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City of Austin v. Garza12/18/2003
This case concerns the development of commercial property over the Barton Creek Watershed. Eli Garza applied for and was granted the right to develop property in what was once known as the Garza Ranch in the Barton Creek Watershed. The regulatory scheme in place at the time he filed his application to subdivide the property was a temporary land use ordinance, enacted by the City of Austin, called the Interim Ordinance. The Interim Ordinance was an amendment to the Comprehensive Watershed Ordinance ("CWO") and effective only from February 21, 1991 to August 23, 1991. Under the CWO, a commercial developer could lay up to seventy percent impervious cover. Under the Interim Ordinance, impervious cover was limited to eighteen percent. According to state and local law, the regulatory scheme in place at the time Garza originally filed his plan to develop, the Interim Ordinance, should have governed all subsequent development undertaken pursuant to their application. Garza's final, approved and recorded subdivision map, however, allowed development to proceed under the more permissive CWO. The City subsequently refused to recognize the validity of Garza's subdivision map and note purporting to allow development under the CWO. Garza and intervenor, Gordon Dunaway for Provident Realty Advisors, Inc., (collectively "Garza") sued the City seeking a declaration that development could proceed under the CWO. The trial court ruled in Garza's favor. We affirm the trial court's judgment.
STATEMENT OF FACTS
On February 21, 1991, the City passed Ordinance Number 910221-E, called the "Interim Ordinance." The Interim Ordinance was a temporary amendment to the CWO and reduced the permissible amount of impervious cover a commercial developer could lay from up to seventy percent to eighteen percent. On March 1, 1991 and during the effective period of the Interim Ordinance, Garza filed an application for approval of a subdivision plat covering approximately thirty-five acres at the intersection of Mopac and William Cannon in south Austin. The City Planning Commission ("Commission") approved the plat on May 7, 1991. The plat was recorded on September 11, 1991 and contained the following notes:
6.This subdivision shall be developed, constructed and maintained in accordance with the terms and conditions of Chapter 13-2, Article V, and chapter 13-7, Article V, dated June 1, 1988. (emphasis added)
10. Block E Lot 2 and Block A Lot will be deeded to the City of Austin as an extension of the Williamson Creek Greenbelt. This dedication will take place prior to or simultaneously with final plat approval.
Plat Note 11 dealt with the transfer of impervious cover credits and contained a table with two main columns--one marked "DONATING TRACTS" and the other "RECEIVING TRACTS. The "donating tracts" were Lots 1 and 2 of Block A and Lot 2 of Block E (Plat Note 10 above) containing 46,574 square feet. The donated square footage, 46,574, was transferred to and allocated between the "receiving tracts," which were Lots 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Block B, and Lots 1 of Blocks C, D and E.
In 1997, Garza contracted to sell some of the "receiving tracts," Lots 1, 3 and 4, Block B, approximately five-and-one-half acres, to Gordon Dunaway. Closing was contingent upon obtaining a Consolidated Site Development Permit from the City. The City rejected the application because it did not conform to the Interim Ordinance.
Garza filed suit seeking a declaratory judgment that the provisions of the CWO governed the development of the subdivision and not the Interim Ordinance. The City argued that the inclusion of the date in Plat Note 6 was, at best, a mistake and, at worst, Garza's de
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