Creeks Edge subdivision clears hurdle
Students at St. Gabriel’s Catholic School used special smartphone cameras recently to view 3-D objects through the Google Expeditions Augmented Reality program. Students such as Hana Daboub (above, second from left) used the cameras to walk around the objects, get in close for details, and step back to get the full picture.
With City Council member Monty Parker opposing the measure and Kara King absent, the Bee Cave City Council voted to approve the site development plan and final plat for the Creeks Edge residential subdivision at 6718 Caudill Lane.
The project initially was approved in 2009 but, due to the downturn in the nation’s economy, never came to fruition, said project engineer Daniel Ryan.
The 30-homesite project just off Hamilton Pool Road and adjacent to Little Barton Creek is partially within both the city of Bee Cave and Austin’s extraterritorial jurisdictions. Residents in a city’s ETJ do not receive municipal services and are not required to pay city taxes.
A decreased road width and lack of sidewalks in the development were among the variances and exceptions requested by applicant Destiny Hills Development Ltd. and approved by the Bee Cave City Council. The subdivision lots are planned to be at least 1 acre each, and the roads were proposed to be 22 feet wide, meeting Austin and Travis County’s standards but not Bee Cave’s code of 24 feet wide.
“I have a hang-up on the streets,” Parker said of his decision to vote Oct. 10 against approving both the site development plan and final plat for the project. “I think, to get to the city standard (for street width), it would have meant 1 foot of depth out of each of the lots on either side (of the street), which I don’t think is going to hurt any of the lot sizes. They are all 1-plus acres. I just think for that small amount, we can have a street that meets the (Bee Cave) standard instead of issuing another variance.” In other action, the City Council: ■ Extended the deadline to April 25 for the developers of Spanish Oaks West Village at West Texas 71 and Spanish Oaks Club Boulevard to complete a technical review and file an amended planned development district for the project slated to include 1,200 apartments and 450,000 square feet of office space;
■ Approved a reduction in the parking requirements for the Park at Bee Cave development, 3944 S. Bee Cave Road, with a direction to the project developer Walters Southwest to obtain a recorded easement for an agreement that will include shared parking among its tenants, including the indoor trampoline park Urban Air.
■ Amended its city ordinance pertaining to use of mobile devices while driving or biking to comport with new state law that allows a driver to text while stopped at a traffic signal.
■ Directed staff to draft an ordinance that will provide a process for the city to distribute hotel occupancy tax funds.
■ Witnessed Bee Cave Mayor Caroline Murphy swearing in new Police Department patrol Officers Ray Duran, Adrian Hernandez and Matthew Stevko.