Developer eyes Lost Creek for build

Some Lost Creek residents voiced concerns about the plan to develop the 37-acre site—known as the Marshall Tract—during a special meeting with Austin City Councilman Mike Martinez on May 24.

Residents said they were concerned about what impact the added traffic to the complex would have on the area as well as the aesthetics of an office building in the neighborhood and maintaining open space in the community.

"It will be a big development in our little neighborhood that we've taken such good care of," said Cindy Edwards, who moved to Lost Creek in 1988. "People who back up to it will be staring at an office building instead of [a] greenbelt."

Lamm asked Martinez what rights the neighborhood may have to determine the type of project built on the property. She said although the Marshall Tract is inside the city of Austin, the Lost Creek neighborhood is in Austin's extraterritorial jurisdiction, or ETJ, until it is fully annexed by the city Dec. 15, 2015.

Martinez said property owners may request the decision on the project be postponed until after annexation.

Residents may also petition against rezoning the tract, requiring Austin City Council pass the rezoning by a supermajority vote, which would be six out of seven council members, said Jerry Rusthoven, city of Austin planning and development manager.

"A development of the size and height of Palisades West, as the developer suggested, is not compatible with our adjacent, single-family residential neighborhood," Lamm said. "A development at this location needs to be smaller-scaled and set back so that it transitions into the neighborhood."