Cibolo approves stricter home standards
City Manager Robert Herrera said the new homebuilding standards, approved Jan. 8 by Cibolo City Council, are among the strongest in the area and will help improve the quality of homes being built in the city. I think that speaks well of the city of Cibolo,â Herrera said, âin trying to protect the largest asset most of our residents will have when they live in our community.â The stricter standards require homebuilders or developers to conduct geo-technical tests on each lot and disclose to the city and home buyers the locations of home sites that are constructed on 24 inches or more of fill.
Cibolo approves stricter home standards
David DeKunde, Express-News
As part of several changes made to Cibolo's building code, homebuilders constructing new homes in the city are going to be held to stricter standards.
City Manager Robert Herrera said the new homebuilding standards, approved Jan. 8 by Cibolo City Council, are among the strongest in the area and will help improve the quality of homes being built in the city.
âI think that speaks well of the city of Cibolo,â Herrera said, âin trying to protect the largest asset most of our residents will have when they live in our community.â
The stricter standards require homebuilders or developers to conduct geo-technical tests on each lot and disclose to the city and home buyers the locations of home sites that are constructed on 24 inches or more of fill.
Other changes include: having foundations designed and certified by an engineer; requiring homebuilders to provide a $25,000 surety bond covering any repairs for code violations; and requiring homeowners be given instructions on foundation maintenance.
Cibolo pursued the stricter standards after several residents in the community had to deal with cracked foundations in their homes. During a September council meeting, homeowners in the Falcon Ridge and Bentwood Ranch subdivisions voiced their frustrations over what they consider poor construction practices by the homebuilder, D.R. Horton.
Janet Ahmad, president of Home Owners for Better Building, favors most of the new homebuilding standards, except the one requiring that homeowners be given instructions on foundation maintenance. She said that provision could allow the homebuilder to blame the homeowner if foundation problems should arise.
âIf (homebuilders) are going to build, they need to comply with what they are doing,â Ahmad said. âOtherwise, they have no incentive to build them right to begin with if the responsibility is going to be put on the homeowner.â
Development Service Director Robert Stricker disagreed with Ahmad's argument. âWe didn't put that in there to put any kind of burden or responsibility on that homeowner,â Stricker said. âWhat we wanted was to make sure the homeowner was being told about some maintenance issue.
âIt's not putting the onus (on the homeowner). This was never intended to take any responsibility off that builder. I think there is enough language (in the code) and in some of the other things we are doing that keeps that builder responsible,â he added.
In other council business:
⢠Herrera said the city was successful in its appeal to the U.S. Census Bureau over what it felt was a population undercount in the 2010 Census.
The census bureau, Herrera said, adjusted the city's population to 19,580, adding 4,195 residents to their original count of 15,385. According to city officials, the census bureau undercounted 20 to 25 percent of Cibolo's population by inadvertently listing the residents who live in subdivisions along FM 1103 as residing in Guadalupe County.
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