by Adolfo Pesquera

Marble Falls (Burnet Co.) – Marble Falls City Council on Tuesday approved a Planned Development District that would include commercial, multifamily, park and single family uses. In addition, they granted a Conditional Use Permit for an upscale apartment community.

The 58.4-acre site is in a triangular tract of land that fronts U.S. Highway 281, south of Texas 71 in the city’s southern extra-territorial jurisdiction. City Council’s review followed an Aug. 6 unanimous decision by the Planning and Zoning Commission that favored the development.

The land is presently undeveloped and was zoned Agriculture District. The new Live Oak Village PDD has 33 acres zoned Single Family Base and 25 acres zoned Mixed Use Base. Of the mixed use section, 11.859 acres would be commercial and 13.23 acres would be

Referring to certain illustrated exhibits (see the gallery) city staff said there would be collector street thoroughfares and approximately seven acres of parkland, adding, “a minimum 60-foot wide collector street will be dedicated as public right-of-way, providing for future connection to the southern nrighboring property.

“Due to the proximity to the Foxwood residential subdivision, the applicant has proposed a lower density residential district adjacent … providing a transitional buffer to the commercial and multifamily uses.”

Parks, open spaces, trails and an amenity center will be developed and maintained by an established property owners association. There will be a minimum of one larger park (3.53 acres) and two smaller pocket parks. The nature trail–about 1 mile long–will include trail heads, signage, a double-bay parking parking lot with at least 10 parking spaces, public restrooms, playground equipment and public water fountains.

Council set the maximum commercial square footage in Parcel A at 258,000 square feet; the maximum multifamily units in Parcel B at 100 dwellings; and the maximum single family units at between 150 and 200, depending on the size per unit.

The site plan was developed by Land Strategies Inc., Paul Linehan & Associates of Austin. Their client (the developer) is recorded as Harvard Investments Inc. of Scottsdale, Arizona. Cuplin Associates Inc. of Kingsland provided the survey maps. Civil plans came from LJA Engineering Inc.

The Development Agreement is between Harvard Investments and the city of Marble Falls. However, according to the enacting ordinance, a portion of the development was assigned by Harvard Investments to Paul E. King Jr. and Barbara J. King.

Apartment Community Approved

In a separate action, council approved a Conditional Use Permit for construction of an apartment complex in a commercial district. The 12.63-acre site is located southwest of Max Starcke Dam Road and U.S. highway 281.

According to the staff report, “The applicant is proposing to construct a multi-family complex, to be known as ‘The Residences at Panther Hollow’. The project will consist of an amenity clubhouse and resort style pool, a laundry/maintenance building, and a total of 12 apartment home buildings. The apartment buildings will consist of three different building types, being:

• Type A – a three-story building featuring efficiency, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units,
• Type B – a two-story building featuring one-bedroom and two-bedroom units,
• type C – a three-story building featuring one-bedroom and two-bedroom units.

The Subject Area is currently unplatted and does not have frontage on an improved street or utility connections in the area. The applicant and owner will be submitting a Construction Plat for the old gun range acreage in order to provide the Subject Area with subdivision improvements, including construction and dedication of a public city street, and extension of water and sewer mains.

The CUP is the first step in the development process of the apartment complex, authorizing the land use in the Subject Area. Building permits for the project (if approved) would not be issued until subdivision improvements have been approved and completed, and a final plat for the Subject Area has been approved and recorded.

The maximum height allowed in the zoning district is 70 feet, however the proposed project’s maximum building height is approximately 38 feet at the highest point of any structure. The project is well under the maximum building area coverage allowed of 50 percent and is also under the 75 percent maximum impervious cover, proposing only 51 percent.”

A total of 206 units are proposed, leaving a large amount of green space (the lot could allow up to 555 dwelling units). The proposed unit breakdown is 104 one-bedroom units, 84 two-bedroom and 18 efficiencies.

The clubhouse and amenity spaces provided include a media center, a cyber café, a business center, a 24 hour fitness center, a resort style swimming pool, outdoor grills, and a clothes care/laundry facility.

The proposed exterior finish will be a combination of cement board siding, masonry, and stucco finishing’s.

The project will be gated with four sliding gates providing security to the multi-family complex. Gates will feature Remote Access Entrance for residents of the complex. Guests will be required to use the main entry gate near the clubhouse on the north side of the complex.

The proposed site plan provides 387 parking spaces, 24 of them being detached remote controlled garage parking, and 22 of them being handicap accessible parking.

The proposed site is currently home to a variety of existing trees. The applicant has adjusted building locations and parking lots locations in order to preserve as much of the existing tree canopy as possible, and during construction document phase will make final adjustments to preserve the maximum amount of trees possible. Approximately 35 existing trees will remain on the site, and approximately 33 new trees will be planted to fulfill the minimum landscaping requirements.

RVK Architects of San Antonio is preparing the designs and MWH Engineering LLC in Burnet provides civil plans.

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adolfo@virtualbx.com