The Cedar Park City Council postponed any decision on a controversial zoning case for two weeks at its March 11 meeting so staff could review concerns raised by residents about traffic and safety.
More than 50 people filled the Council chambers and 45 voiced their opposition to the requested zoning change that would allow a gas station to be built at the intersection of Lakeline Boulevard and New Hope Road.
Residents raised two issues repeatedly during the more than two hours of public testimony: the safety of students at crosswalks and objections to the gas station. Landowners have applied to rezone the property from planned development to local retail.
The city planning and zoning commission recommended denial of the proposed change twice, although city staff recommended the new zoning. Council would need a supermajority vote, or six votes, to overturn the P&Z commission’s recommendation of denial.
The current zoning lists day cares, nail salons, drug stores or dance studios as allowed land uses. The lot adjacent to the one in question is zoned local retail, which the P&Z commission recommended for approval in 2006.
Residents have repeatedly voiced concern over traffic conditions at the intersection, especially as it relates to student safety. Elementary and middle school students regularly cross it on the way to school.
Mike Uihlein said the increased traffic brought by the gas station would complicate the intersection and “should be part of the equation.”
Sarina Wise, a crossing guard at that location for three years, said she is worried for the safety of students at her station. She and other speakers mentioned students jaywalking through the intersection, students pushing each other out into the street, drivers talking on cell phones and even an occasional fight among students that involved police intervention.
Leander school district Superintendent Bret Champion said during a meeting with city staff that increased traffic is a concern for the school district.
Council Place 6 candidate and P&Z Commissioner Eddie Hurst Jr. recused himself from discussion and the vote for recommendation, but decided to speak against the change at the March 11 Council meeting. He originally said he had recused himself from the case because he lives in the neighborhood, but at the meeting added he had also done business with Pohl, Brown & Associates, the company working on behalf of the landowner.
Hurst later said he has never received a paycheck from Pohl, Brown & Associates, but that his name has appeared on city documents with Pohl, Brown & Associates because he has done design work for one of the company’s clients.
“I should have mentioned that I have done work for Pohl, Brown as well as I lived in the neighborhood,” he said. “I made a mistake in stating the reason for recusing myself. I honestly thought I was being fair because I was going to argue against the zoning.”
According to the city’s charter, Hurst’s residence in the neighborhood is not enough to require him to recuse himself from voting on this case, but City Attorney Charles Rowland said his business relationship with Pohl, Brown & Associates is.
“The truth is he’s got ties to Pohl Brown & Associates and that’s why he shouldn’t be deciding those issues,” Rowland said.
Council members throughout the night reminded residents that the recommendation should only include the rezoning and not the business itself.
“When zoning, it is illegal to zone for the end user. We have to avoid being arbitrary,” Councilman Cobby Caputo said.
Decisions for zoning changes are based, Rowland said, on “potential uses, not a particular use.”
Amy Link of the city planning department said the requested zoning meets “the purpose since it’s the pulse point of two major arterials.”
Traffic engineer Brian Van De Walle of Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc., who reviewed the intersection, said it was well designed.
Records show, he said, five accidents occurred at that location in 2009 and two in 2008. If drivers were consistently ignoring red lights, he said, the intersection would have a higher number of accidents.
Councilman Tony Dale said he saw little distinction between the proposed gas station and a drug store, which both stock many of the same items. Residents said they would approve of a drug store or coffee shop at the location.
“The current zoning allows for something extremely close to what’s proposed,” he said.
Charles Rogers, the only resident to speak in favor of the proposed zoning change, said most of the issues raised are Leander school district issues and urged residents to “take their concerns to the school board.”
Councilman Matt Powell said he believed it was time to talk with the school about the intersection. He also recommended residents take their concerns to the school district, which is currently assembling the list of no-walk zones within the district.
Roberts said the city is “committed to working with the school district. We have a history of working with them to solve problems.
“This is not falling on deaf ears,” he said.
—Additional reporting by Macy Hurwitz