Rollingwood Police Chief Dayne Pryor discusses Uber and Lyft’s presence May 19.[/caption]Rollingwood police are monitoring Uber, Lyft demands during Zilker Park events
People attending events in Austin’s Zilker Park—such as Blues on the Green and Austin City Limits Music Festival—have to walk only a few hundred feet west up Rollingwood Drive before crossing into the city of Rollingwood to access ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft.
Though the ride-hailing services stopped operating in the city of Austin on May 9, the companies are still operating in neighboring Rollingwood, where Police Chief Dayne Pryor said they are welcome.
“[Ride-hailing companies have] always been a positive thing for Rollingwood,” he said during a May 19 City Council meeting.
Pryor said the Rollingwood Police Department is monitoring the area to see if an influx of people enter Rollingwood to seek rides from Uber and Lyft during major events in Zilker Park.
Although Uber and Lyft can drop passengers off in the city of Austin, they cannot pick passengers up within the city limits, so passengers must go to bordering cities such as Rollingwood to use the ride-hailing services.
Pryor said officers did not see anyone who appeared to be using the ride-hailing services at the first Blues on the Green event May 25, but RPD will continue to monitor the area throughout the summer.
Buckingham wins GOP primary runoff
Unofficial voting results show former Lake Travis ISD trustee Dr. Dawn Buckingham, with 61.34 percent of the vote, or 26,413 votes, won the May 24 Republican primary election runoff for the state Senate District 24 seat over candidate Susan King.
“We were overwhelmed by the support across the district,” Buckingham said. “We’ve run with a strong conservative message.”
All results are unofficial until canvassed.
District 24 covers parts of Bandera, Bell, Blanco, Brown, Burnet, Callahan, Comanche, Coryell, Gillespie, Hamilton, Kerr, Lampasas, Llano, Mills, San Saba, Taylor and Travis counties.
Democratic candidate Virginia “Jennie Lou” Leeder will face Buckingham in the November general election for the seat vacated by Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay.
Developer seeks annexation for new residential project
City Council agreed May 24 to postpone a request for the voluntary annexation of a 9.5-acre tract located south of the Paseo Apartments on Hwy. 71, intended to be part of the site for a new single-family residential development.
CCNG Realty President Will Douglas petitioned the council to annex the property into the city borders as a section of a 27-acre parcel—East Village—that will provide 71 homesites and an amenity center, Douglas said.
The site plan and plat for East Village are under review by the city, said Lindsey Oskoui, director of planning and development.
“We were evaluating whether to sell or develop this site,” Douglas said. We have some other projects we want to remain focused on.”
He said the homes will range from 2,200 square feet to about 4,000 square feet, although a builder has not been selected.
Douglas said he wanted to be certain the project complements the nearby neighborhood of Spanish Oaks.
West Lake Hills resident Scott Griffin speaks in favor of short-term rentals May 11.[/caption]Short-term rental regulations in the works
Mayor Linda Anthony instructed the city’s short-term rental subcommittee May 11 to resume work on creating regulations following the results of a citizen survey on the issue.
A total of 310 responses were received within the survey’s two-week-long availability period—resulting in 109 people in favor of permitting STRs, 106 people opposed to allowing STRs and 89 people in favor of permitting STRs with specific regulations. Six people said they were undecided about STRs. The survey also had a space for citizens to leave a comment.
Anthony suggested subcommittee members go back to the drawing board now that they have citizens’ opinions.
“I’m inclined to say that perhaps the best course of action is for the subcommittee to reconvene and start looking at specific regulations and look at what other cities have done,” she said.
Anthony stressed that as the regulations are developed, citizens will have ample opportunity to share their opinions during public hearings.
Lakeway purchases area tennis courts
Following years of discussions, the Live Oak Tennis Courts have become a city of Lakeway facility.
“We’ve been working on this for over two years, and it’s nice to see this come to a conclusion,” City Manager Steve Jones said.
Lakeway City Council agreed May 16 to purchase the four tennis courts located on 4.5 acres in the 500 block of Lakeway Drive from ClubCorp, for $225,000. Council members also agreed the use of the adjacent parking area will be shared with ClubCorp and the city will not use the courts to compete financially with ClubCorp.
Previously, the city leased the courts from ClubCorp beginning in 2005.
The tennis courts need about $60,000 in maintenance, Jones said. The purchase and repairs will be funded through the city of Lakeway’s parkland or general funds, he said.
