By Brittany Anderson
BUDA — A large mixed-use development is coming to Buda within the next several years — it just comes down to how residents want to go about building it.
MileStone Community Builders held an information session with Buda residents on Aug. 18 to provide information on the Persimmon development, which will be located off FM 967 on the Bailey and Armbruster tracts of land.
Dozens of residents showed up to the nearly two-hour long session to discuss details of the project with MileStone CEO Garrett Martin and Andrew Cortes, director of entitlements.
The session provided MileStone an opportunity to have an honest conversation with residents and outline what is going to happen moving forward with the development, touching on various concerns that have been brought up including its impacts on traffic, water and wastewater services, the local environment and more.
Persimmon, which has been in the works for five years now, totals 775 acres and plans for 2,800 single-family units, 10-acre minimum for retail and an extensive connective trail network, along with other amenities. Some of the development is in the city of Austin ETJ (extraterritorial jurisdiction) or Travis County.
One of the biggest concerns with the development is its impact on transportation, largely due to the fact that its roundabout entrance is set to be in an already heavily-congested area of 967. MileStone’s proposed transportation solution includes a connection through to FM 1626 — but up to 325 homes could be built before this connector is completed.
Martin said that this kind of road has been in the city of Buda transportation plans since 2006, and normally takes a decade to complete. However, MileStone says that the road should be completed by the end of 2024, and that these hundreds of homes are the “economic engine” that make building the road possible.
Martin also discussed utility options for water and wastewater services, saying the easiest and best option is to get Buda to service the project, as there are benefits to the city using already-existing infrastructure and that it needs additional rate-payers.
Some residents, however, have questioned how the city will be able to support the addition of the 2,800 homes. Other options include getting the services from the city of Austin or having a groundwater alternative on-site that would require a separate wastewater solution, both of which Martin said are viable but not ideal.
Buda’s Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously voted (with the exception of two absent commissioners) to deny Persimmon’s development agreement at a P&Z meeting on July 26, receiving applause from the audience. The commissioners ultimately felt that the agreement was not complete, leaving them with more questions and not meeting the community’s overall wants and needs.
The agreement is set to go to Buda City Council on Sept. 6 with the commissioners' recommendation to deny. However, MileStone has made it clear to residents that Persimmon is going to get built either way.
If the Buda council follows P&Z’s recommendation and votes to deny the development agreement, Persimmon will then be built under Hays County’s rules and regulations, meaning the city will lose some regulatory oversight that is currently provided by the agreement, as the land would be developed outside city limits not subject to most city ordinances.
In Texas, property owners have the right to develop their property under county standards without required consent from the city, and counties are required to approve projects under very broad standards.
If this is the case, Persimmon will look very different from what the current agreement proposes. Among these changes include no 1626 connector and connections through neighboring subdivisions instead, no minimum lot sizes, multi-family (apartment) units, a strip of commercial space as opposed to a minimum of 10 acres, less public parkland and no emergency services site.
Martin’s reasoning is that because MileStone has already invested five years and $60 million into the development, building it under Hays County’s regulations while still providing all of the commitments made under the proposed agreement wouldn't make sense from an economic perspective.
“It would be a disservice to the community to allow anyone to think, 'If we can influence the council to say no to this project because we don’t want more people or traffic, that somehow that means the project goes away,' because that’s not the case,” Martin said. “There is an alternative project that then has to be considered. … What we end up doing is building a subdivision in the county, as opposed to annexing the project into the city of Buda, where they get water customers, taxpayers and the benefits of the community and residents.”
While this base-level information could change depending on the developer’s plans, staff in the Hays County Development Services department outlined that under county regulations:
• Minimum lot sizes in the development would depend on the type of water/wastewater service that is proposed for the development (on-site sewage facility or Texas Commission on Environmental Quality permitted wastewater system) and where the development sits along the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone
• The county does not have the authority to enforce land use, zoning or building codes; as a result, establishing what types of housing (single-family or multi-family) is not something the county can do. Housing options in the development would only have to ensure they meet the county’s on-site sewage facilities/minimum lot size rules
• There is no requirement on a specific minimum for commercial space, only that all commercial structures would need to meet the Hays County Fire Code
• Proposed subdivisions must only satisfy the requirements of the county Roadway Standards in its Regulations relating to the design of roadways
• The county cannot require that certain types of facilities (such as an EMS site) be placed within a proposed development
Martin said that over the past year and a half, there have been many changes made to the project, mainly due to discussions with city council and P&Z. Some residents at the session seemed to be more receptive to MileStone’s approach, acknowledging that the right oversight and regulations will come from MileStone working with Buda instead of the county.
Despite remaining concerns, Martin said that MileStone has gone “above and beyond” to try and get the right project approved.
“The right answer, after laboring over it for five plus years, is the development agreement,” Martin said. ‘But there’s this misconception out there that if somehow, we can get the agreement voted down, the project goes away. That’s just not the case. The reality is, a different project will get built.”
Council is expected to discuss and vote on the agreement during its next regular meeting on Sept. 6.
