Graveyard Point residents awoke Aug. 25 to the sounds of new construction on the proposed Crosswater Yacht Club marina. But no sooner than work commenced, City of Lakeway code enforcement officials were on the scene ordering construction be stopped.

 

The city was following through with a Aug. 17 council decision to deny Crosswater Yacht Club’s appeal to build the marina on the grounds that no progress had been made on the development and that the project was subject to the city’s permits and dormant projects ordinance, Chapter 245.
The city said it would stop any attempt by Crosswater to build on the site.
“I was told that a contractor began construction on a portion of the marina this morning,” said Lakeway City Manager Steve Jones. “A city code enforcement officer investigated and requested that construction cease. The contractor voluntarily complied.”
Subsequently, Shannon Burke, Lakeway’s Director of Building and Development Services, officially issued a stop work order on the marina developers.
“We have officially issued a stop work order for not having a City of Lakeway Site Development Permit,” Burke said.
The marina has been mired in controversy since it was first proposed in a 2006 application with the Lower Colorado River Authority under the name “Harbor Ventures” marina. Residents rallied against the marina and the Lakeway council passed a resolution opposing it.
However, Harbor Ventures cleared LCRA requirements and was granted a permit. LCRA said the permit was later transferred to Crosswater Yacht Club.
Crosswater has been and is engaged in extensive litigation involving several Graveyard Point residents. One suit in Travis County’s 261st Judicial District Civil Court is awaiting a decision from Judge Lora Livingston that could help clarify deed restrictions. Residents maintain their deeds prohibit commercial development on the property.
Diane Crumley Dee, who has also been involved with litigation involving Crosswater, said construction crews showed up around 8:30 a.m. with drilling equipment.
“They started drilling holes for anchors,” Dee said. “Lakeway has stopped the work at this time. The land that they have drilled on is at the 670 foot mark.
Dee argued that construction was premature until the related litigation was resolved.
“We are set to go to court in November [with Crosswater],” she said. “These are not good neighbors. They are a commercial business in a residential neighborhood.”
Susan Brown is also one of the litigants in marina-related legal actions. She said a Lakeway code enforcement officer stopped workers from drilling for anchors for the marina.
“They told the Lakeway code enforcement officer that the LCRA had given them permission to drill,” Brown said.
LCRA confirmed that Crosswater has “met all of its permitting requirements.” But LCRA officials said the proposed marina is also subject to any other governmental authorities that have jurisdiction, including Lakeway and Travis County.
The Lake Travis View could not reach Teresa Calkins, Engineer Senior for Travis County, who has been monitoring the project before presstime to find out if Crosswater had met all its required permitting from the county. A Travis County spokesperson said county officials had hoped pending litigation could be decided before construction on the marina started.
The Lake Travis View attempted to contact Crosswater attorneys Clark, Thomas and Winters, but did not hear from a representative of the firm before presstime.
Lakeway officials have said the roads were never designed to accommodate commercial traffic that would accompany a marina. The city also believes that it has permitting authority concerning the marina.
“The contractor argues that the work he is performing is outside of the city’s jurisdiction (ETJ) and has been approved by a permit from the LCRA,” Jones said. “Code enforcement has requested a copy of their LCRA permit and approved plans. We believe the plans and permit will indicate that the project is located within the city’s jurisdiction.”
After the city filed the official stop work order, area residents saw construction crews working well after dark. Lakeway Mayor Dave DeOme was notified. He, in turn, called Jones, who went to the site in person telling workers they did not have a permit.