By a vote of 5 to 1, with 1 abstention, the City Council of Austin decided to side with the developers of the Vina Plaza located at the corner of Parmer Lane and Harris Ridge Blvd.
A group of about twenty homeowners led by Dolores Price and Bob McAndrew attempted to fight the plans of the Vina Plaza group stating that their plans did not provide an adequate buffer space between the residential neighborhoods of Harris Ridge and Harrisglenn and would remove the requirement for Josh Ridge to be connected to Harris Ridge Blvd.
On October 16, 2007 the group attended the Zoning and Platting Commission meeting. Vina Plaza’s group was striving to change the 3+ acres of land adjoining the Harris Ridge neighborhood from RR (Rural Residential) to GR (General Retail). In 1995 this same 3+ acres was zoned RR as a buffer between the Harris Ridge neighborhood and any commercial property that would be placed on the property between the Josh Ridge extension and Parmer Lane. It was the recommendation of city staff that these 3+ acres remain a lower density zoning such as LO (Limited Office). However, the Zoning and Platting Commission failed to put forth any recommendation to City Council.
At the November 1st City Council Meeting our group put forth our concerns to the City Council. The group of neighbors had conceded that a zoning of LO would be acceptable. The Council responded by passing a motion that the 3+ acres should be zoned GR as Vina Plaza had asked. At the next City Council meeting on November 8th the council reversed itself and changed the zoning to LR-CO (Light Retail with Conditional Overlay) which although is a lesser-density zoning than GR, still allowed Vina Plaza to proceed with their original plans and use the neighboring 3+ acres for development.
The neighborhood groups’ other concern was the completion of Josh Ridge to Harris Ridge Blvd. As part of the Restricted Covenant on the Vina Plaza property, they are required to complete this segment of Josh Ridge. The second part of their request to the City Council was to remove this requirement. The Josh Ridge connector would severely restrict the size of their planned development. The neighbors felt that this connector was absolutely necessary to reduce the amount of traffic cutting through on Weatherford Dr. and Briargate Dr. Despite City Traffic’s recommendations that Josh Ridge be completed, the City Council overwhelmingly supported Vina Plaza and has removed this restriction.
Josh Ridge will not be completed to Harris Ridge as a four-lane divided road. Instead, Vina Plaza’s plans are to split the road into 2 two-lane roads that make 90 degree turns around one of their main buildings. This arrangement will not reduce the amount of cut-through traffic in Harris Ridge.
It has become clear to the group of neighbors who fought hard to protect the interests of all of Harris Ridge and Harrisglenn that the Austin City Council does not care about the concerns of regular tax-payers and homeowners.
The following council members sided with the Vina Plaza developers: Council members Sheryl Cole, Brewster McCracken, Betty Dunkerly, Jennifer Kim, Mike Martinez, and Mayor Will Wynn. The only council member to side with the neighborhood was Council member Lee Leffingwell.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Rachele Whalen // Mar 14, 2008 at 9:25 am
I am new to the neighborhood and am very interested in helping in anyway that I can to protect the beauty and peace in Harris Ridge.
Lately I have been concerned about the lighting in the new parking lot across the street at Howard Ln. and Harris Ridge Blvd. I do not see the need for the lights to be as bright as they are in the parking lot at night. These are stadium looking lights in a residential area. I think that we should introduce a law about the brightness of street and parking lot lights within a mile of residences.
I am also interested in finding out the feasibility of building a Tennis court next to the pool if that is possible.
How do I become involved?
-Rachele
2 Brian Jones // Mar 14, 2008 at 11:56 am
Thank you for your comments and your desire to help protect and maintain our neighborhood. I also am concerned with the new development at Howard Ln. and Harris Ridge Blvd., but I’m not sure what, if anything, we can do. All of the property along Howard Ln. is zoned some kind of commercial or retail space and is only restricted by the zoning rules of that property. I also think that the North side of Howard Ln. is technically Pflugerville while our side is Austin. I’m sure that there are different zoning rules for each city.
The Board of Directors has recently sold two lots on the East side of the swimming pool to David Weekly for capital improvements. We are keeping the two lots on the North side of the pool as a location for additional amenities. The Board is currently conducting an informal survey to help determine what kind of amenities/improvements that the homeowners would like to see. We will be conducting this survey and accepting ideas at the annual meeting.
We welcome your involvement in the neighborhood, and invite you to join the Board of Directors. We currently have several vacancies that need to be filled. Please show your support for the neighborhood by attending the Annual meeting on April 8. Announcements will be going out in the mail soon with all of the details.
Thank you,
Brian Jones
President, Harris Ridge HOA
3 Mark Rogers // Apr 7, 2008 at 6:14 pm
It is obvious the city council voted for tax revenue concerning the Vina Plaza vote. I attended the Zoning and Platting meeting and was disgusted the members passed it along to the city council without a recommendation. What a waste of my time that ended up being. And what a waste that commission is. In today’s day and age it is all about how much money can people make. That might even be the case with our own HOA and Board of Directors.
4 Joe // Apr 9, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Mark,
The Board of Directors consists of regular homeowners that volunteer of their time to serve the neighborhood. They pay the same dues as everyone else and are not paid for their service. So to imply that the Board of Directors just wants to make money doesn’t really make much sense.