In an effort to make Buda a more affordable place to live, city leaders unanimously approved a zoning change 5-0 Oct. 3 for a mixed housing development.
The change, which Assistant City Manager Chance Sparks said was part of a first of its kind development agreement, would have a developer build three different types of single-family homes on property along Hillside Terrace. Council members Lee Urbanovsky and Wiley Hopkins were absent from the meeting.
Sparks said the developer and landowner started the annexation process in August. However, the developer chose to meet with the nearby neighborhoods to get their feedback on the type of housing development they wanted to see before approaching the city’s Planning and Zoning commission about rezoning.
Sparks added there were no letters of protest of any kind during the rezoning process.
“For the benefit of any future developer watching this, going through the neighborhood meeting process, even though they’re not required to, has benefits,” Sparks said.
“This was a good exercise in showing how something can be done right with not so much the city taking the lead but the developer taking the lead and making the effort to meet citizens because people just want to be heard.”Todd Ruge, Buda mayor
After feedback from neighbors, the developer and landowner decided to build a mixture of single-family detached homes, single-family detached condominiums and single-family attached town homes.
The developer’s original plan included a few multi-family units, but made the change after talking with nearby homeowners.
Homes won’t be rental properties, Sparks said. The development also marks the first townhome unit built in Buda, while also bringing a different price point to single-family housing not available before in the city.
The development falls within the city’s community node and complies with Buda’s Comprehensive Plan, Sparks said. It will be compatible with surrounding structures and land use.
“This is (located) right where you want to start seeing this type of development,” Sparks said regarding the location of the development being inside a community node.
Council members George Haehn, Eileen Altmiller, along with Buda Mayor Todd Ruge, praised the development plans containing the mixture of housing. They called the development a step in the right direction in making Buda a more affordable place to live.
“I like the idea that we’re actually starting to get a diversity of housing availability that might make it more affordable for the folks that are living and wanting to move to Buda,” Haehn said.
Ruge seconded the prospect of developers working with neighbors to find the right housing fit.
“This was a good exercise in showing how something can be done right with not so much the city taking the lead but the developer taking the lead and making the effort to meet citizens because people just want to be heard,” Ruge said.
Council members expressed their desire to see more variety in Buda’s housing options as a result of the approval of the new housing development.
“We’re finally starting to see some variety in housing options and that’s exactly what we want to see,” Altmiller said.
