File Number SPC-2016-0453C

Dear Commission:

We, the neighbors of Rob Roy, wish to express our opposition to the proposed site plan for the 360 Development at 800 Capital of Texas Highway.

Below are some reasons for our opposition to the proposed project due to the sewage disposal issues and water pressure.

Sewage

The developer purchased a single family home in our neighborhood at 25 St. Stephens School Road and plans to spray sewage water over the 2 acre lot every day. This so unsafe that city laws will require posted signs indicating danger on this lot. The potential for sewage odors is very real according to our environmental engineer, Dr. Lauren Ross. This is not how a residential, single family-zoned lot should be used. It is unlawful and unacceptable to subject neighboring homes where families with children live to this potential danger and the smell this sewage will bring.

Water Pressure

We currently do not have enough water pressure to support the daily or emergency flow and pressure needs of our community much less this new development. Even when the improvements to WCID #10 begin, it will be years before the system could potentially handle a project this large and with the additional growth already underway in the area – likely not even then. Further since Rob Roy is not in the City of Austin, this site plan should be denied by the City because the City does not have the jurisdiction to make the water pressure safe for the 300+ families who will be impacted. This will leave the City vulnerable to lawsuits should anything terrible happen – such as a fire that can’t be extinguished because of a lack of water pressure.

In addition to the lack of water pressure, our water restrictions have been persistent and it is irresponsible to add yet more users to the water resources when the current situation is dire. We respect the ability of people to responsibly develop, but not to the overwhelming detriment of the existing community and the environment.

While we know that you can’t consider these topics as specific grounds for denying the developer’s plans, it is only reasonable to consider our schools and traffic congestion.

Schools

Our schools are crowded and cannot accommodate hundreds more students. The elementary classrooms already exceed the preferred 22:1 student-teacher ratio. Please consider our children, their education and their safety. Most of us moved here for the exemplary schools and we need to preserve their excellence by maintaining reasonable class size.

Traffic

If you have been on 360 or Bee Caves Road in the morning hours or afternoon, you know that even with some improvements, it is a constant parking lot. If you have not, you NEED to before approving this site. It takes at least 20 minutes just to go 4 miles to our children’s school in the mornings. The traffic is ridiculous and adding new users with no prospects of new capacity is irresponsible. The beauty of Austin lies in the blue skies and limestone hills, our lakes and our respect for the environment. Adding more cars to already over-burdened roads will simply amplify the pollution into our air and erode quality of life.

We respectfully request the Zoning and Platting Commission reconsider their position regarding the development of this site and require the Developer to significantly downsize their project to a size that will not require the use of the private residence located at 25 St Stephens as a sewage dumping site, add strain to our already-dire water supply and will also further crowd our roads and schools.

Sincerely,

The Neighbors of Rob Roy