Developers pulled their proposal to build workforce housing from Lakeway City Council consideration Aug. 16 after reporting differing opinions among two engineers at the Texas Department of Transportation concerning the possible construction of a traffic signal at the intersection of RM 620 and Nightingale Lane.

The action was taken by Kent and Meg Conine of Conine Residential Group Inc., who have proposed building a 248-unit apartment complex called Nightingale at Lakeway intended for people earning an average of 60% or less of the area median income. A parking garage and 1-acre park are other major features of the proposed development as is construction of a traffic signal at the intersection of Nightingale Lane and RM 620.

By withdrawing the proposal, council took no action on a request by the Conines to update the city's land-use map and make a zoning change to an 8-acre tract of land that would serve as the location of the proposed complex.

Kent Conine reported to council that city staff had a discussion Aug. 11 with an engineer from the TxDOT concerning the widening of RM 620 and that the Conines' proposal to build a traffic signal that would allow motorists to make a left turn and head west toward Lakeway became part of that conversation.

"It appears there were some questions raised during that normal meeting with TxDOT about whether that light would be there permanently or not," Kent Conine said during his remarks to council. Kent Conine said, by the end of the week, city staff had additional questions about future traffic signals planned for RM 620 and how those signals would be synchronized. Kent Conine then suggested to council that its members delay a vote on the zoning request until a September meeting so that an informational meeting could be set up with city staff. That suggestion met with a chorus of groans from people in attendance at the meeting.

After Mayor Tom Kilgore gaveled the meeting to order, council discussed the request; however, several council members said they were in favor of having a discussion of the proposal without a delay given that the Lakeway Zoning and Planning Commission voted to not recommend the project and that the issue of a traffic signal at Nightingale and RM 620 was not the driving issue behind the commission's vote.

At that point, Kent Conine withdrew the Nightingale project from consideration. After speaking with council, Kent Conine told Community Impact Newspaper he had no comment on when the project might return to the city for additional consideration. Any additional pursuit of the project would have to be refiled with the Lakeway zoning commission before reaching city council.