Congratulations to Kerry Fossler and all the residents of the City of Bastrop! Fossler won with 53% of the vote in her two-way race with Jimmy Crouch for Bastrop City Council Place 4.
It's not easy to defeat an incumbent, even one that's only been in office one term. And though Kerry was an exceptional candidate -- and is a natural leader -- she also ran at the exact right moment to give Bastrop an exceptional chance. While Austin's growth is slowing, growth in the counties around Austin is rapid. Therefore, cities around Austin are dealing with big challenges to our water, land, and affordability.
The Fossler v. Crouch race heated up just as developers pushed the Gateway shopping center, hotel, and more at the top of a hill of piney woods (aka the Lost Pines neighborhood) overlooking the city of Bastrop and next to the Bastrop State Park. If you missed our article about it, be sure to read it here.
MOST IMPORTANT -- SHOW UP BASTROP ON THURSDAY NIGHT!
This coming Thursday, May 9th, at 6 pm, the Planning and Zoning Commission will -- for the second time -- be asked to approve the change in zoning of the Lost Pines area from rural (P2) to the highest density commercial development option (P5). The posting is not up yet, so perhaps staff and the City Manager will have second thoughts. We can only hope and show up! Watch for the posting here.
We leave you with a quote from Pablo Serna, a licensed architect and respected member of the Planning and Zoning Commission in previous years. We hope to learn more from Serna as the city grapples with affordability and development and the efforts by developer interests to neuter the decisions made with the involvement of 1500 citizens to plan the City of Bastrop. It's called the "B3 Code" and it's an important tool for citizens to plan their city -- unless you like what happened to Austin:
“By recommending this zoning change and increases to development, the city staff has betrayed the will of the people. For nearly ten years, the citizens of the City of Bastrop have been working with professional planners, architects, and engineers to capture a vision for the future growth of Bastrop. None of the numerous planning documents have the area known as the “Lost Pines” on the chopping block for massive commercial, retail, and hotel development. It was obvious to everyone that the Lost Pines were a natural treasure, part of the Houston Toad Habitat, and worth conserving at all costs. We now call upon the Planning and Zoning Commission and ultimately the City Council- to stay the course and deny this request.” Pablo Serna
On a personal/political note from us at LIV, witnessing citizens of all political backgrounds working together on this local race gave us a ray of hope for the future of all Texans. Let's keep this going!
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