The Lampasas City Council on Monday approved a request for a zoning change that will allow a developer to build a multi-phase retirement campus at Crider Lane and Old Georgetown Road.

Mayor Judy Hetherly, Mayor Pro Tem Les Gerhardt and council members John Cole, TJ Monroe, Brad Neely and Evan Stubbs voted to rezone a 19.65-acre area southwest of the intersection from Single Family-10 to Planned Development. Councilman Jerry Grayson abstained.

As part of the zoning change, the council stipulated that a privacy fence is required in areas that abut residential property. Fencing must be constructed as each phase of the development proceeds.

Phase one of the project calls for a 32-unit, licensure B assisted-living center where staff could provide nighttime care for residents, representative Linda Theiss said. The campus will give additional living options for the many Baby Boomers nearing retirement age, said Ms. Theiss, who owns an assisted living center in Llano.

“There’s 83 million of us that need a place to live,” she said. “There are people in your communities who would like a choice of where to live if they can’t live at home any more.”

Ms. Theiss predicted the center would attract residents not only from Lampasas but also from outlying towns like San Saba and Cherokee.

Phase two of the project would include a daycare facility for adults and children, and a medical office would be added in the third phase. Retirement housing -- either single-family dwellings or duplexes -- would be added later in stages.

“I know in your forward thinking this area is going to provide a lot more opportunities for future development,” engineer Victor Turley told City Council members. “It’s an ambitious project. It’s something that I believe we are all discovering we need.”

Although he said he supports the development, Stubbs said he is concerned about disruption to Private Road 4033.

“I have no problem with the project,” he said. “I think it’s a great idea, but if it requires changing the private road as it’s drawn here [on engineering documents], that might change the project.”

Chris Harrison, who lives off PR 4033, said he does not mind the development being built on the 19.65 acres owned by Karen Cummings, but he said he is strongly opposed to using the private road for access to the assisted-living center and associated buildings. Harrison and his father built and maintained the road, the Lampasas man said.

“That road should be left as it is,” Harrison said, “and I don’t think there’s been enough of an effort to make that happen.”

Melvin Wylie, whose property abuts Ms. Cummings’ land, said he also is concerned about using the private road for access to the planned development. If the multiphase project is constructed, Wylie added, Crider Lane should be widened to allow sufficient room for emergency vehicles to drive into the development.

After the rezoning request passed, City Manager Michael Stoldt said city officials will contact those who live near PR 4033 when it is time to plan entrances to the senior citizen area.

In other business Monday, the council voted 7-0 to abandon and sell 0.32 acres of unopened and unimproved right of way at the south end of Samac Lane. The council voted for the city to retain the electrical easement on the property and agreed to offer the land for $5,500 to West Fourth Street residents Bruce and Melissa Schroeder, who had expressed interest in buying the property.

The flat, rectangular area is zoned Single Family-10, and is 60 feet wide and about 230 feet long. It has been maintained for years by property owners in the area, Public Works Director Randy Clark said.

“It’s basically a right of way that’s trapped,” Clark said. “We don’t have any particular use for it.”

Using values set by the Lampasas Central Appraisal District for the 23 lots within 200 feet of the right of way, Clark calculated an average per-square-foot value of $1.11, which equated to $15,472 for the property the Schroeders are considering buying. Cutting the value in half, as city officials usually do for small street and alley rights of way, resulted in a figure of $7,736.

Stoldt told the City Council it could sell the right of way for less, however, without being accused of offering an unfairly low rate. A certified appraiser’s letter of opinion placed the property value at $5,297, and Stoldt noted that few potential right of way buyers present the council with opinions from appraisers.

In addition, the council voted unanimously to spend $46,944 for micro-surfacing paving on roadways in the Fawn Acres subdivision. Viking Construction Inc. of Georgetown earned the road repair contract.

Because of the high asphalt absorption that resulted from a previous sealcoat application, rock did not stick to the emulsion on the residential roads, Street Department Superintendent Shane Brown said. A representative of the emulsion manufacturer recommended trying micro-surfacing -- a wet “slurry” of emulsion and gravel -- to ensure that rocks stick to the streets as intended, Brown said.

Also at the meeting, the council:

· voted 5-1, with Neely voting ‘no’ and Stubbs abstaining because he lives on Spring Street, to make the intersection of South Spring and West Fourth streets a four-way stop.

· approved the $4,120 purchase of a digital police patrol car camera. With the purchase, Police Chief Tim Angermann said all police vehicles will be equipped with digital in-car cameras.

· awarded a bid of $4,388 to The PlayWell Group, which has offices in Dallas and Albuquerque, for wood fiber playground surfacing material at W.M. Brook Park and Sueann Park.