Hutto Dangles 10-day Permits to Lure Jobs, Capital

One of the Austin area’s fastest-growing suburbs is trying a lighter touch approach to economic development: speed.

The Hutto City Council voted Dec. 18 to fast-track what it calls “economically impactful development,” adopting a policy that promises a 10-business-day review period for permits tied to industrial and commercial projects. The resolution takes effect Jan. 1 and applies across all permit types tied to those projects, the Austin Business Journal reported.

Residential developers won’t see a change. Single-family and multifamily projects will continue to follow Texas’ standard 30-business-day review timeline. Instead the city’s focus will remain on job creation and commercial tax base growth rather than more rooftops.

The move arose from a November meeting of the Hutto Economic Development Corporation, whose board unanimously approved a letter urging the City Council to adopt the policy. In that letter, the EDC argued that shaving weeks off permitting timelines would make Hutto more competitive in attracting employers and private capital, accelerate the delivery of job-producing projects and signal a more responsive posture to developers and business operators.

The city appears to be positioning speed as a substitute for subsidies. Unlike many of its peers in the Austin metro, Hutto has generally avoided large incentive packages and tax abatements, opting instead for smaller, targeted efforts — such as backing a local bookstore and coffee shop with a $32,000 sales tax abatement to help with retrofitting a historic home for the enterprise — and process-driven enticements, according to the publication. Faster permits come with a price tag of zero.

That restraint is partly strategic. Hutto, about 30 miles northeast of downtown Austin with a population of roughly 43,000, has been grappling with infrastructure constraints, including water capacity, after years of rapid residential growth. Prioritizing industrial and commercial projects allows the city to balance its growth mix without opening the incentive spigot.

The policy also arrives as the city looks to reset after a pair of high-profile development setbacks. Houston-based Midway Companies’ contract to redevelop the 250-acre Cottonwood Tract into a mixed-use destination was terminated earlier this year. Separately, Georgetown-based Headwater Commercial Realty scrapped plans for a 242,000-square-foot industrial project on EDC-owned land.

City officials have said interest in replacing both projects remains strong, and the new permitting policy reads like a signal to would-be suitors that Hutto is serious about cutting friction.

— Eric Weilbacher