Posted: Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:30 AM - 8,335 Readers

By: Sarah Coppola

photo by Austin American-Statesman

The owner of 54 acres abutting Lake Austin and Bull Creek wants to develop the land to include several eco-friendly features, such as seasonal lakes for migratory birds, geothermal heating and possibly a wind turbine.

David Booth and his family would need the city's approval to build those features, in addition to a home and recreation facility, on their Northwest Austin property. They have applied to go through a special city zoning process that allows city officials and owners of big parcels of land to hash out many details of complex projects all at once.

Neighbors opposed initial plans Booth proposed for the land in May, then withdrew their objections. They say they haven't reviewed the details of his new plan.

City of Austin planners presented Booth's proposal Thursday to the City Council, which said it liked the plan's environmental features and that it would preserve much open space. The council won't vote on the case for another six months or so.

Booth said he's hired several consultants, from botanists to geologists, to make the property — the largest undeveloped parcel along Lake Austin inside Capital of Texas Highway (Loop 360) — as eco-friendly as possible.

"We're trying to make it a model of greenness," said Booth, 62, who moved here last year with his wife and two children from Los Angeles. He is CEO of Dimensional Fund Advisors, a $160 billion money-management company with 220 employees in Austin. "I've been living in big cities since I got out of college. I'm kind of reveling in getting back to nature."

City staffers concluded after an initial review that the plan meets — and on some points, exceeds — the city's development rules. But it will require carving out some exceptions, mostly to environmental rules, in order to restore the land to a more natural state.

The Booths bought the land in 2007. They could build 23 single-family homes and six condos there under the existing zoning. Instead, the family proposed earlier this year to build a two-story, four-bedroom home, a two-bedroom guest house, a barn and a recreation facility with a basketball half-court and exercise equipment. Residents in the nearby Courtyard subdivision opposed those plans at first because they thought the recreation center would sit too close to the creek and mar the area's beauty. Neighbors withdrew objections after Booth met with them and then wrote a non-binding letter assuring them that he would build the project as he had shown it in conceptual plans. Frank Apgar, president of the Courtyard Homeowners Association, said the group hasn't taken a stance on Booth's new plan because it needs to see more details about it.

Booth says he'd like to generate most or all electricity on site. He said he's hired consultants to study whether there is enough wind in the area for a wind turbine. He's also proposing a green roof with grass and plants on the main house, solar panels on the buildings, geothermal heating and cooling — energy extracted from heat underground — and a system to recycle "gray water" — from dish washing, laundry and bathing — to use for irrigation.

The Booths also plan to restore vegetation on the land, which David Booth said was overgrazed by cattle and has heavily compacted soil and many invasive plants. The family has already planted native grasses and wildflowers and 188 native trees and shrubs over the past year and plans to continue that work throughout the property.

After consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Booths have proposed creating a habitat for migratory birds, which are drawn to shallow bodies of water, by building berms on two or three acres close to the creek and flooding them each fall.

Booth also has proposed adding a grove of 200 olive trees that the family would harvest and press the olives into oil. He said the oil-making would be more hobby than business, and about 30 cedar trees would be removed to make way for the orchard, the barn and the home.

The Booths also plan to hire artist Jorge Pardo to remodel a dock on Bull Creek, and artist James Turrell to create an installation — a 10- to 15-foot-tall dome with a hole in the top — that can be seen from the creek.

The plan is also environmentally minded because it calls for covering less than 15 percent of the land with structures, pavement and other built surfaces, said David Armbrust, an attorney representing Booth in the zoning case. Far more so-called impervious cover would be allowed under the land's existing zoning, he said. The buildings will also be positioned to preserve the environmental integrity of the site, he said. For example, Armbrust said, the main house would sit beside a meadow and a wooded area in order to refrain from disturbing those ecosystems, and part of the recreation center would sit below ground level.

"Their design is modest, given the size of the property, and they are trying to incorporate cutting-edge environmental technology, both in the structures and on the land itself," Armbrust said.

*  Story Contributed by: Sarah Coppola