Latest news with #ClintGarza
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bee Cave adds former City Manager Clint Garza as defendant in warehouse lawsuit
The city of Bee Cave on Wednesday added former City Manager Clint Garza as a defendant in its lawsuit against the developers of industrial warehouses just outside city limits. The updated lawsuit claims Garza concealed development plans and may have received payments that bypassed the City Council, according to a city news release. Garza stepped down from his role in January 2024. "Specifically, the developers are accused of relying on Garza to withhold information about the warehouses from the City Council, while being able to claim the City was on 'notice' of the development because they emailed Garza instead of going through the proper channels," the release said. 'These new allegations are deeply concerning and represent a serious violation of the trust the public placed in Clint Garza as City Manager,' Mayor Kara King said in the release. 'His role was to serve our community, not his own self-interest.' More: Clint Garza stepping down as Bee Cave city manager City officials have said the construction of the West Austin Business Park goes against the development plan the city and the landowner had agreed to in 2015, and residents say the 269,959-square-foot facility will lower their property values and harm the environment. Lawyers for the developers have said that because the warehouse is in Bee Cave's extraterritorial jurisdiction, the developers don't have to report site plans to the city nor get its approval. In December, a Travis County judge instructed the city of Bee Cave and business park to craft a temporary restraining that would prevent the construction of the industrial warehouse from violating the city's noise ordinance. The facility is near Texas 71 and Serene Hills Drive. Dallas-based private equity real estate firm Velocis began construction on its West Austin Business Park in February 2024. The project is part of the Sweetwater Crossing property, owned by Wheelock Communities. KBC Advisors, an investor in the business park, later joined the defendants. More: Judge tells Bee Cave, warehouse builder to craft noise agreement before case goes to trial Saying it wanted to promote transparency within the city, the Bee Cave City Council on Tuesday passed a whistleblower ordinance to encourage city employees to report any fraudulent activity. The whistleblower ordinance and a recent update to the Bee Cave ethics policy are two steps the city has taken in response to the situation. The ordinance, which the City Council unanimously approved Tuesday, grants employees confidentiality and protects them from retaliation when reporting illegal or dishonest activity. A staff report said the policy is important to ensure transparency and accountability within the city and will encourage a 'culture of honesty.' 'I think that it's important to show this community that we have taken what we have learned extremely seriously and we are putting policies in place to prevent it from ever happening again,' King said at the council meeting. City Manager Julie Oakley said the city is working to train employees on the new ordinance and familiarize them with the reporting process. 'Our goal is to have a culture that breeds ethics and transparency and reporting any fraud or abuse that they might see to where they feel comfortable working in this type of environment on a day-to-day basis,' Oakley said. The council also approved an ordinance that prohibits activity by public facility corporations and housing finance corporations — organizations that seek to promote affordable housing — in the city. PFCs and HFCs are generally tax exempt. By implementing the ordinance, City Attorney Ryan Henry said the city hopes to re-exert local control. King said she also hopes the move will increase transparency by giving the city additional oversight. '(The organizations) go into a town and develop a property and completely take it off the municipality's tax rolls,' Council Member Kit Crumbley said. 'It cuts local control out of the finances, out of the development and out of the system entirely.' Council Member Andrea Willott said that approving the ordinance doesn't mean the city is against workforce housing. She said the council decided upon the ordinance because the city would be disadvantaged by the property tax laws. Mayor Pro-Tem Andrew Clark echoed Willott's sentiments. 'We most definitely want to welcome people who want to live here but at the same time this ordinance offers an opportunity to button up any potential loopholes, as well as give the city a seat at the table as well as our community residents,' Clark said. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Bee Cave adds former city manager as defendant in warehouse lawsuit
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
City of Bee Cave suing former city manager, developers over controversial warehouse
The Brief The city of Bee Cave has filed an updated lawsuit, suing its former city manager Clint Garza. City officials say Garza is heavily connected to the construction of a controversial distribution center. The lawsuit alleges a pattern of deceit by developers who relied on Garza to withhold information from council. BEE CAVE, Texas - The City of Bee Cave is suing its former city manager. City officials said the former city manager is heavily connected to the construction of a controversial warehouse. What we know The original lawsuit was filed back in August. The updated suit alleges a pattern of deceitful actions by these developers who relied on the former city manager to withhold information from the city council. What they're saying "I'm a single mom. I invested my entire savings into building this house up here," Bee Cave resident Stephanie Boicelli said. She said essentially overnight, a massive distribution center popped up basically in her backyard. "To think that this was happening behind our backs and just like tada, here's what you now have to deal with, it's completely unacceptable," Boicelli said. The City of Bee Cave claims they didn't know this was happening either. "The reason that the city council didn't know is because they were intentionally being kept in the dark to avoid scrutiny that was required by that development agreement," city communications director Crystal Cotti said. The backstory In 2015, the city entered into a development agreement with a development company to turn the land into a blend of residential homes, commercial spaces, and recreational amenities. Apparently, the plans changed. "Our city attorney was supposed to have received a certified notice in the mail saying there's been a change of ownership, there has been a change in land use, there's been a new development project, and that never happened," Cotti said. The city said the developers avoided contacting the city at all costs too, but the person who was in the loop was former city manager Clint Garza. In a lawsuit filed by the City of Bee Cave against the developers and now Garza, claims Garza helped conceal these new plans from city council and was benefiting from it. "According to our lawsuit, former city manager Clint Garza received cash payments, lavish gifts over a period of many years, and that many of those gifts came from companies that were doing business with the City of Bee Cave," Cotti said. "We've been able to find, and the lawsuit shows, that a former city employee actually was present when former city manager Clint Garza opened up a check, looked at the amount and said, looks like we're getting a distribution center," Cotti said. Garza just resigned last year to work for another land developer. Dig deeper On Tuesday night, City Council passed a whistleblower ordinance. "I think that it's important to show this community that we have taken what we have learned extremely seriously and we are putting policies in place so that from ever happening again and protecting the city in the future and future councils and future staff members from having, ever having to deal with what we've had to deal with," Mayor Kara King said. The other side Casey Dobson, representing KBC and Velocis, told FOX 7: "We categorically deny any improper dealings with the former city manager. The city already lost this lawsuit, we had a 2 day plus trial about all this, they tried to stop construction, and they lost. It seems like a desperate attempt to repackage these allegations to justify hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars used for this lawsuit." What's next The city is seeking monetary relief of over a million dollars, and they want the buildings to be knocked down. The case is set to go to trial in August. The Source Information in this report comes from reporting by FOX 7 Austin's Meredith Aldis.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Former Bee Cave City Manager added to lawsuit against industrial warehouse
BEE CAVE, Texas (KXAN) — The City of Bee Cave added a new defendant to its lawsuit against developers of the industrial warehouse off Highway 71. The nearly 270,000-square-foot business park sits next to a residential area in Bee Cave's extra-territorial jurisdiction. The facility under construction is near the intersection of State Highway 71 and Serene Hills Drive. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Bee Cave City Council votes to file lawsuit to stop development near residential area Online plans showed the property would have three buildings with 80 docking bays that could hold big rigs, warehouse space and offices. The lawsuit alleged developers violated a development agreement it signed with the city in 2015. The city also claimed noise and light pollution disrupts residents' ability to get good sleep. The City said it amended the lawsuit by introducing fraud allegations and adding former City Manager Clint Garza as a defendant. The lawsuit alleges the developers relied on Garza to allegedly withhold information about the warehouses from the City Council. According to the lawsuit, developers emailed Garza instead of going through the proper channels. 'This carefully orchestrated scheme was designed to create the appearance of 'notice' tothe City (i.e., emails to Garza) while allowing Defendants to avoid any real oversight and proceedwith development in violation of the Development Agreement,' the lawsuit stated. The City also claimed that Garza allegedly received payments for facilitating developments without council oversight. The lawsuit stated Garza met with Wheelock representatives in 2019 to discuss 'upcoming opportunities' related to the property. Wheelock, also known as WS-COS Development, was the original owner of the property. The City alleged that Wheelock 'specifically instructed all potential or new owners and developers not to communicate with the City about those projects.' KXAN reached out to Garza via his social media. We are waiting for a response. A spokesperson for Velocis, a developer for the project, called these new claims baseless. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Judge allows construction to continue at controversial industrial park in Bee Cave Bee Cave has already wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars on a failed attempt to stop construction. These new allegations are an attempt to distract from their own mismanagement and the Court's rejection of their claims. The City should stop wasting public resources on this failed effort.' Spokesperson for Velocis Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
