City of Pflugerville officials on the record declined a developer request for $4,362,224 in TIRS reimbursement for infrastructure at the Northpointe East development after staff recommended denial and the TIRS advisory board unanimously recommended the same.

Staff told council the application “is inconsistent with the city's land use, economic development, and, incentive goals and policies established by the council's strategic plan and ASPIRE 2040 comprehensive plan,” and said the proposal did not exceed minimum PUD or Unified Development Code requirements nor provide regional improvements.

The project proponent and the applicant's attorney urged council to approve the infrastructure reimbursement. Sheryl Cole, attorney for the applicant, urged council to “put your vision hat on and do due diligence,” and described past long-term negotiations on comparable projects. The developer's representative said the revised application was narrowed to the infrastructure items — roads and wastewater lines — and argued the request reflected a roughly 35% share of total infrastructure cost and would be paid from future tax increment created if the proposed commercial and recreational uses are built. “This isn't asking the city for, them to write a check from the coffers,” the representative said, adding that reimbursements would come from increment created by completed development.

Staff and several council members countered that the PUD and the ASPIRE 2040 plan prioritize higher-employment, mixed-use development along State Highway 130, and that the east track proposal was largely residential with only limited commercial uses. Staff noted the wastewater improvements proposed would largely serve the development itself rather than provide regional utility capacity, and that Colorado Sand — a city project under construction — already provides key frontage and connections in the area.

Council also discussed that the prior TIRS application had been split previously into infrastructure and performance-based components and that the current submittal did not include performance benchmarks that would make reimbursement contingent on delivering specific commercial uses. Staff said the application as received was not performance based and that any reimbursement agreement tied to performance would need to be specifically written into a future development agreement.

After executive-session legal consultations, a motion to approve the TIRS reimbursement request failed. The TIRS advisory board and city staff had recommended denial; the council's vote left the developer without the requested reimbursement. The developer said they would work with city staff to refine plans and financing going forward.

Votes at a glance: Motion to approve the TIRS reimbursement request for $4,362,224 — outcome: failed (motion failed after executive session).