Lago Vista council sends commercial map plan back to staff

What the map is

The Future Land Use Map (FLUM) is part of the city's Comprehensive Plan update. City staff wrote that the map is intended to serve as a long-range policy guide and does not rezone property. The plan sorts land into eleven place types, including a "Regional Commercial District" and an "Employment & Service District."⁸ The agenda item was "limited to review and possible addition of commercial designations to the FLUM." Mayor Shane Saum submitted the item. The item also asked the council to "provide direction to staff regarding preparation of the draft."⁷ The council's Oct. 1 agenda asked it to act on "the Planning and Zoning Commission's recommendation" for the plan.⁹

What we reported before

At the council's Oct. 1, 2026, meeting, Mayor Shane Saum moved to approve the draft map while "designating Shoreline Ranch as rural residential tier one with a prominent disclaimer." The motion also called for "holding a called meeting for council to reassess commercial zoning."¹⁰ The chair announced, "It's approved five to two."¹¹ Our story on the earlier map vote covers that meeting in full. Our history of the map traces how the plan began. This story covers the commercial part of the map.

What happened on Oct. 15

The agenda's call of roll lists Mayor Shane R. Saum, Mayor Pro Tem Norma Owen, and Council Members Amanda Chavarria, Karen Van Ness, Jess Hall, Paul Prince, and Adam Benefield.² Mayor Shane Saum chaired the meeting, and speakers addressed him as "Mayor."^2,12

The chair called up "action item number nine four" after a break.¹³ He said he would start with Council Member Prince, because "I think it was your request in the last discussion that you want to take another look at commercial."¹⁴

Prince said the mayor pro tem "put a lot of content out on this discussion board," and that he and Van Ness commented on it. He said he wanted to discuss "what we want to achieve in terms of the commercial property" without "dictating the exact specifics in tonight's session." Then staff could "work with planning and zoning to translate that," he said, "rather than us do it on the fly tonight."¹⁵

What residents said

Four people spoke during public comment on the item, and none of them spoke against adding commercial land.^16,17

The chair first called on former Mayor Kevin Sullivan. He asked the council to keep a hotel site marked commercial and said, "Please leave it as commercial." He called one corner "one of the last undeveloped corners at our biggest intersection in the city." He said, "I think it should be that heavy commercial in here." More land marked commercial "gives it a better chance for that particular corner to be developed," he said.¹⁶

The next speaker described work on the map with the Planning and Zoning Commission and said, "We basically doubled the commercial area." He said he would be fine running commercial "all the way down to Ming Trail." He said, "The city park at Turn Back is still not listed as a city park."¹⁸

A third speaker said he has permits open near the airport for a house, but that commercial or mixed use there "genuinely makes sense." He warned that "whatever decision we do make is going to affect people who bought property thinking it was one thing and not the other." He asked the city to reach landowners, because "I will not spend any more money building a residential house there if it ends up being commercial."¹⁹

A construction business owner pointed to undeveloped land "across from the Hollows." He said hard commercial zoning there might bring in "a developer to put the utilities in without affecting any residents." He said a new stoplight there could slow traffic near 1431, where "we have the majority of our accidents."¹⁷

What council members said

Back in council discussion, a council member the video does not identify said, "We have neighborhood activity center. We have regional commercial district and we have employment and service district." The member said a Neighborhood Activity Center "is talking about mixed use higher intensity," like a small version of the Domain, a shopping and housing district in North Austin. A Regional Commercial District is "regional serving commercial activity," such as a Home Depot or an H-E-B store, the member said. The Employment and Service District is an "employment focus campus or corridor form."²⁰

The same member said the north side of Dawn Drive, "which is all residential," fits an "overlay strategy." That would allow "employment and service district usage on a residential structure underneath it" in certain areas. The member also asked the commission to review the city's commercial zones, which "do not map onto" the new strategy.²¹

Another unnamed council member said the city's comprehensive planning committee had pictured mixed use as "offices or shops with residences above."²² A third unnamed council member said some small businesses are "wanting to run out of their homes, but we're not allowing that."²³

An unnamed council member then asked, "My one question for you, Mr. Prince," whether the overlay meant more than the home businesses state law already protects. Prince answered, "More," and said a small school could have "ten cars showing up all at once."²⁴

The chair then called on Council Member Adam Benefield, who said, "I really like that idea about commercial on the other side of the Hollows on that hillside."^2,25 He said that if anything there is ever developed, "it's not going to be a neighborhood."²⁵

The construction business owner also suggested a marina with shops at Patriot Point, so boaters could "come up the lake in the boat and spend tourism money." An unnamed council member answered, "I think the problem though, is that a lot of it's in the floodplain."²⁶

The speaker who had described the Planning and Zoning Commission's map work came back and said, "We never, as a committee had a chance to do justice to the commercial." He asked for a map to mark up and a list of the commercial categories the council wanted, and said, "We'll make it happen." An unnamed council member asked about a backlog at the commission and said, "We don't have a development services director." The commission speaker answered, "We can probably have this thing ready for the next meeting."²⁷

He said of the map, "Without this, we can't start the impact fees."²⁸

The motion

The chair said he was "not really in favor of sending it back" to the commission yet.²⁹ After more discussion, the chair called on the "Mayor Pro Tem," and Owen said, "I really think that potentially this should actually go back to staff."³⁰ She said she would like to hear from economic development and the new development services staff, then take it into strategic planning and invite Planning and Zoning members. Owen said, "We would be through with this end of November, 1st of December."³¹ She then made the motion described at the top of this story.

The motion limited the review "to commercial and commercial related mixed use land use designations."¹ It listed six items for staff to review. The first was identifying opportunities for coordinated commercial centers rather than disconnected commercial strips. Staff would also be "evaluating the actual developable commercial acreage." The list included "determining the locations that are best suited for the different types of commercial."³² She said the next item was "based on what Councilor Prince was saying."³³ Another was "identifying appropriate transitions and buffering to protect adjoining residential neighborhoods." It included "reviewing whether existing commercial zone classifications adequately support" commercial uses. The sixth was another look at commercial areas named before, including an overlay "for homes to be used as business employment services." The motion asked staff to "bring it to us at our strategic planning meeting."³²

A member said, "I'll second," and the chair named Council Member Karen Van Ness as the seconder.^2,3

The chair then called on Council Member Adam Benefield, who said, "I feel like we've just wasted an entire hour of our time."^2,34 He said the council could have told staff at the start to "go figure it out and bring something back to us." He asked, "Why don't we come to consensus on some of these things?" He said that otherwise "we're going to have another five hour discussion."³⁴

Right after, a council member the video does not identify asked, "Do we have consensus that we support all the recommendations that we heard here tonight?" Another member listed them, including a "regional commercial district" along 1431 and regional commercial across from the Hollows. Asked whether she was open to that amendment, Owen said, "I am." The chair said, "The Mayor Pro Tem is open to that," and then, "We have an amended motion." As described on the video, the amendment adds the council's support for those recommendations to the referral.⁴

The vote

On the amended motion, the chair said, "All those in favor say aye."⁵

What it means for taxpayers

The motion does not set a tax, fee, or rate.¹ But a speaker at the meeting said the city's impact fee study cannot start until the map is done.²⁸ Impact fees are charges a builder owes the city for each new house that connects to city systems, such as the sewer plant.³⁵

What we could not find

• The written version of the six-item motion.
• The minutes, which will show each member's vote.
• A date for the strategic planning meeting where staff will bring the work back.

What you can do

• Watch the discussion in the city's meeting video, linked in the sources below.
• Ask the City Secretary for the written motion and for the minutes. Both are public records under the Texas Public Information Act.
• Tell council members which areas you think should be commercial before the map comes back. Contact them through the City Secretary at City Hall.