City asks staff to ‘get creative’
HUTTO — Representatives for a new 257-acre high-end development in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction may be offering City Council a project it can’t refuse.
The only sticking point: a request for city water.
The development, called The Gateway at Hutto, includes a host of features that support the city’s comprehensive plan.
“This the first from a directive we received from you as council wanting developers to come to you preliminarily if they are looking to develop land outside of our current (certificate of convenience and necessity water service area). This is the first developer we are bringing to you to have those discussions,” Sara Cervantes, director of real estate, told council members at the Thursday, Feb. 20 meeting.
In December, the council established a policy of denying requests for water outside the Hutto CCN, in order to be able to control its future water supply. In January, it denied a waterservice request from a residential developer who had been working with the city for over two years, potentially derailing that project.
On Thursday, council members seemed open to finding solutions for this newly proposed development, asking staff to explore potential partnerships with Manville Water Supply Corp.
The Gateway at Hutto is in the Manville CCN. It has estimated the water usage at 2,080 living unit equivalent, or LUE.
An LUE is the standard water flow for a single-family home in a typical subdivision, based on 3.5 people living at the residence.
“Obviously there is a scenario where we work with Manville to deliver the water and work with y’all to deliver the rest of the project, but our hope is to partner with the city of Hutto on all aspects of the project and figure out how to make that a reality,” said Robert Deegan with landscape architects Rialto Studio.
Seth Mearig, a civil engineer with Gray Engineering, said the developer had previously met with city staff and with Manville to discuss bringing water to the site, and said that since the location is close to city limits and at the far edge of Manville’s territory, Manville’s timeline to build water infrastructure would be a bit longer than Hutto’s. “We’re not saying it’s an absolute deal breaker,” Mearig said. “It’s just a preference of the project to work with one utility provider, give people one infrastructure. It’s probably easiest that way but it’s not an absolute deal-breaker.”
The development is located along CR 137 and will cross the future East Wilco Highway. Plans include a bridge that would be visible from the highway, a conference hotel and high-end restaurants, 660,000 square feet of retail and office space, 730 apartment units, 125 town homes and 285 single family houses.
The plan also includes 73.5 acres of open space centered around an existing small lake and mature live oaks. The open space would be developed into public trails and parkland.
“The intent is for this to be a public park fully open to the entire citizenry of Hutto but maintained and operated by the property owners association. So no cost to the city of Hutto, but an incredible benefit to the city of Hutto,” Deegan said.
According to a project outline, developers would pay for transportation infrastructure, including adding a traffic signal, improving CR 137 along the frontage and providing right of way for the East Wilco Highway. Their hope is the investment will count as credit toward the city’s traffic-impact fees.
The property voluntarily will be annexed into the city, follow all city ordinances and codes in constructing the development and refrain from building an independent package plant for wastewater treatment.
These steps will allow the city to collect property taxes and sales taxes, council members heard.
The city also would be asked to approve financing methods including a public improvement district and a tax increment reinvestment district.
The development would pay for its own water and wastewater infrastructure but would connect to city utilities.
“This is a new community that can be both a gateway and a destination for the city of Hutto,” Deegan said. “We want to give you a clear picture of what we want to build, how it will benefit the city and what we need from the city of Hutto to make this vision happen.”
Council members also wanted assurances the vision which was presented would be what was built.
“If the bridge is the centerpiece, the bridge has to happen,” said Councilman Dan Thornton. “If you don’t build the bridge, everybody who sees this says ‘Oh, it’s another bait and switch that got pulled on Hutto.’”
