Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Annexation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commission approves annexation into Liberty Hills amid residents’ pleas to preserve mature trees
Summary
The commission recommended annexation and a PD amendment that brings roughly 10.8 acres into the Liberty Hills development despite multiple residents urging preservation of large pecan and other trees; commissioners voted 3–2. Staff said the earlier Liberty Hills development agreement waived tree-preservation protections for the area.
The Planning & Zoning Commission voted 3–2 to recommend adding roughly 10.8 acres to the Liberty Hills planned development and to amend the planned-development map to allow single-family residential use.
Planning staff explained the parcel would be incorporated into the previously approved Liberty Hills development and that the development agreement adopted in December included a waiver of the city’s tree-preservation requirements for the areas identified in the plan. “As part of the development agreement and as part of the Liberty Hills zoning, it specifically removes the tree preservation ordinance as written except for the areas that are identified for preservation,” staff said. Staff also noted that, while the property is currently in the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) and not yet annexed, removing the trees could occur before annexation because the city cannot enforce its tree permit rules in the ETJ.
Residents pressed the commission to require tree preservation if the land is annexed. Terrell Culbertson, who said he has lived at 10429 County Road 289 for 32 years, described the parcel’s “huge, magnificent pecan trees” and urged commissioners to attach conditions to protect them. “Those magnificent trees there are irreplaceable,” he said. Sean Smith, who provided measurements of trees on the site, called the public-notice and annexation process “broken” and suggested the land could be used as a park instead of being developed.
Developer Kevin Lazaras said his team had acquired the parcel to finish the corridor and that, while they “try to save what we can,” grading for roads and intersection geometry might necessitate tree removal. “Typically, with as much earthwork as is needed... odds are that those roots… get buried and they just don’t make it through construction,” he said. Commissioners expressed frustration that the deeded development agreement predated the acquisition and effectively pre-authorized a tree-preservation waiver for this parcel. The motion to recommend approval of the zoning amendment passed by majority vote (3–2). The annexation itself and any final development approvals will be considered by city council.
