Bouldin Meadows Update

Six houses on Birdwood Circle lie completely within the redrawn West Bouldin Creek floodplain, though they have no history of flooding. At the same time, FEMA plans to remove floodplain designation from a large part of the proposed development across the creek.
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There's no calming these troubled waters: Tuesday evening, the Zoning and Platting Commission again delayed a decision on the proposed Bouldin Meadows subdivision in South Austin, the fourth such postponement from ZAP. Several plots in the 14-acre, 56-home lot, slated for construction along West Bouldin Creek, are planned on land still technically in the city's 100-year floodplain; under new maps from FEMA, to be made official next year pending review, the area in question would be cleared for development.

The revised maps have drawn the anger of several nearby residents. Chuck Mains lives on Birdwood Circle, across from the planned subdivision on the other side of West Bouldin Creek. A de facto leader in the neighborhood push against the project, he procured engineer and developer Sergio Lozano-Sanchez for an independent analysis of the tract. At issue is the amount of drainage that runs through the site; for land to be considered a critical water- quality zone (the city definition of a floodplain), the standard is that it must provide drainage for 64 acres of land. City engineers estimate Bouldin Meadows as just below the cutoff, with 59 acres of drainage discharging into the plot from two culverts at the plot's border along the Union Pacific rail line. In his review, however, Lozano-Sanchez says a large drainage area to the south, also along the railroad, is unaccounted for. "It is clear during some rain events," he writes, "water equivalent to more than 64 acres of drainage flows to the property," making the area flood-prone. He also warns that construction means flooding for existing homes on the other side of the creek. "If the developer is allowed as currently planned to channelize the flow of this drainage through this proposed subdivision, it will increase the velocity and energy of the water entering the main channel of West Bouldin Creek. ... In my opinion, this will adversely impact existing properties." Serendipitously, in FEMA's maps, six of the facing houses on Birdwood Circle lie completely within the redrawn floodplain, despite a lack of flooding history. Via city staff, City Manager Toby Futrell requested to postpone the hearing; it's thought she did so to allow staff and developers to meet with Lozano-Sanchez and the neighbors in hopes of agreement.

In other news surrounding the development, ownership of the controversial project has changed hands. G & G Ventures recently acquired the land from previous owner Doug Dowe, with Brohn Homes Ltd. as their developer; no word yet if this latest wrinkle means another delay July 18, the next scheduled ZAP meeting.