Get AI Briefings, Transcripts & Alerts on Local & National Government Meetings — Forever.
Council approves first reading to annex 17716 Steger Lane as questions linger over road and infrastructure costs
Loading...
Summary
The council approved first reading of an annexation ordinance for roughly 83 acres at Steger Lane and Cameron Road after extended discussion about road rebuilding estimates, impact fees and utility connections; staff and the applicant said more analysis is pending.
The Pflugerville City Council on Feb. 25 approved on first reading an ordinance to annex about 82.962 acres generally described as 17716 Steger Lane, directing staff to include the property in city regulations and service plans.
Council members and staff spent the largest portion of the meeting’s public hearing on the item discussing the likely infrastructure costs needed to serve the site, including estimates for road reconstruction and questions about how impact fees and county bond money would interact with city responsibilities.
Planning manager Dr. Yasmin Turk told the council the property is contiguous with city limits and has a future land-use designation of traditional neighborhood mixed-use; staff recommended approval. Evan (staff engineer) briefed the council on road conditions around the parcel and said investigations showed subgrade failure along roughly 0.94 mile of adjacent roadway. He gave engineers’ ballpark rebuild estimates ranging from about $2.2 million (lower estimate excluding some contingencies) to roughly $3 million (higher estimate including contingencies) for a full replacement with drainage and curb work. He also said that engineering and geotechnical costs would be additional.
Developer representatives and city staff said water would be provided by Manville and wastewater would connect to the city interceptor; staff said they had sent notices to the school district, water provider and police with no formal objections reported. A fiscal-impact sheet shown to council projected nearly $1 million in annual property tax revenue and roughly $161,000 in annual sales tax revenue from the planned development, but staff cautioned that the sheet omitted some categories — including traffic mitigation costs and certain permit/engineering expenses — and is not a full accounting of long-term city expenses.
Council members repeatedly raised the strategic question of whether annexing now would cause the city to lose access to county bond funds or other county-funded road improvements. Staff explained that some county bond projects covered other portions of Cameron Road but that the specific stretches adjacent to the annexation were not clearly in that bond list; they said transportation impact analyses and development agreements would identify any required turn lanes or traffic mitigation later in the process.
Mayor Pro Tem Holiday moved approval; the motion passed (motion carried). Staff and the applicant will return with zoning, traffic impact analyses and more detailed cost sharing proposals as the process continues.
The annexation ordinance approved on first reading sets the property to be annexed for full city purposes, adopts a service plan and moves the project into the zoning phase; no final land-use or plat approvals were granted at this hearing.
