On July 3, Leander City Council heard the first reading for a redrawn map and updated special zoning regulations for the city's transit-oriented development, or TOD, district.
Since 2004, city leaders have aimed to draw development to the district, which is planned to be a walkable, urban downtown destination with restaurants and shops centered around the city's Capital Metro train station. City Council has said the proposed revisions to the map and zoning regulations are being made in response to TOD landowners and developers who want more flexibility.
The revised map would remove about 864 acres from the 2,300-acre TOD district, in which development follows special zoning regulations, or Smart Code. If City Council approves the changes, most of the rezoned property would fall under the city's conventional zoning rules, including sections west of US 183 and south of RM 2243.
In the TOD district's old downtown sector surrounding City Hall or the newly created conventional sectors, developers could choose to build according to the Smart Code or according to the city's standard zoning ordinances.
The Leander Planning and Zoning Commission surveyed three proposed new maps for the TOD district before approving one choice. City Council approved a variation of P&Z's map by a vote of 5–2; Place 2 Councilman Kirsten Lynch and Place 4 Councilman Ron Abruzzese voted no.
Council also approved the first reading of a series of Smart Codes updates that are intended to simplify the code's language and approval processes. That vote was 6–1, with Lynch opposing.
City Council is set to consider final approval to all the TOD changes in its July 17 meeting.
Before the votes, Mayor Chris Fielder and Place 2 Councilman Simon Garcia said they preferred another proposed district map that would remove more land from Smart Code zoning sectors. Two property owners also asked City Council to consider that option.
However, Place 6 Councilman David Siebold said he favored removing less from the district's Smart Code sectors. The city should be reluctant to step back from its vision, Siebold said.
