What happened?
LJA Engineering—the representatives of proposed development Burleson Ranch—came to Leander council Nov. 16 to seek feedback on a Comprehensive Plan amendment that would allow the proposed site to be zoned as all neighborhood residential.
As of now, the proposed site is zoned as mostly neighborhood residential with three sections zoned as multiuse corridor—which opens the door for commercial development on the tract.
The site houses both Akin Elementary School and Stiles Middle School, and two of the portions zoned as multiuse corridor are on each side of Akin with the other on the frontage of Ronald Reagan Boulevard. The developers are proposing to rezone the two sections surrounding Akin Elementary.
John Clark, senior vice president at LJA Engineering, said the company is looking to rezone these sections to neighborhood residential because it’s “atypical to have commercial zoning adjacent to schools, and most elementary schools in Leander are bordered by single-family homes.”
Notable quote
“Obviously, our main focus has been to preserve every bit that we possibly think could remotely even have a chance to be developed commercially in our city,” council member Chris Czernek said.
The bottom line
The majority of council agreed they can support rezoning the portion to the north of Akin Elementary to neighborhood residential, while the section closer to Ronald Reagan would remain as multiuse.
Council did vote in favor of eventually supporting the aforementioned rezoning. However, the vote was just to support the path of discussion, not to approve the development or a rezoning.
