Sam Gupta, the Montessori school's founder and CEO, discussed his desire to expand classrooms and daycare to a second building he owns at 12308 N. RM 620. Gupta and four supporters of the project spoke to Cedar Park City Council on Jan. 12.
Located at the northeast corner of North RM 620 and Blue Ridge Drive, the property is 0.57 acres and the existing 3,500-square-foot building’s uses include office, retail and personal services. The main school building is at 12310 N. RM 620.
If the permit is approved by Council, the academy’s expansion could be affected by the Texas Department of Transportation’s plans to widen RM 620 from Anderson Mill to Toll 183.
City officials said they can’t predict when TxDOT would contact owners of the property on the north side of the road about selling their property for the project right-of-way. Officials also were not able to say when the widening will take place. On the other side of RM 620 is Austin residential properties.
Gupta, however, still hopes to continue with the academy’s expansion.
“I think it’s all speculative right now, because I don't know what timeframe in which they’re talking about,” he said. “For me, it’s just capitalizing on the fact that I can actually change lives ..., so I’m going to take advantage of this time to be able to make that difference.”
Some council members expressed concerns over the property having a daycare center so close to a major roadway.
For better safety and to prevent the school’s traffic from flowing directly onto RM 620, Council suggested directing the vehicles onto Blue Ridge Drive instead.
“I love the fact that [Council] showed some level of concern and actually showed support for us being a small business in the Cedar Park area,” Gupta said. “I really felt supported.”
Gupta plans to stay in touch with the city to work on pre-development plans regarding the expansion and future road project. A second hearing is likely at the council's next meeting.
