by JEN BIUNDO
Commercial development will edge closer to Buda’s historic Antioch neighborhood, following the planned construction of a small daycare center on Old Black Colony Road.
Buda councilmembers unanimously approved the annexation, neighborhood commercial zoning and preliminary plan and final plat Tuesday night for the 3,145-square-foot daycare on three acres on the narrow two-lane road just east of FM 1626. An additional 12-acre lot will also be annexed into the city with agricultural zoning.
Property owners Michelle and Vincent Stanfield say the daycare will serve 21 children between the ages of two to five, and will provide 10 full-time jobs. They expect the facility to open in about 12 months.
But some neighbors say they’re concerned about the commercial development in the small, close-knit historic neighborhood.
The Antioch settlement was developed in 1870, when local landowner Joseph Rowley sold land at low prices to freed slaves. In 1874, the Bunton family donated land for a school for black children. For several decades, the former slaves and their descendents farmed the land. Though most relatives of the Antioch community had moved away by the middle of the 20th century, in the 1970s several residents who had grown up in Antioch returned to the area. By 2000 about 20 people, all relatives of the original settlers, were living in Antioch.
Though the new Garlic Creek and Whispering Hollow developments now abut Old Black Colony Road, adding increased traffic to the area, the land still retains a rural feel.
Winnie Moyer, a descendent of the freed slaves who originally settled Antioch, said she was worried about the additional traffic and change in character that a business could bring to the area.
“It’s a residential area and it has been for years,” Moyer said.
Councilmembers tabled the discussion at their last meeting, after neighbors expressed concern about drainage and traffic. They approved the development after the property owners offered to provide additional drainage easements and improvements, and the county also agreed to help improve drainage.
Buda councilmembers noted that the land, located outside of city limits, could have been developed with or without their annexation and approval.
“Our effort was to annex them primarily so we can have some governing authority,” said Councilmember Sandra Tenorio. “Otherwise, they could do the daycare anyway. What we can do now is do exactly what people have asked – control the runoff, and try working with the county to do something about that road.”
