The RPCA was formed in 2007 to attract Commercial Development, Retail Businesses and large Employers to the east side of Leander, where there is currently very few residential subdivisions; encouraging "live - work - play" in Leander and surrounding areas.
Also, by encouraging commercial development and large employers, the RPCA hopes to increase tax revenue to the Cities and County so that money can be spent on bringing services to local residents, increase safety through promoting roadway improvement projects, and helping to obtain Right of Way (ROW) through land donations from local landowners to necessitate such improvements in a minimum timeframe and at reduced cost to the City or County.
The members who originally formed the RPCA (Marci Cannon, Joseph Greene III, Bob Tesch, B.J. Hogan, Barkley Wedemeyer, and Phillip Joseph) felt that the area needed utilities (water & wastewater services) to be in the ground in order to attract businesses because commercial development generally requires “shovel ready dirt”. The members believe that residential subdivision may be able to grow into it’s full capacity by building a few houses at a time over a number of years, however, a large commercial development rarely has a three to five-year outlook, most commercial developers and large employers considering a site desire to be up and operational within the shortest time period available; the nearby proximity of utilities is the primary consideration.
According to Joseph Greene, Chairman of the RPCA, some people have the misconception that the landowners along major roads like Reagan Blvd (Aka: the Parmer Lane extension) became rich when the roadway came through; however, the reality is that most of these properties used to be rural ranches and small acreage properties; the majority of these landowners did not want a highway in their front yard. When the big roads were built, the property taxes went up and the noise and nuisance level increased dramatically, but without nearby utilities most of the landowners have been unable to sell so they might move on with their lives. ‘We can’t sell it to a residential buyer, because nobody wants to own a home next to a major road and be awakened before dawn by semi-trucks passing by, and we can’t sell to commercial developers because of the lack of utilities; so we’re stuck waiting for something to happen’.
The unusual thing is that most associations like the RPCA are formed to push commercial development away from their area as opposed to welcoming them in; most associations of this sort are saying “not in my backyard”. According to Joseph Greene and Marci Cannon, the fact that Leander’s City Manager (‘Biff’ Johnson) took advantage of this association and formed a partnership with them is to his credit; the RPCA was formed based upon the bylaws and organization of the West Houston Association, which has become a powerful influence in promoting and supporting businesses in the greater Houston area, and the founders of the RPCA hope that someday their organization might grow in a similar fashion and help local cities and counties to prosper. The current RPCA board members acknowledge that by that time other members are likely to be in charge of directing the organization, it all depends upon the members.