One year after the developer of the long-planned multiuse development called The Backyard filed a lawsuit against the city of Bee Cave and three of its officials, city leaders and the developer have taken steps to end the litigation process through approval of an infrastructure-centered site plan for the project. The most recent decision from City Council came after meeting in executive session during its Jan. 22 meeting. In a 4-2 vote with Mayor Pro Tem Bill Goodwin and Council Member Jon Cobb voting against, council approved a site-development plan for The Backyard that is strictly infrastructure-based and dates back to July 2017. Mayor Monty Parker said following the meeting that council’s approval of the site plan is a positive step that reflects both the city’s and the developer’s ongoing efforts to resolve the pending lawsuit. “As a result of the site plan’s approval, the Backyard will take steps to dismiss its mandamus claim against the city, Mayor Monty Parker and Mayor Pro Tem Bill Goodwin from the lawsuit, and both parties pledge to continue diligently working to plan and approve a development project that is an asset to the community,” Parker said in a statement he released following the Jan. 22 meeting. Parker said council’s decision allows the developer to move forward with infrastructure only. Because the city already approved the planned development district, developers must finish the needed infrastructure before any buildings can be built, Parker said. Attempts to reach the venue's development team have so far been unsuccessful. Located at 13801 Bee Cave Parkway in Bee Cave, the proposed 35-acre multiuse project has a turbulent history with city officials. The development plan originally included a music venue, a hotel, offices, a parking garage, data centers and an energy center. An infrastructure site plan rejection in July 2017 forced developers to delay progress. Later that year, in a split 3-3 vote, council failed to pass a late November motion to amend the development plan for The Backyard. Representatives from The Backyard, then known as Backyard Partners LLC, filed a $50 million lawsuit in Travis County District Court against the city in January 2018. The lawsuit named as defendants the city of Bee Cave, Mayor Pro Tem Bill Goodwin and council members Monty Parker and Kara King. Parker said King was later dropped from the lawsuit because she was not present during the July site plan presentation. One of the largest impediments to the development has been a lack of an access road from the venue to West Hwy. 71, which council required as part of a December 2016 approval of the planned development district for The Backyard. Parker said Jan. 22 the developer cannot get a certificate of occupancy for the project until they have a connecting road from the development to Hwy. 71, which is an infrastructure hurdle that is still not resolved and up to the developers to work out. Under the terms of the planned development district agreement, if developers chose to start building on the site following completion of the necessary roads and utilities, the buildings could not be occupied until the connection to Hwy. 71 is established, Parker said. “I’m assuming there will be continuing conversations in the event they want to change what’s already approved as far as the vertical structures,” Parker said.