from city of Austin

By Josh Verges, Tribune staff writer

AUSTIN &045; Thirty-one weeks after its initial hearing was postponed, and after five hours of discussion on Tuesday, Wal-Mart got the Planning Commission’s OK to build a 207,000-square-foot supercenter in northwest Austin.

Four of Tuesday’s five actions were favorable recommendations to the Austin City Council, which will hear the same topic on Monday. The last item, a conditional use permit, passed on a 6-2 vote that is final unless someone files an appeal to the City Council within 15 days.

Tuesday night demonstrated there are many potential appellants, including Oaks Condominium owners and residents who remain unsated by Wal-Mart’s concessions. The revised plan features a multi-level berm and two lines of large trees on the west side of Wal-Mart’s property. The parking lot would now start 57 feet (compared to 10 feet in the old plan) from the Oaks’ east property line and 24 feet (compared to 7 feet) from the north.

Wal-Mart representatives met with residents for the third time at the Oaks Tuesday before the Planning Commission meeting. Oaks Manager Joyce Poshusta said between the meetings that she appreciates the developers are responding to their concerns, but said about half the residents still oppose the development.

&8220;If it wasn’t such a large building, the green space wouldn’t be an issue,&8221; Poshusta said.

&8220; … It’s just not the space for it.&8221;

During the planning meeting, a resident said about 90 percent still opposed it. Wal-Mart’s real estate agent Darcy Winter was taken aback by the negative response.

&8220;We came away thinking we certainly had more than a majority of the Oaks residents and owners on board,&8221; she said.

Some Oaks residents and commissioners expressed concerns that the 29-acre site just wasn’t big enough to fit such a large building, and some urged the developers to downsize. Winter, as she had in past meetings, said those who decide how big a building should be do their jobs well, and that the Austin-area market calls for the 207,000 square-foot Supercenter.

On the CUP, the commissioners could consider possible adverse affects of the development, including &8220;the character of the surrounding area&8221; and &8220;whether the use will depreciate the area in which it is proposed.&8221; Larry Ashley was the most outspoken Oaks resident, and took issue with those items in particular.

&8220;I can’t believe a Wal-Mart store, something that close, will not depreciate the land and the homes,&8221; he said. Wal-Mart representatives responded that while the placement of the condos is &8220;unfortunate,&8221; there exists no evidence to support the property value claim.

Commissioner Rich Bergstrom called Wal-Mart’s latest plan &8220;a big improvement on the first proposal,&8221; which included 44 more parking spaces, would have cut down more oak grove trees and had lower quality materials on the exterior of the building.

A CUP is presumed to be acceptable, city legal counsel advised the commission, so they would have to demonstrate that the use would fail to meet the city’s standards. Only two, Sue Grove and Lynn Spainhower, said that it did; Grove said after the meeting the plan was just too big for the site.

The commissioners passed the CUP with staff-recommended conditions, plus more added during the meeting that prohibited overnight RV parking and called for city staff to review traffic and lighting plans.

In addition to the CUP on Tuesday, the commission approved the rezoning of one remaining residential space owned by the Plehal trust (8 votes to 0), as well as preliminary plat review for the project (7-1, Grove against), a minimum green space variance (8-0) and a tree mitigation plan (8-0).

(Contact Josh Verges at 434-2214 or josh.verges@austindailyherald.com.)