Posted: Fri, 13 May 2011 06:40 PM - 14,647 Readers

By: Tiffany Young & Taylor Short

The Travis County Commissioners Court postponed a request that the Lower Colorado River Authority ban building floating habitable structures on Lake Travis.

County staff plan to meet with developer John Shipley to discuss a proposed marina.

LCRA has a moratorium on building floating habitable structures—such as homes, residential developments or hotels—on the Highland Lakes, including Lake Travis, through Oct. 31.

Recently, staff learned of a proposal to create a floating habitable structure community of about 120 homes designed to float in a cove near Jonestown.

Steve Manilla, Travis County transportation and natural resources executive director, told the court that staff had safety concerns about how floating habitable structures were built and how quickly lake levels can change.

“What you must understand is there are two types of floating homes and floating habitable structures on Lake Travis—there are those within a marina, which are professionally managed and structurally more sound, and then there are the floating homes that are behind a person’s residence on their private waterfront lot,” he said.

Shipley agreed with his staff that LCRA has no way to regulate the latter, but that the former is well-regulated. He added that the floating homes in the proposed marina would be safer and better for water quality than houseboats and yachts on Lake Travis.

Commissioner Karen Huber said she put the item on the agenda to begin public discussion.