News Updates

News Updates

Friday, 26 September 2008

April:

Continued budget cuts and funding shortfalls are taking a toll on the Texas Department of Transportation to the point that it may not be available to help with two major — and controversial — projects in Southwest Austin.

TxDOT agreed last October to finance the design of a toll road at the terminus of south MoPac that would travel east and end at FM 1626, called Toll 45 SW. TxDOT was also expected to partially fund another toll project at the Y in Oak Hill.

Toll 45 SW was authorized to begin construction by fiscal year 2008. TxDOT identified funds for its design — at least until a call for cuts came last November. Current estimates suggest the project will cost $76 million.

The two major flyovers at the existing Hwy. 290 and Hwy. 71 intersection that create the Y are estimated to cost more than $400 million and are scheduled to begin construction by 2011.

When the Austin district for TxDOT heard of the continued funding shortfalls, the staff asked the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, a tolling authority formed in 2003, for help.

As a result of budget cuts, TxDOT grants that were supposed to go to help build the CTRMA tolls may be reduced by as much as one-third. CTRMA’s spokesman Steve Pustelnyk said projects might be delayed and the CTRMA will reprioritize once TxDOT gives the final number.

Full story at more.impactnews.com/867

Now:

• TxDOT is now in the internal stage of gathering information for environmental studies. Although the project at the Y already has completed environmental studies, adjustments will probably be made. TxDOT will eventually host public hearings for both projects.
• Once completed, studies for both highway projects will go to the Federal Highway Administration for approval.
• The CTRMA considers Toll 45 SW and the toll at the Y to be vital to the region, according to Pustelnyk.

“We are prepared to fund construction upon completion of the environmental studies,” he said.

May:

Since 2005, the city neighborhood planning department has overseen an 11,000-acre planning process in which residents and business owners have given their visions and community goals for a Future Land Use Map for Oak Hill, which will give a blueprint for how land should be used for development.

The City of Austin Neighborhood Planning Department presented the tentative FLUM and plan documents May 14 to stakeholders for one last discussion before the planning commission and city council would vote on it.

If the council approves the FLUM, it becomes a guiding document that determines what type of zoning or land uses can be implemented there in the future. For an amendment on an individual property, applicants must wait one year from the plan adoption to file an application, unless it meets certain exceptions, such as an error being found in the plan.

Full story at more.impactnews.com/1049

Now:

• The FLUM was delayed after the May 14 meeting in order to determine the address of every landowner and resident in the 11,000 acres and to mail out 30,000 Ordinance and Zoning Change notifications June 24.
• Planning commission heard the reading of the FLUM July 8, a meeting that lasted more than seven hours. At the next city council meeting, Aug. 7, the FLUM was postponed until Aug. 21, due to the lateness of the hour when council started to discuss it. On Aug. 21, other debates pushed the FLUM agenda items up to after 10 p.m. They were then rescheduled for Aug. 28, with a motion to talk about only uncontested tracts.
• At the Aug. 28 city council hearing, the council approved the uncontested FLUM and rezoning tracts on first reading. The council has to vote on the text and the uncontested tracts a total of three times. Second and third readings will be heard Oct. 23.
• The 45 contested tracts will also be heard at the Oct. 23 city council hearing, when the council will take testimony from anyone wishing to speak to a motion to approve the text and the uncontested cases. Then the council could vote to approve the FLUM on both second and third readings.

Read an update on august’s story about possible energy efficiency requirements for homeowners at more.impactnews.com/1893.

July:

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 long-time Oak Hill residents say has been lacking: a town center.

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 around 362,000 sq. ft. of retail space, as well as a 200-room hotel, 360 apartments and 120 town homes.

According to Belton’s lawyers, the best-case scenario would put the planned unit development beginning construction in three to five years.

Full story at more.impactnews.com/1380

Now:

• Filing of the development assessment, the first step in the approval process, occurred June 27. Belton received city comments Aug. 20 — more than three weeks late.
• Belton’s team requested the PUD, which is one of the contested tracts in the Oak Hill Future Land Use Map, be removed from the FLUM planning process. The council has not approved such action.
• In accordance with a new PUD ordinance, city staff must present a project assessment report to the city council, scheduled for Sept. 28. This is the first PUD to go through this process.
• The council will make an early determination whether the project meets the initial requirements for PUDs under the new ordinance. If the city council determines the PUD does meet these requirements, the formal PUD application can be submitted.

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