A group calling itself "Save Town Lake" has formed to fight CWS Properties' proposed high-rise development on Town Lake near S. Congress and E. Riverside. Their website is here.
Their pitch (as their name implies) is that we must act to save Town Lake and the Hike and Bike Trail:
What makes it special? There is room to breathe and lots of nature to experience right in the heart of the city. Runners, walkers, strollers, bicyclists, meditators, picknickers, dogs and their owners all have a sense of freedom from urban chaos. This openness is created because the current buildings are set appropriately back from the shore.
(Italics mine).
They're entitled to their opinion, but they shouldn't misrepresent the facts. As I've pointed out, the apartment complexes there now jut to within 20 feet of Town Lake. A parking lot sits just 3 or 4 feet from the banks. There is no Hike and Bike Trail on this stretch of Town Lake because there is no room for it. That doesn't seem idyllic to me.
The developer is essentially proposing to create an extra 60 feet of buffer. The neighborhood groups want an extra 180 feet, which would leave most of the property undevelopable. We can debate whether it's better to have high rises and public access or low rises and no public access. (We can even debate whether there'll be a developer willing to give us 200-foot setbacks.) Just don't claim you're protecting public access to Town Lake when your opposition may foreclose public access to Town Lake.
P.S. The cynical should check out their list of "Town Lake" developments, evidently meant to alarm us about overdevelopment. Spring, 360 and the Monarch all made the list.
