Community gives input for town center design

Community gives input for town center design

Written by Darcie Duttweiler Friday, 25 July 2008

Planned unit development faces challenges bringing retail, commercial and residential growth to Oak Hill

The 131 acres owned by Rudy Belton west of the Y on Hwy. 290 at FM 1826 has sat vacant since its purchase in 1996, but July 1, the Austin-based land developer and his team filed a development assessment application with the city, marking the next step in a long process toward what Oak Hill has long lacked: a town center.

“Oak Hill is underserved. They want a town center and more services. That’s how this whole thing got started,” said Paul Linehan, president of Land Strategies, Inc. and the project designer. “Our site can’t do it all, but we can start to meet the needs of Oak Hill.”

While Oak Hill residents express interest in a project with more retail and restaurants, many are undecided if Belton’s West Park development — which is a planned unit development, or PUD — is the solution. A PUD is a zoning designation used to control complex projects.

PUD amenities

The current West Park PUD has been in development stages along with Oak Hill’s Future Land Use Map in which the town center idea was proposed. While the property has been zoned a PUD in the past, Belton and his lawyers began the recent PUD planning in March and started meeting with the community in April. The original concept plan was amended to its present design after community concerns were heard.

Originally, the plan called for five multiuse lighted ball fields, but when neighbors were apprehensive about light and noise pollution, this was cut down to one field. Belton and his team also added an amphitheater and community center that could potentially house a YMCA and provide an indoor pool and athletic facilities. The team has also expanded the transit station, but is unsure of what it will include.

“Every time someone asked for something, and we were able to do it, we’ve done it,” said Kevin Flahive, one of Belton’s lawyers. “There’s not a single plan that everyone will like, but we’re trying to put the best project out there for our client that also fits the needs of the community.”

The updated plan includes two office buildings totaling 450,000 sq. ft., a 38,000 sq. ft. cinema and a 39,200 sq. ft. athletic complex. The design also includes approximately 362,000 sq. ft. of retail space, as well as a 200-room hotel, 360 apartments and 120 town homes.

“The houses are out here [in Oak Hill], but the retail is not,” Linehan said. “We’ll probably have a good blend of national and local retailers. We’re trying to recreate room for the local guys.”

Of the 131 acres, 52 acres will be open space with hike and bike trails connecting West Park PUD to the neighboring subdivisions. According to Belton’s lawyers, the best case scenario would put the PUD beginning construction in the next three to five years.

History

After numerous meetings with the community, including a question-and-answer session June 12, Belton’s team decided to wait two weeks before it filed its development assessment application due to an overwhelming response of residents asking for more communication.

Nine members from key groups, such as the Oak Hill Business Professionals Association, the Oak Hill Neighborhood Planning Contact Team and the Oak Hill Neighborhood Association, were asked to assemble a neighborhood stakeholders’ negotiation team to meet with Belton’s lawyers of the Clark, Thomas & Winters law firm. Their first meeting took place June 26, and they will continue to meet throughout the PUD application process.

“We wanted to meet and address the goals with the community before we filed the application with the city,” Flahive said. “But filing with the city doesn’t stop the conversation with Oak Hill.”

The meeting with the negotiation team is one of many with the community. The land was originally set to develop in 2000 with 906 multifamily units and 70,000 sq. ft. of retail, but the plan ran into delays and was abandoned during an economic slump.

Community concerns

Belton still faces opposition from some Oak Hill residents, who expressed concern with the Y shopping centers and feel the area should be redeveloped before new development is built. Their concern is if a new town center is built, it will leave more of the older retail space vacant.

“How many places will be empty then if you build 1 million sq. ft. if there are empty spaces now?” said Sandy Baldrige, president of OHBPA.

At the planning commission meeting July 8, members decided on the Oak Hill FLUM that from the Y area to the western boundary of Belton’s property would be proposed as a master planned development instead of a mixed-use development. Baldrige explained that a master planned project usually has multiple owners, instead of one like a PUD, and encourages landowners to work together.

“We’re asking the PUD to join neighbors to the east to work with everyone so we don’t get blight and can have a transit-oriented development with community amenities,” Baldrige said.

Belton’s team argues that new development would stimulate redevelopment in the older areas.

“They’re concerned that Y businesses will move to the PUD, but we don’t think that will happen,” said Dowe Gullatt, one of Belton’s lawyers. “New businesses will move in. The PUD will be the catalyst to spur redevelopment of Oak Hill.”

Challenges

When the updated PUD reaches the Austin City Council as early as January, Belton will meet more staunch challenges, including the Save Our Springs Ordinance.

West Park PUD lies in the Barton Springs recharge zone, which the SOS allows to have only 25 percent impervious cover, which is anything that stops rainwater from seeping into the ground. The current land use plan calls for approximately 40 percent impervious cover. For Belton to begin building West Park PUD, the city council will have to have six out of seven members approve the impervious cover change.

A Speedy Stop convenience store may also pose a potential speed bump. Belton has an easement agreement through the property at FM 1826 and Hwy. 290. However, the city ruled this invalid as the property is technically zoned for residential use. It is illegal to have an easement agreement through a residential zone, even if the property is being used commercially. Belton has sued the city in hopes of overturning its decision.

Gullatt said that if Oak Hill’s neighborhood plan takes effect, this land will be zoned properly and the PUD would be able to continue with its easement agreement.

“Oak Hill has been neglected by the city, and we’re trying to change that,” Gullatt said.

How West Park PUD compares to recent developments:

• West Park PUD
  • 131 acres located on Hwy. 290 and FM 1826
  • Retail and commercial sq. ft: 920,114
  • Residential: 360 apartments and 120 town homes
• Mueller development: Phase I (under construction or already built)
  • 300 acres located off IH 35 and E. 51st Street
  • Retail and commercial sq. ft: 1.3 million
  • Residential: 442 apartments and 348 single-family homes
• Hill Country Galleria
  • 152 acres located where FM 2244 meets Hwy. 71 and RM 620
  • Retail and commercial sq. ft: 650,000
  • Residential: 309 apartments (upon completion)
• The Domain: Phase I
  • 57 acres located near IBM off MoPac and Braker Lane
  • Retail and commercial sq. ft: 696,395
  • Residential: 390 apartments

What is a PUD?

A planned unit development...

• is intended for large or complex developments under unified control,
• is planned as a single continuous project,
• allows single or multiuse projects within its boundaries,
• provides greater design flexibility for development proposed within the PUD.

Use of a PUD district should result in development superior to that which would occur using conventional zoning regulations.

PUD zoning is appropriate if the PUD enhances preservation of the natural environment, encourages high quality and innovative design and ensures adequate public facilities and services for development within the PUD.

Minimum size generally considered appropriate for a PUD is 10 acres.

Source: City of Austin

Next Steps?

Buffalo Equities Ltd. filed the West Park PUD’s development assessment application with the city July 1. The following is an estimated timeline for the steps Rudy Belton and his team have taken recently and will take in the future.

• July 1: File development assessment application
• July 22 (21 days): City of Austin review period
• July 22 (21 days after submittal): BEL receives master review report from the city
• Aug. 5: BEL files PUD application
• Sept. 2 (28 days): City of Austin review period
• Sept. 2 (28 days after submittal): BEL receives master review report from the city
• Sept. 12 (5-10 days): BEL reviews comments from master review report and responds to comments
• Sept. 12: BEL submits final comments to city
• Oct. 10 (28 days): City reviews formal update and begins to schedule hearings
• November: Environmental board provides recommendation to the city council
• November/December: Land use commission provides recommendation to the city council
• December: City council hearing-First reading
• January 2009: City council hearing-Second and third readings

Dowe Gullatt, one of Belton’s lawyers at Clark, Thomas & Winters, does not have a detailed timeline after the city council meeting in January.

If the council approves of zoning changes, Belton will start submitting site plans in phases that document the actual development. He will then go through the review process and months of city responses. If the site is approved, construction could start as early as 2010 or could be delayed for two to three years after the city council hearings.