Lawsuit seeks to halt planned redevelopment of former Statesman site on Lady Bird Lake

The Save Our Springs Alliance has filed a lawsuit against the city of Austin, seeking to halt the planned redevelopment of the former Austin American-Statesman site on Lady Bird Lake.

The Austin City Council in December 2022 approved the large mixed-use planned unit development, which includes plans for six large towers on the shoreline, including more than 1,378 residential units plus office and retail space.

The lawsuit seeks to stop any future permitting approvals, city fee waivers and development subsidies outlined in the December 2022 ordinance. It comes on the heels of a judge in April halting the city of Austin's plan to use more than $350 million in future tax revenue to pay for infrastructure in the redevelopment of the South Central Waterfront area, which includes the 18.9-acre former Statesman site.

Read More: Judge halts Austin's plan to use tax revenue for Lady Bird Lake redevelopment

In the lawsuit filed on Wednesday, the Save Our Springs Alliance makes several claims that state and local laws and regulations were skirted in the adoption process, therefore making the ordinance void from its inception.

Some of those claims include violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act, violations of the city charter related to parkland and engaging in "contract zoning." Contract zoning refers to a city agreeing to specific zoning for a property in exchange for something from the developer, which is illegal in Texas.

Austin city attorney Anne Morgan said in a statement that the city had just received the lawsuit and that officials are reviewing it "and will respond through the court process as appropriate.”

"The package of development entitlements associated with the Statesman PUD is unprecedented,” Bobby Levinski, an attorney with the Save Our Springs Alliance, said in a news release. “This PUD goes beyond zoning by essentially adopting a separate code unique only to this property.”

The former Statesman property is owned by the Cox family, who previously owned the newspaper. Richard Suttle, who represents the developers of the property, told the Statesman he is still reviewing the 53-page lawsuit in its entirety but believes the city followed all proper procedures.

The City Council approved the Statesman planned development without any affordable housing on site in exchange for the development group paying more than $23 million for affordable housing elsewhere in the city, the Statesman previously reported. The affordable housing component was a strong point of friction during negotiations.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Lawsuit seeks to stop redevelopment of former American-Statesman site