— Questions and concerns were raised after an anonymous online survey about a prospective development in Buda was sent to a number of residents.
The Persimmon development, which is being spearheaded by MileStone Community Builders, has been highly contested.
Persimmon is slated to be built on 775 acres of land off FM 967 on the Bailey and Armbruster tracts. Some of the most notable commitments MileStone has made in the current development agreement include an FM 1626 connector to help mitigate traffic and building singlefamily lots instead of multifamily (apartments).
However, concerns with adding more traffic to the area, having to provide water and wastewater services to the development, lot sizes and damage to the environment, including heritage trees and local wildlife, have all been brought up by the community.
Persimmon’s development agreement has gone through several iterations following feedback from both city staff and residents. Most recently at its regular meeting on Oct. 18, Buda City Council voted to table the agreement after MileStone was not able to meet a few terms outlined in the council’s term sheet, and it has not been discussed on the dais or voted on since.
On Jan. 20, some Buda residents received a text message with a link to a survey about Persimmon, created on the online survey creator SurveyMonkey, while other residents received phone calls. The survey prompted questions about its origin and purpose as some found the wording “biased.”
Questions on the survey included:
• If residents had recently seen, read or heard anything about the development
• If residents felt things in Buda are “headed in the right direction” or “off on the wrong track”
• If residents strongly or somewhat supported or strongly or somewhat opposed the development moving forward as a city project, or were unsure
• If information regarding the developer’s plans — if council were to approve the project — for traffic infrastructure investments, single-family lots, additional annual tax revenue and land dedication for a fire station, school and parks made residents more likely or less likely to support the development
• If residents found Buda City Council, Mayor Lee Urbanovsky and Gov. Greg Abbott very or somewhat favorable, very or somewhat unfavorable, or if they had no opinion or never heard of them
• What issue residents found most personally important that would decide their vote for Buda City Council from the following: protecting trees and the environment, economic development, crime, property taxes, utility usage, relieving traffic congestion, managing growth or keeping Buda’s small-town feel
• If residents identified as strongly or mostly Republican, strongly or mostly Democratic, unaffiliated or unsure A Jan. 20 statement from the city on Facebook clarified that the survey was not “sponsored, commissioned or developed by the City of Buda.” MileStone CEO Garrett Martin confirmed that the survey was sent out on behalf of MileStone in order to “test Buda residents’ awareness of the Persimmon development agreement.”
“We want to know if residents understand that approval of the agreement is the only way for the city to gain $5 million in additional annual revenue and play a role in shaping the project,” Martin said in a statement.
“We have agreed to requests from the city that we immediately invest in traffic relief infrastructure at RM 967, build only single-family homes (no apartments), and set aside land for a new school and fire station,” he continued. “We suspect residents have not been made aware that while we want to work alongside the city, if the council does not approve the development agreement, the project will still be built, but will not include these and other local priorities.”
The survey, however, did not bode well with many of those who received it.
“It was a terribly worded survey and seemed extremely biased,” resident Kelly Wilson commented on the city of Buda Facebook page. “Who sent it and why do they have access to Buda residents phone numbers?”
“The questions were definitely pointed to elicit a positive answer in favor of Buda approving the development,” resident Holly McCrea said on the neighborhood app Nextdoor. “It reminded me of some ‘petition strategies’ I’ve seen before.”
Since August, Martin and other MileStone representatives have held a number of public information sessions for residents to learn more about the development. They have reiterated that if the agreement is denied by Buda City Council, the commitments within the agreement will go away as they seek approval for the development as a Hays County and Travis County subdivision.
Property owners in Texas have the right to develop their property under county standards without required consent from the city, and counties can approve projects under very broad standards.
Going this route means Buda would have limited review authority within the Buda extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) of the project — about 471 acres of the total 775, with the remainder in the City of Austin ETJ. Because the project would occur within the ETJ and not city limits, Buda would be unable to enforce zoning regulations that could allow or prohibit certain uses of land.
As such, some of the “local priorities” mentioned by Martin — including the 1626 connector and only single-family lots — would not be part of the development under the county. But local concerns with the development and its agreement still remain, and the situation has left residents and city leaders torn in deciding whether to approve or deny it.
Buda has provided a fact sheet and FAQ on the city website regarding Persimmon, which can be found at bit.ly/3XElXWR.
Representatives for the city stated that staff are working to update the file with updated information on the development in the coming days.
