Bella Fortuna is a proposed development district east of I-35 in Travis County.[/caption]

Residents will have the opportunity to share their feedback Jan. 24 on a petition to create the Bella Fortuna Public Improvement District following a vote by the Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday.

The court voted to set the public hearing for that date, publish notice of the public hearing and mail written notice of the hearing to people who will be affected. The vote was part of the consent agenda, which was passed unanimously without discussion about the item.

Bella Fortuna PID location[/caption]

Members of the court heard a presentation Dec. 20 about the proposed mixed-use, master-planned community. Local Government Code Chapter 372 allows counties to create PIDS to help spur economic development in an area by providing a means to improve infrastructure and promote economic growth, according to county documents. Through the county's PID program it can provide for the financing of the costs of things that "benefit a definable part of the county with the costs borne by those landowners within the PID boundaries who receive special benefits from the public improvements or services." PIDs have mainly been established by cities; the city of Austin has established PIDs downtown.

The Bella Fortuna development would be situated about a mile southeast of I-35 and Onion Creek Parkway on approximately 158 acres within the city of Austin’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, according to county documents. The development would involve the construction of about 400 new single-family homes.