Leander City Council denies Leander Springs PUD amendment after residents, council raise water and environmental concerns

Leander City Council on Aug. 21 unanimously denied an amendment to the Leander Springs planned unit development (PUD) that would have reduced multifamily units and removed phasing deadlines for a mixed‑use project at the southwest corner of U.S. 183A and FM 2243.

The proposal from Fireland Development Group would have amended the 2020 PUD for roughly 77.9 acres to reduce proposed multifamily units from 1,600 to 1,200, change phasing language and keep a 4‑acre public lagoon as the project centerpiece. After a three‑hour-plus presentation and extensive public comment, council members said remaining questions about the lagoon’s water source, subsurface impacts and project financing meant they could not approve the amendment.

The decision matters because the project as proposed would reshape a large gateway site in Leander and is tied to infrastructure, hotel, retail and residential phasing. Opponents said the council must resolve how the lagoon would be filled and sustained, whether groundwater pumping would harm North Brushy Creek and whether the developer’s financing and liens threaten timely completion.

Developer presentation and commitments Andrei Derevenka, principal of Fireland Development Group, told the council the amendment would reduce multifamily from 1,600 to 1,200 units and remove expiration timelines from the PUD phasing plan. He said the lagoon would remain a required project amenity and that “certificate of occupancy may not be issued for any multifamily units until after certificate of completion is issued for the lagoon.” Derevenka said engineering and architecture for phase 1 were complete but that, without the PUD amendment, many permits could not be submitted.

Consultants described the master plan as a mixed‑use, “live, work, play”…