Marble Falls OKs development agreement for Manzano Mile project
A 253-plus-acre commercial/residential development is proposed for land on the east (right) side of Manzano Mile in Marble Falls. Staff photo by Dakota Morrissiey
A proposed 253.89-acre residential/commercial development along Manzano Mile in Marble Falls is closer to breaking ground with the approval of a development agreement between the city and Rockspring Development LLC. Among the agreement’s conditions are large additions to the city parks system and increased water storage capacity to meet the expected demands of the new community.
The Marble Falls City Council unanimously approved the development agreement during its regular meeting Tuesday, Feb. 4.
“There’s months and months of sit-downs and negotiations and agreements (that led up to this point),” Mayor Dave Rhodes told DailyTrib.com following the council vote.
Current plans show a multi-use development running along roughly 1.8 miles of Manzano Mile, from the RR 1431 intersection to Colt Elementary School at 2200 Manzano Mile. Plans include commercial lots, single-family homes, townhomes, and multi-family units, all built on largely undeveloped land on the east side of the road.
While the exact number of homes and businesses was not included in the agreement, it allows for enough water and wastewater utilities to service 1,500 living unit equivalents (LUEs). This unit of measurement is used by developers to plan for the amount of infrastructure needed for a project. One LUE is roughly equivalent to the utilities usage of a standard single-family home with an average of 3.5 occupants.
As part of the agreement, developers will contribute $1 million toward the construction of a new water tower, $2 million toward public park improvements, a 15.43-acre donation of public parkland, $625,787 toward wastewater infrastructure, and $279,080 toward public trail construction.
According to Rhodes, a development like this has been on the city’s radar for years.
“Fifteen-plus years ago, when we built Manzano Mile, it’s not a two-lane highway with a stripe down the middle. It’s a boulevard,” he explained. “We were expecting that whole area to be a main feeder and to accommodate a lot of traffic over time.”
The next step in the development process is a Feb. 18 public hearing on the formation of a public improvement district to service the proposed development. The district would collect funds from future property owners in the development to pay back up to $50 million in utility improvements made by the developer to get the project online.