The developer for the proposed 11-story boutique hotel on Spicewood Springs Road near Loop 360 has withdrawn his site plan application from the city of Austin.
District 10 Council Member Sheri Gallo, in an email to residents, said her office received word of the withdrawal for The Spicewood Hotel on Friday. Gallo said she met with local developer David Kahn on Thursday about the project for the 120-room hotel at 6315 Spicewood Springs Road, Austin, near Bull Creek.
"I discussed the serious concerns that both the neighborhood and I have about the project," she wrote. "I emphasized how critical it was for him to listen and work with the neighbors. I also suggested that perhaps the best approach would be for Mr. Kahn to consider withdrawing his current site plan application and begin again by working with the surrounding neighborhoods on what would be appropriate for the property."
Posted Nov. 28, 5:07 p.m.
A local developer is proposing to build an 11-story hotel called The Spicewood in Northwest Austin, and it’s raising concern from area residents about potential effects on traffic congestion and the environment.
Developer David Kahn is planning an 11-story, 132,000-square-foot hotel with 120 rooms on an 11.39-acre tract of land at 6315 Spicewood Springs Road, Austin, near Yaupon Drive. The site has an existing single-family home and is located adjacent to Bull Creek.
“When you bring people in and people experience the parks, they learn about nature and conserve nature more,” said Kahn, a Westlake resident. “You’re trying to achieve a balance between conservation and bringing people in to experience and enjoy the creek.”
A site plan for The Spicewood Hotel on Spicewood Springs Road at Yaupon Drive shows plans for a 120-room, 11-story hotel.[/caption]Nature preserved
Kahn’s company owns 81 properties throughout Austin, and he worked on projects such as 4200 N. Lamar Blvd., Austin, where Uchi and Tacodeli are located. He said he chose the site on Spicewood Springs Road because of its connection to Bull Creek.
Kahn said he is planning a boutique hotel with a pool and small restaurant for guests. The site would also include five cabins and five airstream trailers guests could rent to enjoy nature, he said.
“I went to Bull Creek with my kids for 20 years and spent a lot of time there,” he said “It’s an awesome creek. It’s just like Austin. That doesn’t mean you don’t build anything. You just have to be conscious of what you build. We’re allowed to build 5 percent of the site.”
Watershed protection restrictions prohibit any development within 300 feet of the creek, he said. Between 300 and 600 feet is a transition zone with minimal development, resulting in only 5 percent of the property being developable, he said.
Out of bounds
The site is not located within city limits but is in Austin’s 2-mile extraterritorial jurisdiction, which is unincorporated land the city has the ability to annex in the future.
“We have somewhat limited control when it comes to these sites,” case manager Michael Simmons-Smith said. “We have no control over land use, [building] height, setbacks [or] the way the buildings and hotel look. Travis County is really going to be driving the car.”
Simmons-Smith said city staffers are still reviewing the application and will issue their first report to the developer Dec. 7. The developer will then need to submit a revised application to clear any questions from city staffers, he said.
Anna Bowlin, Travis County’s division director of development services and long-range planning, said the developer has not submitted any plans to the county yet. She said the county routinely reviews impacts to traffic, drainage and the environment.
“Generally speaking we have a lower threshold [than the city] for when we require people to do a traffic impact analysis study,” she said.
The county is not permitted by the state to limit building heights, and any building setbacks would be environmentally related, Bowlin said.
Concerned citizens
Northwest Austin resident Rick Brimer, who lives in the Yaupon Bluffs neighborhood and is president of the Bull Creek Foundation, said area residents are concerned about how the proposed hotel would affect traffic congestion on Spicewood Springs Road and impact the environment.
“One of the things people like about living in the Spicewood Springs area is the relatively rural nature of the area,” he said. “It’s quiet except during rush hour, and it’s a very scenic area with a view of the cliffs over Bull Creek.”
Brimer said this portion of Spicewood Springs Road, which is two lanes with no shoulders, also frequently floods when it rains, and future hotel guests might not know about low-water crossing closures. He said additional traffic could be diverted to the more residential road of Yaupon Drive.
The property is also located in the Bull Creek watershed and in the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone, according to the application.
The site plan application indicates Austin Water would provide service to the hotel from an existing 8-inch water line from Spicewood Springs Road, but the property does not have any wastewater connections.
Reasonable development
Brimer said residents have contacted city officials and staffers as well as Travis County Commissioner Gerald Daugherty about their concerns. He said he also has a meeting scheduled for Tuesday with Kahn, who added he is open to speaking with any concerned residents.
In the past, area residents have successfully worked with nearby property owners to develop more appropriate buildings for properties along Spicewood Springs Road, Brimer said.
“We would like to meet with [Kahn] as a community and talk with him and see if we can work out an agreement that is mutually agreeable,” he said.
Recently residents negotiated with the owner of a glass company on Spicewood Springs Road to reduce the owner’s proposal of two six-story buildings to one three-story building, Brimer said.
With other undeveloped tracts of land located outside city limits on Spicewood Springs Road, Brimer said residents likely be in the same position as developers seek to build on those sites.
“We’re going to be looking to see what we can do to manage the development of that [area],” he said. “We’ll try to work with the city to see if the city could annex that land so the city has a better method of controlling the development and the neighborhood has more input.”
