Lee Edwards has lived on Hergotz Lane for nearly two decades. His property backs up to the Colorado River, giving him direct access to the water. It’s the reason he moved to the area.

“This is a river neighborhood, a river community,” Edwards said. “We’re very identified with the nature here, the animals, the river, the whole thing.”

It’s surprisingly rural, considering how close it is to U.S. 183 and the airport. There are trees and wildflowers. Bobcats and deer roam the land.

Edwards is the president of the South East Colorado River Neighborhood Association.

He said it’s unlike any neighborhood he’s lived in before.

“You’ve got our property and your house, and we have neighbors, that is nice,” he said. “All that is true but there is this whole other thing going on – it’s a special and unique neighborhood.”

Garrett Tung, who has lived just a few doors down from Edwards for five years, agreed.

“It’s a quiet lifestyle,” Tung said. “It’s kind of like you’re in the middle of nowhere, but you’re in Austin. The neighbors are amazing. The wildlife is amazing. It’s just a crazy cool place to live.”

If you look at a map of this area, the Colorado River bends around the neighborhood in a shape that resembles a silhouette of a dog’s head. So, people have taken to calling this area the Dog’s Head.

Last month, the Austin City Council signed off on a 2,600-acre development for the site that will include housing, retail and office space and some green space. Amazon’s robotics division will be the property’s biggest tenant.

But the project was approved with little public input. That’s where neighbors said the city failed them.

Both Edwards and Tung fear that their little slice of paradise will be lost without a proper plan to develop the Dog’s Head. 

“The way that this has been done has been shocking,” Edwards said. “The fact that it’s being done is not shocking at all… Nobody in our entire neighborhood association has ever been opposed to development, or this development. It’s how it’s being done that is our entire issue.”

Neighbors didn’t learn about the project until just two days before the Austin City Council was set to annex the site and enter into an agreement with Endeavor Real Estate Group, the developer for the project.

And it wasn’t because the city told them. Edwards said a friend called him after seeing it on the council agenda.

“We heard on Tuesday, May 19th, we had a neighborhood association meeting the next day, and we went to speak at city council the next day,” Edwards said. “So they’ve had us playing catch up the whole time. And it seems like that was likely intentional.”

Last month, the attorney for the developer said this project has been in the works for several years. City officials have not explained why residents weren’t part of the process but said the quick decision-making was about securing a deal with Amazon. 

Shaping the development

Tung said all neighbors want is to be kept in the loop about what’s going on.

“It would be nice to have some sort of input into what goes into the Dog’s Head,” Tung said. “I think that is typically how it works.”

He said the neighbors also want a clearer understanding about how the project is going to affect traffic and the river.

Austin City Council Member José Velásquez, who represents the area, said he’s aware of those concerns and is working to resolve them. He voted against the project last month.

“I feel we could’ve done better,” Velásquez said. “We are going to be working to ensure that when we have major developments like this that there’s a better process to how we communicate with the community. Because people … should never feel like things are happening to them. They should feel like they are happening with them.” 

The Hergotz Lane neighborhood is small. Edwards can name most of his neighbors. He said all he is trying to do is protect them and make sure the project is developed well.

“I think developing this well respects the environment and respects the existing neighborhoods,” Edwards said.

Tung said the project needs to be something that benefits the community.

“Something that the community can get utility out of whether that’s housing or thought out retail, or whatever it is,” he said. “But it’s not heavy industry and data centers and all these companies and industries that make such bad neighbors.”

Work has already started on the project, but there are still several more decisions ahead. Velasquez said neighbors will be part of the process moving forward. The development is not expected to get final approval until next year.