By Kim Hilsenbeck
For the tiny incorporated City of Hays, which brings in roughly $13,000 in revenue annually, the prospect of a new mixed-use development in the city’s extra-territorial jurisdiction (ETJ) is attractive.
A roughly 400-acre tract of land, of which 279 acres is in the city’s ETJ, is the proposed site for a new residential and commercial venture called Hays Commons.
Walters Southwest, a development firm run by Bill Walters, is in the final closing stages of purchasing the property, which is owned by the Gragg Foundation, a nonprofit based in Palestine, Texas.
Under the proposed terms of the development agreement, that land could net the City of Hays at least $1 million annually from a combination of sales tax and ad valorem tax revenues, according to Walters. And that’s a conservative estimate, said Walters, who developed Sunset Valley Village near Brodie Lane and Highway 290 in Austin. Sunset Valley is also a small, incorporated town.
“Hays Commons would be similar to Sunset Valley Village, with 22 percent gross property,” Walters said.
The proposed project would develop 113 acres of commercial space with plans for one large anchor, likely a grocery store, and several smaller retail operations. Another 53 acres would be for rural residential homes with one-acre minimum sites.
“We want to maintain the rural character of the property,” Walters said.
Multi-family units are also a possibility in the commercial portion of the proposed project.
Incorporated in 1981, the City of Hays is tucked off of FM 1626 in Hays County, about halfway between Manchaca and Buda. With its own city council and water system, the town contracts out for services such as police, fire and ambulance protection.
Generations of families have grown up in the community, including Mayor Michael Warnken. He is married to Amy Warnken, a council member.
But with little commercial development in the immediate area, residents drive anywhere from 12 to 20 minutes just to reach a grocery store. For example,?H-E-B has stores in Buda, Kyle and south Austin, but each is eight or more miles away. Southpark Meadows is about the same distance.
Walters hopes to offer local residents, as well as those living in far southern Travis County, more options with Hays Commons.
He said, “This proposed development is founded on three tenets: mobility, conservation and responsible development.”
A key lynchpin to the development, however, is the construction of the proposed SH 45, which would connect FM 1626 to south Mopac. That project has been in various stages of development, environmental studies and negotiation for more than a decade.
One significant hold-up has been opposition from an environmental group called Save Our Springs (SOS).
The group’s founder, Bill Bunch, believes building SH 45 would create several problems, including too much impervious cover over the sensitive Edwards Aquifer recharge zone, as well as diverting more traffic off Interstate 35 which he says would merely make more traffic on Mopac.
Instead, Bunch wants to see more commuters use Manchaca Road and South First rather than Brodie Lane. Bunch also believes car-pooling and public transit would offer reasonable alternatives to commuters. He is not swayed by the general consensus of northern Hays County residents who appear in favor of the construction.
Walters told the council Tuesday night it may be four or more years before SH 45 goes through.
Eric John, a City of Hays resident, is now more in favor of the proposed Hays Commons development than he was when he first learned about it. John attended a recent public meeting where Walters and the council answered questions about the project.
“The older generations out here probably don’t care for the development,” John said, “but those who went to meetings and got educated on the issue probably realize it’s not such a bad idea. We’re not going to stop it, but we can have our voices heard.”
However, John said city leaders haven’t done the greatest job of informing the residents about what’s going on with the development.
“We’ve had to walk flyers throughout the town to help people understand what the council is doing. Council is reluctant to get out information; they also don’t have a website,” though he acknowledged such efforts are underway.
The City of Hays posts its meetings on wooden bulletin boards.
“If you don’t stop by and read the notices, you don’t know what’s going on,” John said.
What does he think older residents are against? John said they fear everything from the possibility of bringing in more vagrants to changes in demographics, increased traffic flow and access to the neighborhood.
“When we moved out here [five years ago], it was safe and nobody knew about it,” John said.
What does he like about the project?
“I like that it will bring in more tax revenue to upgrade things. We may be able to increase security – right now we have to call the [Hays County] sheriff’s office. We can also repair roads, have better water, build sidewalks.”
John said 219 people live in the City of Hays and every house has about an acre of land.
Other residents, such as Harvey Davis, expressed concern about the proposed development, with issues ranging from providing water to how much the developer will make from the deal.
“We were concerned about giving up 30 percent of sales tax and 75 percent of property tax for 10 years,” Davis said. “But it’s potentially an excellent deal for the city.”
And while not all city residents are oppposed to the project, they asked pointed questions of Walters and their council.
Walters is working to answer those questions. After 35 years in the Central Texas region, Walters said he knows a thing or two about development, particularly in an area prone to severe drought.
Townspeople were concerned about how their aging water system could handle the increased need of a commercial development.
Because of his desire to incorporate responsible development in his projects, Walters said he is donating 113 acres of parkland to the City of Hays as part of the project. He is also seeking the best way to bring water and wastewater to the commercial site, which created a last-minute potential sticking point Tuesday night, as did several other issues including a fire buffer.
Walters said the development agreement between his firm and the City of Hays would be for 10 years, with two additional two-year options. Under the terms of the draft agreement, the city has as the option, at its discretion, to annex the commercial portion of the developed land in its ETJ.
City of Hays council members voted Tuesday evening to move forward with the development; only councilwoman Sandra Ramage voted no, saying she listened to her constituents and voted their voice. One council member was absent from the vote.
Mayor Wernken said, “I feel like this is a good plan for the city...plus it gives us the ability to have other income. You can’t prevent growth but you can manage it.”
Walters was not able to provide a proposed timeline for the project, saying it’s very early at this stage of the development.
