City to consider agreement calling for 2,100 mostly smaller than average new homes

The City Council will consider and possibly approve a complex development agreement Tuesday involving annexations, de-annexations, the creation of a PID, design standards, street alignments and a host of other details that ultimately will result in the construction of 1,950 single family residences plus 150 garden homes on approximately a third of the Blanco River Ranch property.

Some 82 percent of the proposed new single family residences will be smaller than the size of the average Kyle home.

The agenda for Tuesday night’s meeting also calls for amending the I-35 Overlay District ordinances the Planning Commission recommended earlier this week along with other zoning changes and a method of financing a study that could lead to a quieter downtown.

The property involved in the proposed development agreement is southwest of the current Ranch Road 150 between Arroyo Ranch Road and North Old Stagecoach Road, basically on the other side of RR 150 from the new Anthem Development. The main entrance into the development will be off North Old Stagecoach. Much of the acreage is in Kyle’s ETJ and the agreement calls for that part of it within the city limits to be de-annexed to facilitate a PID being created for the entire property. A PID outside the city’s limits removes one of a PID’s more onerous features, double taxation. Under the agreement, the land will not be annexed for the 25-year-life of the PID bonds, once all those bonds have been repaid and assessments are no longer required. The proceeds from the sale of the PID bonds will be used to pay for necessary water and wastewater infrastructure.

One thousand of the homes on the 1,950 single family lots planned for the development will be at least 1,2000 square feet, 600 are planned to be at least 1,500 square feet and the other 350 are planned as homes with at least 2,000 square feet of living space. According to realtor.com, the median home size in Kyle is 1,949 square feet.

The 100 proposed detached garden homes, 7 percent of the entire development, will contain at least 1,000 square feet of living space.

Although the city’s zoning ordinances are not applicable to the development since it is located in Kyle’s ETJ, the developers have agreed to comply with the city’s current development standards and design guidelines.

This first phase of the Blanco River Ranch development "will be developed as a master-planned community with substantial park land, open space, greenbelts, trails, park improvements, and amenity center(s)," according Section 2.08 of the Development Agreement.

Another section (3.01) specifies: "Owner will construct and install or cost-participate in the construction and installation of certain public improvements that are necessary for the City to provide water and wastewater service to the property and in the construction and installation of certain road and transportation improvements; landscaping, lighting and signage improvements; park land dedications and park improvements; drainage improvements; and other Public Improvements in connection with the development and improvement of the property. The City agrees to reimburse owner for all sums advanced and paid by owner for such public improvements through bonds issued by the PID to the maximum extent permitted by Chapter 372, Texas Local Government Code, and this agreement."

In a separate agreement Kyle co-negotiated with a utility created by Mountain City, called MC 150, in which Kyle would provide water for the Anthem development, MC 150 agreed to construct a two-million-gallon elevated water tank. The development agreement to be considered Tuesday would allow the Blanco River Ranch owners to share some of that water in return for paying MC 150 a proportionate share of the tank’s construction costs and the over sizing of the proposed water mains from 12 to 16 inches, providing the tank has been constructed by June 30, 2019. If the tank is not completed by that deadline, the Blanco River Ranch owners, according to the proposed development agreement, "may proceed with the design and construction of alternative facilities consisting of a 12-inch water line to be constructed in the FM 150 right-of-way from a point of connection to the City’s existing 12-inch water line at the intersection of FM 150 and Old Stagecoach Road to a booster pump station to be constructed at the location."

This may sound like I’m getting deep into the weeds here, but I thought it might be information worth having for those living along RR 150, north of 2770 and North Old Stagecoach Road.

Other items of note on Tuesday’s City Council Agenda:

• Following Tuesday’s Planning Commission hearing, I gave a lot more thought to the proposed amendments to the I-35 Overlay District which would restrict the type of car sale facilities that could be built in Kyle along either side of the interstate. It would have no affect on current lots. It would only permit new auto sales facilities on the interstate that are completely contained within a building. I see the adoption of this ordinance as providing a unique opportunity for Kyle. I could see a developer converting a tract of land along the interstate into "the Kyle Auto Mart," a horseshoe shaped confluence of a number of different dealers (something like you see pictured here) where a potential new car buyer could simply park in one spot and walk from one dealership to another. I could also see some up to six food trucks located in the open spaces of the horseshoe. I’m not sure there’s anything remotely like that anywhere else. Talk about something that could make Kyle a destination city, although I will also admit a small amount of the bloom fell from this flower when I read in the Austin American Statesman later in the week about how patronage at the Sam Marcos outlet malls has decreased somewhat dramatically of late. But, still …
• I also wrote after last Tuesday’s P&Z meeting, that if the City Council follows the commission’s recommendation and approves retail services zoning for the Winfield Inn property (thus making the Winfield a conforming operation), I would love to see Leslie Moore, the inn’s proprietor, locate a romantic, intimate, semi-upscale restaurant near the inn serving, at the very least, the items Moore features on his seated catering menu at the outdoor wedding facility. "You have read my mind," Moore wrote me after seeing my story on the commission’s meeting "I've been thinking of a way to do that and continue the wedding business at the same time. Once I get through all the technical issues of being annexed into the city I will be working on that dream. I've been searching for other old buildings to move onto the property and exploring the option of just building a restaurant from scratch. Not having city water or wastewater makes it tricky and more expensive but I'm sure my increase in taxes will push me even harder to get something done. In the meantime, I'm working on having a separate venue on the site that would be a low cost, family friendly, park like setting with a food truck for a kitchen. I'm guessing people in Kyle are much like people in Austin and love the great outdoors." So there’s that.
• The city has prepared schematic plans for installing quiet zones along the Southern Pacific Railroad Line at Center Street and another at the South Street crossing. In addition, a consultant has developed similar plans for the crossings at Opal and Roland Lanes. For $100,000, Southern Pacific has agreed to (1) review and approve the City's preliminary engineering submittal and other related services, (2) develop cost estimates, (3) review the project's preliminary layouts, (4) submit current train and switching moves, and (5) establish a timeline for the completion of this project. Tuesday’s agenda contains an item to approve this deposit reimbursement agreement.
• The approval of a double-sided variable electronic billboard on I-35 at the entrance to the Central Texas Speedway. The sign would not be subject to the City’s billboard ordinance, which mandates the removal of four billboard facings for every electronic one., because it would be on privately property and not highway right-of-way.
• The expenditure of $487,687.31 for three new vehicles for the Public Works Department, all of which .were accounted for the in current budget. The largest amount, $389,399 or about 80 percent of the total appropriations. is for a model 114SD Vactor truck which looks something like this. From what I understand (and I must admit my knowledge on this subject is extremely limited) a vactor truck is a vacuuming device used for cleaning sewer lines.
• City Engineer Leon Barba will present another in his series on the road bond projects and City Manager Scott Sellers is scheduled to give a presentation on the goofy paths of Goforth, Bunton and Philomenia (the Goforth extension, spur, whatever) roads.
• The council is supposed to review the annual Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, commonly referred to as "the caffer," which is the city’s most important and revealing financial document, as well as the report from the independent auditor for the preceding fiscal year. "The City's independent auditors issued an unqualified or ‘clean’ auditors' report on the City's financial statements for the fiscal year," according to supporting material supplied by Finance Director Perwez Moheet. "This is the highest level or best type of independent auditors' report that can be issued on the financial statements of governmental entities including city governments." The audit confirmed that, at the end of the accounting period, the City had $237.4 million in assets, $104.2 million in liabilities, and, thus, a "net position" of $137.3 million, which is a $16.5 million or 13.7 percent increase in the net position from the previous fiscal year. The ending Genera Fund balance was $9.9. million, a 5.3 percent increase from the previous year. According to the transmittal letter accompanying the caffer, "Among the major indicators of a stable yet an expanding local economy include growth in population, building permits, taxable valuations, property tax collection rate, and the trend for sales tax collections." The letter said building permits increased by 15.5 percent over the previous year, "taxable valuations increased by 18.4 percent (tax year 2015) compared to the prior year, annual property tax collection rate has continued to surpass the 98 percent level, and sales tax collections increased by 13.6 percent compared to the prior year as well. Total population in the City of Kyle is projected to increase to an estimated 46,000 residents by the year 2020."