Hutto City Council postponed the annexation and creation of a public improvement district for Limmer Square, a proposed 111-acre development, at its May 15 meeting. The action follows the council’s adoption of the development agreement for Limmer Square on April 17.
The details
Developer Limmer Holdings will transform about 111 acres of land at the intersection of SH 130 and Limmer Loop into the Limmer Square development.
Preliminary site plans show a mix of residential, commercial and open space, which includes:
- 205 units of 40-foot single-family lots
- 220 units of townhomes
- 300 units of multifamily residential
- 60,000 square feet of commercial space
To help pay for infrastructure and improvements, the developer proposed the creation of a PID.
What happened
The city is required to hold a public hearing for the creation of the PID. At the discretion of Dorothy Palumbo, the city's attorney, City Council postponed a vote on the PID creation and voluntary annexation until June 5.
Palumbo said that the city is in talks with the developer and that this postponement will allow them more time to execute the development agreement. A zoning hearing will also take place June 5.
Currently in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, the city will collect wastewater and trash fees, as well as property taxes, once the land is annexed.
Some context
A PID requires property owners to pay an additional fee or tax to fund public improvements that directly benefit the area. It also allows the developer to receive funding to support construction, usually through bonds.
Including the PID bonds, associated costs and owner contributions, the project fund comes out to about $32 million.
The proposed tax rate equivalent for the Limmer Square PID is $0.84 per $100 valuation, which would be in addition to the city property tax rate of $0.399553 per $100 valuation.
The background
The same land was previously planned for a development called Pearl Estates. Limmer Holdings first brought the development to City Council to create a municipal utility district, before revising the development plan based on council direction.
