regulates marinas and I believe what they are look to go do is mend their ordinanc.
>> could you speak up a bit.
>> sure, lcra already regulates marinas on high land lake.
>> uh-huh.
>> I believe what they are looking to do is amend their rules to include floating habitable structures within their marina ordinance.
so it would be lcra.
>> would be the enforcing arm of this.
and if this is to get some support of Travis County, what would be the beginning notification or process to let folks know that are actually doing this currently, notifying them that this is no longer an acceptable practice?
how long would there be a grace period for them to take care of the situation as far as notification is concerned?
how does that work?
>> lcra currently has a moratorium on these floating structures.
they put that in a few months ago.
>> all right.
>> they do have public information.
there's been some news stories on it.
so they are really taking a lead in notifying the public.
>> okay.
thank you.
>> we don't know of any habitable structures on the lake we?
>> actually we know of about five them.
the reason this is sort of coming to a head, there is a probable to put about a hundred, I'll call them connedor units for lack of a better saying, in a code near jones town.
that concentration of homes is what is really concerning.
>> we are asked today to really approve a resolution showing our support for lcra that is planning to prohibit habitable structures, right?
>> considering the prohibition.
>> okay.
>> we would like to encourage lcr an is to make that a long-term commitment.
>> Commissioner Eckhardt.
>> a couple of questions.
do we know how long the moratorium is at this point?
>> until October.
>> until October.
and the last whereas, lcra's internal research findings conclude that federal, state and river authorities prohibit floating habitable structures, can y'all educate me on that?
>> Commissioner Huber, can you help me with that one?
>> my policy director did research on this.
apparently at the federal level and in some states, there are prohibitions.
but if you need more clarity on that, we can get you the detail.
>> I'd like more clarity on that.
and the reason why, I mean--
>> Commissioner, if I may, tn r.
I believe that is based upon the instruction of navigatable waters.
in a number of states these are prohibited on most bodies of water because they represent an obstruction to the public's use of the open waters.
that being said, there are a number of places where they have been used traditionally.
most note worty we know of boat communities in florida, northwest and such.
but I know a number of states have expolice etly prohibited both boat houses and house boats boat houses being the structure over the water in which you bring in a boat and can then lift up out of the water because they represent an obstruction in navigatable waters.
>> I can be wrong here, I just don't know enough, seems that the final be it resolved is rather broad.
having known folks who had house boats and boat houses.
also having lived in the northeast where there's also pretty substantial house boat communities along the coast, it's not necessarily, to prohibit all, I'm not ready to go there just yet without a little bit more research.
although I certainly recognize that we have got a serious issue and I know for sure that I would not be in favor of habitable condo units on the lake.
>> the really compelling reason for me is just because of how much the lake level fluctuates.
up on the ocean or seattle where you have a fairly constant level of water, this can literally go up or down 30 feet, or up 30 feet overnight.
>> my sister, for instance, had a house boat on Lake Travis back in the day, but that of course was the '70s and quite different then.
>> I take to heart what you are saying about the therefore be it resolved being a little general.
I think that could bear some work because we don't want to be exclusive.
and actually, I really did just float this out for discussion because lcra is looking at amending their marina ordinance to take into account.
I can envision the possibility they would permit them within certain parameters.
so we perhaps need to spell out in a little more detail here what exactly we have a problem with.
>> yeah, what our tolerance level is if any.
>> bring it back next week or two eeks?
>> two weeks.
>> two weeks is fine.
>> that is April 26.
>> uh-huh.
>> judge, before we go to the next item, can I raise one thing?
>> on 19?
want to do it in executive session?
>> no, just something to consider.
>> okay.
>> if these structures aren't prohibited, they are habitable rest deb shall structures and the county does have residential building codes.
if they are condominiums we long ago came to the legal opinion that a condominium is a subdivision of property for which a played is required I raise the point to say this is not necessarily all lcra's game.
>> okay.
>> just because these structures are on water doesn't exempt them from normal development regulations that the county has adopted and enforces.
you know, through permits, subdivision plats and so on.
I think it's safe to say county regulations were designed to deal with structures on hard ground.
but that is not to say they can't be amended to specifically speak to floating structures.
>> does that mean, as far as enforcement of this, does that mean subject to regulations as you just stated, tom, of the county, if they are part of that that would means we would have enforcement capability?
>> Commissioner, when you were saying the enforcement of this, that the resolution talked about lcra prohibiting these outright, which lcra can do.
if lcra prohibits them outright, they don't exist and the issue of the need for the county to regulate them is moot.
>> right, right.
>> but if lcra does in the prohibit outright and allows under certain circumstances, I'm just pointing out like any other form of development, if there are county regulations that are apply to them, they need to meet those regulations.
again, they are not exempted.
people are sort of looking at this as something different because they are floating on the water.
and you know, they are not on hard ground with a street in front of it.
nothing in the law says they are except just because they are on water.
>> okay.
>> good point.
>> that is a real good point.
>> two weeks or three weeks?
April 26 we will have it back o.
>> we have to go three weeks now.
good point, county attorney.
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