A Travis County district court is once again serving as referee to a dispute between the city of Austin and its residents over the development of Champions Tract 3, at the corner of 2222 and City Park Road. On Friday, Sept. 22, Judge Gisela Triana granted a temporary injunction that stopped the city from taking proposed action related to the development, pending the outcome of a hearing set for Thursday, Oct 5. That hearing may settle a lawsuit filed in June concerning whether City Council’s rezoning of the tract last November should be voided (“Looking Back on the Champions Tract Rezoning,” June 30). Attorney Bill Aleshire petitioned for the injunction, arguing that his clients (Lake Austin Collective Inc.) would suffer imminent and irreparable harm were the city allowed to proceed before a judgment was reached on the group’s previously filed lawsuit. According to that suit, the city violated the Texas Open Meetings Act when it failed to properly inform the public that waivers to the Hill Country Roadway Ordinance and the Lake Austin Watershed Ordinance would be approved as part of Council’s vote. The tract had long been zoned for general office use but became sought as the site for a five-story, 325-unit apartment structure. As previously reported, the waivers were granted to accommodate developers, and get other concessions city staff believed to be vital.
This article appears in September 29 • 2017.