Developers of Lakeway Heights were denied their request to change their development to a condominium regime in a 6-1 vote by Lakeway City Council on Aug. 18, with council member Christopher Forton voting against the denial.
The background
Lakeway Heights—which was zoned as a planned unit development, or PUD, in a 5-2 vote by City Council in January—is located at 15115 Kollmeyer Drive, next to Lake Travis Elementary. The development was previously proposed to include 82 single-family detached units on 13.4 acres of land.
Since the development was first put forward, a number of residents have shown up to council meetings to protest Lakeway Heights for reasons related to traffic and density, aesthetics and the character of the development compared to its surroundings.
Prior to council’s Jan. 27 meeting, in which the development was rezoned, over 30 residents provided feedback to council urging them to reject the development, Assistant City Manager Ashby Grundman said at the time.
At the Aug. 18 meeting, five residents of Lakeway and Lakeway ETJ attended to speak against the development.
What’s happening
At Lakeway City Council’s Aug. 18 meeting, developers requested a modification to their existing PUD, changing 82 individual lots to a “condominium regime,” which would feature a single lot, according to city documents.
“We’d like to build condos, we don’t want to build single-family houses,” Bruce Rainey with Blackland Capital Group LLC said at the meeting. “We can control the property differently when it’s a condo regime.”
Rainey said that developers had “no plans to change anything on the layout” and were seeking to follow city code and ordinances while building the project.
Several residents attended the Aug. 18 meeting to protest the PUD modification, and said that new plans presented by developers at the meeting appeared vague.
Ultimately, council voted 6-1 to reject the PUD change.
“The idea that [the developer] is open-minded to changing these from single family residences to literal condos is not OK with me. That, to me, blows up the whole thing,” Mayor Pro Tem Louis Mastrangelo said.
“I asked the developer tonight why we were making this change—is this a you problem or a [Lakeway] problem? And the city of Lakeway doesn’t have a problem with the current PUD,” Mayor Thomas Kilgore said.
Something to note
While the PUD modification was rejected, the original PUD approved for the development by City Council still remains intact.
The PUD ordinance, issued by City Council on Jan. 27, is viewable online.
