County Goes Slow on Lowe's
By Amy Smith, Fri., June 27, 2003
Shudde Fath to Lowe's: "Get off of our watershed and find another location." The stern words of the 80-something environmental matriarch drew applause from audience members and may have even figured into the Travis Co. Commissioners Court's decision Tuesday to delay action on Lowe's plans to build a big-box store in a critical water-quality zone on traffic-weary Brodie Lane, near the William Cannon intersection.
Commissioners voted 4-1, with Gerald Daugherty dissenting, to postpone the matter until July 22 in order to bone up on the fine print of HB 1204. The newly signed law has provisions written specifically to help Lowe's bypass certain development irritants -- like the city of Austin and its Save Our Springs Ordinance. As Lowe's sees it, the home-improvement giant should be able to build its store under county regulations, as provided for in HB 1204. But Save Our Springs Alliance attorney Brad Rockwell pointed out that HB 1204 applied only to subdivision cases and should not be applied to commercial developments such as Lowe's. He said the SOS Ordinance would apply in this instance because the property is in Austin's ETJ.
At the front end, County Judge Sam Biscoe summed up the confusion over the law and its applicability to Lowe's. "Frankly," he said. "I wish I'd never seen this item." Indeed, with the exception of road matters, commissioners seldom get a taste of the controversial development cases that the City Council wrangles with on a regular basis.
Lowe's is suing the city of Austin for rejecting its site-plan application, and the two sides are trying to negotiate a settlement. Assistant City Manager Lisa Gordon asked the commissioners to postpone action to allow more time for negotiations. Environmentalists and residents of Sunset Valley -- the first to rebuff Lowe's by ceding the property to Austin's jurisdiction -- also sought a delay.
On the other side, Lowe's representatives -- including attorney Terry Irion and former Mayor Bruce Todd -- pushed for commissioners to take action on Tuesday. They said discussions with the city would go a lot smoother once Lowe's has the commissioners' initial blessing.
Apart from Lowe's representatives, Commissioner Daugherty is the only one who sounded a sympathetic note for the giant retailer. "I think there were some shenanigans going on between the city and Sunset Valley," he said. "We have really gotten this thing thrown in our faces." He went on to say the Legislature has had to pass laws targeting Austin in order to "right" some wrongs dealt developers and landowners.
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