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Court tables agreement for condos

megan@haysfreepress.com After much discussion at its May 23 meeting, the Hays County Commissioners Court postponed any action on a development agreement for Mission Oaks Condominiums between the county, Davy Crockett Estates, LLC and Lang Family Ranches L.P.
Court tables agreement for condos
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After much discussion at its May 23 meeting, the Hays County Commissioners Court postponed any action on a development agreement for Mission Oaks Condominiums between the county, Davy Crockett Estates, LLC and Lang Family Ranches L.P.

The development is anticipated to consist of approximately 28 single-family condominium units, while the maximum number of units permitted is 35. Davy Crockett is permitted to create seven additional units within Mission Oaks Condominiums, but in the event the company elects to create additional units, the agreement must be amended, according to agenda documents.

There are two tracts involved in the parcel: a 39-acre platted lot known as Silver Spur Ranchettes and five acres within the city limits of the Village of Bear Creek. The development is under three jurisdictions: Hays County, the city of Austin and the village of Bear Creek.

“The development agreement is the recommended method the county said they would like to see us pursue … This is the first step of many steps. This is just the framework,” said Jon Thompson, a representative of the applicant. “We haven’t gotten to any permit, any submittal of construction plans, wells or septics. Those come in due order.”

Some of the development standards, which are in the agreement in the agenda documents, are listed below.

• Roadways and drainage: Drainage improvements and any public and/or private roadways must comply with the Hays County’s Specifications for Roadway Design, Paving and Drainage Improvements, as stated in chapters 721 and 725 of the Hays County Development Regulations. A portion of the property is located within a designated 100-year flood plain as delineated on the Flood Insurance Rate Map Panel No. 48209C 0128F, with an effective date of Sept. 5, 2005, as prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Prior to construction, unit owners will be required to seek and obtain a flood plain permit from the county.

• Private driveways: Any private drive will be maintained by the unit owner(s) and/or the homeowners' association and in no event will any private drive be dedicated to or maintained by the county. Davy Crockett agrees that it will need to obtain a driveway permit for any access from the development onto a county roadway.

• Water service: Water service to the property will be provided by the West Travis County Public Utility Agency (WTCPUA) and its successors. Until WTCPUA and its successors are able to provide water service to all units, David Crockett may install and construct no more than four wells and utilize one existing well. Each well may serve one or more units not to exceed five units.

• Wastewater: Each unit will be served by a private on-site sewage facility.

• Impervious cover: Davy Crockett may develop the condominiums with an impervious cover percentage that does not exceed the percentage of impervious cover permitted within the property pursuant to applicable law and TCEQ requirements, including without limitation, a contributing zone plan for the property. Davy Crockett shall have the right to apportion impervious cover limits on a unit-by-unit or use-by-use basis.

After listening to Thompson’s presentation about what all the development would entail, commissioner Lon Shell recommended that the agreement should specify that the condominiums would be under the same review as if they were regular lots or a platted subdivision.

“If someone is doing this type of development, which I’ve tried to understand the pros and cons of a condo regime of this type versus just platting lots and having lot lines,” Shell said. “For various reasons, I wish to create these neighborhoods with not lot lines, but within a condo regime. Can we say some type of statement that says once they’ve identified these units, which we are basing our review on, that those units identified in the agreement shall be treated as if they were platted lots with the respect to the enforcement of Hays County rules and regulations for on-site sewage, water, flood plain permitting, etc.?”

“By approving a development agreement, you’re not fast-forwarding through that whole process of where’s the house, where’s the flood plain, how you’re going to treat the wastewater, where’s it going to go [and] where’s your water coming from. All of those are still in full force,” he continued.

Hays County Development Services Director Mark Pacheco said that’s a good recommendation to include that kind of statement and general counsel Mark Kennedy agreed.

“I think we make an effort to make that statement throughout the agreement, but I think saying it in the recitals perhaps would be a good place to capture the intent of the agreement as a whole,” Kennedy said.

Judge Ruben Becerra said he thinks having that articulation would “help the neighbors feel better.”

Commissioner Walt Smith highlighted that one of the reasons that condominium regimes have become more popular is related to road maintenance.

“I know that we’ve had several — 252 or 253 agreements — that have come to the court or been looked at for the court. Those are agreements where you have private roadways where they want the county to come in and begin maintenance on those roadways and the residents in those areas, in order to take advantage of that program, have to get those roadways up to our county standard in order for us to take possession of them,” Smith said. “That’s a pretty common practice … Over the years, because they chose to plat as a private roadway, their residents are 100% responsible for those roadways and in a general sense, they’ve had real issues with road maintenance because they can’t get their residents to pay for the upkeep of their roadways which their residents are using.”

“I’ve had a number of developers that have come in and, in order to ensure that the amenities, roadways, sidewalks and whatever else may be included in those communities are actually maintained at a level that would surpass county maintenance on some roadways, they’ve designed those communities as a condominium regime,” he continued. “It’s with a guaranteed maintenance function at the onset relative to those.”

This item will be brought back for further discussion during the commissioners court’s next meeting at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, June 6.

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