New Braunfels City Council is staring down a heated land-use fight later this month over whether to rezone about 38 acres off State Highway 46 for a proposed KB Homes subdivision of roughly 131 single-family houses. Neighbors in Mission Hills Ranch have banded together against the project, arguing it would wipe out one of the area's last green pockets and overload nearby roads, water and sewer systems. The city's Planning Commission has already voted to recommend the rezoning after a public hearing, but residents say that vote is nowhere near the end of the story. With a council hearing looming, the clash over the parcel is shifting from neighborhood living rooms to the City Hall dais.
As reported by KSAT, KB Homes presented the project to the Planning Commission earlier this month and asked to convert the tract to all single-family lots, with a maximum buildout of 131 homes. The commission voted to send the rezoning to City Council, where elected officials are expected to hold a hearing and vote later in February.
Case Details And Zoning Changes
City documents list the request as Case PZ25-0466 and seek to rezone roughly 38 acres from R-1 and an Agricultural/Pre-Development District (APD) to R-1A-6.6, identifying the site as northwest of 2815 State Highway 46 W, according to the City of New Braunfels. The developer and its attorney told Community Impact the plan would allow larger lots of roughly 6,600 square feet and that the current proposal trims the potential number of homes from an earlier 156-home request to about 131. City materials also note that the project would require extending Old Mission Lane, tying the subdivision to road and drainage upgrades.
Neighbors And Elected Officials Push Back
Homeowners in Mission Hills Ranch raised traffic, safety and utility worries at the planning hearing, and one resident told KSAT, “I feel like the crime and the traffic will increase, and we have a lot of our amenities that are right there next to the new neighborhood that we just right now are struggling to take care of. And so then we’ll have you know more use of that, and that the neighborhood that is coming has zero green space park space planned” Angela Allen, a planning commissioner and mayoral candidate, has been outspoken against the rezoning, and District 3 Councilman D. Lee Edwards, who represents the area, told the station he plans to recuse himself from the council vote because he has represented the property owner. Edwards also told KSAT, "It can’t be nothing,” signaling his expectation that the land will eventually be developed one way or another.
What Comes Next
The city’s public notice lists a City Council first reading for Case PZ25-0466 on February 23 and names Amanda Mushinski as the case manager, according to the City of New Braunfels. Public hearing notices went out to 63 nearby property owners, and several residents told Community Impact they oppose the project over infrastructure strains and worries about how it could change the character of the neighborhood.
Why It Matters
New Braunfels has been one of the fastest-growing cities in the region, with U.S. Census QuickFacts showing the city’s population rising roughly 28.8 percent from 2020 to 2024. That kind of surge puts pressure on roads, utilities and open space, and this 38-acre tract has become a flashpoint in the broader growth debate. How council members balance neighborhood concerns with demand for new housing at the February 23 hearing will determine whether this slice of the Hill Country stays green or turns into the city’s next subdivision.
