Park Development Plans Outlined

PFLUGERVILLE, TX -- A potential array of amenities to a pair of parkland sites—the Mansions of Stone Hill Park and Highland Community Park—was recently outlined, including potential dog parks, volleyball and basketball courts, playgrounds and walking trails among the most feasible uses.

Pflugerville City Council members listened as David Cazares, a landscape architect at MWM DesignGroup, outlined a vision for the 11-acre parkland located next to a Wilbarger Creek tributary at the intersection of Interstate 35 and Texas Highway 130. He discussed the preliminary design report for the envisioned park during the Dec. 8 council meeting.

The process to identify improvements to the site began earlier this year, with a draft report filed in October. Cazares’ firm concurrently performed an environmental constraints study on the property to determine the presence of any protected endangered species that could potentially impact development.

“‘We’re happy to report that there are no habitats here that support any endangered species that are listed in Travis County,” he said. An emergent wetland was found on site, but Cazares said no development is anticipated that would compromise it. Moreover, MWM DesignGroup checked Texas Historic Commission and Texas Archeological Sites records to ensure no state resources requiring preservation were found at the site.

Cazares laid out the best envisioned elements for the site, including: A 1-acre dog park; basketball and volleyball courts; practice field; a full-fledged playground; picnic facilities; a shade structure; restrooms; parking space accommodating 50 vehicles; a ¾-mile loop trail system; an exercise station; and a rain garden. The latter is a garden that capitalizes on rainfall and storm water runoff in its design and plant selection. Such a garden is designed to withstand extremes of moisture and concentration of nutrients typically found in storm water runoff.

All told, the enhancements would cost about $1.7 million, the consultant said.

The developing park design will have ready-made, adjacent potential users, Cazares said, noting ongoing construction of an apartment complex to the east of the parkland and the beginnings of a residential subdivision to the southwest. He said the envisioned trail system could be linked to both residential housing developments. Adjacent land to the north of the parkland is undeveloped, while a 1/2 –acre tract located within the flood plain exists to the south.

Potential park amenities include a basketball court, volleyball courts, a playground with swings, picnic facilities, a 1-acre dog park and a dog fountain, fitness hill, a splash pad, shade structure/pavilion, rain garden, restrooms with an outdoor shower, 50 public parking spaces and a practice field.

Later, another consultant discussed potential amenities for Highland Community Park, laying out a more ambitious plan estimated to cost nearly $5 million. Plans there call for the potential construction of a 5-acre dog park, expanding parking lots, hiking trails, public restrooms, playground and a community garden. That acreage is located in the city’s northern sector, with Great Basin Avenue to its west and Kingston Lacy Boulevard to the east.

Unlike Stone Hill Park that is nearly devoid of trees, Highland Community is landscape-abundant. “There’s a lot of flora and fauna,” Brent Baker, a managing partner of architectural design firm Studio 16:19 said.