The Colony at Cole Springs has sparked a plethora of questions from Buda residents and the city council. Representatives from the project recently came back to the Planning and Zoning Commission with some answers.
SEC Planning LLC has responded to 15 requests and explained them to the Planning and Zoning Commission during the Feb. 25 workshop meeting. They addressed questions about the bridge, schools, roads, financial benefits to the city, traffic concerns and more.
Much of the discussion weighed down on an all-too familiar problem for Buda residents: the traffic on FM 967, FM 1626 and Main Street and all of the surrounding roads. The developers have presented a Traffic Impact Analysis, but the prediction models did not account for several scenarios because of limited information.
Commission members weighed a few road and traffic questions.
First of all, do the proposed road changes make the traffic flow easier by opening accessibility to Jack C. Hays Trail, an under-used road? If Jack C. Hays Trail becomes more accessible, this might alleviate some of the traffic from the over-crowded Old Black Colony Road. Vehicles may be more efficiently distributed.
A counter argument was made that the development would be adding more vehicles on the road; regardless of a more even distribution, how much traffic can these roads handle?
Some committee members took a step back to look at the traffic concerns from the city’s viewpoint. They believe that not all the responsibility falls on the developers to fix the infrastructure. Eventually the city will add more developments, so not fixing road problems will continually come up in future development meetings.
These questions were mulled over throughout the workshop, but no resolutions have been made. Some of their other questions, however, did get answered.
The developers came into this meeting prepared with more answers than they have given in previous gatherings.
One of the biggest hurdles has been the bridge over Onion Creek. Phase two of the development will not begin until bridge construction has begun. If there are any issues in acquiring permits for the bridge, which so far there are not, the city will receive the full cost of the bridge to utilize in city projects. So far, no environmental features for the bridge have been identified in the environmental report.
More roadwork is expected from the developers.
Old Black Colony Road will be realigned with Creekside Villas driveway. The developer will fund and install a traffic signal at this intersection, which will be improved during phase one. Improvements to Cole Springs Road will also be done in phase one of the development. A new north/south collector road with bike lanes, walkways and street trees is also expected to be constructed in phase one.
The Robert S Light Blvd. extension is anticipated to start in May of 2020 and end in summer of 2021.
The city has also asked that access to the Antioch Church needs to be maintained, to which the developers have agreed.
Additionally, the developer will dedicate three times the required amount of parkland to the city, including all of the frontage along Onion Creek. They will also provide a public trailhead with a public parking area for access to the trail.
The developer has agreed that it will only use zoning categories found in the city’s Unified Development Code.
The city also wants to ensure the safety of public school students. They asked about school zones and whether these schools have room for more children.
Students would attend Buda Elementary, Dahlstrom Middle School and either Hays or Johnson high schools. Hays CISD confirmed to the developers that the capacity within these schools can accommodate the new students.
The Planning and Zoning Commission was asking about the Municipal Utility Districts, which this development plans on utilizing. The developers said that MUD dollars will only be used to reimburse the development over time for utility infrastructure such as water, wastewater, storm sewer and roads.
By the end of the meeting, commission members still had questions and their skepticism was not put to rest. Commissioner Henry Altmiller wanted to look at the bigger picture, independent of the developers. The city is already welcoming a new development to the area, so another question was: would the infrastructure handle two developments?
That question may not have a quick response, but the developers said they are bringing in money to build a little infrastructure; in fact, they are putting in more than the legal requirements.
Financial benefits being brought to the city from the development are in the millions.
Nearly $16 million of fees and improvements generated from property taxes, impact fees, building permits, utility revenues, transportation improvements, park and trail improvements. More than $5 million of improvements are being offered that are beyond the city requirements.
The developers argue that these funds enhance the overall city infrastructure without the need for city Capital Improvement Programs projects.
So the question remains for the city to answer; are the 531 homes worth the improvements or will they only bring more problems to the area?
