Cedar Park City Council rejected a developer’s plan July 23 to change the intended future use of a piece of land in the northeastern corner of the city from commercial to residential.

The context: Three Creeks Development, which owns the land on the northwest corner of New Hope Drive and Ronald Reagan Boulevard, sought to convert roughly 18 of the plot’s 31 total acres from commercial to residential future use.

The action taken: City Council rejected the amendment petition by a vote of 4-3. Council members Anne Duffy, Kevin Harris, Darron Jurajda and Michael Endres voted to reject the proposal.

Duffy said she was concerned that moving forward with the residential development would mean losing valuable commercial land and keeping more of the city’s tax burden on residents.

BSE Studio, a new luxury brows, skin and aesthetics salon, is now open in Leander along the Cedar Park border, owner Alyssa Woodward said.

The details: The team behind the salon is excited to bring high-end beauty and aesthetic services to the local community, Woodward said.

She outlined some of the services available at BSE Studio:

• Permanent makeup

• Customized facials and advanced skincare

• Brow services

• Lash services

• Full-body waxing

• Medical aesthetic services provided by a licensed nurse practitioner

“Our mission is to create a luxury, welcoming environment where clients can receive exceptional care from experienced professionals,” Woodward said.

Clients are asked to book appointments online in advance. The salon can accommodate same-day appointments for many services, Woodward said.

• 3835 CR 175, Leander

Check out six stories trending in the Austin area July 27-30. 

1. 8 new and coming soon businesses to west Georgetown

2. Urban Egg to open its first Austin location this fall

3. Hao Hao Vietnamese & Chinese Restaurant planned for Pflugerville

4. Two Tim Hortons locations coming to Leander’s Hero Way, Ronald Reagan

5. A Little Shady announces opening date of Kyle location

6. Road work projects around CedarView development to be completed before Scheels opening

This summer, Texas is launching a new process to study the viability of data centers and other large projects seeking to connect to the state’s power grid. The process’ strict requirements could deter major industrial projects from coming to the state, experts warn.

The overview: The Electric Reliability Commission of Texas’ new "batch study process" will require that large projects be evaluated in groups, rather than individually. The process was developed in response to Texas’ data center boom.

What they're saying: All projects that would use at least 75 megawatts of electricity will be required to participate in the batch process—including industrial and hydrogen production facilities. However, industrial and manufacturing projects operate differently from data centers and may not be able to meet some of the batch requirements, industry representatives said July 29.

In a state that works to attract major companies and bills itself as business-friendly, that’s a concern, lawmakers said.

"Where are y'all at on trying to differentiate those types of traditional, enterprise, big commercial, large load projects?" Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, asked.