Following years of planning, albeit amid controversy, sales and construction within new residential development Provence are underway at 16314 Hamilton Pool Road, just outside of Bee Cave’s city limits. The project, located on the former Hatchett Tract and approved for 673 homes, is actively selling homes in the first section of Phase 1 and is about to break ground on its second section of that phase, Masonwood Development Marketing Director Samantha Meredith said. Masonwood, a family-owned local development group begun in the 1990s, is spearheading the project.
However, not everyone agrees the project is in line with the area’s Hill Country ambiance, and some individuals recently displayed their opposition in an illegal fashion.
On Jan. 10, the monument sign at the front of the Provence neighborhood was defaced with the spray painted message “Keep the Hills Country.” Vandals also broke glass and removed front panel lettering. The matter was referred to the Travis County Sheriff’s Office the following day, but sheriff’s spokesperson Kristen Dark said the case has been suspended “due to lack of investigative leads.”
“It was thousands of dollars of damage,” Meredith said. “It was really heartbreaking as well because we have people who really care about the community.”
The developer is now in the process of cleaning up the damage and installing security cameras at the front of the community, she said. Representatives of the company hired by Masonwood to add the new security measures questioned why anyone would create damage in such a scenic neighborhood, she said.
“You can see how much effort we put into trying to save the trees and really trying to make it a beautiful entrance,” Meredith said. “It’s just unfortunate that some people with maybe a political agenda would go out there and disrespect our homeowners like that.”
She said Masonwood prioritized preserving nature because doing so adds character and beauty to the community.
“We are also really trying to implement a very Hill Country aesthetic and the building materials we’re using, the stone that we’re using is local,” Meredith said. Provence is a community of homes “for people who really want to live in this area,” she said.
But Jim Koerner, a Belvedere resident who heads up Hamilton Pool Road Matters—a nonprofit comprised of homeowners associations and community leaders focused on the corridor’s safety and conservation—said neighbors are still concerned about safety and aesthetic issues that remain from the venture.
Calling the Provence vandalism “absolutely irreprehensible,” he said he hopes the culprit will be caught. However, Koerner said the project has “never fit what we believe is appropriate for the Hill Country.”
The project’s master plan was approved in 2014 by Travis County Commissioners Court and originally included 1,637 lots, a decrease from a proposed 1,800 lots. Prior to that approval, Bee Cave City Council advocated against the project in late-2013, passing a resolution opposing its original plan. Council members cited a risk of water pollution from the project that sits on the banks of Little Barton Creek together with safety concerns over two-lane Hamilton Pool Road, a route that lacks shoulders. Possible overcrowding in local schools from the added population was also a named issue.
Hamilton Pool Road is owned and maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation.
“The way it sits today and the way its density sits, it continues to be a concern for the community,” said Koerner of Provence. “The development never really fit the vision of the people who live out in the Hill Country and along Hamilton Pool Road—what we aspire to for our community, which is mainly ranches, ranchettes or large lot subdivisions. It’s been the antithesis of that from the very beginning.”
Plans are in the works for a proposed $12.1 million project that would make the busy thoroughfare safer by adding 6-foot wide shoulders and a center turn lane covering about 6.7 miles.
Despite Masonwood constructing turn lanes at the subdivision entrance as it was required to do, Koerner said the project still presents dangers. He said a meeting between Hamilton Pool Road Matters representatives and TxDOT is set for the end of this week to nail down what proposed improvements are funded and in process for Hamilton Pool Road in light of the new residents moving to the area.
On Jan. 10, a single-vehicle collision occurred at Hamilton Pool Road near the intersection with Grand Summit Boulevard, causing the death of the driver.
“It is dangerous and getting more and more dangerous every day,” Koerner said of the roadway. “From that standpoint, I do think the county has a responsibility to the citizens who live in the community but also the citizens that use that road with regards to its safety.”
When the project was first approved, Precinct Two Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea said Texas counties lack the ability to deny a subdivision application.
State Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, agrees and posted her concerns on social media last week, decrying the vandalism Provence endured and advocating for more discretion to be given to county officials regarding growth in unincorporated areas.
“What does this person hope to accomplish with this vandalism?” Goodwin posted. “It won’t cause the developer to stop developing neighborhoods in an area where there is demand. It won’t stop the builders from building homes where people want to live. It won’t stop buyers from buying homes with nice views and good schools.”
She said she understands that local residents fear that population growth will lead to negative changes for what citizens love about the Hill Country, with such expansion being either very difficult or impossible to stop. Or that the area’s infrastructure—its roads, water sources, fire services—can’t support this growth, she said.
With many new communities being built outside of city limits, such as Provence, Goodwin said counties have almost no authority to ensure the necessary infrastructure is in place before neighborhoods are built, an issue that she is likely to push in the next legislative session.
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