 "Photo: Ramona Flume")
Developers and community organizers agreed to design changes for a proposed development on Lady Bird Lake, allowing construction on the hotly contested project.
The developer, CWS Capital Partners LLC, had requested a zoning variance from the Waterfront Overlay Ordinance that would allow the company to build within 150 feet of the lakeshore. Austinites wanted to preserve the unobstructed bike trails around Lady Bird Lake and opposed the project's plan for the construction of three 200-foot condominiums.
The building site is located at 300 E. Riverside Dr., near the Austin American-Statesman building.
The developer was in the process of appealing the city's rejection of the zoning variance but continued working with community organizations to find a satisfactory compromise.
The new proposal will feature several property extension restrictions limiting construction: Buildings 150 feet from the lake can be no higher than 35 feet, and buildings at least 200 feet from the lake can be no higher than 90 feet.
Although the proposed condominiums' proximity to the lake violated city ordinances, their height conformed to zoning regulations.
Tom Cooke, a Save Town Lake organizer, said that although the condominiums' height did not violate city ordinances, their construction has aroused controversy in the surrounding community.
"Even when you have the right to do it, it's not always in your economic interest, and it's not in the community's interest to push the envelope," Cooke said.
Cooke said his group aimed to protect the environment of an important asset to the Austin community. Save Town Lake acted primarily through a public
information campaign to alert residents of the issue.
Greg Miller, vice president of development for CWS Capital Partners, said the city council was not directly involved in the negotiation process between the developer and the interested public. He expects the city to approve the new project based on the support of the neighborhood, Save Town Lake and the developer.
The developer will donate one-and-a-half acres of land on the shore to the city and extend the nearby hike and bike trail by a third of a mile.
The city's Planning Commission and the Parks and Recreation Board voted against the variance proposal in its recommendations before it reached the city council.
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