The city of Austin Zoning and Platting Commission was to hold a public hearing on Jan. 17 for the two zoning cases that affect River Place but it has been postponed. The next target date for the hearing is Feb 21 subject to commission approval.

It has been over 1.5 years since Milestone Community Builders filed their zoning request to add 110 homes at the end of Milky Way Drive. This postponement will mean that it has been rescheduled nine times. This postponement was requested by Jonathan Tommey of the Autism Trust, said Ted Gaunt, who lives on Milky Way.

“The latest from Milestone indicates that they want 82 homes and roads to fit into about 35 acres of buildable land,” Gaunt said. “However, if we matched the existing zoning on Milky Way, then the location would support a much lower density of less than 30 homes.”

City zoning staff as looked at this and recommended that the zoning should match The Preserve ( Milky Way and Merry Wing) for the most-part, and has identified 30,000-square-feet minimum lot size as being supportive of zoning regulations. Under that recommendation, Milestone might build 45-50 homes, Gaunt said.