The Lower Colorado River Authority has announced a public meeting to consider the road building permit application filed by Rancho San Miguel developers. The meeting will be held Thursday evening, May 17th, from 5:30 to 7:30 PM. The meeting location is the Spicewood Volunteer Fire Department, 9805 East Hwy 71 in Spicewood.Background
The developers of Rancho San Miguel, a proposed 6,000 home development in northeast Blanco and a small portion of southeast Burnet Counties began construction of an approximately 12 mile long road from Hwy 71 into the heart of the development.
While most of this road is in Blanco County, 2.6 miles are in Burnet County. Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinances (HLWO) applies in Burnet County, but thus far do not apply in Blanco County. Among other things, the HLWO regulate road construction to protect surface water for all roads other than those used solely for agricultural
purposes.
The developers notified the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) that the road was in fact for agricultural use. In February, LCRA approved a request from the Rancho San Miguel developers for 2,500 acre feet of water per year for use on the development.
Once the staff charged with administering and enforcing the HLWO learned of this contract approval, they realized the road was clearly intended as access to the development. A "cease and desist" order was issued, halting work on the 2.6 miles of the road in Burnet County.
Local land owners, Preserve Our Water, and Hill Country Alliance quickly mobilized and the result was over 30 letters of concern and protest being submitted to the LCRA regarding this road.
LCRA also learned, in part as a result of those letters and phone calls, that improper notice had been given to some adjacent landowners and the comment period was extended for those affected. Due to the volume of protest,
the LCRA has chosen to hold this public meeting.
For interested Blanco County residents, this will be an excellent opportunity to learn more about the Highland
Lake Watershed Ordinances. All that is required for them to be extended to cover all or parts of Blanco County is a request from the Commissioners of the county.
Hill Country Alliance
There are a great many issues that confront citizens of Blanco County arising from the rapidly increasing interest in residential development. But these issues are rarely confined to this county alone. In fact, many of the issues, like ground and surface water, traffic, open space, impact on fragile top soil and many others cross the artificial boundaries of counties.
Rancho San Miguel is a good case in point.
While Preserve Our Water has as its focus water matters, primarily as they effect Blanco County, Hill Country Alliance has interest and expertise in a wide range of growth related issues and tackles those issues throughout the Hill Country.
If you are interested in being better informed and up to date on these broader issues that effect many areas of this beautiful part of Texas, you may want to subscribe to "Neighbor to Neighbor", the Hill Country Alliance electronic newspaper.
You can do so at their web site:
http://www.hillcountryalliance.org/public/NotifyAdd.cfm .
