SOS, Endeavor, City of Austin face off in court

In a lawsuit over regulations related to development of the Statesman PUD, the plaintiff Save Our Springs Alliance, the defendant City of Austin, and the Intervenor property owner all asked Travis County District Judge Jan Soifer to rule in their favor on Thursday. After nearly 3 hours of arguments, the judge told the lawyers she would take the matter under advisement and let them know her decision.

The suit was filed over plans to develop 18.86 acres of land on the south shore of Lady Bird Lake. It focused on whether City Council violated the Texas Open Meetings Act (TOMA) and the City Charter when they approved Endeavor Real Estate Group’s plans for the site in late 2022.  The property was the home of the Austin American-Statesman for many years.

Among other things, SOS argued that the city violated TOMA by failing to notify the public about the plan to relocate part of the Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike trail inland, away from the lake. Save Our Springs (SOS) argued the city should have identified this change and given the public the right to speak about it separately. In addition, SOS said Council’s one minute time limit to speak on the issue did not satisfy the requirements of the open meetings act.

Dan Richards and Sara Clark argued on behalf of the city. Casey Dobson spoke on behalf of the intervenors, the Cox family and Endeavor Real Estate. Each lawyer said the city had fulfilled all the requirements of the Texas Open Meetings Act, and that the judge should grant the city’s request for summary judgment in their favor. They showed the judge numerous documents indicating the city’s production of information.

Bobby Levinski and Bill Bunch, attorneys for SOS, said the city had violated the Open Meetings Act and failed to enumerate major changes approval of the Statesman PUD would entail. They also asked for a summary judgment in their favor.