The Lakeside Estates municipal utility district will soon create over 1,000 new homes in a neighborhood with extensive parkland and a hotel following City Council approving the first reading of the MUD’s consent agreement Aug. 12.

Forterra Developers will lead the project, located in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction. The MUD will have a maximum tax rate of $0.975 per $100 valuation.



The breakdown

The Lakeside Estates MUD will consist of 722 acres located in western Williamson County, on the cliffs above Lake Georgetown. The land plan includes:

• About 437 acres for 1,312 single-family homes
• 14.6 acres for a hotel or resort
• Nearly 187 acres for open green space
• 14.7 acres for a wastewater treatment package plant

“The developer and the city team have put in a lot of time to turn this into what I think is going to be a really nice project for the community,” Assistant City Manager Nick Woolery said.

The details

Per the MUD’s consent agreement, onsite amenities include a private amenity center, pedestrian and bike trails that connect to the Goodwater Loop trail, and public parkland. The district and homeowner’s association will be required to maintain all of the parkland and open space, including drainage and landscaping.

The public parkland will have multisport courts, picnic tables, restrooms, covered pavilions, playgrounds and dog parks. Wrought iron fences will separate the public park area from homes.

The agreement also stipulates that the single-family homes will have varying lot widths from 45 feet to half an acre.

“For ETJ MUDs, there’s no zoning, and so this consent agreement is where we lock in all the land-use and development standards for the project,” Woolery said.

What else?

Forterra Developers will make several road improvements and additions, per the agreement, including:

• Extending Cross Creek Road as a north-south connection to Hwy. 29
• Construction of a main thoroughfare through the neighborhood

Williamson County will own the roads and take care of maintenance and repair. The district and HOA will be responsible for the landscape buffers and sidewalks.

For water infrastructure, the developer will construct a 30-inch waterline and transfer ownership of it to the city. Wastewater infrastructure will include a permanent package plant that doesn’t dispose of liquid into the environment. The district and HOA will operate and maintain the plant.

The MUD will not tie in to the city wastewater system, and the developer won’t pay wastewater impact fees to the city.

Explained

MUDs help close the financial gap for developments seeking to exceed minimum city standards, provide a range of community amenities and fund substantial off-site infrastructure improvements, according to the city’s MUD policy.

Georgetown also considers ETJ MUDs with the possibility of annexing the property in the future.

What’s next

For the project to move forward, Georgetown City Council will need to approve a second reading of the MUD agreement Aug. 26.