No Agreement Just Yet

Jul 23, 2008 - 14:53:57 CDT.

ROCK STAR? Carson Crenwelge, 4, tries out the prize selections at one of the children’s game booths on Friday night at the Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce’s Night In Old Fredericksburg celebration on Marktplatz. Standard-Radio Post Photo by Yvonne Hartmann

The goal of a proposed housing development is to provide affordable homes for families in moderate income levels, but the Fredericksburg City Council is having some difficulty in hammering out an agreement with the project builder.

During Monday night’s meeting held at the Gillespie County Law Enforcement Center, councilmen and representatives from Barons Crossing (a development to be built by Timeless Luxury Homes), discussed several concerns that both sides had.

Barons Crossing is planned to be constructed south of Highway Street and north of Sunrise Street on the city’s southeast side.

The two groups also talked about the development at the governing board’s July 7 meeting, as well as at a special meeting held July 16 at City Hall.

In an effort to discourage affordable housing buyers from “flipping” their homes (“flipping” is the practice of buying a home, then selling it quickly for a profit) -- something the council was also interested in controlling -- Timeless Luxury Homes had suggested that there be a $25,000 penalty charged to any development homeowner who sold his or her home to a non-owner/occupant (such as a speculator) within the first five years of ownership.

To keep development costs down, TLH asked if it could build a quarter-acre private park for the subdivision’s residents instead of dedicating seven-tenths of an acre as required under the city’s Park Dedication ordinance. The city could also, at its own discretion, ask for a money payment in lieu of the dedicated land.

In addition, project representative Robert Menking had asked the council at its meeting two weeks ago to reduce the impact fees from the current $3,000 per dwelling to $1,000.

However, some councilmen expressed their feelings that they’d like to maintain the $3,000 fee.

Councilman Jeff Jeffers said that in addition to being “amazed at how difficult we can make this (the negotiation process),” he added that he didn’t favor waiving the impact fees. “If we get our impact fees back, I’m happy with everything else.”

Some councilmen mentioned that they were concerned that these homes, designed to sell in the $110,000-$154,000 range, would end up costing in the $170,000-$200,000 level, thus making it virtually impossible for families with $54,000 household incomes (the targeted market) to be able to purchase homes.

Board member David Pedregon expressed his concern that if costs rise before the first part of the three-phased project is completed -- substantial increases in such items as labor and materials, for example -- the projected selling prices could go much higher.

“The risk is that these houses will be swallowed up by the (general housing) market,” he said.

Although realizing that the Barons Crossing developers were under a time crunch (they have a 20-day window to get council approval from when the Planning and Zoning Commission okayed the various requests on July 9), Pedregon said there will be more affordable housing information available within the next 45-60 days after the city’s newly-created Affordable Housing Task Force gathers more data.

Pedregon also mentioned that he did not want to be pushed into agreeing to a deal until he’d had a chance to read a document generated by city attorney Pat McGowan that contained, in essence, a restatement of Timeless Luxury Homes’ latest suggestions and requests.

While expressing his support for affordable housing in Fredericksburg, Pedregon said he’d like to review the document, then hold a special meeting later this week (one has been scheduled for Friday at 8:30 a.m. in the second-floor conference room at City Hall, 126 West Main Street) in an effort to complete the deal, if possible, with Timeless Luxury Homes so that the builder/developer can meet the aforementioned deadline.

Councilman Tim Dooley also expressed some misgivings about the proposed project, but from a different angle. He questioned the type of quality that could be built into houses constructed on the low-end of the scale (in the $111,000-$134,000 range).

Dooley was also displeased that developers were asking for the $2,000 reduction in the impact fees for each lot and that the streets within the development would be narrowed to 30 feet (instead of the current 40-foot requirement).

He said this last feature could easily lead to a parking problem because of the thinner traffic lane and with cars prohibited from parking on one side of the street (to allow for the passage of emergency vehicles whenever they might be needed).

The councilman also said he would consider asking the builder for a performance bond or a bank letter of credit that would insure the completion of the streets if the development doesn’t get past Phase I.

In other action, councilmen:

•Approved a conditional use permit to allow a drive-through facility for Security State Bank at its proposed new location at 1111 East Main Street.

•Granted a taxi permit to Cole Leifeste of Stagecoach Shuttle.

•Congratulated Joshua R. Culpepper on attaining the rank of Eagle Scout.

•Went into executive session to consider appointments to the Planning and Zoning Commission, the Historic Review Board and the Board of Adjustments.