Quarry site north of Sun City could be converted to 1,894-home development
A new in-city Municipal Utility District in north Georgetown off Ronald Reagan and Rattlesnake Road could bring a maximum of 1,894 single-family homes, duplexes and townhomes to about 730 acres, which are currently being used as a quarry.
Additionally, there would be space for commercial businesses, parks and other amenities, as well as designated flood plains and lakes.
Despite council’s general approval of the development, council members had questions about the development’s age restriction request and a higher Municipal Utility Development tax rate.
The current MUD policy has a 10 percent maximum on age restricted property, but the developer is requesting that 35 percent of the property be age restricted. The city’s MUD tax rate is a maximum of 55 cents per $100 of value.
The developer is requesting 75 centers per $100 of value. Council Member Ben Stewart said raising the higher than the city’s tax rate of 35 cents “seems excessive.”
In regards to the proposed age-restriction, Council Member Jake French said he would like to see the age restriction go away completely.
“If we’re trying to expand Sun City, I can see why this would be an approach,” he said. “I think it flies in the face of some of our stated comprehensive plan goals for diversity of housing and accessibility.”
Matt Matthews — with real estate developer Freehold Capital Management — said some of the variances they are asking for is to work around some of the limitations that a quarry presents.
“There’s a lot of costs associated with taking this quarry and trying to repurpose it into a truly unique master planned community that the city will be proud of,” he said.
Mayor Josh Schroeder said he thinks the market will take care of whatever the MUD tax rate will be and it’s baked into the cost of the home.
“I think when we set that tax rate, it was a different world,” Mayor Josh Schroeder said. “I think at the end of the day, you guys have to be marketable, you’ve got to be competitive with the out-of-city MUDs.”
Fleshing out the details
The property is currently in Georgetown’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, but is requesting to come inside the city limits. The land is currently an active quarry site and is designated for mining.
“What we think would be best to do in this case is instead of having one developer bring forward a comprehensive plan amendment for just their property, we plan on bringing forward a larger comprehensive plan amendment for this whole area; just knowing that the development we see coming in does not fit with any of this designation,” Assistant City Manager Nick Woolery said.
The City of Georgetown would provide water, wastewater, solid waste, fire, Emergency Services and police to the development. Electricity would be provided by PEC.
The western part of the property is still an active quarry, which Mr. Woolery said is one reason the timing of moving forward with agreements is more critical than other sites in that the mining operator can still work.
However, the mining has an impact on other things like future roads going through the development.
“The more it gets mined, the more it makes it difficult to get that road in in the future,” Mr. Woolery said.
Other issues the city will continue to work with Freehold Capital Management on include:
- Alignment and scope of master plan wastewater infrastructure
- Alignment and cross section of Future Mobility Plan arterial roadway
- Land planning in an area with a Future Land Use Plan designation of Mining
- Fire safety in an area with one connection to Ronald Reagan Boulevard
- Lot sizes/density, and compliance with development standards
- MUD tax rate in excess of council MUD policy, and a phasing-in of Wastewater Impact Fees
- Potential issues with developing an existing quarry and developing near a wastewater plant and concrete plant
Mr. Woolery and the developer team will return to council at a later date once some more details about the MUD have been fleshed out.
“We need to remember, this is our first look at a concept plan, and our first opportunity to give feedback on that concept plan,” City Council member Ron Garland said.
After the presentation, Michael Spano from the Coalition for Responsible Environmental Aggregate Mining said they support the development but wanted to raise awareness of two nearby concrete batch plants that are only 87 yards from proposed houses.
“We think it’s a good thing for quarries to be turned into tax revenue for the city and we certainly welcome it, [but] we don’t need more noise than what we have already,” Mr. Spano said.