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BASTROP — City Council wrestled with the needs of the community and requirements of a proposed mixed-use project along Texas 95 during its Sept. 8 meeting.
The Crossings at 95 would place 30 townhomes, two four-story retail buildings with 51 apartments and a restaurant on a 7.3-acre tract near the youth softball fields and senior center. The site plan calls for a dedicated left turn lane into the development, though no traffic impact analysis was included, drawing sharp questions over traffic and drainage.
“The idea that they will have a left-hand turn lane and they will ever get to turn left is absolutely unreasonable,” Pecan Street resident Heather Green said, citing traffic from nearby schools and impatient drivers cutting through neighborhoods.
The council declined to approve requested variances and instead asked staff to work with the developer on a revised plan. Members said they want a traffic analysis, a closer review of parking requirements, possible removal of Linden Street access and more community input before taking another vote.
Mayor Ishmael Harris called the project “an unfortunate ‘Catch 22,’” saying its success could also create a bottleneck at the busy intersection. Mayor Pro Tem John Kirkland raised concerns over parking, arguing that rural, car-dependent areas need more than the 180 spaces planned.
Residents also pointed toward standing water in the nearby neighborhoods and the potential for flooding.
Shiva Shankar of Paradise Engineers, representing the developer, said a detention pond would handle runoff and that garages and driveways would satisfy townhouse parking requirements. City Manager Sylvia Carillo-Trevino urged the developer to reconsider density, as cramming multiple uses onto a tract “sometimes doesn’t work.”
