Austin: Salt Lick owner moving forward with development

[priller]

http://www.statesman.com/business/co...ood.html?imw=Y

Upscale development using much of land's natural resources, eco-friendly features

DRIFTWOOD — Yellow construction backhoes are rumbling through the Hill Country, starting to transform 540 acres of land into an upscale mixed-use development simply called Driftwood.

Last May, Salt Lick owner Scott Roberts announced plans to turn the land near his restaurant into a luxury development of home sites, vineyards, a spa and lodge. The property is roughly bounded by RM 1826, RM 150 and Onion Creek.

True to his vision of keeping as much of the natural landscape as possible, Roberts is dedicating 215 acres to green space. Roberts also is creating 50 acres of vineyards, 10 acres of orchards and an organic garden.

"We've been stewards of this land for more than 100 years," Roberts said of his family. "We wanted to make sure the land was protected and felt the best way to get that done is to develop it ourselves."

Roberts is using much of the land's resources to create the development...

[Saddle Man]

I think it's neat, but I hate it at the same time.

[KevinFromTexas]

More sprawl. And that area is really, really remote. My brother and his friends used to go to Camp Bend McCullough just down the road from the Salt Lick. He said it was so neat at night to see so many stars. That area is so remote and so rural. I can't imagine why people would want to develop it.

[priller]

I kind of feel like Kirby on this one. While I hate the fact that they're developing another plot for mansions way out of town, the way they're doing it, and all the eco-friendly choices they've made, are quite interesting.

[M1EK]

You can't be eco-friendly if you have to drive ten miles to the grocery store; thirty miles to your office; ten miles to the drug store; thirty miles to the doctors' office; etc.

This is something a lot of the hippier environmentalists get wrong. A completely average resident of Manhattan who doesn't pay any attention at all to recycling, energy, etc is far better for the environment than somebody who lives out there in exurban sprawl but does everything else right.

[KevinFromTexas]

That place is 20+ miles from us, and we live in South Austin, about 2 miles south of Ben White. So, yeah, it's out there.

[Jdawgboy]

I honestly think they should just leave the land as is. I mean if they have had the land for 100 years and kept it as is, might as well just leave it.

[KevinFromTexas]

I was SO very proud of the Reimer family. This is a family who owned a 1,267 acre ranch in far western Travis County near Hamilton Pool on the Pedernales River. The ranch had been in the family for about 125 years I believe. They came up with a plan and family agreement to keep the land as natural as possible. In fact, while they lived there they allowed people to come onto their property and use their land for recreation. You'd pay a small fee at the gate which was under the honor system. The "park" included picnicking, hiking, mountain biking, swimming, fishing and rock climbing. Of course developers were licking their chops trying to get it. The family entered into an agreement with Travis County to have the county purchase the land. 3 years ago there was a bond election, and it passed. So the county bought the ranch and will turn it into a park. All the same uses will be there. I think they said they'd pave the road into the park. The place is amazing. It takes 45 minutes to get to from our house in South Austin. The road into the park is about a mile long. There's incredible views of the hills out there coming in on the road. You can see Packsaddle Mountain way off in the distance in Llano County about 20 miles away. And it is dead silent besides the sound of birds. As you hike down the trail it drops down about 20 feet along a creek. The creek goes down even lower and there's rocky outcroppings which actually form caves. There are stalactites and stalagmites in the outcropping. The temperature in this area drops about 15 degrees even on a really hot day. Moss hangs from the ceiling and water drips.

Across the river there's also an adjacent ranch that was also purchased and is included as part of the park. In all, both ranches make up 2,427 acres.. That ranch was actually the site of the Alamo movie with Billy Bob Thorton. My brother rock climbs, and he said from the top of the cliff you can actually see the Alamo and movie set.

Here's the website, but if you also Google "Reimer's Ranch, you can find some gorgeous pictures of the park.
http://www.co.travis.tx.us/tnr/parks/reimers_ranch.asp

Good photos on flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Reimer's%20Ranch&w=all

[bgrn198]

I think it's nice Driftwood should have a town square kinda like Wimberley that's what makes those little Hill Country towns like Wimberley or fredericksburg nice is the shopping and restaurants.