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Cedar Park council faces opposition on several fronts

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Citizens are always invited and encouraged to attend city council meetings to see how the city government operates and to give the council input on the direction of new things. Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops will sit in on meetings and occasionally someone will voice their complaints about something.

Thursday's Cedar Park City Council meeting saw many citizens in attendance - and just as many complaints as a couple of zoning cases caused a stir with neighborhoods in the city.

An ordinance to rezone approximately 9.93 acres of land near the Buttercup Creek Cave Preserve in particular caused some opposition from residents and some disagreement among council members.

The ordinance, which was pulled from the consent agenda after several people signed up to speak about it, was intended to rezone the almost 10 acres from Single Family Large Urban Lot (SF-2) and Single Family Urban Lot (SF-3) to Open Space Greenbelt (OSG).

By rezoning the land to OSG, the city could use the land for several different uses including hiking trails, parking lots or ancillary buildings, which had people in the neighborhood concerned, especially those whose property backs up to the area, which is currently covered with trees. However, the council made clear that their plans would be a trail, not a parking lot or building on the property.

Angela Greenlee said she understands that a mistake was made when her realtor told her that the land would not be developed, but is asking the city to please take the residents' concerns into consideration.

Greenlee is concerned that any development will create more traffic and noise and could devalue the homes that are along the wooded area.

Councilmember Matt Powell suggested that if the neighborhood was so opposed to having a trail system put in, then why not purchase the land from the city to solve the problem.

Several members of the council were concerned with giving in to the residents' complaints about a trail system because it sets a precedent for every neighborhood to object to the trails the city plans to build in the coming years.

After much debate and discussion, the ordinance passed unanimously by the council, but with a catch - they would like to revise it and make it more restrictive in the future.

Councilmember Cobby Caputo said he would like to see the council have the authority to make certain designations or restrictions, in this case, restricting the zoning designation so that no parking lot could be built.

Neighborhood Eyesore

A potential funeral home near the Heritage Park neighborhood caused the other outpouring of objection as residents voiced their opposition to having a funeral home built at the entrance to their neighborhood.

Earl Lott, a resident of the subdivision for six years, said he was really shocked that the city would even consider rezoning approximately 1.11 acres of land near Heritage Park to include a funeral home as a permitted use.

“I'm not opposed to other development there, just not a funeral home,” Lott said.

He said a funeral home at the left side of the entrance to the subdivision would not only decrease home values, but also restrict access to the front entrance because of the traffic it would create. That would mean many residents in the front of the subdivision would have to use the back access if there is activity at the funeral home.

If the funeral home is built, Lott said he would put his house up for sale.

Chris and Christine Muat were also appalled at the idea of having a funeral home built at the entrance to a subdivision where people are trying to raise their families. They also had similar concerns as Lott about the parking, traffic and property value problems that would arise if the funeral home is built.

Chris said he also dislikes the idea of having to drive past the funeral home on his way to and from work and witness people on their worse day, grieving for loved ones.

The item was on the consent agenda, but has been postponed until the Dec. 18 meeting to allow the neighborhood time to redo a petition that did not meet certain legal requirements and the developer time to sign an agreement.

In other news...

A second public hearing was held on the proposed annexation plan for the Ranch at Cypress Creek MUD No. 1. Now that the public hearings are complete, the city will continue to work with the HOAs and other groups to get their input and make the final service plan. ... Economic development specialist Larry Holt gave an update on the existing business survey. ... Assistant City Manager Sam Roberts reported on the status of transportation projects in the city including Anderson Mill Road improvements, widening of Park Street and access problems at 183A and New Hope Drive.

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