Lakeway city council approves cabin restoration, discusses Flint Rock Road development

The Lakeway City Council voted Monday night to approve $17,304 to pay for repairs at the historic Liebelt Cabin. 

The cabin is a Civil War era, one-and-a-half story log home constructed from cedar wood.

The council also voted to allow city staff to apply for a grant of no more than $39,000 from the Lakeway Civic Corporation to help fund a fuller restoration in the near future. 

The $17,304 will go toward immediate repairs, including preventing leaks around the doors and window to prevent further weather damage. 

The cabin, which used to be called the Wunneburger cabin, was relocated in November 2011 to its current location just north of City Hall after a developer bought the land on which the structure originally stood, according to the city’s website. The Lakeway Civic Corporation also assisted in funding the relocation of the cabin.  The cabin is now the responsibility of the City of Lakeway.

The council also approved a permit for a drive through at The Paddocks at Bee Creek, which is located next to Lake Travis Middle School. Building and Development Services Director Erin Carr said that this site already houses several offices and will soon add another 7,000 square feet, including a 1,000 square foot unit where the drive through will be located. 

Tommy Reagan, the president of Bee Creek Stables LP, the company that owns the land, said his goal is to rent the space to a coffee shop so neighbors and those who work in the complex have access to food and drinks onsite. 

The council also discussed a possible zoning change for a development on Flint Rock Road but decided to delay a vote until the April 19 meeting. The development is planned to include 126 single family residential homes and a commercial area with trails, parking and commercial building space.

Staff from the development firm Legacy DCS, the agent for the landowner Cherry Knoll, LLC, gave a presentation to the council that highlighted the green space onsite and the intended timing for the construction. The current plan has 74 fewer homes than what was allowed in the settlement agreement between Cherry Knoll and the city that was reached last April. 

Home sizes in this development will be on par with surrounding neighborhoods and price per square foot will be similar as well, with home prices expected to range from $450,000 to $675,000. 

The council asked Legacy DCS to return in April and address questions that the council and members of the public had about parking, traffic and pedestrian access between the residential part of the development and the commercial part located on the other side of Flint Rock Road. Council Member Gretchen Vance said she wants to ensure that pedestrians have a safe way to cross between the two sides of the development.

Several community members called into the meeting to express concerns about traffic and the density of the development. Council members also worried that the commercial side of the development would not have enough parking.

City Manager Julie Oakley said that the company will have to follow the city’s code of ordinances and provide enough parking depending on how the commercial side of the property is ultimately used.

The city commissioned a traffic study from the engineering company Huitt-Zollars that will focus on the current traffic patterns on Flint Rock Road and explore the development’s potential impact on traffic. This study should be finished in the next few weeks, Oakley said. 

Cox also asked the company to consider constructing the commercial phase earlier in the project than is currently planned to ensure that the part of the development that benefits the public is completed early in case the development faces issues later on. 

More details on the timeline of the project are expected at the April 19 council meeting, according to city spokesperson Jarrod Wise.