Master-planned community once faced long legal battle

An idea for a master-planned community started a decade-plus legal battle and resulted in the development of Southwest Austin's Circle C Ranch, which today has more than 4,600 homes, according to its homeowners association (HOA) President Jason Bram.

Early plans detailed where houses, schools and shopping areas should go to form an efficient neighborhood, and although he said Circle C is thriving today, not everything went according to plan.

Between 1982 and 1986, developer Gary Bradley and his partners acquired land and permits to build Circle C, establish municipal utility districts to provide water, drainage and similar services to residents, and develop infrastructure.

"Twenty-five, 28 years ago, [Bradley] had this vision, and today it is still not built out," said Gale Foster, HOA assistant manager and resident.

The first Circle C Ranch subdivision was built in 1986. Ken Rigsbee and his wife were among the first to take up residence in 1988. Rigsbee said he got a call from the developers that year—Bradley and Steve Bartlett—explaining that local environmentalists didn't want to see Circle C developed. At the time, Rigsbee was already in his house, and he was willing to fight to keep his home.

"My family's been in Southwest Austin for six generations," he said. "My great-grandparents are buried in Oak Hill Cemetery. I highly resented people telling me I can't live out here, and so I was a natural for it."

Rigsbee explained locals were fiercely protective of the city's pristine environment.

The development was within the 155-square-mile Edwards Aquifer recharge zone, according to Bill Bunch, executive director of Save Our Springs Alliance.

"The environmental community then was very much opposed to large-scale, very high-density suburban developments and the networks over them that were necessary to support them," Bunch said.

The Save Barton Creek Association filed a lawsuit against the Texas Highway Department—now the Texas Department of Transportation—to stop the extension of MoPac down to Circle C and halt development, he said. In 1991, Clean Water Action and other environmental groups launched the Save Our Springs Coalition and joined the fight against Bradley.

The HOA fought for its rights to the land before City Council and state regulatory agencies, Rigsbee said, and development continued. By 1990, Circle C Ranch was ranked as Central Texas' No. 1–selling subdivision, Rigsbee said.

"We took on and fought those battles, and just by sheer pressure and willpower managed to win all the way down the line," he said.

But in 1990, Circle C Ranch entered Chapter 11 reorganization because of the failing of Gibraltar Savings and Loan, from which Bradley had borrowed money. Bradley went bankrupt, Rigsbee said.

"There was a big court case, and all the homeowners sided with the developer," Circle C Landscaping owner Susan Hoover said. Between 1991 and 1999, ordinances and related lawsuits were filed, resulting in the Southwest Travis County Water and Reclamation District and the Slaughter Creek Water Quality Protection Zone being established. On Dec. 18, 1997, the City of Austin annexed Circle C—the shortest annexation in Texas history, Rigsbee said.

The Supreme Court of Texas found Water Quality Protection Zones unconstitutional in 2000.

The HOA finalized a landmark settlement agreement in 2002 with the City of Austin. Circle C gained school sites, trails, deed restrictions, some commercial development, landscape amenities and maintenance funds, Rigsbee said.

Since then, Circle C has continued to grow. Today, it has plans to add 600 more homes, and earlier this year it opened a new community center, Bram said.

"There was a lot of hardship and a lot of difficulties there in the beginning, but I think it's turned out to be one of the best communities in Austin," he said.

Circle C development and legislation timeline

1986

• Construction of first Circle C subdivision

1988

• Environmentalists sue to stop MoPac construction

1990

• Circle C Ranch enters Chapter 11 reorganization

1991

• City of Austin applies watershed ordinance to Circle C
• Save Our Springs Coalition enters into Circle C bankruptcy case
• Drinking Water Protection Act is implemented
• Circle C Homeowners Association forces mediation
• Developer retains right to repurchase community at cost set by federal court

1992

• Reorganization of Circle C is completed
• Austin voters pass Save Our Springs Alliance initiative

1994

• Circle C Land Corp, a subsidiary of Stratus Properties, sues the City of Austin over SOS ordinance
• Court finds ordinance ineffective, arbitrary and unreasonable
• City of Austin appeals the verdict to the Texas Court of Appeals

1995

• HOA establishes Southwest Travis County Water District
• Water district removes Circle C from City of Austin jurisdiction

1996

• City of Austin sues over water district

1997

• Mediation fails
• Slaughter Creek Water Quality Protection Zone is filed
• City of Austin annexes Circle C Ranch on Dec. 18

1998

• City of Austin challenges Water Quality Protection Zones in court

1999

• Circle C wins water quality protection lawsuits in Hays County
• City files an appeal

1999

• Bradley Parties, environmentalists, City of Austin propose landmark settlement agreement

2000

• Supreme Court of Texas finds Water Quality Protection Zones unconstitutional
• Bradley Parties and City of Austin reach final settlement

2002

• Settlement agreement among City of Austin, Stratus Properties and Circle C HOA is finalized

Source: Circle C Homeowners Association