The residents of Oakpark Mobile Home Park made a strong showing at Monday’s Austin City Council meeting, so did the residents and neighbors of the as-yet unfinished Carriage Homes addition.

Tuesday, August 17, 1999

The residents of Oakpark Mobile Home Park made a strong showing at Monday’s Austin City Council meeting, so did the residents and neighbors of the as-yet unfinished Carriage Homes addition.

Oakpark residents accuse the park’s new owners of illegal actions and the Carriage Homes residents said the developer had basically deserted the development – with two units left to finish and multiple issues unresolved – for more profitable ventures further south.

"We moved out there about 1 1/2 years ago," resident Bruce Adams said. "I don’t think they’ve had a crew out there in a year. There’s grass growing wild, holes in the roads; it’s a slum out there."

Carriage Homes was intended to be a 38-unit townhome development. The 7-acre development is located south of the intersection of 16th Ave. SW and 24th St. SW.

The council voted to give the developer, Carriage Homes, Inc. of Stillwater, until November to fulfill the developer’s agreement made with the city in the fall of 1997. At that time, the developer stated that the project would be completed within 18 months, by April of this year. The developer has also failed to honor other items in the developer’s agreement, including landscaping, final grading of the site, creation of a retention pond and storm water drainage and putting a hard surface road system throughout the development, among other things.

Jane Adams also addressed the council, asking that the city penalize the developer and help the residents with construction issues she said the developer is deliberately ignoring until the warranties on the homes expire.

City attorney David Hoversten stressed that the city has no power or responsibility to enforce the warranty issues or construction practices beyond minimum standards.

The city can choose to take the developer to court if the development agreement isn’t fulfilled by November, or to finish the project in place of the developer.

Several other Carriage Homes residents and neighbors of the development were present at the meeting, among them Sal Espe, who presented the council with a petition against the development two years ago, stating concerns with storm water runoff and the effect of the development on the area – concerns that seem particularly valid with the project still incomplete.

City planning/zoning administrator Craig Hoium said the city was doing what it could.

"The developers’ agreement outlines what recourses the city has," he said. "We’ll look at those in November if the agreement is not fulfilled."

Hoium also said the city was aware of and involved in the disputes at the Oakpark Mobile Home Park – formerly Nelson’s Wheel Estates – which is located on the western edge of Austin on Oakland Ave.

Linnea Burtch spoke on behalf of the residents of the mobile home park.

"We had many issues with the new lease the owners issued," she said, "so we met with them and agreed that many of the provisions (or lack of) were illegal … Communication between the residents and the owners broke down about a month ago."

Burtch gave as an example the storm shelter, which used to be the park office building, taken down by the new owners. The owners are legally obliged to provide residents with a map to a storm shelter if they don’t provide their own, the residents received a map with directions to Oakland Avenue.

"After hearing from the residents and council member Poppe, I met with the owners July 21 to discuss land use, state licensing, spacing and other issues," Hoium told the council. "Since that time, I think we’ve had some positive responses from the owners, but not all of the issues have been resolved."

In other matters at Monday’s meeting, the council did the following:

– Heard Francis Skinness’s concerns on the current 12th Ave. NE project.

– Approved the 1999 fall leaf collection program.

– Approved a change order to replace the existing trunk sanitary sewer lines behind the Eagles to Driesner Park. The change would make the line accessible during high water conditions.

– Approved an agreement with Groh and Fox Electric for road improvements between the two establishments.

– Voted to allow $10,000 from the contingency fund for lobbying on the state bonding bill.