Mayor explains the Arts District project

Joe Bain, the upcoming new Mayor of Lakeway, gave an insightful explanation of the future Arts District on his helpful blog recently. Here is an excerpt from the entire article:

There is approximately 130 acres of property between the “Oaks” and Lohmans Crossing Road.  Lakeway MUD owns 82 acres of this property and is currently in the process of changing their permit to allow that property to be released from their spray areas for affluent and if successful the property could possibly be offered for sale.  The other acreage is owned by private entities.

This property is currently zoned GUI (MUD Property) – in order for the property to be sold it would have to be zoned to some other classification.  Normally, this would mean the owner would have a prospective buyer and would come to the City asking for different zoning – this could be any of the current zoning the City has including residential, commercial or a combination of those.

The City is planning at least two roads through the property, one to Lohmans at the entrance to the Hills, and another that would come out at Lohmans Spur.   These would give access to the “Oaks” from Lohmans and help with traffic issues on RR620.

Now this is where the “Arts District” comes up.  Personally, I would like to see a development here with the least possible density and the staff came up with the idea of developing a zoning district ahead in case of a proposed sale.  It would include some residential, some commercial and an ART’s friendly environment including planned golf cart, bike and pedestrian friendly roads.  In effect, the City would guide the development to a more desired end result.

The City has no interest in purchasing the property – just guiding the zoning to manage the development – remember, this is 82/130 acres of PRIME property in the middle of Lakeway that WILL be developed.  The City has very limited control over how this property or any other vacant land is developed – zoning and current ordinances.

There is a piece of property (about 4 acres) just West of the Oaks development that the City is interested in for a possible Performing Arts Center (PAC) that would be financed by the current Hotel Tax that is currently in place and paid by visitors to our community when staying in area hotels.  There are studies going on right now to determine if this is a good idea – more as the studies are finished.

-Joe Bain