DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT

Developing an identity for Liberty Hill’s historic downtown

BY RACHEL MADISON

STAFF WRITER

For years, downtown Liberty Hill looked a little ghostly -- empty buildings, minimal businesses, no restaurants. But in the last few years, the effort to revitalize historical downtown have paid off in some ways, with the addition of a few restaurants, several businesses, and even the relocation of City Hall and The Liberty Hill Independent newspaper. And while some strides have been made, there is still a lot to be done, especially if downtown is going to survive the community’s rapid growth.

City Administrator Paul Brandenburg, who joined the staff six months ago, said city officials have had a lot of good intentions for downtown in recent years, but no real planning has been done, and he is ready to act. He added that creating an action plan is about more than just coming up with strategies and priorities -- it’s about putting them all into a plan that can be followed, starting immediately.

“We don’t have time to wait to get to the implementation stage,” he said. “I’m working with our Downtown Revitalization Committee (DRC) to rank things we need to get done by priority, who is in charge of leading these things and getting them done, and the timeline for each strategy. We will also be determining what the cost is and how these projects will be funded.”

The DRC meets monthly and consists of a board of downtown business owners, including Lonnie Wendling, owner of Agape BBQ; Amy Gandy, owner of A. Gandy & Co. Real Estate; Danyel Cake, owner of Liberty Hill Outfitters; Kellie Olisky, owner of Viridian Rowe, and Kristan LeBaron, owner of Kristan Ink. It was initially started in 2015 but did not continuously meet between 2017 and 2020 or during the pandemic. The group was restarted by city officials in late 2021.

Taking inventory

The highest priority for the City right now is to create an inventory of vacant land, buildings and property for sale in the downtown area. Brandenburg

(Top) Downtown Liberty Hill has come a long way in recent years with the addition of new restaurants and businesses, but plans are in the works to make the area even more vibrant and attractive. (Above) Tim Fleming (right), owner of The Hair Stop, visits with customer Clifford Gosnell. PHOTOS BY STACY COALE

said the goal is to have this inventory completed by the end of 2022. He plans on working with the Economic Development Corporation as well as local Realtors to assemble a spreadsheet of the available properties, including their addresses, acreage, square feet, zoning and price.

Along with that, Brandenburg plans to lead and coordinate a strategy for all the vacant land, buildings and properties for sale downtown.

“Do we just let the free market control what happens to these places, or do we as a City take initiative and partner with the EDC to purchase vacant property and then promote and recruit businesses, like a bed and breakfast or boutique motel for example,” he said. “We have to determine what types of businesses we would like to have here and what we are doing to actively recruit those.”

Brandenburg said he plans on targeting niche businesses to bring unique and eclectic opportunities to the downtown area.

“We basically want to have the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker downtown,” he said. “Those niche markets are what make a downtown especially neat. The big box stores are coming, but we can still separate the downtown experience from that. We can offer good food, good shopping and a safe and fun environment. If we can check all those boxes, we’ll be highly successful.”

Brandenburg compared Liberty Hill to Georgetown Square a decade ago, when it only had a couple of restaurants and not much shopping.

“Now it’s a vibrant place,” he said. “Even though Georgetown Square is bigger than what we have here, the similarities are there. We could have something that is alive and well seven days a week, so it’s not if something is going on, but where.”

Marketing Main Street

Currently the primary road running through downtown is called Loop 332, but Brandenburg said doing something simple like changing the name to Main Street could go a long way in giving downtown Liberty Hill its own identity.

“It’s the little things like that that will make a difference,” he said, adding that another thing the DRC will be heading up is the creation of a downtown wayfinding signage program as well as installing directional signage on major roads like Highway 29 directing people where downtown is located.

“We need signage that shows where public parking is, where downtown begins,” he said. “Changing the street name may be tied into that. If you’re out on Highway 29 right now, there’s nothing that tells you where downtown is.”

Additionally, the signage and parking downtown will look different from what people see on Highway 29, he said, adding that the idea will be to add to the historical facades downtown already has.

“Right now we don’t have any standards or guidelines for any of that, but we have to have those guidelines,” he said. “We want new businesses that come in, as well as signs and facades, to blend in with the historical look and feel of downtown.”

In October, the DRC adopted the hashtag #downtownlhtx to promote downtown Liberty Hill whenever businesses make social media posts. The committee also has a goal to adopt a downtown slogan. Ideas for downtown slogans can be sent to City Secretary Elaine Simpson at esimpson@ libertyhilltx.gov by Nov. 10.

Brandenburg also plans to create a downtown marketing strategy and plan, as well as create ways to bring more people downtown.

“The visitors center (Stubblefield building) will become a place that houses a museum of Liberty Hill history so people can come see the town’s history,” he said. “We need things like this because if you bring people but there’s nothing to do, they won’t stay. We have to start developing different uses for downtown and then the people will come and stay.”

Improving infrastructure

Another major part of revitalizing downtown will be making sure the infrastructure can handle new business, more people and future growth.

Brandenburg said traffic challenges are big right now, particularly because several large trucks use Loop 332 to get from point A to point B. Future plans, including Williamson County’s Liberty Hill bypass, TXDOT’s four-way traffic signal at RM 1869 and Loop 332 and the City’s roundabout at CR 279 and Loop 332, will all help to alleviate that congestion.

While none of those projects have been started yet, Brandenburg said city officials are working now to create a transportation improvement plan that will allow the construction of the roundabout to begin soon.

Another area of infrastructure that must be addressed is downtown’s water and wastewater. Many of the systems are aged, Brandenburg said, and must be improved before businesses can move in. He said these improvements will be incorporated into the City’s comprehensive improvement plan, which is currently being rewritten.

Lastly, walkability and connectivity downtown with sidewalks and trails is another high priority that can be addressed now, he said.

“All of these things will be worked into the budget for next year after we determine what the cost is, and will also be included in our comprehensive improvement plan,” Brandenburg said. “All of this ties into the downtown infrastructure and what we can do to improve it.”

Financing the future

Brandenburg said financing these projects can start now thanks to collected sales tax revenue, but looking to the future, he and the City’s finance department will be creating a tax incremental district (TID) or a tax increment reinvestment zone (TIRZ) for downtown Liberty Hill.

“This is not a tax on the people, but instead will increase the values of our properties downtown and we can set aside money to improve paving, or start adding sidewalks and parking, or improving the infrastructure,” he said.

Using the map the DRC has created that shows where downtown Liberty Hill is, the City will work to put together what the downtown TIRZ values and projected income would look like, including available funds by year, schedules and required approvals, he said.

Brandenburg plans on this step of the plan being completed by the end of February 2023.

(Above) Alice Flora of Round Rock (left) and Debby Carter of Austin (right) stopped for a break at Parker’s Corner Market while on a 35-mile bike ride. (Right) A local family pauses for a photo with the Native American statue downtown. City officials are working to make downtown a real destination for locals and visitors. PHOTOS BY STACY COALE

“I can’t wait a year,” he said. “We have a lot of momentum, and there is a window here for opportunity. We have identified what we are going to do, who is in charge of it, and a timeline for it. Now we just have to execute it.”

Brandenburg added that a lot of cities have lost the significance of their downtowns, and he doesn’t want that to happen in Liberty Hill.

“There are a lot of places in Texas you go and if you don’t have the water tower that tells you what city you’re in, you wouldn’t know where you are,” he said. “We want to protect our downtown. It’s not just nostalgia -- it’s a place of identity.”