* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL] [00:00:20] MAY 24TH, UH, CHAIR CAROL PRESENT, UH, COMMISSIONER GONZALES, COMMISSIONER FRANCO, COMMISSIONER MINORS, COMMISSIONER, COMMISSIONER, HEN. ROBLEDO COMMISSIONER. TEND TO GUCCI PRESENT COMMISSIONER WEAVER. UH, BASS CHAIR, RAWLINSON. OKAY. COMMISSIONER COLEMAN, PRESENT COMMISSIONER WATLEY AND COMMISSIONER LUKIN PRESENT. IT LOOKS LIKE COMMISSIONER WILDLY. JUST JOINED COMMISSIONER. YEAH, I'M HERE. OKAY. GOTCHA. THAT IS SEVEN WITH FOUR QUORUM. OKAY. THANK YOU. UH, CITIZENS COMMUNICATION. WAS THERE ANYONE THAT HAD SIGNED UP TO SPEAK? I DID NOT SEE ANYONE. AARON, DO YOU? NO, NO, NO, NO ONE HAS SIGNED UP. OKAY. THANK YOU. WE'LL GO RIGHT INTO NEW BUSINESS. UH, ITEM [1A. Discussion and possible action to evaluate and make recommendations for the City of Austin, Austin Energy; Rainey Street Sub Station Project, addressed at 806 ½ Lambie Street. Tara Delagarza-Austin Energy; Kim Doyal-Austin Energy; Girard Kinney – Kinney Architects; Zak Robinson- Carter Design.] ONE, A DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION TO EVALUATE AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN, AUSTIN ENERGY RAINY STREET, SUBSTATION PROJECT. HAD THE APPLICANT READY FOR THAT ONE. DELA GARSA WITH AUSTIN ENERGY. CAN ANYONE HEAR ME? YES, WE CAN HEAR YOU. GO AHEAD. OKAY. IS THE PRESENTATION UP? I CAN'T SEE IT. I APOLOGIZE. THE AB TECH, WHICH PRESENTATION ARE WE LOOKING FOR? WHERE THIS IS CONCERNING THE US INTERVIEW SUBSTATION. YES, THAT'S CORRECT. AND SO I HAVE FOUR PRESENTATIONS, PDFS NOT LOOKING FOR WHICH ONE? OR DO WE WANT ON THE SCREEN RIGHT NOW? IS IT THE RAINY STREET? UM, REVIEW OR, YES. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. IT WASN'T CLEAR. THANK YOU. OKAY, SO THAT'S THE APPLICATION. IS THERE A PRESENTATION? IT SHOULD. IT SHOULD REDESIGN COMMISSION AND PRESENTATION MAY, 2021. THERE YOU GO. FANTASTIC. THANK YOU. WE'RE READY TO GO. YES. MA'AM I THINK SO. OKAY, FANTASTIC. SO, UH, THANK YOU EVERYONE. MY NAME IS TARA DELA GARSA AND I AM THE PROJECT MANAGER WORKING WITH AUSTIN ENERGY ON THE RAIN STREET, GIS SUBSTATION. UM, ON THIS FIRST SLIDE HERE, YOU CAN SEE THAT AUSTIN ENERGY IS CURRENTLY UNDERWAY WITH MULTIPLE PROJECTS AS LISTED HERE TO INCREASE THE RELIABILITY CAPACITY OF OUR GROWING CITY. AND SO, UH, THE LAST TIME WE WERE HERE, I THINK THE PROJECT WAS TITLED DOWNTOWN SUBSTATION. AND SINCE THEN WE HAVE, UM, WORKED WITH THE COMMUNITY AND THEY CHOSE THE NAME TO BE RAINY STREET SUBSTATION. [00:05:01] SO, UM, IF WE SO HAVE THOSE ITEMS LISTED THERE, UH, WE ARE CURRENTLY IN THE THIRD BULLET HAD COMPLETED THE FIRST TWO BULLETS. SO IT'S AN ENTIRE PROGRAM ASSOCIATED WITH REPAIRING DOWNTOWN NEXT SIDE, PLEASE. OKAY. AND SO, UH, WITH THIS CALLED THE RAINY STREET GIS SUBSTATION, AND IT'S, IT'S A UNIQUE CONSTRUCT IN THAT. UM, THE GIS IS AN ACRONYM FOR A GAS INSULATED SWITCHGEAR, AND THIS IS A SUMMARY OF, UM, THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A GAS INSULATED AND AARON'S SLATED. AND MAJORITY OF, I THINK WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THREE, UH, THIS WILL BE THE FOURTH, UH, GIS SUBSTATION IN THE FLEET OF, UM, AUSTIN ENERGY SUBSTATIONS. SO THE, UM, THE PRIMARY DRIVER FOR THIS PART, ONE OF THE PRIMARY DRIVERS FOR THIS PROJECT WAS THAT WE HAVE A COMPACT SITE OF ONLY ABOUT ONE AND A HALF ACRES. AND SO, UH, THE DRIVER FOR THIS IS WE'RE, UH, WITH THE LIMITED SITE, BUT THE NEED TO PUT IT IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA WHERE YOU'RE CONSTRUCTING A GAS INSULATED SWITCHGEAR SUBSTATION, OR SOME OF THE COMPONENTS WILL BE HOUSED IN A BUILDING, AN UNMANNED BUILDING, BUT A BUILDING NONETHELESS. OKAY, NEXT SLIDE. OKAY. AND THIS IS A VERY SIMPLISTIC VIEW OF OUR, UM, OVERALL SITE PLAN. WE, UM, PURCHASED THE PROPERTY IN 1999 AND, UH, WE'VE BEEN COORDINATING, UM, WITH TXDOT RELATED TO THE CAPITAL EXPRESS, UH, W WE KNEW THAT THAT WAS POSSIBLY COMING AND SORT OF INCORPORATING WITH TEXTILES. AND THEN THE MAJOR PIPE OR LINE THAT YOU CAN SEE THROUGH THE SITE IS ACTUALLY AN EXISTING 96 INCH WATERSHED PROTECTION STORM DRAIN THAT GOES THROUGH THE SITE. AND SO THAT'S A MAJOR DRIVER IN THE CONSTRAINT OF WHAT WE HAVE TO USE FOR AVAILABLE SPACE. ON TOP OF, YOU CAN SEE THAT THERE'S MANY HERITAGE TREES AS WELL IN THE SUBSTATIONS, UM, PROPERTY. AND SO, UM, WITH THAT, WE HAVE, UH, YOU KNOW, WENT AHEAD AND WENT WITH THE GIS CONSTRUCT. AND, UM, WE ALSO LET ME SEE HERE, I'M TRYING TO THINK OF THE HIGHLIGHTS HERE. WE'VE GOT THREE TRANSMISSION POLES AND SO EXISTING ON THE SITE ARE TWO, AND THEN WE'RE ADDING A THIRD ONE RIGHT THERE AT THE DRIVEWAY ON THE FRONTAGE OF, UM, 35. AND THAT DRIVEWAY, THERE IS A TEMPORARY MEANING IT'S ONLY TO USE WITH THE MAJOR EQUIPMENT AND INSTALL AND BRINGING IT IN. AND THEN THE PRIMARY ACCESS TO THE SUBSTATION WILL BE OFF OF LAMBY STREET. AND OUR ADDRESSES IS, UH, OFF OF LAMBY STREET. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. OKAY. AND SO THIS SLIDE JUST REPRESENTS SINCE WE CAME TO THE DESIGN COMMISSION IN JUNE OF 2019, AND I FAILED TO SAY, THAT'S THE BEGINNING OF THE PRESENTATION. AND SINCE THEN WE HAVE, UM, WE HAD OUR THIRD PUBLIC MEETING TO COME TOGETHER WITH ALL OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS WE'D HAD BASED ON THE PREVIOUS TWO OUTREACHES, WHICH WILL BE DISCUSSED THE NEXT SLIDE. UM, BUT WITH THAT BEING SAID, WE ALSO HAD TO RELOCATE SOME EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE. THERE WAS WATER AND WASTEWATER IS A WET SWEATER LINE WITHIN THE SITE. AND THEN BY RELOCATING THAT WASTEWATER LINE, WE ALSO HAD TO MAKE SOME MODIFICATIONS TO SOME OF THE WATER LINES THAT WERE EXISTING IN THE ROADWAYS, UH, AS WELL, UH, JUNE, 2020, WE WERE ALSO ABLE TO REZONE THE PROPERTY FROM SF THREE TO PETE. AND FINALLY, WE RIGHT NOW AT THE SPACE, WE ARE FINALIZING ALL OF THE DESIGN, UM, EVERYWHERE FROM THE CONTROL SYSTEMS TO COMMUNICATE WITH OTHER SUBSTATIONS, AS WELL AS, UM, INFRASTRUCTURE WITH OUR DOWNTOWN NETWORK TO CONNECT UP TO THE SUBSTATION. SO THAT'S WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW. AND WITH THAT, I WILL TURN THE PRESENTATION OVER TO MY COLLEAGUE, KEN DOYLE WITH AUSTIN ENERGY. GOOD EVENING. UH, AS TARA SAID, I'M KIM DOYLE. I DO COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, PROSTIN ENERGY, AND EVERYONE HEAR ME OKAY. AT THIS POINT. UM, SO NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. SO AS TARA WAS SAYING, THIS PIECE OF PROPERTY IS VERY CENTRALLY LOCATED, VERY NEAR RAINY STREET NEAR DOWNTOWN, RIGHT NEXT TO . AND BECAUSE IT'S, UM, SO CENTRALLY LOCATED, WE WANTED TO GO AHEAD AND GET OUT AHEAD OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ON THIS. WE ACTUALLY STARTED COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT BACK IN 2017, UH, WITH OUR DOWNTOWN STAKEHOLDERS, UH, DOWNTOWN AUSTIN ALLIANCE WROTE US A LETTER OF SUPPORT AT THAT POINT, UH, BUILDING OWNERS AND MANAGERS, UH, WE'VE WORKED A LITTLE BIT WITH THE WATERLOO GREENWAY. WE'LL PROBABLY WORK WITH THEM A LITTLE BIT MORE. AND THEN IN 2018, IN 2019, WE MOVED INTO WORKING WITH THE LOCAL STAKEHOLDERS OR THOSE COMMUNITY MEMBERS THAT LIVE NEARBY. SO THE TOWN LIKE NEIGHBORS ASSOCIATION, THE REIGNING NEIGHBORS ASSOCIATION AND THE TOWERS OF TOWN LAKE. AND WE WERE REALLY JUST TRYING [00:10:01] TO COLLECT FROM THOSE FOLKS WHAT THEIR CONCERNS WERE, WHAT THEIR IDEAS WERE, AND THEN TO GIVE THEM AN OPTION TO GIVE US SOME FEEDBACK FOR WHAT THE EXTERIOR DESIGN, OBVIOUSLY NOT THE INTERIOR BECAUSE THAT'S ELECTRICAL INFRASTRUCTURE, BUT THE EXTERIOR OF IT, GIVEN THAT THIS WAS RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THEIR COMMUNITY. SO WE ACTUALLY, UM, HELPED 30 ENGAGEMENT TO, UH, SHOW THEM SOME, UH, DIFFERENT TYPES OF SURROUND DESIGNS, AESTHETIC THINGS. UH, WE, WE TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THOSE LAST TIME. I THINK THE LAST TIME WE MET WITH YOU ALL, IT WAS RIGHT IN BETWEEN PUBLIC MEETING, NUMBER TWO AND PUBLIC MEETING NUMBER THREE. AND WE WERE JUST GETTING READY TO GO BACK OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY AND TELL THEM WHAT WE FOUND. AND SO BASICALLY, UM, ACROSS THOSE 600 SURVEY RESPONSES ACTUALLY ON WHAT THEY WANTED THAT SURROUND TO LOOK LIKE. SO WE'VE SINCE HAD THAT THIRD MEETING AND NEXT SLIDE, AND BASICALLY AT THAT THIRD MEETING, UM, WE ANNOUNCED THE RESULTS AND WE LET THEM KNOW, UH, THAT THEY HAD CHOSEN A MODERN DESIGN WITH SOME COLORFUL DESIGN FEATURES. YOU CAN KIND OF SEE IT ON THE TOP RIGHT THERE. IT, THAT'S OBVIOUSLY A FIRST RENDERING. I BELIEVE WE SHOWED THAT TO YOU GUYS BACK IN JUNE OF 2019, WE'RE GOING TO KIND OF HONE IN ON THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE AS WE GET THROUGH THIS PRESENTATION TODAY. BUT BASICALLY WE WERE LETTING THE NEIGHBORS KNOW, UM, WHAT LANDSCAPING CONCEPT THAT THEY HAD CHOSEN. THEY CHOSE NATIVE, UH, PLANTS AND FLOWERS, THE DESIGN CONCEPT THAT THEY HAD CHOSEN, THE SITE NAME, BEING THE RAINY STREET SUBSTATION. WE ALSO LISTENED TO THE FACT THAT THEY WANTED TO MAINTAIN THE WIDTH OF EAST AVENUE RUNNING ALONG THE WEST SIDE, THAT THEY WANTED TO CHANGE THE PARKING. UM, IT'S CURRENTLY BACK IN PARKING AND WE'RE GOING TO CHANGE THAT TO PARALLEL PARKING. IT WANTED A BRAND FRIENDLY STREET SKATE. THEY LIKED THE NATIVE LANDSCAPING OPTIONS. AND THEN OF COURSE, THIS, WE'RE GOING TO TRY TO RETURN TO THE NEIGHBORS, UH, WITH OUR MEET THE CONTRACTOR MEETING SO THAT WE CAN KIND OF SHOW THEM SOME MORE REFINED RENDERINGS AND MATERIALS THAT WE'RE GOING TO SHOW YOU GUYS HERE IN JUST A SECOND. UM, THAT TARA, I'M GOING TO HAND IT BACK OVER TO YOU. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. THANK YOU. AND SO THESE NEXT FEW SLIDES ARE JUST QUICK, UM, UH, FRAME OF REFERENCE VICINITY. AND SO YOU CAN SEE HERE WHERE YOU RIVER LAMBY EAST AVENUE AND, UM, SOME OF THE, UH, TRANSPORTATION MODES SHOWN THERE. NEXT SLIDE. AND THEN HERE AGAIN, THE, UM, REFERENCE TO THAT WE HAVE ACHIEVED, UM, P PUBLIC ZONING, NEXT SLIDE. OKAY. AND THEN THIS SLIDE IS, UM, KIND OF HIGHLIGHTS A LOT OF THE LANDSCAPING THAT, UM, AND STREETSCAPING THAT WE ARE PROPOSING FOR THIS SUBSTATION. AND SO ON, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT VERY SIDEWALK WITH, AS YOU MOVE FROM EACH QUADRANT. AND FOR FRAME OF REFERENCE NORTH IS TO THE RIGHT ON, ON THIS, UM, UM, ON THIS VIEW AS OPPOSED TO PREVIOUS VIEWS. SO, UM, WE USE GOT VARYING SIDE WITH, UM, SIDEWALK WITH, WITH 12 FEET TO WHICH WE COORDINATED SPECIFICALLY WITH, WITH TEXTILES. AND, UM, WE'VE GOT, UH, 15 FEET ON EAST AVENUE AND WE HAVE THREE FEET OF ROCK. AND, UM, JUST SO YOU CAN KIND OF SEE, UH, THE GROUT OF GRAVEL IS A BETTER TERM FOR IT. AND THAT IS TO, UM, WITHIN SUBSTATIONS, WE HAVE GROUND GRIDS TO, UM, AVOID BEING, YOU KNOW, SHOTS WITHIN THE SUBSTATION AND UNDERGROUND GRID ACTUALLY DOES EXTEND BEYOND THE, UM, YOU KNOW, THE FENCING, WHATEVER THAT MATERIAL, WHETHER IT'S, YOU KNOW, CHAIN-LINK AND KIND OF A STANDARD OR ANY TYPES OF OTHER WALLED ENCLOSURE THAT WE MIGHT, UM, IMPLEMENT. AND SO THAT'S WHERE THAT GRAVEL BUFFER COMES FROM. UM, ON EASTERN LAMBY, WE HAVE, UM, PEDESTRIAN FRIENDLY, UM, AND UTILIZING THE AUSTIN ENERGY LAMPPOST LIGHTING, UH, TREELINE STREET WITH BIKE RACKS AND BENCHES. WE'VE ALSO GOT ELECTRICAL VEHICLE PARKING ON EAST AVENUE, AS WELL AS LANDY STREET. WE HAVE GOT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT THE HERITAGE TREES WHERE WE HAVE ON THE SOUTHEAST CORNER. WE'VE KINDA GOT A PATH IN BETWEEN, UM, FROM LAMBIE OVER TO THE FRONT EDGE. AND THEN ON RIVER STREET IS WHERE WE HAVE OUR RAIN GARDENS AND THE RAIN GARDENS, UM, AREA ALSO HAS A CONCRETE WALL, AS WELL AS THE PATHWAY WITH NATIVE LANDSCAPING AND PLANTS. UM, OUR TREE LINED AREA, WE'LL ALSO HAVE PAINTS, UM, PLANTED, YOU KNOW, KIND OF TRAITS THAT HAVE THAT DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEM. AND THEN AS KEN NOTED, WE WILL BE MOVING FROM THE BACK END, PARKING TO THE, UM, PARALLEL PARKING. AND THEN JUST ONE OTHER FINAL THING I WANTED TO MENTION. SO WE'VE GOT THIS EXTERIOR ARCHITECTURAL WALL THAT [00:15:01] GOES AROUND THE ENTIRE SITE, WHICH IS THE, YOU KNOW, THE SUBSTATION SITES IS THE, YOU KNOW, KIND OF GRAYED OUT AREA. AND WHAT I'LL SAY IS, AS I NOTED IN THE BEGINNING, THERE'S A 96 INCH STORM DRAIN, AND WE HAVE DESIGNED THIS WALL TO BE REMOVABLE. AND THOSE AREAS SUCH THAT IF THERE'S ANY, UM, NEED TO REPAIR THAT 96 INCH STORM DRAIN, WE WILL BE ABLE TO DO THAT. AND SO THAT WAS A MAJOR CONSTRAINT. UM, BUT ONE THAT WE WANTED TO WORK WITH OUR PARTNER AT WATERSHED BECAUSE IT'S IMPORTANT ASSET TO OUR SYSTEM. AND, UM, WITH THAT, I AM GOING TO TURN IN, TURN THE PRESENTATION OVER WITH THE NEXT SLIDE TO GERARD. KENNY IS ONE OF OUR CONSULTANTS. HI, EXCUSE ME. I'M ON TALKING ON BEHALF OF GERARD KENNY. HE'S TRYING TO CALL IN RIGHT NOW IN CASE YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS THAT NEED TO BE ANSWERED, HE'S GONNA CALL IN CAUSE HE CAN'T CONNECT AUTO WITH THE AUDIO IS DAVY TECH HEARD THAT? SO HOW DO WE PROCEED? UM, I GUESS WE CAN MOVE ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE PATIENTS OR WHAT, I'M SORRY. GERARD, ARE YOU ON, I SEE HIS NAME. OH, I'M SORRY. UM, THIS IS HIS ASSISTANT. HE'S TRYING TO CALL IN WITH HIS AUDIO. I'M AT HIS DESK RIGHT NOW, BUT HE'S AT HOME. SO HE CAN'T HEAR ANY OF YOU. SO HE'S GOING TO CALL IN FROM HIS PHONE RIGHT NOW WAS THE AB TECH. I'M LOOKING OUT FOR THAT PHONE NUMBER. YEAH, I HAVE IT ON THE EMAIL. HANG ON JUST A SECOND. LET ME CHECK WITH THEM. WAS GERARD SUPPOSED TO DO THE REST OF THE PRESENTATION? HE WAS THRUSTED THE NEXT FEW SLIDES. I CAN, UM, DO MY BEST, BUT I'M NOT, I'M NOT THE ARCHITECT, BUT I WILL DO MY BEST. UM, SO, UM, SHOWN HERE, UM, ON THE, WHAT WE'VE GOT IS WE HAVE, UM, A, WE HAVE AN ENCLOSURE WALL THAT HAS A HEIGHT THAT VARIES FROM 10 AND A HALF TO 12 FEET TALL, BUT THE GI BUILDING, WHICH, UM, IS KNUCKLED UP AGAINST ON THE FRONTAGE ROAD SIDE, IT HAS A HEIGHT OF 28 FEET TALL. AND, UM, AS I NOTED BEFORE, THAT HAS REMOVABLE PANELS FOR FUTURE MAINTENANCE AND AS WELL AS, UM, WE DO NOT, UM, FIRST SECURITY REASONS WITHIN A SUBSTATION. WE DO NOT WANT TO THE, UH, SUB-STATE THE, THE ENCLOSURE FOR THE SITE TO BE CONVAULT. UM, ADDITIONALLY THE ENTRANCE GATES HAVE BEEN INTEGRATED INTO THE WALL DESIGN, UM, WITH, UM, THE COLORING AND AS WELL AS, UM, SOME, I THINK THEIR SPENDS ON THE BENADRYL SIDE OF THE SITE. UM, WHAT YOU CAN SEE HERE IN THESE GRAPHICS IS ON THE FAR, RIGHT? WHEN YOU CAN, YOU CAN SEE THAT, YOU KNOW, IT'S KIND OF GOT THE CONSTRUCT. I'M NOT GOING TO USE THE RIGHT WORDS, BUT, UM, OF THE ATTACHMENT OF THE SCREEN, WHICH IS ACTUALLY GOING TO BE A RUST COLOR, AND THEN YOU'VE GOT THE FENCE, WHICH ARE THIS, UM, UM, REALLY NICE BLUE COLOR. UM, THE, UM, FENCE WILL HAVE VERY, WE CAN HEAR YOU GERARD. OKAY. I, UNFORTUNATELY I CAN'T SEE ANYTHING, BUT I HAVE THE SLIDES IN HARD COPY RIGHT HERE. IF I CAN HEAL HELP, I CAN MAKE BACK IN. I CAN CONTINUE FROM HERE IS ABLE TO FINALLY GET ON BY TELEPHONE THE ONLY HAVE TO GET ON, OKAY. SLIDE 10. AND I'VE JUST DISCUSSED THE FIRST, UM, FOUR BULLETS AND I WAS TRYING TO EXPLAIN THE RIGHT. GREAT, GREAT. OKAY. UH, YOU PROBABLY DID A GREAT JOB THERE. DID YOU, YOU MENTIONED THAT THE FIN MATERIAL IS A POLYCARBONATE AND IT'S TRANSLUCENT, SO THAT LIGHT COMES THROUGH IT. I DID NOT. YEAH. OKAY. THERE'S THAT? CAN, CAN EVERYBODY HEAR ME? YES. YES. OKAY, GREAT. AND, AND, UH, AND ON THE RIGHT [00:20:01] THAT, WHAT YOU'VE GOT THERE IS THE INSULATED PANELS ARE WHITE THERE. YOU DON'T SEE THEM ON TOP OF THAT OR THE RAINSCREEN PANELS, WHICH IS KIND OF A COPPER COLOR, AND THAT WILL BE THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE BUILDING AND FENCE, AND THEN THE DEFENSE OR THAT, OR THAT BLUE, WHEN I GO TO SLIDE 11 ON THE SCREEN AND YOUR SLIDE 11. OKAY. SO THIS IS THE VIEW FROM THE, UH, FROM THE, UH, SOUTHWEST CORNER, UH, LOOKING NORTHEAST AND YOU'RE SEEING THE BUILDING BEYOND THE REASON THE BUILDING BEYOND DOESN'T HAVE FENCE ON IT IS YOU'RE SEEING THE SIDE OF THE BUILDING THAT FACES THE, UH, THE MAINTENANCE YARD, BUT IN THE FOREGROUND, YOU HAVE THE CORNER OF THE FENCE GOING EACH WAY. THE, UH, I THINK SHE WAS TALKING ABOUT THE GATE WHEN I CAME ON THE GATE IS ON THE RIGHT. AND IT'S THE ONE THING THAT'S NOT REAL CLEAR ABOUT THIS SLIDE IS THAT THERE WOULD BE MORE, YOU'D SEE MORE BLUE. AND THAT GATE IS THAT GATE. AND ALSO THE ONE AROUND AT 35 ARE GOING TO BE AS, AS OPAQUE AS WE CAN, AS THE MANUFACTURER CAN PROVIDE. WE WON'T KNOW THE MANUFACTURER UNTIL THE BIDS ARE IN, BUT, UH, THE WHOLE IDEA OF THIS, UH, THIS SLIDE IS TO SHOW THE KIND OF PEDESTRIAN FRIENDLY NATURE OF THAT CORNER WITH THE TREES AND THE LIGHTS, AND THEN THE FANS AND THE FANS THEMSELVES. UM, THIS IS A PRETTY GOOD DEPICTION OF WHAT THE FENCE WILL LOOK LIKE. WE CAN GO TO SLIDE 11, SLIDE 12 SLIDE 12 IS A SLIDE. SOME OF YOU ON THE DESIGN COMMISSION MAY HAVE ALREADY SEEN ONCE. THIS IS THE ONLY SLIDE WE HAVE FROM THE ORIGINAL PRESENTATION. AND THE, AND THE ONE THING I NEED TO SAY ABOUT THIS SLIDE IS THE THING, THE THINGS THAT HAVE CHANGED ARE THE FANS GO, ARE SHOWN HERE TO GO SLIGHTLY ABOVE THE TOP OF THE BUILDING, BUT THEY WON'T. THEY'LL JUST GO TO THE T TO THE TOP OF THE BUILDING BECAUSE THERE'S A CAP UP THERE. UM, THE FANS ARE ACTUALLY IN THIS, IN THIS PICTURE, THE SLIP THAT IS ARE 12 INCHES APART. THAT'S WHAT THEY WERE WHEN WE ORIGINALLY CONCEIVED OF IT, BUT DO THE TECHNICAL BUILDABILITY ISSUES. THEY'RE NOW 16 INCHES, ONE FOOT, FOUR INCHES APART. BUT THE MAIN THING THAT'S DIFFERENT HERE ABOUT THIS SLIDE IS THAT WE WERE, WE WERE THINKING THE FANS WOULD BE INTERNALLY ILLUMINATED, BUT THE COP POLYCARBONATE FENCE THAT WE'RE USING, UH, CANNOT BE INTERNALLY ILLUMINATED. BUT OTHER THAN THAT, THIS IS A PRETTY GOOD PICTURE. AND IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY AT THE FAR RIGHT SIDE, BEFORE YOU GET TO THE, THE TALL, UH, UTILITY POLE, YOU CAN SEE THE, UM, THE AT 35 GATE IT'S, IT'S, IT'S A SHORTER GATE THAN THE ONE ON LAMBY STREET. IF WE CAN GET THEM ABOUT EGM, YOU'RE SEEING THE HERITAGE TREES TO THE LEFT-HAND SUPER RIDE. AND THEN THE FINAL SLIDE IS AROUND, UH, ON, UH, AT THE, ON LAMMY STREET. AND IT'S YES, EXCUSE ME. YEAH, SLIDE 13. AND THIS IS FROM RIVER STREET THAT ENDED 35, RIGHT, RIGHT AT THAT CORNER. AND THIS IS, THIS IS, UH, AS WAS THE ONE OVER ON, UH, EAST AVENUE ON THE WEST SIDE, THIS IS A PRETTY GOOD DEPICTION OF, OF WHAT YOU WILL SEE IN TERMS OF THE FENCE TODAY. YOU'RE SEEING IT THROUGH THE, THROUGH THOSE HERITAGE TREES. YOU SEE SOME LANDSCAPING ALONG THE RIGHT, TRYING TO MAKE THIS AS PEDESTRIAN FRIENDLY AS IT CAN AS POSSIBLE. ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS, I GUESS WE WHITTLED IN FOR QUESTIONS? I THINK, I THINK I'VE PROBABLY USED MY MINUTE UP ON EACH SLIDE. OKAY. LET'S MOVE TO SLIDE 14 PLEASE. AND THIS SLIDE HERE, UM, IS MOSTLY PROVIDED HERE TO SHOW, UM, A CROSS-REFERENCE OF EAST AVENUE AND, AND, AND IT HAS TWO DIFFERENT, UM, DESIGN POINTS IN OUR PROCESS WITH THE TOP, RIGHT. BEING THE MOST CURRENT AND ACCURATE DEPICTION OF WHAT THE SITE WILL LOOK LIKE. BUT THE IMPORTANT POINT IMPORTANT POINT HERE IS, IS THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE MAINTAINING, UM, YOU KNOW, PARALLEL PARKING ON BOTH SIDES. IT'S GOING TO, UM, BE LIT TREELINE, PEDESTRIAN, FRIENDLY SIDEWALKS, BUT BENCHES, [00:25:01] UM, AS WELL AS, UM, WE'RE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE, UH, 80 FEET TOTAL OF, OF RIGHT AWAY, UM, FROM, UM, THROUGH BOTH SIDES OF, OF THE, UH, CROSS SECTION OF THAT STREET. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. OKAY. AND THEN WITH THIS, UM, IS KIND OF OUR SCHEDULE, AS YOU CAN SEE HERE WHERE WE ARE HERE AT THE DESIGN COMMISSION TODAY, AND THEN WE ARE, UM, ACTUALLY GOING TO BE, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GOING THROUGH THE BID PROCESS TO HIRE A CONTRACTOR. WE WILL BE FINISHING UP, YOU KNOW, OUR SITE DEVELOPMENT PERMIT AND THEN HOSTING OUR NEXT, UM, PUBLIC OUTREACH MEETING, WHICH WILL BE WHERE WE'LL INTRODUCE THE CONTRACTOR AND, UM, INTRODUCE THEM AS OUR, THEIR, THEIR NEWEST NEIGHBOR, UH, FOR THE NEXT, UM, FORESEEABLE FUTURE AS THEY WORK TO CONSTRUCT THIS. AND THEN WE'RE HOPING FOR, UM, YOU KNOW, WINTER, DECEMBER 22 TYPE OF TIMEFRAME FOR ENERGIZATION OF OUR SUBSTATION, BUT THAT WE'RE OPEN TO QUESTIONS. THANK YOU FOR THAT PRESENTATION. ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS FROM COMMISSIONERS? I HAVE A QUESTION IF NOBODY ELSE IS GOING TO ASK ANYTHING. SO, SO, UM, I REALLY LIKED THE EAST AVENUE, I GUESS, THE, THE LOWER FENCE OR THE LOWER WALL, THE SCREEN, WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT, BUT THE ONE ON 35 JUST SEEMS A LITTLE OVERWHELMING, UM, OR THE SIGHT LINES SUCH THAT IT HAS TO BE THAT TALL HAS TO BE THAT TALL. I MEAN, IF YOU'RE STANDING ON THE STREET, YOU WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO SEE ANYTHING ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THAT. RIGHT. UNLESS YOU'RE GOING OVER THE EXPRESSWAY, LOOKING DOWN ON IT FOR 35, WOULD YOU LIKE FOR ME TO RESPOND TO THAT? YOU'RE WELCOME TO DRIVE. OKAY. SO, UM, HOW HAS SEEN FROM AT 35, ISN'T IMPORTANT, WASN'T IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THIS, BUT WHAT YOU HAVE, THERE IS A BUILDING IS 28 FEET TALL AND A, AND A FENCE THAT'S ABOUT 12 FEET TALL. AND WE'RE TRYING TO DO A DESIGN TREATMENT. THAT WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, THIS, THIS BLUE, UM, THESE BLUE FEMS HAVE HAD ATTACHED THEMSELVES TO THIS BUILDING AND THEY ARE, YOU KNOW, THAT, THAT'S WHAT YOU SEE, THAT'S THAT, THAT IS THE DESIGN MOTIF. AND THE ONE THAT WAS BASICALLY SELECTED BY THE, BY THE COMMUNITY BACK, YOU KNOW, A YEAR AGO. UM, I UNDERSTAND, I UNDERSTAND THAT, BUT THE SCREEN IS SO TALL THAT NO PEDESTRIAN IS GOING TO BE ABLE TO SEE OVER THE, THEY WON'T SEE ANYTHING ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THAT SCREEN, IF IT WAS EVEN A LITTLE LOWER, RIGHT. GERARD, RIGHT, RIGHT. YEAH. YEAH. WE DON'T, WE DON'T WANT PEOPLE TO SEE OVER IT. WE'RE WE'RE TRYING TO, THE WHOLE IDEA IS, IS THAT WHAT PEOPLE WOULD SEE AROUND THE ENTIRE PERIMETER OF THE SITE IS EITHER THE BUILDING OR THE SCREEN. SO HOW FAR OUT DO YOU HAVE TO BE TO SEE OVER IT? WELL, YOU'D HAVE TO BE UP ON THAT 35, UH, TO, TO SEE OVER IT AND SEE IF YOU WANTED TO SEE DOWN INTO IT, OR YOU'D HAVE TO BE IN ONE OF THE HIGH RISE BUILDINGS AROUND IT, TO LOOK DOWN INTO IT, TO SEE THAT THE EQUIPMENT INSIDE OF IT. BUT WE'RE NOT, THE WHOLE IDEA IS TO TRY TO SCREEN THEM. WHAT'S HIS NAME? I UNDERSTAND. I UNDERSTAND WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO CREATE ABOUT PEDESTRIAN FRIENDLINESS, TOO. THAT'S WHY I LIKE THE EAST AVENUE SIDE WHERE IT SEEMED TO HAVE MORE OF A PEDESTRIAN SCALE OVER HERE. THIS ALMOST LOOKS A LITTLE OVERWHELMING TO ME. THAT'S ALL, THAT'S ALL I'M SAYING. IF THERE WAS A WAY IT COULD BE BROUGHT DOWN SOME TO BE MORE OF A PEDESTRIAN SCALE THAN, YOU KNOW, I THINK IT LOOKED A LOT MORE COMFORTABLE, BUT RIGHT NOW IT'S IT'S YEAH, IT'S FINE. WELL, IF WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS THAT THE, THAT THE FINS THEMSELVES DON'T NEED TO GO, THEY CAN JUST REMAIN DOWN AT THE 12 FOOT HIGH. LIKE THE FENCE IS THE, THE, THE RAIN SCREEN PANELS THAT ARE THE FACADE OF THE BUILDING OF COURSE HAVE TO GO UP THE ENTIRE 28 TREE. AND THAT'S A COOL IDEA TOO. YEAH. THAT THAT'D BE KIND OF COOL JUST TO HAVE THE FENCE DOWN AT A LOWER LEVEL WHERE IT WAS MORE PEDESTRIAN FRIENDLY AND THE REST OF IT COULD BE THE RUST, THE RUST KIND OF SCREEN. BUT IT WAS JUST MY, YEAH, BECAUSE THE PEOPLE REALLY LOOKED SMALL. I MEAN, MAYBE THAT'S MAYBE THAT'S, MAYBE I'M NOT LOOKING AT IT. RIGHT. BUT THOSE PEOPLE LOOK LIKE ANTS NEXT THAT WALL IN THAT, THAT WAS MY MAIN COMMENT. THE OTHER COMMENT I HAD WAS YOU SAID THERE'S THREE POT POWER POLES, RIGHT. TWO OF THEM ARE NEW AND ONE OF THEM IS EXISTING. RIGHT. SO HOW HIGH, HOW HIGH ABOVE [00:30:01] THE TREES ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE THOSE POLES TO GUARANTEE THAT THE TREES WON'T GROW UP AND SOMETIME, YOU KNOW, IT'S SOMETIME IN INTERFERE WITH THE POWER LINES. YEAH. SOMEBODY ELSE NEEDS TO ADDRESS THAT GREG OR ROBERT, THAT'S IT FOR ME. SO IN ACTUALITY, THANK YOU. UM, IS THE, UH, WE HAVE TWO EXISTING AND THEN THERE'S ONLY ONE NEW BEING ADDED. AND SO, UM, WE, THE STRUCTURES ARE, I THINK A HUNDRED. AND LET ME MAKE SURE I, I WROTE THEM DOWN BECAUSE I WANT TO TELL YOU THE EXACT HEIGHT OF THOSE STRUCTURES. WHERE DID I WRITE THAT DOWN? I THINK THE EXISTING STRUCTURES ARE, OF COURSE, THAT'S GOING TO TAKE ME FOREVER TO FIND THEM. UM, IT LOOKED LIKE ABOUT A LITTLE OVER DOUBLE OF WHAT THE SCREEN IS, SO IT MUST BE ABOUT 60 FEET OR SOMETHING. YEAH. THERE, I'M ACTUALLY IN THE 75 85 RANGE. AND I THINK THE ONE NEW ONE IS IN THE HUNDRED RANGE AND WE'LL, UM, CONTINUE TO, UM, PRUNE AS, AS NECESSARY. UM, BECAUSE THAT IS OBVIOUSLY, AS WE KNOW, FROM WINTER STORM, URI PRUNING IS IMPORTANT TO MAINTAINING OUR, UM, TRANSMISSION AND ELECTRICAL, I MEAN, DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM HERE IN AUSTIN. YEAH. AND I GUESS IT COULDN'T BE UNDERGROUND, RIGHT. THAT WOULDN'T BE POSSIBLE. WELL, SO WHAT YOU CAN SEE IN THAT ONE PICTURE IS THAT IT ACTUALLY DOES GO UNDERGROUND INTO THE BUILDING. SO, UM, WE HAD TO ADD THE ONE POLE, SO AS IT COMES BACK UP AND WE COULDN'T HAVE, WE HAD TO ADD THAT POLE BECAUSE WE COULDN'T CUT THROUGH THE ROOT SYSTEMS OF THE EXISTING, UM, TERRIBLY TREES TO GO OVER TO THE EXISTING POLE. SO THAT'S WHY WE ADDED THE THIRD POLL. SO, YEAH. AND THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT. SO IT'S KIND OF LIKE A T IT'S LIKE A BRIDGE KIND OF. YEP. OKAY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION. I HAVE A COUPLE OF LANDSCAPE RELATED QUESTIONS. THE FIRST ONE BEING, UH, HAVE YOU PICKED A VARIETY OF TREES? YEAH. FOR THE PROJECT, ESPECIALLY ALONG EAST AVENUE AND LANEY STREET. ROBERTO, ARE YOU AVAILABLE TO RESPOND TO THOSE QUESTIONS ANYWAY, FROM THE DESIGN TEAM? SORRY TO INTERJECT ROBERTO'S COMING ON OVER. OH, GOOD. THERE WE GO. SORRY ABOUT THAT. UH, HI, UH, THE STREET TREES ARE CEDAR ELM AT THIS TIME. ALL OF THEM. YES. CAUSE WE HAVE A LOT OF LIVE OAKS ALREADY ON THE SITE IN ONE PECAN. AND THEN WE HAVE, UH, THE REST IS JUST KIND OF, UH, UNDERSTORY SHRUBS. AND, UH, ONE OF THE MAIN FEATURES IS THAT, UH, WE'RE NOT USING ANY TURF WE'VE WE'RE, WE'RE USING ALL, UM, KIND OF, UH, NATIVE GRASSES AND WILD FLOWERS AROUND THE SUBSTATION. I THINK THAT'LL LOOK GOOD WITH THE RUST COLORED STRUCTURE AND IT REDUCES THE WATER AND IN MAINTENANCE, ONE OF THE THINGS THE NEIGHBORHOOD ASKED FOR WAS A LOT OF, UH, UH, UH, SHRUBS. SO WE HAVE WAVES OF SHRUBS ALL THE WAY AROUND IT. OKAY. WELL, SPEAKING OF SHRUBS, IF I'M READING THIS CORRECTLY, THERE'S NO SHRUBS ON LANEY OR EAST AVENUE. IT'S ALL TREES IN TREE GREATS. IS THAT CORRECT? CORRECT. SO THERE WAS NO, THERE'S NO SOFTENING OF PLANTING OTHER THAN THE TREES ON THOSE TWO EDGES. RIGHT. WHAT SIZE TREE DO YOU PLAN ON PUTTING IN DAY ONE? WELL, W WE HAVE FIVE INCH TREES IN THE, OKAY. WE CAN GET THEM. AND ARE THEY IN SILVA CELLS? ARE THEY IN TREE GRATES? HOW DO YOU PLAN ON DETAILING THAT HAVE YOU COME TO THAT LEVEL OF DETAIL YET? YEAH. TH THOSE ARE ALL INTRIGUED. GREAT. UH, SO NO SILVER SELLS FOR MORE WEIGHT RIGHT. AT THIS TIME. I DON'T KNOW THAT WE NEED THAT. UM, I'M JUST, I'M OBVIOUSLY TRYING TO MAKE THE POINT THAT WE'RE REALLY RELYING ON CEDAR ELMS TO DO A GREAT JOB, BECAUSE THAT IS SUCH A STRONG ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENT AND THE TREES ARE ONLY GREEN DESPITE BETWEEN THAT EDGE [00:35:01] AND THE PEDESTRIAN REALM. RIGHT, RIGHT. AND YOU'RE, YOU'RE CORRECT. OKAY. MY OTHER QUESTION IS I, IN PREPARATION FOR THIS MEETING, I LOOKED AT THE SIDE PLAN AND THERE SEEMS TO BE A UTILITY LINE GOING THROUGH THE HERITAGE TREES GOING NORTH, SOUTH. UM, IS THAT AN EXISTING LINE OR IS THAT A PROPOSED LINE, BUT THOSE ARE ALL EXISTING. THERE'S IT SEEMS STORM SEWER, UH, THROUGH THE TREES SOMEHOW, I THINK. OKAY. YEAH. JUST MAKING SURE THAT'S NOT A NEW, CORRECT. OKAY. UH, AND THEN THIS IS, YOU HAVE A BLOW UP OF HOW THAT CIRCULATION MEANDERS ON THE NORTH AND SOUTH. I SEE IT ON THE, ON THE SOUTH, BUT HOW DOES THE, HOW DOES THE SIDEWALK MEANDER ON THE NORTH, ON THE NORTH WEST AND THE NORTH IS PARALLEL TO THE STREET. WHAT WE'VE GOT IS A GRAVEL EDGE THAT KINDA CREEPS TOWARDS THE WALL THAT WOULD ALLOW THE PEDESTRIAN, THAT KIND OF HOW TO CROSS IF THEY WANT TO, THROUGH THE, YOU DON'T CIRCULATE THROUGH THOSE TREES LIKE YOU DO ON THE SOUTH, WHICH JUST KIND OF CUT THE CORNER A LITTLE BIT. UH, YEAH. THERE'S SOME BEDS FLOATING IN THE GRAVEL, THOSE. OKAY. AND ARE THERE BENCHES AND THINGS IN THERE, OR JUST THE SEAT? YOU'LL SIT ON STONES. THE BENCHES ARE ALL ON THE STREETSCAPE. THE BENCHES ARE OKAY. BUT IN THAT GRAVEL AREA, THERE'S LIMESTONE BOULDERS. YES. WE HAVE 30, 40 DIFFERENT SIZES IN THE PLANS. OKAY. ARE THEY SUSTAINABLE OR ARE THEY BOULDERS? BOTH. OKAY. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. UM, I THINK THOSE ARE MY, OH, THE FINS. I HAD A QUESTION FOR GERARD ABOUT THE FENCE BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT INTERNALLY LINKED ANYMORE. WILL IT HAVE THE SAME EFFECT IN THE RENDERINGS? THAT'S MY FIRST QUESTION. THE SECOND IS THAT THERE, IS THERE ANY MAINTENANCE TO KEEP THOSE, LIKE WHEN THEY GET CLOUDY WITH JUST DUST, BRILLIANT URBAN POPULATION, ARE THEY GOING TO LOOK DULL? I'M CONCERNED ABOUT THAT. AND MAYBE IT'S A BEAUTIFUL FEATURE, BUT I THINK THAT THE BEAUTIES IN THE, THE, UH, WHAT WOULD YOU CALL IT? THE, THE OPERA LESSONS OF IT, RIGHT. THE RADIANT SEA OF IT. WELL, THE LIGHTING THAT WE HAVE IS THE STREETLIGHTS LIGHTS AT NIGHT. IF WE, WE THINK THEY WILL, YOU KNOW, THEY WILL PICK UP THE FIVES AND THEY GET, AND YOU WILL, YOU WILL SEE THAT YOU WILL SEE THOSE THE FANS, BUT YOU WON'T SEE THEM AS BRIGHT AS THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN. HAD THEY BEEN INTERNALLY ILLUMINATED. UM, BUT IN THE DAYTIME, WE'VE WE THINK WHERE WHENEVER THEY'RE IN THE SUN, YOU'LL, THERE'LL BE REALLY QUITE ATTRACTED BECAUSE THE LIGHT THROUGH THEM AND, AND, UH, WE'VE TAKEN THE MATERIAL OUTSIDE AND PUT IT IN THE SUN AND LOOKED AT IT IN VARIOUS WAYS. AND WE THINK IT'LL BE BEAUTIFUL IN THE DAYTIME, THE NIGHTTIME, IT WON'T BE AS BRIGHT AS WE HAD ORIGINALLY ENVISIONED. OKAY. AND WHAT ABOUT THE MAINTENANCE? UH, THE MAINTENANCE, THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION. UH, WE'VE GONE TO A LOT OF TROUBLE. THEY ARE REMOVABLE. YOU CAN REMOVE THEM WITHOUT REMOVING THE, UH, PANEL. EACH, EACH INDIVIDUAL RIB CAN BE REMOVED AND PUT BACK WITHOUT REMOVING A PANEL. UM, THEY BOTH THE PANELS AND THE PENS ARE, UH, NATURALLY GRAFFITI RESISTANCE. AND, BUT BOTH, BOTH MANUFACTURERS, THE MANUFACTURERS OF THE, OF THE PENS AND THE MANUFACTURER OF THE PANELS, BOTH HAVE PRODUCTS THAT ARE DELIVERED THAT ARE WE'RE REQUIRING THEM TO BE DELIVERED WITH THE, WITH THE, UM, MATERIALS THAT IF THERE IS WE'RE FEEDING IT, TH TH THEY CAN BE RE IT CAN BE REMOVED WITH IT WITH THESE MATERIALS. WE DIDN'T QUITE A BIT OF CHECKING ON THAT WE WERE REAL CONCERNED ABOUT TO, AND, AND THEN ALSO JUST CLEANING THEM FROM NORMAL, UH, LANDSCAPE PAYMENTS AND THAT SORT OF THING, DIRT STUFF WILL GET UP ON THE, ON THE PANELS AND WE'LL GET UP ON THE FENCE AT NIGHT. THEY CAN BE EASILY CLEANED. THANK YOU. SURE. COMMENTS FROM COMMISSIONERS FAIR. JUST ONE QUESTION FOR ME, UM, LIKE THE DESIGN, I APPRECIATE THE LAYOUT OF THE MASSEY. PORTSIDE 35 AND KEEPING THE, OR CUTS AWAY FROM EAST AVENUE. I THINK IT'S JUST REALLY GOOD KIND OF LAYOUT. UH, ONE QUESTION WOULD BE ABOUT THE LARGE, UH, HERITAGE TREES AND STREET LIGHTING, JUST ANTICIPATING THE TREES ARE PROBABLY BLOCKING [00:40:01] SOME OF THE STREET LIGHTING AND SETBACK FROM THE SIDEWALK AND WAS WONDERING IF THERE'S ANY EXTERIOR LIGHTING OR LIGHTING UNDER THE TREES OR ANY KIND OF CONCERN ABOUT HOW DARK IT MAY GET IN THERE. HI, THIS IS FOR WORK FOR GARCIA. IT'S NOT OBVIOUS FROM THE, THE RENDERINGS, UM, THERE'S OTHER LIGHTING, UH, THERE'S, UH, BOLLARDS THAT RUN UNDER THE, THE SOUTH END THROUGH THAT KIND OF S SHAPED SIDEWALK. SO WE'VE GOT BOLLARDS THROUGH THERE, AND THEN ALL ALONG THE 12 FOOT PATHWAY, ALONG 35, WE'RE USING BOLLARDS THERE AS WELL FOR THE, KIND OF THE MORE FORMAL STREETSCAPE WE'RE USING THE TOWN LAKE FIXTURE, JUST BECAUSE IT SEEMED TO FIT WITH THE NEIGHBORHOOD. AND THOSE ARE PRETTY CLOSE IN TERMS OF LIGHTING THERE. I THINK THEY'RE, UH, EVERY OTHER TREE. SO IT'S, IT'S A LOT OF LIGHT WHERE WE DO HAVE IT. AND THEN WE, WE, WE ADDED SOME LIGHT UNDER THE TREE ON THE SOUTH END. UH, THE NORTH END IS ALSO HAS LIGHTING, BUT ONLY ON THE SIDEWALK, UH, EDGES. YEAH. WELL, THAT SOUNDS GREAT. IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU ALL WITH THE BOLLARDS STILL HELP, AND IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU'LL CONSIDER IT SO APPRECIATE THAT. SURE. MISSION REMINDERS. ALL RIGHT. UH, SO I REALLY LIKED THE DESIGN. I THINK IT LOOKS LIKE A TIE DYE, WHICH KIND OF CONNECTS TO THAT WHOLE KEY BOSTON WEIRD VIBE. SO I'M GLAD THE PUBLIC CHOSE IT. UH, I OBVIOUSLY WISH THAT IT WAS LIT UP, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE THAT'S NOT GOING TO BE TECHNICALLY FEASIBLE. UM, THE ONE CONCERN THAT I HAVE, WHICH MAY SOUND CRAZY IS THAT NOW THAT IT'S SHORTER, IS THERE ANY MITIGATION, IF SCOOTERS GET THROWN OVER THAT WALL, I'VE SEEN SCOOTERS GET THROWN PRETTY HIGH INTO TREES AND PRETTY MUCH ANYWHERE. SO, UM, IF THAT'S, UH, AT ALL CONCERNING TO YOU ALL, UH, THAT MIGHT BE SOMETHING TO CONSIDER. YEAH, THAT'S INTERESTING. I HADN'T CONSIDERED THE SCOOTER. WE DO. UM, FOR EXAMPLE, OVER AT THE, UM, I'LL PUT THE DOMAIN AS WELL AS, UM, BY THE PUBLIC LIBRARY WHERE WE HAVE SUBSTATIONS, WE HAVE CHANGED LOUNGES. WE HAVE DIFFERENT THINGS THAT FLY WITH THE WIND. AND SO THAT'S SOMETHING WE, YOU KNOW, AND THIS MORE, EVEN JUST NOT AS MUCH THROWN AS MUCH AS JUST A WIND TYPE THING. SO IT'S SOMETHING WE DO HAVE TO, YOU KNOW, WE JUST, WE HAVE PATROLS, WE MAKE SURE WE, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE THERE. I DON'T THINK THE HEIGHT, THE HEIGHT IS ACTUALLY PROBABLY TALLER THAN MAYBE EVEN SOME OF OUR OTHER EXISTING OR OLDER SUBSTATIONS. SO IT'S, UM, IT'S, IT'S A CONCERN, NO MATTER WHAT, THIS IS HIGH AS IT CAN BE BY CODE. YEP. THERE'S QUITE A DISTANCE TOO, BETWEEN THE TOP OF THE FENCE AND THE ACTUAL INFRASTRUCTURE, BECAUSE THERE'S A LARGE DRIVE GOING ALL THE WAY AROUND IT AS WELL. HMM. ALSO NOT, NOT JUST GET HIGH, BUT GET SOME REAL RANGE ON THOSE SCOOTERS. COOL. THAT'S ALL I HAVE. OKAY. A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS MYSELF. ONE IS, UM, THE BLUE POLYCARBONATE PANELS. SO HOW FAR I'LL GET TRUED ON THIS WALL? UH, I THINK THAT WE TRUED OUT AS FAR AS 16 INCHES. I DON'T THINK ZACH IS ON THE CALL HERE. WE'D HAVE TO ASK HIM. WE WENT BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN 12 AND 16 INCHES OUT. SO, UH, SOMEWHERE IN THAT RANGE. AND DO YOU, HAVE YOU LOOKED INTO THAT BEING AN ACCESSIBILITY ISSUE? ACCESSIBILITY? I CAN ANSWER THAT. SORRY ABOUT THAT, GERARD. SURE. GO AHEAD. WHERE THESE PANELS ABOUT THE PUBLIC SIDEWALKS ON THOSE TWO STREETS, THERE'S A STRIP OF GRAVEL THAT KIND OF COMES FORWARD OF THE PANELS AND THAT'S ABOUT THREE FEET WIDE. UH, SO W WE GOT PLENTY OF CLEARANCE AND I DON'T THINK THESE WILL BE VIEWED AS PROTRUDING OBJECTS. I DO SEE THAT [00:45:01] ON EAST AVENUE AND RIVER STREET, BUT ON LAMBY STREET, THERE APPEARS TO BE NO BUFFER RIGHT ON, ON LAMBY. WE'VE GOT PRETTY TIGHT, UH, IN TERMS OF THE, UH, THE SIDEWALK WITH W W WE WANTED TO MAXIMIZE THE SIDEWALK WITH. UM, SO WE COULD, UH, I I'D HAVE TO CHECK WITH, UH, AUSTIN ENERGY. UH, WE COULD HAVE THE GRAVEL STRIP ON THAT SIDE AS WELL, BUT IT WILL REDUCE THE WALKING WITH ON LAMP. UH, YEAH. YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST A COMMENT TO MAKE SURE, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAVE A ACCESSIBILITY CONSULTANT ON THIS PROJECT, BUT JUST TO MAKE SURE YOU DON'T GET CAUGHT DOWN THE ROAD. UM, YOU KNOW, IT IS CITY PROJECT AND CITY FUNDING, AND SO WE DON'T HAVE KIND OF CATASTROPHE THANK YOU FOR THAT. WE WILL DEFINITELY LOOK INTO THAT IN MY OPINION. IT'S NOT GOING TO BE MUCH OF A PROBLEM BECAUSE IT'S NOT LIKE YOU HAVE SINGLE OBJECT STICKING OUT THAT SUDDENLY YOU RUN INTO, ANYTIME ONE WOULD ENCOUNTER THE FINS. YOU YOU'D BE GRADUALLY ENCOUNTERING THEM, ENCOUNTERING THEM GOING FROM ZERO TO AND DOWN AT THEM AT THAT LEVEL DOWN, IT KIND OF SHOULDER HEIGHT, YOU WOULD PROBABLY NEVER GET MORE THAN AROUND EIGHT OR NINE INCHES, BUT, BUT IT WOULD BE GRADUAL. SO I DON'T THINK IT WOULD BE ACTUALLY A PROBLEM FOR ANYONE IN A WHEELCHAIR OR, OR, OR WITH A CANE OR ANYTHING, BUT WE WILL DEFINITELY LOOK INTO THAT. THANK YOU. SURE. AND THEN ONE OTHER QUESTION, I DON'T KNOW, MAYBE I MISSED IT, THE, UH, CORE, 10 LOOKING MATERIAL. WHAT, WHAT IS THAT EXACTLY? IS THAT A METAL PANEL? OKAY. AND IS HIS STEEL, UH, AND IT'S COATED WITH A COIL COATING IN THE FACTORY. AND, UM, YOU KNOW, IT COMES WITH A VERY LONG MAINTENANCE, LONG GUARANTEE. IT'S ALL STEEL, EVERYTHING YOU SEE IS STEEL. UM, BECAUSE THERE'S WITH ALUMINUM, THERE'S A GALVANIC, UH, CHEMICAL PROBLEM BECAUSE IT'S AN ELECTRICAL BILL, YOU KNOW, EQUIPMENT IN THE BUILDING. SO EVERYTHING YOU SEE IS SPEAKING SURE. STEEL AND POLLY PARTLY CARBON THE TWINS. UH, YEAH. OKAY. THANK YOU. I, UH, THE ARCHITECT IN ME IS REALLY INTERESTED TO SEE THE DETAIL FALLOWS, POLYCARBONATE PANELS ARE CONNECTED. WE, IT, IT WAS QUITE A CHALLENGE, BELIEVE ME. UH, BUT, BUT IT LOOKS GOOD. AND TO DO IT IN SO THAT, SO THAT EVERYTHING CAN BE REMOVED WITHOUT REMOVING EVERYTHING. YEAH. IT WAS A PROBLEM. IT WAS A CHALLENGE. VERY NICE. WERE THERE ANY MORE QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM COMMISSIONERS? OKAY. UM, WELL, THEY ARE LOOKING FOR US TO TAKE ACTION ON THIS TONIGHT. SOMEONE LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION TO SUPPORT THIS QUIET BUNCH TONIGHT, I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO SUPPORT IT. AND I'LL SECOND. OKAY. IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION ON THAT? I HAD A LITTLE BIT BACK TO THE TREE GRATES, UH, ALMOST A HUNDRED PERCENT OF THE PROJECTS WE SEE COMING THROUGH AND OUR NEW CODE THAT'S JUST, THAT IS HOVERING OVER US, REQUIRES A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF SOIL VOLUME PER TREE. AND I'M CONCERNED THAT THE TREE GRATES AND THOSE OPENINGS FOR A FIVE INCH TREE WILL NOT BE ADEQUATE FOR THOSE TREES TO THRIVE. I THINK WE WANT BEYOND SURVIVE TO THRIVE. SO I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A FRIENDLY AMENDMENT THAT, UH, SILVER CELL SYSTEM IS USED ON THE STREETS. UM, I THINK I HAVE TO ACCEPT THE AMENDMENT. I DON'T KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT IT. I MEAN, I TRUST YOUR JUDGMENT CAUSE I KNOW YOU'VE GOT FAR MORE EXPERTISE THAN I DO. SO DO YOU WANT TO EXPLAIN THAT COMMISSIONER COLEMAN CELL SYSTEM IS A SUBSURFACE GRID, GRATE CRATE TYPE SYSTEM THAT ALLOWS SOIL AND ROOTS TO HAVE MORE ROOM TO SPREAD BECAUSE TYPICALLY UNDER A SIDEWALK YOU'VE HAD ROAD BASE AND CONCRETE AND EVERYTHING ELSE HOLDING IT UP. AND THE ONLY OPENING FOR THE TREE IS UNDER THAT SIX FOOT METAL GRADE, WHICH IS TYPICALLY GATHERS HATE. AND, YOU KNOW, IT JUST GETS COMPACTED AND, YOU KNOW, IT'S DIFFICULT TO IRRIGATE. SOMETIMES IT'S JUST THE URBAN CHALLENGE FOR TREE GRATES. AND THAT'S WHY A LOT OF OUR TREAT STREET TREES HAVE NOT BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN REACHING THEIR MAXIMUM [00:50:01] HEIGHTS, SPREADS AND LONGEVITY. AND THAT'S AGAIN, THAT'S WHY WE'RE REPLACING A LOT OF HOURS IN THE SYSTEM OF DOES YOUR, THAT IS, IT IS, UH, REQUESTED. I'M GONNA, I'M GOING TO SAY 90 TO A HUNDRED PERCENT OF THE TIME BY CITY OF AUSTIN STAFF IS TO UTILIZE THIS TYPE OF SYSTEM. SO THIS IS NOT A UNIQUE REQUEST. I'M NOT PICKING ON ANYBODY, IT'S ON ALL OUR PROJECTS, IT'S ALL IN ALL YOUR PROJECTS. SO I'M JUST SAYING THAT BECAUSE ONLY HAVE THAT GREEN IN OUR TREES ON THOSE TWO, I THINK IT'S PRUDENT TO MAKE THAT INVESTMENT. COOL. YEAH. I ACCEPT THE AMENDMENT SINCE ITS RECOMMENDATION MIGHT AS WELL ADD THAT ON MR. WALLY, DO YOU AGREE? UM, YES. I, I I'LL I'LL AGREE TO THAT. I MEAN, I'M, I GUESS I'M SAYING I, I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT BUDGET AND CONCERN, BUT OVERALL I BELIEVE IT'S, UH, IT'S, IT'S DEFINITELY SPIRIT SYSTEMS, SO I'D BE FINE WITH IT. OKAY. ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION. OKAY. THEN WE WILL TAKE IT TO A VOTE. OKAY. MISHA, TANA. GUCCI DOES COMMISSIONER I SUPPORT COMMISSIONER LUKINS YES, YES. FOR SURE. COLEMAN COMMISSIONER MINORS. I SHOULDN'T WALLY. YES. AND I AM A YES. I'LL SIT BED PASSES UNANIMOUSLY. THANK YOU EVERYBODY. THANK YOU, DESIGN TEAM. THANK YOU. HAVE A GREAT EVENING. WE WILL MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ITEM. ONE [1B. Courtesy Briefing on the City of Austin Palm District Planning Initiative, to be presented by Stevie Greathouse – City of Austin Housing and Planning Department] B COURTESY BRIEFING ON THE CITY OF AUSTIN PALM DISTRICT PLANNING INITIATIVE. GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS. I'M STEVIE GREENHOUSE. I'M A MANAGER WITH THE HOUSING AND PLANNING DEPARTMENT. AND COULD I GET THE PRESENTATION UP THAT'S SHOULD BE THE ONLY PALM DISTRICT PLANNING INITIATIVE PRESENTATION. HOPEFULLY THANK YOU SO MUCH. UM, I BELIEVE I WAS LAST, LAST BRIEF FEW GUYS AND LATE 2019 AND A LOT HAS HAPPENED IN THE MEANTIME. I'M HAPPY TO BE BACK TO PROVIDE A FULLER BRIEFING ON THE PALM DISTRICT PLANNING INITIATIVE. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. SO IN THIS BRIEFING THIS EVENING, I'M GOING TO VERY BRIEFLY COVER THE BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT, UM, STUDY AREA SCOPE AND PROJECT TEAM, AND THEN PROVIDE SOME INFORMATION ON HOW TO GET INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS AND ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU HAVE. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. NEXT, THE FUNDAMENTAL GOAL OF THE POM DISTRICT PLANNING INITIATIVE IS TO ENGAGE STAKEHOLDERS IN THE PUBLIC TO DEVELOP A SHARED VISION FOR AN AREA OF DOWNTOWN THAT HAS A RICH HISTORY AND THAT WE KNOW IS EVOLVING QUICKLY. THE POEM DISTRICT STUDY AREA COVERS THE EASTERN EDGE OF DOWNTOWN AND INCLUDES MANY SIGNIFICANT LANDMARKS. THE AREA IS ALSO GROUND ZERO FOR A FAIRLY SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF MAJOR PUBLIC INVESTMENTS ANTICIPATED OVER THE YEAR. THE HEAD INCLUDING RECONSTRUCTION BY AGE 35, AS WELL AS IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROJECT CONNECT TRANSIT SYSTEM. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, IN ADDITION TO INITIATING IN A DISTRICT PLANNING PROCESS, THE RESOLUTION THAT WAS ADOPTED BY CITY COUNCIL ON BOARD IN 2019 PROVIDED DIRECTION ON SEVERAL ADDITIONAL ITEMS THAT ARE MOVING FORWARD INDEPENDENTLY, THE DISTRICT PLANNING PROCESS BEING COORDINATED BY THE HOUSING AND PLANNING DEPARTMENT WILL BE INFORMED BY AN INFORM ALL OF THE OTHER WORK THAT IS REFERENCED IN THE RESOLUTION. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE ENDING WITH ADOPTION OF THE WALNUT CREEK MASTER PLAN IN 2010. THIS IS AN AREA THAT HAS SEEN A LOT OF PLANNING ACTUALLY. UM, AND, AND MORE IT CONTINUES. UM, AND WE'RE REALLY HOPING THAT THIS PLANNING PROCESS WILL HELP TO UNIFY, UM, THE VARIOUS VISIONS THAT HAVE BEEN THAT HAVE COME OUT OVER THE YEARS BEHIND US, UM, AND COME UP WITH A UNIFIED VISION THAT CAN TRULY FIGURE OUT WHAT THIS PLACE WANTS TO BE MOVING FORWARD INTO THE FUTURE. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. YEAH. NEXT SLIDE. THE PUMP STUDY AREAS GENERALLY BOUNDED BY 15TH STREET TO THE NORTH I 35 ON THE EAST LADYBIRD LAKE TO THE SOUTH AND TRINITY STREET ON THE WEST. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. CENTRAL. MOST OF THE STUDY AREA IS THE POEM SCHOOL, WHICH SERVED AS A FOCAL POINT FOR AUSTIN'S MEXICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY FOR MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY. [00:55:01] OVER THE YEARS, THE DISTRICT HAS SEEN WAVES OF SETTLEMENT AND DISPLACEMENT THAT HAVE BEEN REINFORCED BY PUBLIC DECISION-MAKING. AND IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE APPROACH THE PLANNING PROCESS WITH AN UNDERSTANDING OF THIS HISTORY. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THIS UNDATED, ERIC WILL PHOTO PROBABLY FROM THE 1930S, LOOKING EAST SHOWS THE SOUTHERN END OF THE PALM DISTRICT, INCLUDING PALM SCHOOL WALLER CREEK AND THE RAINY NEIGHBORHOOD PRIOR TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF DURING THE 20TH CENTURY, EARLY 20TH CENTURY PALM SCHOOL, AND THE WRITING NEIGHBORHOOD WERE CONNECTED TO EAST AUSTIN ACROSS EAST, ACROSS EAST AVENUE. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE ORIGINALLY FOUNDED IN 1892 AS THE 10TH WARD SCHOOL PALM SCHOOL WAS RENAMED IN 1902 TO HONOR SWAMPY POEM AFTER ADOPTION OF THE SEGREGATIONIST 1928 PLAN, THE PALM SCHOOL BECAME THE PRIMARY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL FOR AUSTIN'S MEXICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY CONSTRUCTION OF CUT THE SCHOOL OFF FROM THE COMMUNITY THAT IT SERVED. AND MANY LIVING ALUMNI HAVE MEMORIES OF HAVING TO, HAVING TO TRAVERSE TICKET TO SCHOOL PALM SCHOOL CLOSED IN 1976 WHEN STUDENTS BEGAN ATTENDING SANCHEZ ELEMENTARY. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. TODAY THE POEM SCHOOL BUILDING SERVES AS AN ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES FOR TRAVIS COUNTY. THE COUNTY IS IN THE PROCESS OF RELOCATING FUNCTIONS FROM THE BUILDING TO A NEW FACILITY ON AIRPORT BOULEVARD AND IS OPTIONS FOR FUTURE OWNERSHIP USE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE SITE. COMMUNITY MEMBERS, INCLUDING POEM SCHOOL ALUMNI HAVE EXPRESSED INTEREST IN PRESERVING AND OPERATING THE SITE AS A CULTURAL RESOURCE AND NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN THE CITY AND TRAVIS COUNTY ARE ONGOING. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. OTHER PLACES WITHIN THE PALM DISTRICT STUDY AREA THAT ARE KEYS TO THE DISTRICTS PAST PRESENT, AND FUTURE INCLUDE PALM PARK AS SHOWN IN THIS HISTORIC PHOTO. NEXT SLIDE AND PALM PARK TODAY. NEXT SLIDE WALLER CREEK AS SHOWN IN THIS HISTORIC PHOTO THAT WAS TAKEN JUST AFTER THE 1915 FLOODS. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. THE WALNUT CREEK TUNNEL, WHICH HAS RECENTLY REMOVED A LARGE PORTION OF THE DISTRICT FROM THE FLOOD PLAIN NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. AND PARKLAND ALONG WALLER CREEK. THAT IS BEING RE-IMAGINED AS PART OF THE WATERLOO GREENWAY, INCLUDING WATERLOO PARK, WHICH IS IN FINAL CONSTRUCTION. AND WE'LL OPEN TO THE PUBLIC LATER THIS SUMMER. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. HOME DISTRICT IS BOUNDED BOUNDED BY . WHEN I H 35 WAS CONSTRUCTED. IT EFFECTIVELY SEVERED THE PALM DISTRICT FROM EAST AUSTIN. THIS PICTURE SHOWS EAST AVENUE PRIOR TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF . NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THIS PICTURE SHOWS CONSTRUCTION OF AND NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, AS WELL AS WHAT LOOKED LIKE IMMEDIATELY AFTER CONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE DISTRICT. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. TODAY I 30 FIVES ELEVATED LANES CARRY OVER 200,000 VEHICLES A DAY AND LOOM OVER CENTRAL AUSTIN, INCLUDING THE PALM DISTRICT RECONSTRUCTION OF THROUGH CENTRAL AUSTIN PROVIDES A ONCE IN A GENERATION OPPORTUNITY TO RESHAPE THE CITY AND THE PALM DISTRICT, AND THIS PROJECT HOPES TO LEVERAGE THAT OPPORTUNITY. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THE PALM DISTRICT INCLUDES THE DOWNTOWN STATION, WHICH IS THE SOUTHERN TERMINUS OF THE CAPITAL METRO RED LINE. IN THE FUTURE OF CONSTRUCTION OR PROJECT CONNECT WILL RESULT IN A NUMBER OF SIGNIFICANT TRANSIT INVESTMENTS IN THE DISTRICT, INCLUDING A TRANSIT TUNNEL UNDER TRINITY AND SEVERAL NEW TRANSIT STATIONS AFTER CONSTRUCTION OR PROJECT CONNECT, THE DISTRICT WILL BECOME A TRANSIT HUB AND WILL BE SERVED BY THE RED LINE GREEN LINE BLUE LINE AND GOLD LINE OF THE PROJECT CONNECT SYSTEM. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. A MAJOR ANCHOR WITHIN THE DISTRICT IS THE CONVENTION CENTER, WHICH COULD BE RECONSTRUCTED IN THE FUTURE IN 2019 CITY COUNCIL DIRECTED CITY STAFF TO EXPLORE FINANCING AND EXPANSION OF THE CONVENTION CENTER BASED ON THE RESULTS OF THE UT CENTER FOR SUSTAINABILITY CONVENTION CENTER EXPANSION STUDY, CITY STAFF ARE PROCEEDING WITH ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES THAT COULD LEAD TO FUTURE EXPANSION OF THE CONVENTION CENTER THROUGH A PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP APPROACH. AND WE HOPE THAT THIS PLANNING EFFORT WILL ALSO BE ABLE TO LEVERAGE AND INFORM, UM, THE DESIGN PROCESS FOR THE CONVENTION CENTER. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THE PALM DISTRICT ALSO INCLUDES BRUSH SQUARE, WHICH WAS ONE OF THE ORIGINAL SQUARES CALLED FOR BY THE WALLER PLAN IMPROVEMENTS TO BRUSH SQUARE IMPLEMENTING PHASE. ONE OF ITS MASTER PLAN ARE ABOUT TO COMMENCE. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. AND THE PALM DISTRICT INCLUDES THE MS. BARRIENTOS MEXICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER AND EXPANSION TO THE MAC IS IN THE DESIGN PHASE. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. AND THE PALM DISTRICT INCLUDES RODNEY STREET. THIS PHOTO SHOWS WHAT RAINY STREET LOOKED LIKE PRIOR TO THE 2004 REZONING TO CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT ZONING. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. AND SINCE IT'S [01:00:01] RESIGNING IN 2004, RAINY HAS BECOME A MAJOR ENTERTAINMENT DESTINATION. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. AND AS QUICKLY BEING REDEVELOPED WITH HIGH RISE DEVELOPMENT. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. HOME DISTRICT IS ALSO HOME TO SEVERAL ADDITIONAL UNIQUE AREAS, INCLUDING A PORTION OF THE EAST SIXTH STREET ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THE RED RIVER CULTURAL DISTRICT. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. AND THE EMERGING INNOVATION DISTRICT, WHICH IS ANCHORED BY THE NEW DELL SETON MEDICAL CENTER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. IN ADDITION, THE HISPANIC LATINO QUALITY OF LIFE INITIATIVE IDENTIFIED A DESIRE TO IMPLEMENT A MEXICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE CORRIDOR THAT WOULD CONNECT REPUBLIC SQUARE TO SOCIO PLAZA ALONG FIFTH STREET. THIS PROPOSED HERITAGE CORRIDOR INTERSECTS THE PALM DISTRICT AND THE RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING PALM DISTRICT PLANNING, ALSO DIRECTED STAFF TO INITIATE A PROCESS FOR CULTURAL DISTRICT DESIGNATION OF A FIFTH STREET HERITAGE CORRIDOR. THE PALM DISTRICT PLANNING INITIATIVE WILL COORDINATE WITH POTENTIAL EFFORTS TO DESIGNATE AND IMPLEMENT SUCH A CORRIDOR AS THEY MOVE FORWARD. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. AND NEXT SLIDE, WE WILL EVALUATE WHETHER OUR PLANNING EFFORT IS SUCCESSFUL BASED ON THE EXTENT TO WHICH IT ACHIEVES COMMUNITY BENEFITS IN AN EQUITABLE MANNER. GOALS INCLUDE CREATING A SELF SAFE AND WELCOMING PLACE, PRESERVING AND INTERPRETING HISTORY, ENHANCING EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL ASSETS, PROVIDING ECONOMIC BENEFITS, INCREASING ACCESS TO HOUSING, IMPROVING MOBILITY AND ACCESS AND IMPROVING ACCESS TO NATURE AND SUPPORTING AN EQUITABLE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. DURING THE NEXT 12 MONTHS, WE PLAN TO ENGAGE STAKEHOLDERS WORK TO UNDERSTAND EXISTING CONDITIONS DEVELOPED, DEVELOP A SHARED VISION FOR THE DISTRICT SUPPORT COORDINATION OF RELATED INITIATIVES AND IDENTIFY OPTIONS FOR THE FUTURE EVOLUTION OF THE DISTRICT. THIS WORK WILL ULTIMATELY LEAD TO DEVELOPMENT OF A SMALLER AREA PLAN FOR THE PALM DISTRICT AND AN AMENDMENT TO THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN PLAN. WE WILL ALSO WORK ON IMPLEMENTATION ACTIVITIES, WHICH COULD INCLUDE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW REGULATIONS, BUT IMPLEMENTATION WORK WILL LIKELY CONTINUE WELL BEYOND THE 12 MONTHS. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. YEAH, NEXT SLIDE. THIS PROJECT IS BEING STAFFED PRIMARILY IN-HOUSE WITH HOUSING AND PLANNING DEPARTMENT STAFF FROM THE URBAN DESIGN INCLUSIVE PLANNING DIVISIONS AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICE WHO ARE PROVIDING TECHNICAL AND URBAN DESIGN EXPERTISE AND SUPPORT TO THE EFFORT AS WELL AS SUPPORT FROM THE CITY'S COMMUNICATION AND PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE. WE'RE MEETING REGULARLY WITH A GROUP OF KEY COORDINATING CITY DEPARTMENTS WHO WILL BE SUPPORTING THE VARIOUS ASPECTS OF THE PLANNING PROCESS. AND WE HAVE ALSO BEGUN TO COORDINATE WITH KEY AGENCY PARTNERS. THE PLAN WILL BE DEVELOPED THROUGH COLLABORATION WITH A HOST OF ADDITIONAL STAKEHOLDERS AND ORGANIZATIONAL PARTNERS DURING THE VISIONING STAGE OF THE PROCESS. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. YEAH, NEXT SLIDE. LAST YEAR AND A HALF, WE CONDUCTED NUMEROUS PRE-PLANNING ACTIVITIES, INCLUDING AN ANALYSIS OF EXISTING CONDITIONS, AS WELL AS SOME PRELIMINARY OUTREACH AND COORDINATION. WE ARE CURRENTLY IN THE VISIONING PHASE. THIS PHASE WILL INCLUDE A NUMBER OF ACTIVITIES DESIGNED TO SOLICIT INPUT FROM STAKEHOLDERS IN THE GENERAL PUBLIC, AROUND THE OVERALL DESIRED FUTURE OF THE DISTRICT, AS WELL AS ISSUES THAT WE SHOULD PAY PARTICULARLY CLOSE ATTENTION TO. AS WE MOVE THROUGH THE PLANNING PROCESS OVER THE SUMMER AND FALL OF THIS YEAR, WE WILL CONTINUE TO ENGAGE STAKEHOLDERS ITERATIVELY THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS. AND THE GOAL IS TO PRESENT A DRAFT PLAN TO PLAN AND COMMISSION AND COUNCIL FOR POSSIBLE ADOPTION IN EARLY 2022. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. AND NEXT, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF WAYS TO GET INVOLVED IN DEVELOPING THE VISION AND THE PLAN FOR THE PALM DISTRICT. THE PRIMARY CONDUIT FOR ENGAGEMENT IS THE SPEAK-UP AUSTIN PAGE, WHERE FOLKS CAN VIEW INFORMATION, TAKE A SURVEY AND ADD TO AN INTERACTIVE MAP OR ASK THE PROJECT TEAM QUESTIONS. IN ADDITION, WE'LL BE HOSTING TWO VIRTUAL VISIONING FORUMS IN MID JUNE ON JUNE 15TH AND JUNE 16TH AND INFORMATION LOOP PROVIDED ON THE SPEAK-UP PAGE ABOUT HOW TO ATTEND THESE EVENTS. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. UM, FOLKS CAN ALSO PROVIDE INPUT, UM, VIA PHONE, EMAIL MAIL, AND WE ARE CURRENTLY, UM, WORKING TO SET UP ADDITIONAL BRIEFINGS WITH ORGANIZATIONS, UM, INCLUDING BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS. WE'RE ALSO WORKING ON PLANS FOR ADDITIONAL ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES. UM, IN PARTICULAR, WE'LL BE WORKING WITH THE NATIONAL AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS ON FOCUSED ACTIVITIES AS PART OF THE VISIONING PHASE AND, UM, HOPE TO BE ABLE TO HELP FACILITATE A NUMBER OF CONVERSATIONS TARGETED TO EAST AUSTIN COMMUNITY MEMBERS LATER IN THE SUMMER, AS WELL AS DETAILS COME INTO FOCUS, ADDITIONAL INFORMATION WILL BE POSTED ON THE WEBPAGE AND NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THE VISIONING ACTIVITIES WRAP UP, WE ANTICIPATE REPORTING BACK OUT ON WHAT WE HEARD AND PRESENTING A DRAFT VISION AND EARLY FALL THAT WILL GUIDE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PLAN WITH A GOAL [01:05:01] OF DEVELOPING AND PRESENTING A DRAFT PLAN BY EARLY 2022. UM, LOOK FORWARD TO BRIEFING YOU ALL AGAIN, AS WE MOVE FORWARD THROUGH THE PROCESS, UM, INVITE YOU TO PARTICIPATE IN THE VISIONING OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL MONTHS. AND WITH THAT, I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS. THANK YOU FOR THAT PRESENTATION. ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM COMMISSIONERS? I THINK I HAVE ONE MR. MINERS. GO AHEAD. YEAH. I'M I GUESS PART OF THIS IS A QUESTION AND, UH, PART OF THIS IS A STATEMENT. UM, SO I GUESS THE QUESTION IS AS FAR AS THE PALM SCHOOL ITSELF AND WHAT WILL EVENTUALLY BE HOUSED IN THERE, IS THAT DECOUPLED FROM THE ENTIRE SCOPE OF THIS, OR IS THAT ALL CONNECTED? HOW DO YOU COMPARTMENTALIZE THAT? SURE. SO W WHAT WE'RE KIND OF TAKING ON AS THE HOUSING AND PLANNING DEPARTMENT WITH THIS DISTRICT PLANNING PROCESS IS DISTRICT LEVEL PLANNING AND SCOPING. SO IT IS, IT IS DECOUPLED TO THE EXTENT THAT WE'RE NOT GOING TO BE DEVELOPING A SPECIFIC PLAN OR PROGRAMMING, UM, FOR THE POEM SCHOOL SITE, BUT IT IS HIGHLY RELATED AND THAT ANY, ANY CONVERSATIONS THE CITY CONTINUES TO HAVE WITH THE COUNTY KIND OF OVER DESIRES FOR THE FUTURE AND FOLKS ADVOCATING AROUND A PARTICULAR USE OF THE SITE, REGARDLESS OF WHO OWNS IT, UM, WILL BE, THAT WILL BE A CONVERSATION THAT HAPPENS AS PART OF THE PLANNING PROCESS, BUT THE PLAN ITSELF, OBVIOUSLY, DOESN'T, WE, WE DON'T HAVE THE ABILITY TO JUST PUT IT IN A PLAN AND HAVE THAT SITE MAGICALLY TRANSFORM INTO A, UM, INTO A MUSEUM. UM, THAT NEEDS TO BE SORT OF A LARGER CONVERSATION THAT HOPEFULLY CAN GUIDE THE, THE ONGOING NEGOTIATION BETWEEN CITY AND COUNTY OVER WHO OWNS IT AND HOW WE'RE GOING TO OPERATE AND MOVING FORWARD. BUT THAT ANSWERS THAT QUESTION. IT DOES, NO, I REALLY APPRECIATE IT. I THINK FOR ME, THERE ARE PROBABLY SOME LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE SEAHOLM DISTRICT AND THE POWER PLANT ITSELF AS A BUILDING, UH, AND THE ULTIMATE PURPOSE. I KNOW, YOU KNOW, THE CITY OF AUSTIN DECIDED TO LEASE OUT THAT BUILDING. UM, I BELIEVE IT'S TO ATHENA HEALTH THOUGH. I DON'T RECALL, UH, SPECIFICALLY, UM, THE, THE COMPANY, UM, BUT IT DID GO TO A PRIVATE COMPANY AND, YOU KNOW, BEING IN SAN ANTONIO, I JUST WENT THERE THIS WEEKEND. IN FACT, UH, TO THE PEARL DISTRICT, IF I CONTRAST THE SEAHOLM DISTRICT WITH THE PEARL DISTRICT, IT MAKES ME REALLY SAD THAT WE MISSED A HUGE OPPORTUNITY TO FURTHER ACTIVATE THAT AREA. UM, I THINK THAT THE BIG DIFFERENCES ARE THAT WITH THE SEAHOLM DISTRICT, AGAIN, WE HAD THIS PRIVATE CORPORATION THAT'S HOUSING, UH, THAT STRUCTURE, AND, YOU KNOW, THERE, I THINK ARE A FEW, UM, OPPORTUNITIES FOR RETAIL WITHIN, OR AN, AN RESTAURANT WITHIN THAT BUILDING. UM, BUT FOR THE MOST PART, IT'S THE AREA SURROUNDED THAT KIND OF ACTIVATES IT. UM, AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE PRO DISTRICT, IT'S FULLY ACTIVATED ON ALL SIDES, UM, WHEN I'M IN THAT DISTRICT IN SAN ANTONIO, IT FEELS VIBRANT, ACTIVE AT ALL HOURS OF THE DAY, MULTIPLE USES. UM, IT IT'S, UH, ENGAGING TO THE COMMUNITY AND TO TOURISTS ALIKE. SO I WOULD JUST SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, IF WE CAN LEARN SOME LESSONS FROM THE SEAHOLM DISTRICT AND MAYBE WHAT SOME OF OUR PEER CITIES ARE DOING, UH, THAT WOULD BE, UM, PROBABLY PRETTY HELPFUL IN, UH, COMING UP WITH A PLAN THAT FULLY ACTIVATES THE PALM DISTRICT AS WELL. YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM COMMISSIONERS? YEAH, I JUST WANTED TO COMMENT, I THOUGHT THE, A SLOT THAT THE PRESENTATION WAS GREAT MIXING IN THE HISTORICAL PHOTOS WITH WHERE WE ARE NOW. I THOUGHT IT WAS VERY EFFECTIVE AND IT SHOWS KIND OF THAT EFFORT, YOU KNOW, BRINGING EVERYTHING TOGETHER AND IN, IN, IN REMEMBERING OUR HISTORY, UH, I HAVEN'T SEEN THOSE, UH, PHOTOGRAPHIC SLIDESHOW LIKE THIS IN A LONG TIME AND IT, IT KEPT ME VERY INTERESTED. THANK YOU. I APPRECIATE THAT FEEDBACK. YEAH. AND IT'S DEFINITELY GOING TO BE AN INTERESTING DISTRICT IN TERMS OF BALANCING. LIKE, THERE IS SO MUCH FORWARD MOMENTUM AND SO MANY DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS IN THE DISTRICT AND SO MUCH DEEP HISTORY. AND HOW DO WE KEEP THEM BOTH? UM, IT'S GOING TO, THERE MAY BE SOME, SOME TRADE-OFFS THAT ARE GONNA HAVE TO HAPPEN, BUT IT'S GONNA BE THERE. OF COURSE. YEAH. YEAH. THANK YOU. COMMISSIONER WATLEY. DID YOU HAVE SOMETHING? YEAH. YEAH. GREAT PRESENTATION. UM, REALLY EXCITING. UH, WHAT CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED WITH THIS PROJECT AND THE STUDY? SO, UH, BEN, I WANTED TO ASK ABOUT THE DOWNTOWN AWESOME PLAN, WHICH HAS BEEN A NUMBER OF YEARS, UH, SINCE THAT HAS BEEN COMPLETED. AND I CAN'T RECALL IF, UM, RAINY STREET WAS ONE OF THE DISTRICTS THAT WENT TO A LITTLE BIT FURTHER DETAIL. I THINK THEY TOOK, YOU KNOW, TWO DISTRICTS AND WENT A LITTLE BIT FURTHER. UM, BUT I JUST WANTED TO KNOW, YOU KNOW, HOW MUCH DID THE DOWNTOWN AWESOME PLAN KINDA KINDA GIVES A LEG UP OR KIND OF JUMPSTARTS THE PLANNING PROCESS AND HOW, YOU KNOW, IN, IN SOME OF THE OTHER PLANS, [01:10:01] HOW Y'ALL ANTICIPATE COORDINATING WITH THOSE PLANS AND HOW MUCH OF THOSE PLANS, YOU KNOW, MIGHT HAVE HAVE RELEVANCE IN, UM, IN IMPORTANCE AND KIND OF, UM, IS THIS REALLY A KIND OF GOING BACK AND RELOOKING AT EVERYTHING KIND OF FROM STEP ONE OR IS IT REALLY STARTING TO BUILD ON WHERE ANOTHER PLAN LEFT OFF AND TAKE IT A LITTLE BIT FURTHER? WELL, I THINK WE HOPE TO BUILD ON THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN PLAN AND I MAY TURN IT OVER TO JORGE WHO I CAN SEE US ON THE CALL THAT ANSWERS SORT OF DETAILED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE DAT, BUT, UM, WE PLAN ON BUILDING ON THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN PLAN. THE PLAN THAT WAS DEFINITELY ADOPTED AS A SUB-DISTRICT PLAN THAT THIS DISTRICT COVERS IS THE WALLER CREEK PLAN, WHICH WAS OBVIOUSLY ADOPTED IN 2010 AND A LOT OF WHAT THE WALNUT CREEK PLAN CALLED FOR IS IN THE PROCESS OF COMING TO FRUITION WITH THE SAVANNAH STREET PROMENADE, BEING CONSTRUCTED WITH THE IMPROVEMENTS TO, UM, TO WATERLOO GREENWAY ALONG WALLER CREEK OCCURRING. SO WE WILL LIKELY, UM, WE AREN'T QUITE SURE HOW THE MECHANICS ARE GONNA WORK YET, BUT THIS, THIS PLANNING AREA WOULD LIKELY END UP, UM, EITHER MODIFYING THE WALNUT CREEK DISTRICT PLAN IN ADDITION TO MODIFYING THE DAP, UM, AND POSSIBLY COMBINING SOME DISTRICT BOUNDARIES IN THE DAM, BUT THERE'S A LOT OF KIND OF STUFF TIED INTO THAT IN TERMS OF CODE AND EVERYTHING ELSE THAT WE'RE GOING TO ATTEMPT TO NOT BREAK WHILE WE'RE DOING THAT MODIFICATION FOREHEAD. I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAD ANY, SINCE I SEE YOU ON THE LINE, DON'T WANT TO PUT YOU ON THE SPOT, BUT IF YOU HAD ANYTHING TO ADD ON THE, KIND OF HOW THIS RELATES TO THE DAP TERRIFY ME. YES, PLEASE. THANK YOU. YES. THANK YOU, STEVIE, JUST BRIEFLY, THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN PLAN SERVES AS THAT FOUNDATIONAL DOCUMENT AS STEVIE WAS, WAS JUST MENTIONING AND ADDRESSED IN HER PRESENTATION. HOWEVER, THERE'S, THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE A LOOK AT, UM, SOME OF THE FORM RECOMMENDATIONS LAND USE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN PLAN GAVE IN TERMS OF GENERAL DIRECTION. THERE WAS NOT A RAINY STREET SPECIFIC DISTRICT PLAN THAT WAS CREATED WHEN THE DOWNTOWN MASTER PLAN WAS ADOPTED. THERE WAS ONLY THE CORAL WATERFRONT THAT WAS DONE AS WELL AS THE NORTHWEST DISTRICT. THOSE WERE THE TWO PLANS THAT SUB-DISTRICT PLANS THAT WERE PRESENTED TO THE COUNCIL. SO THERE IS A GREAT AMOUNT OF OPPORTUNITY TO BE ABLE TO LEVERAGE THE VISION SETTING, UM, ELEMENTS OF THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN PLAN AS THAT FOUNDATION TO SPRING FORWARD INTO WHAT COULD BE A TRANSFORMATIONAL APPROACH OR THIS EASTERN QUADRANT OF DOWNTOWN. AND THEN BEING ABLE TO TIE THAT INTO THE WORK THAT'S HAPPENING WITH IHI 35 COULD REALLY BE A CATALYST FOR A TRANSFORMATION FOR DOWNTOWN. WE STILL HAVE SOME VERY UNIQUE PHYSICAL RESTRICTIONS SUCH AS THE CAPITOL VIEW CORRIDORS, WHICH REALLY HAMPER DEVELOPMENT IN THE CENTER PORTION OF THE PROPOSED DISTRICT. THAT'S WHY YOU HAVE LOTS OF RAINY DEVELOPMENT HAPPENING IN THE SOUTH AND THEN THE HEALTH DISTRICT AT THE NORTH, BECAUSE THOSE ARE OUR TWO ANCHOR POINTS WHERE THE CAPITOL VIEW QUARTERS HAVE LITTLE TO NO IMPACT ON THOSE AREAS. SO SEEING WHAT THE POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT COULD BE IN THESE, IN THESE AREAS WHERE EVEN WITH CAPITOL VIEW CORRIDORS, MAYBE THERE'S A WAY TO TRANSFORM SOME OF THOSE DESTINATIONS WHILE STILL KEEPING WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF THOSE LIMITATIONS. BUT I HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO ADD. I THINK STEVIE COVERED IT. SO THANK YOU. APPRECIATE IT. THANK YOU, JORGE. UH, SO, UH, JORGE KINDA MENTIONED IT AND YOU KNOW, I WANTED TO BRING IT UP SORT OF THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM HERE IS THE PLAN. AND WHILE I RECOGNIZE CITI HAS NO INFLUENCE ON WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN WITH A 35, UM, YOU KNOW, I, I WONDER WHAT KIND OF STEPS ARE YOU PLANNING OR THIS PROCESS TO MAKE THAT EASTERN EDGE FLEXIBLE, TO BE ABLE TO HAVE A PLAN THAT COULD ADAPT DEPENDING ON WHAT HAPPENS WITH THAT 35? SURE. I DON'T, I DON'T WANT TO SAY THAT WE HAVE NO INFLUENCE ON , BUT YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY CORRECT THAT THE PALM DISTRICT PLANNING INITIATIVE IS NOT GOING TO BE THE THING THAT CAUSES THE DESIGNED TO GO IN A DIRECTION OR ANOTHER, UM, KIND OF TWO THINGS I'LL MENTION IS ONE, MANY OF THE CITY STAFF THAT ARE ENGAGED IN THE POND DISTRICT PLANNING INITIATIVE ARE ALSO THE CITY STAFF THAT ARE ENGAGED IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STUDY, WORK AND COMMENTING ON I 35. UM, I BEING ONE OF THOSE AND PROBABLY I THINK FOR HIM MAYBE AS WELL, BUT SEVERAL OF THE DEPARTMENT STAFF KIND OF IN MULTIPLE DEPARTMENTS THAT HAVE ALL BEEN COORDINATING WITH US ON POM DISTRICT ARE ALSO PROVIDING THE CITY STAFF COMMENTS ON THE PROJECT, AS IT MOVES THROUGH AND ARE WORKING, UM, WITH THE, THE, UH, CORRIDOR PROGRAM OFFICE ON THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING TO KIND OF ENVISION WHAT THE CAPPING AND STITCHING, UM, MIGHT LOOK LIKE THAT GOES ON I 35 [01:15:02] BASED ON, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER COMES OUT THE OTHER END OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROCESS. SO I THINK THERE'S KIND OF THE, THE CONFLUENCE THERE OF JUST HAVING THE SAME FOLKS THAT ARE INVOLVED IN BOTH OF THOSE CONVERSATIONS. AND WE'RE DEFINITELY TRACKING, UM, THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROCESS AND THE CONVERSATION AROUND, UM, CAPPING AND STITCHING. AND AT LEAST MY HOPE IS A KIND OF PLANNING PROJECT MANAGER FOR THE PALM DISTRICT PLANNING PROCESS IS WE WILL KNOW ENOUGH OF KIND OF WHERE WE'RE AT IN THE ALTERNATIVES ANALYSIS PHASE ON TO BE ABLE TO KIND OF PLUG THOSE ALTERNATIVES IN AND DO SOME SCENARIO. AND THAT'S NOT EXACTLY A VERB, BUT SOME SCENARIO WORK AROUND. UM, WHAT COULD THE PLAN LOOK LIKE IF WE GO ONE PATHWAY VERSUS ANOTHER, UM, WITH THE REDESIGN OF BY 35. OKAY. THANK YOU. DID ANY OTHER COMMISSIONERS HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? COMMENTS. OKAY. WELL, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME AND I REALLY APPRECIATE THE BRIEFING. YEAH. THANK YOU GUYS. OKAY. WE WILL MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ITEM. [1C. Courtesy Briefing on the Austin Land Development Code Functional Green component, to be presented by Pamela Abee-Taulli – City of Austin Development Services Department] ONE C COURTESY BRIEFING ON THE AUSTIN LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, FUNCTIONAL GREEN COMPONENT. GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS. UM, CAN EVERYBODY HEAR ME OKAY? THIS IS YES. YEAH. OKAY, GREAT. THIS IS PAMELA AB TOLLI WITH THE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT. AND, UM, I WAS GOING TO EXPLAIN A BIT ABOUT, UH, FUNCTIONAL GREEN. OH YES. AND IF YOU CAN SHOW THE SIDES OF EVEN BETTER, I'M AFRAID. I DO NOT HAVE COOL PICTURES. THERE'S UH, A SLIDE SET. WE CAN GO OFF OF THIS, BUT THERE THERE'S A SLIDE, A SEPARATE SLIDE SAID PEOPLE, UM, OKAY. TECH AND WE WERE LOOKING FOR A DIFFERENT PRESENTATION. YEAH. YEAH. THERE'S A, THERE'S A, A SLIDE TO IT, BUT THERE'S JUST A, UM, JUST, THIS IS THE SOAP THAT HAS THE NOTES WITH IT, BUT THERE'S A SET. IT'S JUST, IT WAS JUST THE SLIDES. I THINK IT'S THE ACTUAL POWERPOINT PRESENTATION. THAT MIGHT BE IT. MAYBE. NO, THIS IS, THIS IS THE, THE PR THE POWERPOINT WASN'T ABLE TO BE UPLOADED. IS THERE A WAY I GET EMAIL THE, WE CAN USE THE ONE THAT YOU OPENED HERE. THAT, THAT ONE, UM, IF YOU DON'T MIND, JUST PRETENDING, LIKE IT'S A POWERPOINT AND KIND OF CENTERING THE SLIDE PICTURE. OKAY. I'M JUST A LITTLE APPREHENSIVE ABOUT, ABOUT, UM, ABOUT THE PRESENTATION BEING SENT DURING BROADCAST. I CAN TRY IT BY EVERYTHING I GO. RIGHT. SO IF YOU'LL JUST CENTER THE, IF YOU CAN JUST CENTER IT. SO I DON'T KNOW ON MY SCREEN ANYWAY, I CAN'T SEE THE WHOLE SLIDE AND OTHER PEOPLE. CAN YOU, HELLO? YEAH, IT'S KIND OF CUT OFF AT THE BOTTOM. HERE WE GO. OKAY. UH, ALL RIGHT. SO THIS IS ACTUALLY THE SECOND ONE, BUT DON'T MOVE AND, WELL, YEAH. OKAY. SO I'M GOING TO TALK ABOUT FUNCTIONAL GREEN, WHICH IS A COMPONENT OF THE REVISED LANDSCAPE CODE. NEXT PAGE, PLEASE. OKAY. SO A FUNCTIONAL GREEN IS A, IS A, UH, A NEW TOOL THAT WE'VE ADDED. WELL, WE'RE HOPING TO ADD WHEN THE NEW CODE PASSES TO THE LANDSCAPE CODE, UM, IT WOULD APPLY TO SITES THAT HAVE AN IMPERVIOUS COVER ALLOWANCE OVER 80%. UM, IT'S A, IT'S A SYSTEM FOR INTEGRATING GREEN INTO PARCELS WHERE THE BUILDING COVER OR OTHER IMPERVIOUS SURFACES LIMIT, WHAT A STANDARD, WHAT THE CURRENT STANDARD STANDARD LANDSCAPE CODE CAN ACCOMPLISH. IT GIVES DEVELOPERS A PLANNING TOOL THAT'S FLEXIBLE AND PROVIDES ECOLOGICAL BENEFITS COMPARABLE TO WHAT CAN BE ACHIEVED WITH THE REGULAR LANDSCAPE CODE ON SITES WITH LESS IMPERVIOUS COVER. AND IT PROVIDES A PROGRAM THAT'S STRAIGHTFORWARD AND CLEAR, UH, TO IMPLEMENT AND TO REVIEW. UM, SO NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. EXCELLENT. THANK YOU. SO IT'S BASED ON, ON, UH, THE SCIENCE OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES, WHICH ARE THE IMPORTANT BENEFITS THAT PEOPLE RECEIVE FROM A HEALTHY FUNCTIONING ECOSYSTEM. WE HAD A, UH, CONSULTANT WHO, UH, AND, AND TEAM WHO REVIEWED OVER 120 SCIENTIFIC STUDIES. I, ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND FINANCIAL STUDIES. SO IDENTIFY THE ECONOMIC OR THE ECOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC BENEFITS, UM, THAT COULD BE EXPECTED, UH, FROM LANDSCAPE ELEMENTS, UH, AS THEY'RE USED IN OUR AUSTIN'S PARTICULAR [01:20:01] GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE, AND THE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES THAT WE SETTLED ON, UM, WHERE MICRO CLIMATE REGULATION, WATER FILTRATION, CARBON STORAGE, AND SEQUENCE STATION BIODIVERSITY, UH, HUMAN WELLBEING, AIR POLLUTION, STORMWATER RETENTION, AND THE EFFECTS, UH, WELL, STORMWATER RETENTION EFFECTS ON THE DEVELOPABLE AREA, AS WELL AS THE EFFECTS ON PROPERTY VALUE. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. UM, SO THIS, UH, CLIPS ARE TAKEN FROM THE, UH, DRAFT BROCHURE THAT WE HAD THAT WE DID BACK IN FEBRUARY OF 2018. UM, AND IF ANYONE'S INTERESTED, I CAN PROVIDE YOU WITH THE BROCHURE. DIDN'T MAKE IT INTO THE BACKUP. I'M SORRY. UH, BUT IT ILLUSTRATES FOR EACH OF THE, UM, UH, LANDSCAPE ELEMENTS. IT ILLUSTRATES THE RELATIVE BENEFITS PROVIDED, UH, BY THE LANDSCAPE ELEMENTS FOR THE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES. SO YOU CAN SEE HERE, WE HAVE AN EXAMPLE FROM SHRUBS AND ORNAMENTAL GRASSES AND WHAT, HOW MUCH BENEFITS THEY PROVIDE, UH, VERSUS AN EXTENSIVE GREEN ROOF. UH, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. SO, UM, HOW DOES IT WORK? UH, IT, UM, WORKS BY PROVIDING, UH, BY HAVING THE APPLICANT CHOOSE LANDSCAPE ELEMENTS FROM A MENU OF FUNCTIONAL GREEN LANDSCAPE ELEMENTS. UH, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. UH, SO THE MENU INCLUDES, BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO, OF COURSE, EXISTING A NEW TREES, VEGETATED OR GREEN WALLS, GREEN ROOFS, POROUS PAVING, RAIN GARDENS, AND A IRRIGATION WITH ALTERNATIVE WATER SOURCES. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THIS IS THE PART THAT LOOKS COMPLICATED, BUT IT'S REALLY NOT. I PROMISE THAT WE, THE PLAN IS TO HAVE A, UM, UH, INTERACTIVE, UM, SPREADSHEET WHERE YOU JUST BE ABLE TO PLUG IN THE NUMBERS THAT YOU NEED TO, TO, UH, CALCULATE YOUR FUNCTIONAL GREEN SCORE. SO A PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT WOULD HAVE TO MEET THIS, UH, FUNCTIONAL GREEN TARGET SCORE. UM, THE SCORES, THE SCORE REPRESENTS THE ECOLOGICAL FUNCTION OF A SITE RELATIVE TO THE TOTAL SITE AREA, THE RESEARCH AND TESTING THE CONSULTANT TEAM AND STAFF TOGETHER, WORKING TOGETHER SETTLED ON A DRAFT TARGET SCORE OF 0.3. EACH LANDSCAPE ELEMENT HAS I VALUE OR FACTOR, AND THESE ARE SHOWN IN THE RED KIND OF BOX TO THE RIGHT THERE. UM, THE FACTOR VALUES ARE BASED ON THE SET OF ECOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC BENEFITS THAT I DISCUSSED A COUPLE OF SLIDES UP. SO TO CALCULATE A DEVELOPMENT'S FUNCTIONAL GREEN SCORE, YOU MULTIPLY THE AREA OF EACH LANDSCAPE ELEMENT BY ITS FACTOR, AND YOU ADD ALL OF THESE LANDSCAPE ELEMENT VALUES TOGETHER, DIVIDE BY THE TOTAL SITE AREA AND WALLAH. YOU HAVE THAT SITE'S FUNCTIONAL GREEN SCORE, AND I'LL, I'LL PROVIDE SOME EXAMPLES, UH, LATER THAT WILL HELP YOU. I HOPE ENVISION THIS, UM, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. OKAY. SO, UH, YOU CAN MAXIMIZE YOUR SCORE BY LAYERING THE LANDSCAPE ELEMENTS. UH, FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU BUILD A RAIN GARDEN AND YOU GET THE POINTS FOR THE AREA OF THE RAIN GARDEN MEDIA, IF YOU ADD ORNAMENTAL GRASSES ON TOP OF THAT, UH, SHRUBS, UH, ON TOP OF THAT AND TREES ON TOP OF THAT, YOU GET THE POINTS FOR THE AREA FOR EACH OF THOSE ADDITIONAL LANDSCAPE ELEMENTS, AND THEN YOU WOULD ADD ALL THOSE POINTS TOGETHER AND ALL OF THOSE WOULD CONTRIBUTE TOWARDS THE TARGET SCORE. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. UM, SOME CASE STUDIES, UH, WERE DONE ON EXISTING BUILDINGS IN TOWN SO THAT WE COULD SEE, UH, KIND OF TRYING IT OUT AND SEEING IF IT WOULD WORK ON BUILDINGS AS THEY'VE BEEN, UH, DONE IN AUSTIN ALREADY. UH, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. SO THE FIRST EXAMPLE IS THE SOUTH CONGRESS HOTEL ON 0.95 ACRES, UH, WITH IMPERVIOUS COVER OF 95%. AND IT REACHED A FUNCTIONAL GREEN SCORE OF 0.33, AND IT REACHED THAT SCORE USING, USING ONLY PLANTED TREES, SHRUB AND TRUBS AND ORNAMENTAL PLANTS, GROUND COVERS AND VEGETATED WALLS. UM, IT REALLY DIDN'T HAVE VERY MUCH THAT WAS FANCY. AND WHEN YOU COME DOWN TO THIS KIND OF THING OR, OR TERRIBLY EXPENSIVE, AND YET IT WAS TURNED OUT TO BE OUR POSTER CHILD FOR THIS, BECAUSE IT DID A REALLY GREAT JOB AT PROVIDING ECOSYSTEM SERVICES. UM, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, ESTONIAN, UH, IS ANOTHER SITE THAT DID A GREAT JOB. UM, [01:25:01] THEY, UH, ARE A MIXED USE BUILDING ON 0.65 ACRES WITH A HUNDRED PERCENT IMPERVIOUS COVER. AND, UH, THEIR SCORE WOULD HAVE BEEN A 0.31. THEY GOT THIS THROUGH PLANTED TREES. THEY DO HAVE EXTENSIVE AND INTENSIVE GREEN ROOT. YOU HAVE SHRUBS, ORNAMENTAL GRASSES, GROUND COVERS, UH, AND IRRIGATION WITH ALTERNATIVE WATER SOURCES. UM, AND AGAIN, POINT POINTING OUT ON THIS, UH, ROOF. YOU GET, YOU KNOW, A CERTAIN NUMBER OF POINTS FOR THE SQUARE FOOTAGE OF THE AREA THAT IS, THAT IS GREEN ROOF. AND THEN, YOU KNOW, ON TOP OF THAT, YOU HAVE TREES PLANTED IN THAT GREEN ROOF. SO THAT'S A LOT OF POINTS. AND THEN YOU HAVE, UH, SHRUBS PLANTED IN THE GREEN ROOF. THAT'S MORE POINT NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. SOME SITES THAT WOULD NOT HAVE FARED SO WELL, HAVE THEY BEEN USING THE SYSTEM WHERE, FOR EXAMPLE, A GALILEO AT 25TH STREET, IT'S A RESIDENTIAL BUILDING ON 0.3 WITH AN IMPERVIOUS COVER OF, OF 90% AND FUNCTIONAL GREEN SCORE WOULD HAVE BEEN ZERO POINT 0.22. UH, THIS, UH, WHAT THEY DID PROVIDE IN TERMS OF THE GREEN GREEN THINGS ARE PLANTED TREES, SOME SHRUBS AND SOME GROUND COVER. IF THEY HAD ADDED A VEGETATED WALL, SOME IRRIGATION WITH ALTERNATIVE WATER SOURCES AND OR SOME SUSPENDED PAVEMENT, THEY COULD HAVE COME UP TO THE 0.3 SCORE. FINALLY, UM, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. IT'S IN COLORADO. THIS IS AN OFFICE BUILDING ON, UH, 0.6, SIX OF AN ACRE WITH 100% IMPERVIOUS COVER AND A SCORE OF 0.13. UM, THEY HAD PLANTED TREES AND THEY DID HAVE SUSPENDED PAVEMENT, UH, AS, UH, UH, COMMISSIONER COLEMAN WAS TALKING ABOUT FOR THE, UM, FOR THE FIRST PLAN THAT WAS DISCUSSED THIS EVENING. AND I WANT TO GIVE A SHOUT OUT, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR RECOMMENDING, UH, SUSPENDED PAVEMENT SYSTEMS. UM, SO THEY, THEY COULD HAVE REACHED A HIGHER NUMBER OR HIGHER SCORE BY ADDING SOME EXTENSIVE GREEN ROOF AND BY USING IRRIGATION WITH ALTERNATIVE WATER SOURCES, UM, I'VE TRIED TO KEEP THIS SUPER BRIEF, UH, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE, UH, BECAUSE I, I, WASN'T A HUNDRED PERCENT SURE OF EXACTLY HOW MUCH YOU GUYS WANTED TO KNOW. UM, SO I DIDN'T WANT TO GET OFF INTO THE WEEDS ON ANYTHING. SO I WELCOME QUESTIONS ON ANYTHING ELSE THAT, UH, THAT I WASN'T GOOD. I DIDN'T COVER IN THIS VERY BRIEF PRESENTATION. THANKS. THANK YOU FOR THAT PRESENTATION QUESTIONS FROM COMMISSIONERS. I WAS GOING TO CALL ON YOU FIRST, DAN KAYLA, I HAVE I'VE, I'VE BEEN TREATING MY FELLOW COMMISSIONERS BECAUSE I'VE BEEN ASKING FOR THIS PRESENTATION FOR PROBABLY TWO OR THREE YEARS. SO THANK YOU FOR COMING. WE HAVE PARTICIPATED AS A TERM WITH MANY OTHER FIRMS HEAVILY AND TESTING SOME OF OUR OWN PROJECTS. AND, UM, I HAVE MULTIPLE CONCERNS ABOUT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS PROGRAM, NOT THE INTENT. I WANT TO BE CLEAR ON THAT MORE GREEN, THE BETTER, RIGHT? NO ONE'S ARGUMENT THAT, HOWEVER, UH, IT'S RELATIVELY STRAIGHTFORWARD AND SIMPLE WHEN YOU'RE AT, WHEN YOU'VE GOT, YOU KNOW, 20% AREA OF 10% AREA OF 15% OF LANDSCAPE AREA TO WORK ON. BUT WHEN YOU GET TO YOUR DOWNTOWN A HUNDRED PERCENT AREAS, ALMOST A HUNDRED PERCENT OF THE TIME YOU END UP HAVING TO PUT IN A GREEN ROOF SYSTEM, UH, I CAN GO INTO GREATER DETAIL ON SOME OF MY OTHER CONCERNS ABOUT EVEN THE WORDING OF THE ORDINANCE ITSELF. I'LL DIGRESS, JUST A MINUTE. DID TAKES THINGS LIKE YOUR GRILL COVERS HAVE TO BE ON 18 AND CENTERS. WELL, I CAN NAME 150 NATIVE GROUND COMERS THAT CAN BE ON 24 CENTERS PRETTY EASILY. UH, IT TALKS ABOUT IF YOU MAKE A CHANGE AT ALL IN YOUR PROGRAM, LIKE THE, SAY FOR EXAMPLE, I HAVE DALLAS FOR ATLANTA, ATLANTA SPECIFIED, AND I WANT TO CHANGE IT TO A SALVIA GREG GUY. I HAVE TO GO THROUGH A SITE PLAN REVISION FOR ANY CHANGES. SO THE LANGUAGE IN IT IS THERE'S LOTS OF PITFALLS, LOTS OF THEM. AND I THINK IT'S JUST, I CAN GO INTO IT FOR A LONG TIME. FOR EXAMPLE, IT ALSO SAYS YOU CAN'T, YOU CAN'T COUNT A VERTICAL GARDEN OR LIVING WALL, WHICH I BELIEVE WAS COUNTED ON SOCO. SO THERE'S SOME TECHNICAL AMBIGUITIES IN THAT. IT ALSO SAYS THAT IF I HAVE A BUTTERFLY GARDEN AND I HAVE TO HAVE POLLINATOR GARDEN, I HAVE TO HAVE NINE CONTIGUOUS SQUARE FEET OF THAT. IN OTHER WORDS, I THINK YOU'RE GETTING INTO THE COUNTING OF THE CARPET SQUARES IN THE LOBBY. THAT'S THE, THE, THE ANALOGY I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU. UM, SO THERE'S SOME FLAWS IN IT. I ALSO HAVE QUESTIONS LIKE, HAS THIS BEEN TALKED ABOUT WITH THE LICENSE AGREEMENT DEPARTMENT, [01:30:01] UH, ABOUT THE THINGS THAT YOU'RE PUTTING IN THE RIGHT OF WAY, AND THEN THE ECONOMIC AND ECOLOGICAL BENEFIT. I'M GOING TO TALK ABOUT A LITTLE BIT TOO, BECAUSE WE'VE DONE AN EXTENSIVE STUDY ON THE COST OF RESTRUCTURES ROOF GARDENS, THE LOWEST ROOF GARDEN WE'VE PRICED IN A LONG TIME. THE TRAY SYSTEM ADDS $50 A SQUARE FOOT, A MODEST ROOF GARDEN IS A HUNDRED DOLLARS A SQUARE FOOT. AND THAT'S BEFORE YOU CONVEY THE DRAINAGE AND WATER SYSTEM TO THOSE AREAS, THAT'S JUST THE SURFACE TREATMENTS. SO ON THE ONE THAT SAID 5,000 SQUARE FOOT ROOF GARDEN WOULD HANDLE IT FOR FIFTH AND CONGRESS, AND EVEN THE AS YOU POINTED OUT VERY WELL. THE ONLY WAY IT COMPLIED WAS WITH THAT AMENITY DEPTH PRIVATE AND THE, UM, THAT MANY DECK IS PROBABLY A 3 MILLION, $4 MILLION A MINUTE HEATER. SO BY MANDATING THAT YOU ARE IN EFFECT TAKING A DOWNTOWN PROPERTY THAT TODAY ONLY COMPLIES WITH GREAT STREETS AND THEY GET REIMBURSED FOR A CERTAIN PERCENTAGE OF THAT. AND YOU'RE ADDING FOR A 5,000 SQUARE FOOT LIFT DECK SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 250,000 AND $500,000 TO A PROJECT IN ADDITION TO THE NEW STREET IMPACT FEES. AND SO, AND THE DENSITY BONUS, IT'S ABOUT TO COME TO OFFICE AT ALL OF THE OFFICES WE USE IT ALREADY HAS. SO I'M GOING TO MAKE A WILD GUESS, GET THEM COLORADO MAY COST FIVE TO $10 MILLION. THAT MAY BE ON THE HIGH SIDE TO BUILD TODAY THAN IT DID AT THE TIME. IT WAS BUILT BECAUSE OF FUNCTIONAL GRAIN, UM, AND THE DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM. SO I'M A LITTLE CONCERNED ABOUT THAT, BUT DOWN, BACK TO THE WEEDS, I, THE REVIEW PROCESS ALONE, BECAUSE YOU ALREADY HAVE LANDSCAPE REQUIREMENTS. SO IF I HAVE A PROJECT THAT HAS A GREATER THAN 80% IMPERVIOUS COVER, I DON'T HAVE LANDSCAPE REQUIREMENTS TO MEET. AND THOSE ARE ALL BEING CHANGED TO, AS YOU KNOW, WE'VE ADDED LANDSCAPE REQUIREMENTS, AND I KNOW YOU CAN COUNT SOME OF THOSE LANDSCAPE FOR YOUR FUNCTIONAL BRAIN, BUT NOW I HAVE A SEPARATE REVIEW PROCESS. SO I'M GOING TO BE DEALING WITH HOPEFULLY ONE REVIEWER. WHO'S GOING TO LOOK AT MY LANDSCAPE REQUIREMENTS, MY GRADE STREET REQUIREMENTS, MY, UM, SUB CHAPTER EIGHT REQUIREMENTS AND MY FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS ALL FOR THE SAME LANDSCAPE PLAN. SO I QUESTION WHY THEY CAN'T INCORPORATE SOME OF THOSE INITIATIVES INTO OUR EXISTING CODE REQUIREMENTS. I JUST REALLY FEEL LIKE THIS IS WELL-INTENDED, BUT EXCEPTIONALLY CUMBERSOME AND CONFUSING AND COSTLY. AND I THINK THE NOTIFICATION OF THE COST NEEDS TO BE MUCH CLEARER TO EVERYONE, BUT THAT WHAT WE'RE REALLY ASKING TO DO, AND I'LL CLOSE WITH THIS REMARK REQUIRING VONS 12 FEET MINIMUM AND OVER I CAN I TELL ALL MY CLIENTS, VINES ARE LIKE CHILDREN. THEY KEEP GROWING, THEY HAVE TO CONSTANTLY HAVE HAIRCUTS. YOU HAVE TO CONSTANTLY FEED THEM AND YOU HAVE TO TRIM AROUND THE WINDOWS. THEY GET INTO GROUT, THEY GET INTO STUCCO, THEY GET INTO YOUR NEIGHBORS, A BUILDING. THEY'RE JUST A COMMITMENT. YOU JUST DON'T WANT TO TELL PEOPLE, PUT VINES ON A WALL AND YOU'LL BE DONE BECAUSE WE'LL END UP WITH MAINTENANCE, NIGHTMARES, DOWNTOWN CERTAIN AREAS, THE PERFECT, BUT I THINK THIS YEAR WE'LL JUST, I JUST HAVE HARDENED OVER THIS CODE INTENTION, A HUNDRED PERCENT IMPLEMENTATION AND COST AND APPLICATION. I SERIOUSLY HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT, BUT THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION. AND OH, I WANT TO POINT OUT I AM NOT ALONE IN MY OPINIONS IN THE, IN THE INDUSTRIES. YEAH. I JUST WANT TO SAY THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE CANDID ASSESSMENT OF THINGS. AND, UM, SO WHEN WE, UH, GET, UH, JUST A COUPLE OF THINGS, WHEN WE GET BACK ON, UM, INTO DOING CODE NEXT, UH, HOW ARE WE CODE NEXT FLAG, LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE REWRITE. UM, I'M HOPING YOU CAN CONTINUE TO PARTICIPATE AS YOU HAVE, HAVE ALREADY. AND, UH, AND MAYBE WE CAN IRON SOME OF THOSE THINGS OUT. UM, WE, UH, RIGHT RIGHT NOW, THIS IS NOT SEPARATE FROM THE LANDSCAPE CODE. IT IS PART OF THE LANDSCAPE CODE WILL BE REVIEWED ALL PART AS PART OF THE LANDSCAPE CODE. I AGREE. THERE'S A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF, UM, YEAH, I CAN, I UNDERSTAND YOUR CONCERN THAT IT'S ANOTHER LAYER OF REVIEW, UH, AND WE'RE, WE'RE WORKING, UH, TO SEE WHAT WE CAN DO TO CHANGE THAT. UM, I MEAN, IT MIGHT WORK SOMEDAY TO MAKE EVERYTHING FUNCTIONAL GREEN. WELL, LET ME, LET ME GIVE ANOTHER EXAMPLE. THE FAIRGROUNDS RIGHT NOW WITH THAT MAJOR URBAN AWAY, SIS THAT WAS CREATED WOULD NOT MEET THIS FUNCTIONAL GREEN BECAUSE 98% OF THE PLANT MATERIALS ARE NOT NATIVE BECAUSE THEY'RE IN A SHADED AREAS. UH, JUST, JUST POINTING THAT KIND OF THING OUT AGAIN. I DON'T WANT TO GET, I KNOW [01:35:01] I'M ALREADY IN THE WEEDS CLEARLY, BUT THEY'RE SO SERIOUS FLAWS IN, IN THE WRITING OF THIS THING. BUT THE OTHER THING I WANTED TO POINT OUT IS THE ENVIRONMENTAL BOARD IS ALREADY ASKING PROJECTS TO TRY TO COMPLY WITH FUNCTIONAL GRAIN AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE AND FEASIBLE. AND I GET CONCERNED WHEN THAT KIND OF MESSAGING GETS OUT, BECAUSE I ALREADY GOT A PHONE CALLS ABOUT IT SAYING, HOW DO I DO THAT? HOW DO I DO THAT? AND MY ANSWER TO THAT TO THEM BECAUSE I'M NO EXPERT, BUT I SAID, I DON'T THINK YOU CAN EVEN BEGIN TO START TO COMPLY WITH A CODE THAT DOES NOT EXIST. SO I JUST PUT THAT OUT AS A MESSAGE THAT YOU MAY WANT TO GET WITH YOUR TEAM. SO YOU CAN TALK TO YOUR BOARDS LIKE OURS AND SAY, Y'ALL REALLY, SHOULDN'T BE DOING THIS UNTIL THIS IS ADOPTED OR AT LEAST IRONED OUT. BUT I WAS CONCERNED THAT WE WERE RUSHING THROUGH THE CODE. WE ALL WANTED IT TO PASS. I THINK THE MAJORITY OF US DID, BUT, UM, BUT I, I AGREE TO DISAGREE ON THIS ONE ABOUT IT, UM, BEING STRAIGHTFORWARD. I DON'T, I DON'T THINK IT IS THAT I, THAT, BUT I WILL, WE WILL CONTINUE TO PARTICIPATE AND I CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR COMING FORWARD ON THIS. THANK YOU. AND AGAIN, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR FEEDBACK AND I REALLY WELCOME EVERYBODY'S FEEDBACK IS WHAT YOU GUYS ARE HERE FOR. WE REALLY ARE TRYING TO INCORPORATE EVERYTHING WE CAN FROM THEM, PARTICULARLY THE, UH, THE DESIGN COMMUNITY AND FROM THE PEOPLE WHO ARE ACTUALLY PUTTING THIS INTO PRACTICE ON THE GROUND. SO THANK YOU AHEAD. YEAH, I HAVE A QUESTION. SO THIS IS WAY OUT OF MY REALM OF KNOWLEDGE COMPARED TO COMMISSIONER COLEMAN, UH, FOR SURE. UM, BUT YOU KNOW, I KNOW THAT WE ALL KNOW THAT THE, UH, THE CODE IS IN LIMBO RIGHT NOW. UM, SO, YOU KNOW, I'M CURIOUS, YOU KNOW, ARE THERE OTHER PROGRAMS WHERE YOU ALL WOULD BE ABLE TO BE THE CATALYST FOR PUSHING, UM, SOME OF THESE, UH, ELEMENTS INTO LANDSCAPE, YOU KNOW, ALONG OUR, UH, CORRIDORS, FOR EXAMPLE, UM, YOU KNOW, I LIVE IN THE HIGHLAND NEIGHBORHOOD AND, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I'VE SEEN IS THEY'VE JUST REDONE ST. JOHN STREET WITH THESE REALLY BEAUTIFUL WIDE SIDEWALKS THAT ARE COMPLETELY CONCRETE. NO NEW IS NOTHING. UM, SO, AND, AND THAT, YOU KNOW, WAS A CITY PROJECT, SO IT'S KIND OF BAFFLING TO ME. UM, SO THAT'S ONE POINT. AND THEN THE OTHER POINT I HAVE IS THAT, UM, I KNOW THAT KIND OF UP AND DOWN THE CORRIDOR, THERE'S A DESIRE FROM THE COMMUNITY FOR IT TO BE MORE WALKABLE. ONE OF THE WAYS THAT WE CAN MAKE IT MORE WALKABLE IS IF WE WERE TO REDUCE OR REMOVE SOME OF THOSE PARKING REQUIREMENTS. AND I FEEL LIKE THIS IS THE PERFECT INCENTIVE. YOU KNOW, IF YOU COULD, UM, HAVE BUSINESSES WHERE THEY'RE ABLE TO, UH, CREATE THESE BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPE AREAS WHERE CURRENTLY THEY HAVE PARKING, UH, ALONG, YOU KNOW, NORTH LAMAR, SOUTH LAMAR BURNET ROAD, YOU KNOW, THE FAR REACHES OF SOUTH CONGRESS ANYWHERE WHERE WE HAVE THESE QUARTERS, IF WE CAN INSERT, YOU KNOW, LIKE SOMEHOW, UM, UTILIZE YOUR PROGRAMS, UM, TO, TO ALMOST, UM, ALLOW FOR PEOPLE TO REMOVE THAT PARKING, YOU KNOW, IS THAT SOMETHING THAT'S EVEN LIKE WITHIN THE SCOPE OF WHAT YOU AND YOUR TEAM CAN DO. SO TO SPEAK TO THE FIRST QUESTION AND THEN THANK YOU VERY MUCH GREAT QUESTIONS. UH, WE ARE WORKING WITH, UH, I'M WORKING WITH AUSTIN ENERGY, UH, IN THEIR AUSTIN ENERGY GREEN BUILDING PROGRAM. AND, UH, FUNCTIONAL GREEN IS, UH, A ACTUALLY A COMPONENT THAT PEOPLE CAN USE TO REACH THEIR, THEIR AUSTIN ENERGY GREEN BUILDING RATING THAT THEY NEED TO READ TO EACH. UM, AND, UH, AND THEN ALSO THERE'S THE, UH, GREEN BUILDING GUIDE. THAT'S A BIT, THE CITY IS, IS, HAS HIRED A TEAM TO PUT TOGETHER AND, UM, AND WORKING TO IT TO BE, TO BE PART OF THAT, TO GET AS MUCH OF THIS INTO, INTO THE GREEN BUILDING GUIDE AS POSSIBLE. NOW, THE GREEN, THE CITY'S GREEN BUILDING GUIDE, UM, YOU MAY, YOU PROBABLY KNOW JUST WITH DEAL WITH CITY PROJECTS, BUT IT WOULD BE EXACTLY THIS KIND OF, KIND OF THING WHERE WE COULD SAY, ALL CITY PROJECTS HAVE TO PROVIDE X, YOU KNOW, MAYBE YOU COULD USE THIS PROGRAM FOR THAT, UM, WITH REGARD TO A REDEVELOPMENT. UM, BUT I AM NOT SO HELPFUL AS MY, MY DAY JOB IS AS A REVIEWER. SO I MEAN, MY, MY NON DAY JOB IS MAKING UP CODE, WHICH IS A LOT OF FUN, BUT, UM, MY DAY JOB IS, IS REVIEWING AND, UH, UNLESS SOMEBODY MUST A PRIVATE, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, DEVELOPER BRINGS A SITE IN FOR REDEVELOPMENT. THERE'S REALLY NOTHING WE CAN DO TO GET THEM TO ADD ANYTHING ELSE. UM, SADLY I DID HAVE A QUERY RECENTLY FROM, UH, SOMEBODY FROM NEW T WHO WAS WANTING TO SEE IF WE COULD RETROFIT SITES TO ADD MORE TREES. AND AGAIN, FABULOUS IDEA. REALLY, [01:40:01] THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN DO THAT, I THINK IS THROUGH SOME KIND OF, UH, AN, UH, A PROGRAM THAT PROVIDES INCENTIVES OUTSIDE OF THE CITY CODE. I DUNNO, WHAT, WHAT YOU COULD, COULD PROVIDE OR ORGANIZATION THAT WOULD HELP PEOPLE DO IT, THAT WOULD MIGHT HELP, BUT THERE'S NOTHING REALLY THAT YOU CAN DO WITHIN CITY CODE. UM, UH, IF, IF SOMEBODY DOESN'T WANT TO REDEVELOP THEIR SITE WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO TABLETS. YEAH, I GUESS I, UH, YOU KNOW, I, I DON'T KNOW WHO WOULD ULTIMATELY BE ABLE TO PUSH SOME SORT OF PILOT PROGRAM, UH, IN THAT REGARD, BUT IF YOU ENGAGE WITH STAKEHOLDERS THAT WOULD POTENTIALLY BE ABLE TO DO THAT. I MEAN, THERE'S A STRONG DESIRE FOR US TO GET SOME OF THESE, UH, TYPES OF THINGS GOING, UM, IN LIEU OF THE CITY CODE, BEING IN LIMBO, UM, YOU KNOW, THOSE PARKING, UH, REQUIREMENTS PLAY A BIG ROLE IN THAT AS WELL. SO, UM, ANYWAY, I'M JUST GOING TO SHARE THAT, UH, THAT IDEA WITH ANYONE WHO, WHO MAY EVEN HAVE SOMEWHAT OF A POSSIBILITY OF SHARING THAT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. I APPRECIATE IT. THANK YOU. I, I, UH, I WANT TO HAVE A COUPLE OF COMMENTS AND THEN I'LL LET YOU GO, EVAN. UH, I, FOLLOWING THAT, I WOULD SAY I WOULD CAUTION, UH, AGAINST BRINGING FORWARD PIECEMEAL CODE CHANGES, BECAUSE WHAT THAT TENDS TO CREATE IS UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES. AND, AND I THINK COMMISSIONER COLEMAN TOUCHED ON THAT A LITTLE BIT, WHAT WE'RE ALREADY SEEING, UH, WITH STREET IMPACT FEES AND DENSITY BONUS, AND THINGS LIKE THAT, THAT COST OF DEVELOPMENT IS INCREASING. AND THOSE COSTS ARE PASSED ON TO THE BUYERS AND THE RENTERS OF THOSE DEVELOPMENTS. THEY'RE NOT EATEN BY THE DEVELOPER. AND SO ALL THAT DOES IS MAKE OUR AFFORDABLE HOUSING MORE EXPENSIVE. UM, SO, YOU KNOW, IT REALLY NEEDS TO BE MORE OF A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH. AND, AND I REALIZE YOU'RE NOT PROPOSING THAT RIGHT NOW, THE FUNCTIONAL GREEN, BUT OBVIOUSLY THERE'S BEEN AN APPETITE LATELY TO, TO BRING FORWARD THESE PIECEMEAL CODE CHANGES. SO I, I JUST WANTED TO PUT THAT OUT THERE. UM, AND MY SPECIFIC QUESTION TO THIS IS, AND THIS IS A QUESTION I'VE HAD FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS. NOW, YOU, YOU MENTIONED THAT THIS APPLIES TO SITES WITHIN IMPERVIOUS COVER ALLOWANCE OF 80% OR MORE IS THAT SITES THAT ARE ZONED FOR 80% OR MORE OR DEVELOPMENTS THAT ARE ACTUALLY PROPOSING TO USE 80% OR MORE. SO THAT WOULD BE, UM, SITES THAT ARE ZONED FOR MORE THAN 80%, NOT 80% OR MORE THAT THAT MAKES SO, AND, AND THE REASON THAT THAT'S IMPORTANT IS BECAUSE OF FOUR WATERSHED IMPERVIOUS COVER LIMITS, ALL OF THE SUBURBAN WATERSHEDS ARE, UH, ALLOW IMPERVIOUS COVER UP TO 80%. SO THIS WOULD ONLY APPLY EFFECTIVELY INSIDE THE URBAN WATERSHEDS FOR RIGHT NOW, WATERSHED AND PRODUCE COVERED LIMITS A PROJECT, UH, PROPOSES A DEVELOPMENT WITH 25% IMPERVIOUS COVER. THEY WOULD STILL HAVE TO USE THIS PROGRAM. THEY WOULD, BUT THEY WOULD ALSO MEET IT SO EASILY. IT WOULD PROBABLY HAVE TO, I MEAN, IT JUST WOULDN'T BE AN EFFORT TO, TO MEET IT. UH, WELL, NO, BECAUSE YOU'RE SAYING, YOU'RE SAYING YOU HAVE TO DO ALL OF THESE THINGS IN YOUR LIST TO MEET IT, NOT JUST, OKAY, WELL, YOU HAVE TO, I'M SORRY. YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO ALL OF THOSE THINGS. YOU CAN CHOOSE THOSE THINGS. SO THINGS LIKE PLANTING TREATIES, UH, PUTTING GROUND COVERS, UH, PROVIDING SHRUBS ON A SITE THAT HAS VERY LITTLE IMPERVIOUS COVER, YOU WOULD MEET YOUR, YOUR, UH, YOUR FUNCTIONAL GREEN SCORE VERY EASILY WITH DOING VERY INEXPENSIVE THINGS. THE KINDS OF THINGS WE DO RIGHT NOW FOR CODE, IF THEY JUST WANT TO PUT NATIVE GRASS DOWN. RIGHT. I GUESS I'M WONDERING IF THIS DOESN'T HAVE THE OPPOSITE EFFECT WHERE IT MAY INCENTIVIZE TO BUILD HIGHER IMPERVIOUS COVER IN ORDER TO PAY FOR THAT FUNCTIONAL GREEN THAT YOU'RE REQUIRING. WELL, UM, I'M ASSUMING THAT ANY PROJECT THAT'S, YOU KNOW, AT THE CORNER OF FIFTH AND CONGRESS IS GOING TO HAVE HIGH IMPERVIOUS COVERING. ANYWAY, I DON'T THINK THAT THIS IS GOING TO WHAT WE LOOKED AT. DIDN'T LOOK LIKE THIS WAS GOING TO THROW ANYONE OVER BETWEEN. I MEAN, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT SITES THAT HAVE USUALLY, I MEAN, LIKE, LIKE THE, LIKE THE ONES THAT I SHOWED 90%, A HUNDRED PERCENT IMPERVIOUS COVER THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GOING TO BE DEALING WITH. NO, ONE'S GOING TO BUY A LOT AT THE CORNER OF CESAR CHAVEZ [01:45:01] AND, AND, UH, AND I DON'T KNOW, SHE CALLED THEM AND THEN PUT A BUILDING ON IT THAT ONLY HAS 25% OF PERVIOUS COVER PRICE OF LAND IS ALREADY, HAS ALREADY PRECLUDED THAT OPTION. IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I'VE LOOKED AT THE CODE, BUT I RECALL THERE BEING, UM, THAT REQUIREMENT ON SOME OF THE CORRIDORS AND REGIONAL CENTERS THAT WERE ZONED HIGHER THAN 80% IMPERVIOUS COVER. IS THAT NOT TRUE? YOU'RE SAYING IT'S ONLY DOWNTOWN, SO IT'S ONLY IN THE URBAN WATERSHEDS. SO, UH, THAT THAT'S, THAT'S A WATERSHED DESIGNATION, BUT, UM, IT'S IN THE WATERSHEDS WHERE WATERSHED DOESN'T HAVE AN IMPERVIOUS COVERED LIMIT. SO, UH, IT COULD BE THAT IN SOME OF, ON SOME OF THOSE SITES THAT ZONING MIGHT HAVE A LOWER IMPERVIOUS COVER LIMIT THAN 80%. AND IF ZONING HAS A LOWER IMPERVIOUS COVER, THEN, THEN THIS WOULDN'T APPLY. SO HERE, WE'VE GOT TWO IMPERVIOUS COVER, UH, REGULATIONS, RIGHT. AND SO WHICHEVER IS LOWEST IS THE ONE THAT APPLIES. SO IT, UH, YEAH, ON ANY GIVEN SITE, IF ZONING HAS DECIDED THAT IT SHOULD HAVE LESS IMPERVIOUS COVER THAN IT WOULD HAVE, YOU KNOW, 60%, 20%, WHATEVER IMPERVIOUS COVER IT'S SUPPOSED TO HAVE, AND THEN THIS WOULDN'T APPLY. AND, UH, YOU, YOU SPOKE TO ABOUT A SORT OF CALIBRATION THAT HAPPENED TO COME UP WITH THE SCORE. UM, HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH 80%? UH, WE DID, WE LOOKED AT A LOT OF SITES. WE DID SOME TESTS ON, ON SITES, ALL OVER TOWN AT DIFFERENT IMPERVIOUS COVER LEVELS. UM, THE ONLY KIND OF SITE WHERE WE, THAT WE REALLY HAD ANY TROUBLE GETTING TO, TO, UH, USING, UH, FUNCTIONAL GREEN ON IT WAS A SITE SUCH AS FOR EXAMPLE, A WAREHOUSE SITE WHERE YOU HAVE, UM, YOU'RE USUALLY HAVE A RELATIVELY HIGH, NOT, NOT AS HIGH AS A DOWNTOWN SITE, BUT A RELATIVELY HIGH IMPERVIOUS COVER. AND, BUT IT'S ALMOST ALL GIANT WAREHOUSE BUILDINGS AND PARKING THAT IS FOR, UH, TRUCKS, RIGHT. TRUCKS OR DELIVERY, TRUCK PARKING, THAT KIND OF THING. THOSE KINDS OF SITES, UH, WOULD HAVE SOME DIFFICULTY BECAUSE THEY HAVE HIGH IMPERVIOUS COVER, BUT THEY DON'T HAVE, UH, THEY DON'T HAVE THE KIND OF HIGH SHOULD WE SAY, IT'S A LOWER VALUE DEVELOPMENT, RIGHT? THEY'RE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO PUT ANY HIGH, PROBABLY EVEN GREEN WALLS THERE. THEY'RE NOT GOING TO BE LOOKING AT THOSE, THE CHEAPEST, THE LEAST EXPENSIVE, UH, LANDSCAPE POSSIBLE. AND SO FOR THEM, IT MIGHT POSSIBLY BE A LITTLE BIT OF AN ISSUE. UM, BUT FOR, UH, REALLY FOR, FOR ANY NEIGHBORHOOD IN THE CITY, ALMOST, IT REALLY WASN'T AN ISSUE NOW OF THINGS WEST OF MOPAC. IT WOULD NEVER APPLY THERE BECAUSE THE WATERSHED IMPERVIOUS COVER IS SO MUCH LOWER THERE. SO THAT WOULD BE MOVED ON THAT. BUT YEAH. DOES THAT HELP? HAVE I CONFUSED? NO COMMISSIONER AGREED FOR YOU. YOU HAD A QUESTION. YEAH. I'M GLAD YOU CAME BEFORE US BECAUSE I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS INFORMATION TO JUST LIKE COMMISSIONER COLEMAN. UM, MAYBE I'M VERY IGNORANT, CAUSE THIS IS THE FIRST I'VE HEARD ABOUT THE FUNCTIONAL GREEN AND I HAVEN'T REALLY LOOKED INTO IT, BUT I DO KNOW IMPERVIOUS COVER YOU TALKING ABOUT IN THE HIGH DENSE, UH, LOCALE LOCATIONS, BUT HOW WAS THIS, HOW WAS THE IMPERVIOUS COVER TIED TO FAR? SO IF YOU WERE GOING TO GIVE SOMEBODY AN INCREASE IN THEIR FAL, IN THEIR IMPERVIOUS COVER, DOES THAT MEAN THEY ALSO GET AN INCREASE IN THE AIR? AND THEY'RE FAR, I WILL HAVE TO SAY, BECAUSE THIS IS ONE OF THOSE REALLY, THAT'S NOT MY PART OF THE CODE. IT'S WHAT IT COMES DOWN TO. YEAH. BUT THAT'S WHAT THE DEVELOPERS ARE GOING TO BE LOOKING FOR. THAT'S GOING TO INCENTIVIZE THEIR WORK IF THEY COULD GET EXTRA FAR THAT THEY DON'T MIND PAYING THE EXTRA FOR THE PINK, YOU KNOW, BUT THEY DON'T, THEY'RE NOT GOING TO REALLY, IT THERE'S NO EXTENDED INCENTIVE. SURE. SO, UM, AND HMM, THAT NEEDS TO BE REALLY CHECKED OUT FIRST BECAUSE THERE'S A CLOSE LINK, AS WE ALL KNOW BETWEEN DISCOVER AND FAR. SO THAT'S, THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT, YOU KNOW, MEAN IT DEFINITELY, I WILL DEFINITELY LOOK INTO THAT. YEAH. YEAH. OKAY. THANK YOU. YEAH. THANK YOU. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM COMMISSIONERS CHEER? I JUST WANTED TO THANK PAMELA. I KNOW I SAID A LOT AND I APPRECIATE YOU COMING OUT. WELL, I REALLY APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO, UH, TO SHOWCASE IN THIS. SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH AND ALL OF YOU, GREAT QUESTIONS. AND, AND I HOPE [01:50:01] THAT IN THE FUTURE, YOU WILL NOT HESITATE TO GIVE INPUT WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO, UH, YOU KNOW, WHEN IT COMES TO TIME TO GET CLOSER TO ACTUALLY MAKING THIS CODE, I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU. ABSOLUTELY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME TONIGHT, FAMILY. THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT. WE WILL MOVE ON TO ITEM TWO, [2A. Approval of the April 26th meeting minutes.] A APPROVAL OF THE APRIL 26 MEETING MINUTES. COMMISSIONER COLEMAN. YES. JUST A SECOND. I'LL SECOND THAT YOUR MINORS, ANY DISCUSSION ON THAT? OKAY. WE WILL PUT IT TO VOTE FOR SURE. A TAN, A GUCCI I A COMMISSIONER AN HOUR LATER. PRETTY SURE LUKINS HIGH COMMISSIONER COLEMAN. YES, SURE. MINERS. YES. PARISHIONER WALLY. YES, I HAVE IT. YES, IT'S UNANIMOUS. THANK YOU EVERYBODY. UM, AND HAVE ANOTHER DISCUSSION ITEM TO BE DISCUSSION [2B. Discussion and Possible action on a recommendation to City Council to request an update to the Urban Design Guidelines] AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON A RECOMMENDATION TO CITY COUNCIL TO REQUEST AN UPDATE TO THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES. HOPEFULLY EVERYONE GOT A CHANCE TO LOOK AT THE DOCUMENT THAT, UH, AARON SENT OUT PREVIOUSLY, THE DRAFT, THE PLAN, YOU TALKED ABOUT IT LAST MONTH AS WELL. UM, ANYBODY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? I'VE GOT A QUESTION. GO AHEAD. TALKING TO ME. YEAH, GO AHEAD. OKAY. SO, YOU KNOW, I THINK THERE'S REALLY A VALUABLE THING THAT YOU'VE BEEN DOING BECAUSE IT'S, UH, YOU KNOW, BY RAISING THE BAR ON THE, UH, FOG RASKIN FOR ON DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS, UH, YOU KNOW, THAT JUST KIND OF BE HAPPY TO HAVE A TREMENDOUS EFFECT. AND IDEALLY JUST HOPE, YOU KNOW, WE'LL SEE OTHER DENSITY PROGRAMS ADOPTING SIMILAR THINGS, MI ADOPTED OTHER, OTHER, OTHER DENSITY PROGRAMS GOING AHEAD AND FOLLOWING THESE GUIDELINES AS A GATEWAY REQUIREMENT. AND, UH, I LIKED YOUR ABOUT, UH, ADDING ENVIRONMENTAL AND CLIMATE FACTORS AND ENCOURAGING NON-COMMERCIAL, UH, PUBLIC SPACES. BUT THE ONE THING, CAUSE I'M SO NED SIDE, OBVIOUSLY THIS IS A MUCH NEEDED, UH, A MUCH NEEDED PROJECT THAT Y'ALL HAVE IN HAVING, UH, ENGAGED HIM. BUT I DO REALLY THINK THAT IT'S IMPORTANT TO COMPRESS THE TIMELINE, TO GET, UH, TO GET IT COMPLETED BECAUSE MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE COUNCIL IS, UM, OR NOT JUST COUNCIL ANY ANYBODY, ANY, ANY PUBLIC BODY IT'S THE LONGER TAKES THE, THE, THE SOONER YOU START HAVING YOUR CHAMPIONS FALL OFF AND ALL THOSE PEOPLE WHO WERE FOR IT ARE AREN'T AROUND. YOU FIND, BRING IT OUT, RIGHT. I MEAN, WE'VE SEEN THAT. SO I REALLY THINK WE NEED TO SOMEHOW GET TO SING TO COUNCIL WITHIN A YEAR OF THE TIME WE, UH, UH, KICK OFF THE PROJECT. AND IT'S NOT REALLY ALL THAT DIFFICULT BECAUSE ON, ON THE SHORTS, ON THE SH ON THE, LET'S SAY THE QUICK END OF YOUR TIMELINE, YOU CAN ONLY GET FEW MONTHS BEYOND A YEAR. I THINK WE REALLY NEED. AND I THINK YOU OFTEN NEED AN ESTIMATED BUDGET BECAUSE WE ARE GOING TO START REQUIRING A CERTAIN WILL REQUIRE A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF STAFF TIME, A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF CONSULTANT TIME. SO THOSE ARE ACTUAL ACTUAL COSTS. SO THINK SOMEHOW COME AND IN TERMS, AND AS FOR COMPRESSING THE TIME, IT SEEMED TO ME LIKE PHASE TWO LENT ITSELF TO, UH, A FORMALIZED CHARETTE PROCESS IS IT HAS SEVERAL ITERATIONS, DESIGN ITERATIONS. AND THAT SORT OF IS WHAT YOU DO THROUGH A CHARETTE. SO MAYBE POSSIBLY USING CHARETTE PROCESS TO COMPRESS THE TIME. SO OTHER THAN THOSE TWO CONCERNS, BUDGET TIME, I THINK IT'S A GREAT, UH, GREAT DENVER. AND WHEN WE, WHEN ARE Y'ALL PLANNING ON KICKING THIS OFF, UM, SO TO RESPOND TO YOUR COMMENTS, UH, I AGREE WITH THE TIMELINE. UM, AND THAT'S WHY IT'S, THERE'S [01:55:01] SORT OF A OPEN-ENDED, UH, FOR INSTANCE, PHASE TWO SAYS SIX TO 12 MONTHS, OBVIOUSLY THAT'S A BIG DIFFERENCE. AND IF WE CAN GET IT UNDER THE SIX MONTHS, THEN THAT'S IDEAL. UM, BUT WE WANTED TO ALSO LEAVE OURSELVES ENOUGH LEEWAY TO WHERE WE CAN, WE CAN DO A GOOD JOB AND WE KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF WORK TO DO SO. YEAH. IDEALLY WE'D GET THIS THING DONE IN A YEAR AND WE'RE, AND WE'RE DONE. UM, SO I THINK FOR THE ASK, YOU KNOW, IT'S MORE OPEN-ENDED RIGHT NOW. AND THEN ONCE WE ACTUALLY GET TO START, WE'LL SHARPEN OUR PENCIL ON THAT SCHEDULE AND, YOU KNOW, CREATE DEADLINES AND, AND, YOU KNOW, TRY TO TRY TO BE A LITTLE MORE AGGRESSIVE WITH THAT. CAUSE I AGREE. I MEAN, MOST OF US ARE GOING TO TIME OUT AND TWO YEARS. AND IF WE, IF WE'RE, IF, IF WE'RE GONE AND THIS IS NOT ADOPTED, I FEAR IT'S JUST GOING TO SIT ON A SHELF UNTIL SOMEONE PICKS IT UP IN 10 MORE YEARS. SO IT'S DEFINITELY MY GOAL TO GET THIS ADOPTED BEFORE, UH, OR HALF OUR COMMISSION LEAVES. UM, THE BUDGET, I HAVE BEEN DEFERRING TO STAFF ON THAT. I MEAN, RIGHT NOW, I DON'T BELIEVE WE, WE DON'T HAVE ANY CONSULTANTS IN OUR PLAN. UH, IT'S MOSTLY STAFF TIME, UM, WHICH OBVIOUSLY HAS A COST ASSOCIATED WITH IT. UM, BUT IT'S, THAT'S HARD TO QUANTIFY RIGHT NOW. I THINK THAT'S PART OF THAT FIRST PHASE OF PREPARATION IS TO KIND OF FIGURE OUT WHAT THAT ALLOCATION OF TIME WILL BE FOR STAFF, UM, IN MULTIPLE DEPARTMENTS. UM, THAT'S WHEN WE FORMED THESE WORKING GROUPS, WE'RE GOING TO BE ASKING FOR STAFF OUTSIDE OF URBAN DESIGN, UM, MAYBE AUSTIN ENERGY OR TRANSPORTATION OR WHOEVER. SO IT'S A LITTLE HARD TO DEFINE RIGHT NOW, BUT, UM, PLUS WE WOULDN'T HAVE THE ASK IN, UH, TO MEET, UM, FOR COUNCIL'S BUDGET FOR THIS YEAR. SO IT MAY BE AFTER WE'VE DONE THIS PHASE ONE AND STARTED PHASE TWO THAT WE REALIZE WE NEED SOME MONEY FOR SOMETHING, AND WE CAN ASK FOR THAT AS PART OF THE BUDGET FOR NEXT YEAR. UM, SO THAT'S WHAT THAT IS, UM, AS FAR AS NEXT STEP. SO THE GOAL IS TO DIG DESIGN COMMISSION TO SUPPORT THIS PLAN TONIGHT. AND THEN THE NEXT STEP WOULD BE MYSELF AND HOPEFULLY VICE-CHAIR ROLE. AND SOON WE'LL TAKE IT TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION IN JUNE FOR THEIR SUPPORT, UH, AND WITH THEIR SUPPORT AND OUR SUPPORT. WE ARE GOING TO TRY TO GET IT ON THE COUNCIL AGENDA. UM, MOST LIKELY IT WILL, IT WON'T HAPPEN BEFORE COUNCIL SUMMER BREAK. SO IT'LL HAVE TO BE ONCE THEY COME BACK AT THE END OF JULY FROM THEIR BRIGHT YES, COMMISSIONER OF AN HOUR LATER, BUT I SEE A STAKE, UM, TWO QUESTIONS THAT DON'T REFER TO THE ACTUAL FORMAL DOCUMENT IS WHEN WE HAVE THIS ASK, WHICH I COMPLETELY SUPPORT, HOW ARE WE GOING TO, OR ARE WE EVEN GOING TO MENTION HOW OUR NEW CODE MAY COMPLETELY BE IN CONFLICT WITH THIS WORK THAT'S DONE FOR THE GUIDELINES, RIGHT, FOR THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES AND NUMBER TWO, WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT THE FUTURE IS FOR THE CODE, YOU KNOW, FOR LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, SHOULD WE ALSO MAYBE INCLUDE KEEPING DESIGN COMMISSION AS A RELEVANT COMMISSION? WELL, IT'S, AS FAR AS THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, I MEAN, THERE'S, THERE'S NO INDICATION THAT THAT'S EVEN GOING TO PASS AND IF WE WAIT FOR THAT TO PASS LIKE MANY HAVE, THEN WE'RE, WE'RE NEVER GOING TO HAVE ANYTHING. SO I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO MOVE FORWARD THAT SAID, WE CAN CERTAINLY REFERENCE THAT LATEST DRAFT AS NEEDED AS WE WRITE THESE GUIDELINES AND ANTICIPATION, UH, AND TO AVOID ANY CONFLICTS. BUT REALLY, I DON'T SEE US GETTING INTO THAT FINE LEVEL OF DETAIL THAT THERE WILL BE MANY TRANSLATES. I THINK WE'RE GOING TO STILL KEEP IT KIND OF HIGH LEVEL AS IT IS TODAY. [02:00:01] UM, SO HOPEFULLY THERE WON'T BE MANY CONFLICTS THAT ARISE FROM THAT. AND SO THEN, SO THEN MAYBE STATING THAT WITH THE, UM, UPDATING THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES IS THE CONTINUED SUPPORT OF THE DESIGN COMMISSION AS A CIVILIAN, UM, RECOMMENDATION PANEL. CAUSE THAT COULD GET LOST SOMEWHERE IN THE FUTURE. I MEAN, I GUESS NOT TO TAKE IT FOR GRANTED. YES. I MEAN, IF ANYTHING, HOPEFULLY THIS NEW DOCUMENT, THESE NEW GUIDELINES, YOU KNOW, UNDERSCORES THE IMPORTANCE OF THE DESIGN COMMISSION AND THE DESIGN COMMISSION IS VERY MUCH NEEDED. UM, AND ULTIMATELY MAY END UP TAKING A LARGER ROLE IN THE FUTURE IF, IF THESE DO GET IMPLEMENTED IN OTHER PARTS OF THE CITY, THANKS TO ALL OF YOU GUYS ON THIS, UH, WORKING GROUP. HOLY MOLY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. AND TO STAFF. SO SHARE WITH EVERYTHING THAT'S BEEN SAID, I'M MOVED THAT WE MOVE FORWARD WITH THIS. THIS IS AS FAR AS WE'D NEVER GOTTEN THIS FAR BEFORE AND WE CAN'T BREAK UP THE MOMENTUM AND LET'S JUST MOVE FORWARD AND GET EVERYTHING FIGURED OUT. I THINK IT WOULD BE NICE IF WE COULD BRING SOME MORE PEOPLE ONTO OUR WORKING GROUPS, BECAUSE THIS IS A BIG TASK, YOU KNOW, YOU FELT WE'RE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO DO IT OURSELVES. SO THAT'S MY MOTION. I MOVE THAT WE DO MOVE IT, YOU KNOW, SEND IT TO COUNCIL. OKAY. IS THERE A SECOND ON THAT? I'LL SECOND THAT REMINDER. UM, AND THEN COMMISSIONER WILDLY, IT LOOKED LIKE YOU HAD SOMETHING TO SAY, YEAH, IT'S, UH, SOME QUESTIONS WE WANT IT'S, IT'S A, IT'S, UH, A LOT OF WORK AND REALLY APPRECIATE IT. EVERYBODY THAT'S PUT THE WORK INTO THIS. UM, I, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT STRUCK ME THAT I WANT TO POINT OUT THAT I THINK ARE IMPORTANT. AND ONE ITEM IS JUST LIKE, UH, KIND OF WE'RE SUBURBAN AREAS. YOU KNOW, THE, THE DOCUMENT DOES TALK ABOUT, UM, INFRASTRUCTURE AND WE HAVE TALKED A LOT ABOUT THAT IN THE PAST. UH, AND, BUT WE ALSO TALKED ABOUT SUBURBAN AREAS IN THE DOCUMENT DOESN'T COVER, HOW DO WE DEAL WITH CITY PROJECTS AND MORE SUBURBAN AREAS. WE'RE KIND OF CITE THAT AS A MAJOR ELEMENT, WHICH, YOU KNOW, IN THE PAST, SO DESIGN COMMISSION HAS ALWAYS BEEN KIND OF A, KIND OF A MAJOR PROBLEM WITH THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES IS HOW DO WE DEAL WITH THOSE LESS DENSE AREA? SO I THINK THAT THAT SHOULD NOT BE OMITTED FROM THE DOCUMENT. UM, AND THEN, UH, AND THAT'S, I CAUTION TOO, JUST FROM IT FROM, UH, TALKING ABOUT INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE PAST, YOU KNOW, WE TRIED TO SAY, LET'S NOT TALK ABOUT THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES. LET'S JUST FOCUS ON INFRASTRUCTURE. AND EVEN THAT NARROW OF A TASK WE WEREN'T ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH. AND, UH, YOU KNOW, HOPEFULLY THE, THE PAST RECORD OF THE DESIGN COMMISSION DOESN'T, YOU KNOW, UH, DICTATE NECESSARILY WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE. BUT I DO, I DID LIKE THE COMMENT. I THOUGHT IT WAS GOOD THAT IF WE CAN REALLY FOCUS, UM, IN, IN, IT'S PROBABLY BETTER TO DO FEWER THINGS WELL AND TAKE ON TOO MUCH. AND I GET CONCERNED, WE TALK ABOUT ALL THE OTHER PLANS AND AUSTIN ALICE NEEDS TO BE UPDATED. AND I DON'T KNOW IF THE UPDATE IS THAT WE'VE GOT TO NOW INCORPORATE ALL THE OTHER PLANS INTO THEIR BINS LINE GUIDELINES, OR WE JUST SIMPLY HAVE ONE PAGE WHERE WE MENTIONED THINGS LIKE VISION ZERO PLAN. BUT IF WE'VE GOT TO PULL IN, YOU KNOW, AUSTIN TRUITT, STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN, VISION ZERO PLAN, AND WE'VE GOT TO KIND OF, YOU KNOW, REGURGITATE PARTS OF THOSE PLAN AND THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES THAT DOCUMENTS GOING TO GET SO LARGE AND POTENTIALLY CONFLICT THAT I THINK THAT THESE OTHER PLANS ARE COMPANIONS, UM, TO THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES, BUT THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES, SHOULDN'T TRY TO DO KIND OF EVERYTHING, UH, IN THE CITY. UM, IT, IT SHOULD BE A PARTNER. UM, AND THEN, UH, I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS THAT, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO MAKE THE CASE THAT WE WANT COUNCIL TO HELP US WITH THIS, WHICH I BELIEVE IN, BUT I THINK SOME OF THE WORDING, LIKE, YOU KNOW, THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES, LACK CLARITY, AND THEY'RE CONFUSING, OR, YOU KNOW, WE NEED TO PRIORITIZE THINGS LIKE, UH, PROMOTING CIVIC ART AND THESE PROMOTING CIVIC ART, JUST AS ONE EXAMPLE IS ALREADY IN THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES. AND MAYBE IT NEEDS TO BE, YOU KNOW, IMPROVED, OR WE NEED TO ADD SOME VERBIAGE, BUT THE DOCUMENT I READ IT, YOU KNOW, KIND OF INSINUATES THAT URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES ARE LACKING BECAUSE I DON'T TALK ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE AND CIVIC ART AND VIBRANT CULTURAL ATMOSPHERE AND MIX OF USES. AND SO I THINK WE SAW SOUGHT TO BE CLEAR THAT, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THESE ARE THINGS THAT ARE IMPORTANT AND THEY'RE IN, BUT THEY'RE IN DESERVE DESIGN GUIDELINES AND WE NEED TO, YOU KNOW, WORK ON THEM FURTHER. [02:05:01] UM, AND ALSO THINK KIND OF WITH SOME OF THESE OTHER, UH, PLANS THAT HAVE GONE ON AND INITIATIVES THAT MIGHT BE HELPFUL TO JUST TO REFERENCE, UH, FOR COUNCIL TO MAKE THIS SOMETHING THEY WANT TO REALLY TAKE ON OR, YOU KNOW, DIRECT STAFF AND, AND ULTIMATELY GET BUDGET FOR IT. IT'S JUST CITE SOME SPECIFIC EXAMPLES. LIKE, UM, THERE WAS A COMMENT HERE ABOUT THAT, THAT THAT ORGANIZATION GUIDELINES DO NOT ALIGN WITH THE POLICIES THAT COUNCIL HAS ADOPTED DURING THIS TIME PERIOD. UM, AND SO IT KIND OF INFERRED THAT URBAN ZONE GUIDELINES ARE OUT OF LINE WITH POLICIES THAT COUNCILS ADOPTED. AND, BUT WE DON'T CITE ANY SPECIFIC EXAMPLES IN, UH, AND SO I'M KIND OF LEFT TO WONDER I'M MYSELF. I'M KIND OF WONDERING, WELL, WHERE DO WE NOT ALIGN? I I'VE KIND OF READ THEM AGAIN. AND, YOU KNOW, I DON'T SEE ANYTHING THAT REALLY CONFLICTS WITH A VISION ZERO PLAN. I MEAN, URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES ARE DIFFERENT, BUT I DON'T SEE ANYTHING THAT THEY MAKE A RECOMMENDATION FOR LIKE A WIDER VEHICULAR LINE OR SOMETHING THAT MIGHT ENDANGER A PEDESTRIAN. SO I THINK IF WE CAN FIND SOMETHING, IT MIGHT BE, UH, IT MIGHT BE GOOD TO REFERENCE SPECIFICALLY. AND THEN MAYBE THE LAST THING I WOULD MENTION IS THAT, UH, IN THE BARRIER SECTIONS, WE GO ON TO TALK ABOUT OTHER THINGS THAT ARE GOING TO NEED TO BE DONE, LIKE UPDATING GREAT STREETS AND UPDATING SUBCHAPTER E AND, UH, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE SHOULD BE CAREFUL THAT THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES SHOULD BE ABLE TO STAND BY THEMSELVES. AND WHILE SUBCHAPTER, YOU SHOULD BE UPDATED TO TRY TO BRING THAT IN, IN PART OF THIS OR SAY FOR THE URBAN DESIGN GUNS TO BE SUCCESSFUL, HAS TO BE ADOPTED TOO. I THINK WE JUST GIVE REASONS FOR COUNCILS TO SAY NO TO ALL OF THIS, BECAUSE IT'S JUST, IT'S TOO MONUMENT IS MONUMENTAL OF A TASK. UM, AND, UH, SO ANYWAY, THOSE ARE, I GUESS THE, OH, AND THEN MY LAST CONCERN TOO, IS WE NAME, UH, WE NAMED STAKEHOLDER GROUPS AND MOST OF THEM ARE DOWNTOWN BASED. AND, UM, I DO THINK, YOU KNOW, AS WE LOOK FOR, YOU KNOW, KIND OF, UH, A NUMBER OF, UH, UH, TOWN CENTERS, UM, HOPEFULLY, YOU KNOW, GOING AWAY FROM THE CONCENTRIC MODEL OF AUSTIN AND BEING MORE, UH, POLYCENTRIC THAT, AND, YOU KNOW, AND WE DO HAVE AREAS THAT ARE, UM, THAT ARE A LITTLE BIT LESS DENSE THAT WE WANT THESE GUIDELINES TO APPLY TO. SO THOSE CAN BE REALLY GOOD ENVIRONMENTS. AND AS A DENSIFY, THEY'RE CONVINCED FIND A GOOD WAY THAT THERE'S OTHER GROUPS OUTSIDE OF DOWNTOWN, OR EVEN COMMUNITY GROUPS OR NON KIND OF INDUSTRY, REAL STRAIGHT GROUPS THAT, YOU KNOW, MIGHT BE NECESSARY TO HEAR FROM, I THINK, WHAT YOUR, YOU KNOW, YOUR CONCERNS ARE, YOU KNOW, UH, KIND OF FIT INTO WHAT I WAS THINKING EARLIER. AND THAT'S THAT ONE, UM, IS THERE A CERTAIN DEGREE THAT THIS TO A CERTAIN DEGREE, THE DESIGN GUIDELINES CANNOT, UH, DIRECTLY APPLY TO, UH, TO CORRIDORS AND TO CENTERS AND CERTAINLY TO PUD. AND SO MAYBE W WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES, MAYBE THEY CAN BE, UH, WE CAN HAVE MORE THAN A NECESSARILY ONE SET, AND WE COULD HAVE THE, UH, DOWNTOWN, YOU KNOW, TEMPLATE AND THEN A, UH, MORE SUBURBAN TEMPLATE. BUT MY BIG CONCERN ORIGINALLY WHEN THIS, WHEN, WHEN THE PROCESS STARTED IS THAT THE BAR WE SET FOR THE BONUS PROGRAM WAS SO LOW THAT, UH, VIRTUALLY ANYTHING COULD GET A CLAIM, UH, SUBSTANTIAL COMPLIANCE. AND SO IT SAID SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE ABOUT THAT. YEAH. SO THE INTENT IS TO MAKE THIS DOCUMENT MORE APPLICABLE TO PROJECTS AND OTHER PARTS OF THE CITY TO ESSENTIALLY WHAT YOU AND FISHER WALLY WERE TOUCHING ON, UH, HOW THAT'S ACTUALLY DONE IN THE DOCUMENT. YOU KNOW, THAT'S UNDECIDED, THAT'S PART OF THE WORK THAT WE NEED TO DO. WE WANT TO KEEP IT SIMPLE. UM, YOU KNOW, HAVING A SEPARATE, UH, MATRIX FOR THAT MAY NOT BE THE BEST ROUTE. MAYBE THAT'S NOT KEEPING IT SIMPLE. RIGHT. UM, SO W WE JUST HAVE TO FIGURE THAT OUT AS PART OF THE PROCESS, BUT THAT IS ONE OF THE GOALS TOO, TO BE ABLE TO MAKE IT FLEXIBLE. SO THAT COUNSEL COULD THEN SAY, YOU KNOW, HEY, THIS PD WE'RE APPROVING, YOU NEED TO USE THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES, UM, AS AN EXAMPLE. SO THAT [02:10:01] IS, THAT IS, UH, ONE OF THE MAJOR GOALS OF THIS DOCUMENT FOR SURE. UM, AND TO RESPOND TO THE COMMENT YOU HAD COMMISSIONER WALLY, IT'S CERTAINLY NOT THE INTENT TO, UM, YOU KNOW, COPY AND PASTE ANY OF THOSE PLANS OR INITIATIVES INTO THIS DOCUMENT. IT'S MORE JUST ENSURING THAT THIS DOCUMENT ALIGNS WITH THE GOALS OF THOSE OTHER THINGS AND DOESN'T CONFLICT WITH THEM IN ANY WAY. UM, AND, AND THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT'S IT, WE CERTAINLY WOULDN'T, UM, KIND OF TRY TO REPRINT THEM IN THIS DOCUMENT OR IN THE, IN THE GUIDELINES THEMSELVES, BUT THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. AND YOU HAD A LOT OF GREAT COMMENTS, COMMISSIONER, A QUESTION, CHRISTIAN MINORS. YES. SO I RECOGNIZED THAT I HAD TO LEAVE THE, UH, WORKING GROUP, UH, MIDWAY THROUGH, BUT I'M EXCITED WITH WHERE YOU ALL, UH, HAVE LEFT OFF. UM, I THINK, UH, I HAVE ONE COMMENT. AND THEN ONE QUESTION, UH, MAYBE I'LL ACTUALLY ASK THE QUESTION FIRST. UM, SO THE QUESTION IS, UM, IF YOU, IF YOU SEND THIS DOCUMENT TO CITY COUNCIL, UH, IS THAT AFTER THE PLANNING COMMISSION, IS THAT WHAT YOU MENTIONED BEFORE? YES. WE'RE GOING TO GO TO PLANNING COMMISSION FIRST. OKAY. AND GET THEIR SUPPORT. OKAY. OR WE ATTEMPT TO GO TO COUNCIL AND, UM, IT WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY A PRESENTATION THAT I'M PUTTING TOGETHER THAT I WILL ACTUALLY PRESENT. SO IT WON'T JUST BE, HERE'S A DOCUMENT, PLEASE APPROVE IT. OKAY. THE ACTUAL PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION. OKAY. WELL, YOU ANTICIPATED MY QUESTION, WHICH IS, IS THERE GOING TO BE AN ACCOMPANYING PRESENTATION JUST BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, I THINK, UM, A TEAL VR WOULD BE NICE JUST TO HIGHLIGHT THE MAIN POINTS. UM, AND THEN THE COMMENT IS JUST FROM, UH, YOU KNOW, LIKE A FORMATTING PERSPECTIVE. I THINK WHEN I LOOK AT THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ON PAGES THREE AND FOUR, UM, THE FACT THAT IT SAYS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY TWICE, UH, AND IT DOESN'T SAY LIKE CONTINUED OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT. UM, TO ME, IT'S LIKE A LITTLE DISJOINTED, SO, UM, I DON'T KNOW. I JUST RECOMMEND, UM, EITHER TAKING OUT THAT BLOCK OF TEXT AT THE BOTTOM, UH, THAT'S IN RED AND BLACK ON PAGE THREE. UM, AND JUST CONTINUING ON, UH, AND NOT USING THE WORD EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OR PUTTING CONTINUED OR SOMETHING JUST CAUSE, YOU KNOW, IT'S A LITTLE BIT DISJOINTED. UM, AND THEN IF THERE ARE ANY LIKE LITTLE, I SAW A FEW LITTLE THINGS HERE AND THERE WHERE LIKE THE WORD PUBLIC WAS IN THERE TWICE, UM, IT SAID PUBLIC PUBLIC. UM, DO YOU WANT THAT VIA EMAIL OR HOW DO YOU, UH, WANT TO RECEIVE JUST PERMISSION? LIKE YEAH, I GUESS, YEAH. ANY, ANY COMMENTS LIKE THAT WOULD BE GREAT IF YOU COULD PUT THEM IN AN EMAIL AND SEND THEM TO AARON, HE'S KIND OF THE GATEKEEPER OF THIS DOCUMENT. UH, SO HE CAN CORRECT THOSE BEFORE WE SEND IT OUT. WELL, WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE YOUR PRESENTATION FOR THE PLANNING COMMISSION BEFORE YOU PRESENT IT OR NO, BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY HAVE A QUICK TURNAROUND HERE. OKAY. NO, CAUSE IT'S DUE TO THEM NEXT WEEK. UH, SO I BE CRAMMING OVER THE WEEKEND TO FINISH IT. DO YOU HAVE A SENSE OF WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO HIGHLIGHT AS FAR AS JUST LIKE THE MAIN TALKING POINT? UM, YEAH, I MEAN, IT'S, IT'S SOMEWHAT SIMILAR TO THESE, TO THE HEADINGS IN THIS DOCUMENT, RIGHT. IT'S GOING TO, THERE'LL BE A SLOT ON, UM, KIND OF THE BACKGROUND OF THE GUIDELINES, A SLIDE ON, YOU KNOW, WHAT THEY ARE, WHO USES THEM, UM, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, WHY AN UPDATE IS NEEDED. UM, SO KIND OF BE THE HEADINGS THAT YOU SEE IN THIS DOCUMENT ARE KIND OF WHAT I'M USING TO BASE THE SLIDES OFF OF. GOSH. SO MY MOTION IS STILL ON THE TABLE. I MEAN, WHAT DO WE DO NOW WITH THE COMMENTS? DO WE POSTPONE THE DELIVERY AND ADDRESS THE COMMENTS OR WHAT, UM, I'M, I'M HOPING THAT WE COULD STILL APPROVE IT. UM, AND WE CAN, YOU KNOW, PICK UP SOME OF THESE COMMENTS BETWEEN NOW AND WHEN WE GO TO PLANNING COMMISSION, OTHERWISE IF WE HAVE TO WAIT ANOTHER MONTH, UM, FOR US TO APPROVE IT, THEN OBVIOUSLY IT'S ANOTHER MONTH FOR PLANNING COMMISSION AND EVERYTHING GETS PUSHED BACK. SO YES. THANK YOU. AND JUST TO CLARIFY, COMMISSIONERS, IT, GIVE YOU A CERTAIN SENSE OF RELIEF. THIS IS AGAIN, JUST PUTTING TOGETHER A PLAN OF ACTION. OBVIOUSLY IT'S NOT THE ACTUAL GUIDELINES. THAT IS A TREMENDOUS [02:15:01] AMOUNT OF WORK THAT WILL COME LATER. IT'S JUST REALLY TRYING TO GET AT TIME YOUR APPROACH TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION AND THE COUNCIL TO GET THIS ON THEIR DOCKET FOR ACTION, BECAUSE ALL OF YOU HAVE PUT IN A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF WORK ON THIS. I BELIEVE IT'S THE INTENT OF THE COMMISSION. IF I'M INTERPRETING CORRECTLY, YOUR ACTION THIS EVENING TO PUSH THIS FORWARD AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE TO GET STARTED. AND THE REASON FOR APPROACHING COUNCIL AGAIN, IS BECAUSE IF YOU, IN THE FUTURE AND TENDING TO REQUEST SPECIFIC FUNDING OF ANY KIND, WHETHER THAT BE TO, FOR THE USE OF CONSULTANTS OR FOR THE USE OF ADDITIONAL RESOURCES, WHATEVER THOSE RESOURCES MAY BE. ONE OF THE FIRST QUESTIONS THAT COUNSEL IS GOING TO ASK IS WHAT DO YOU NEED THE MONEY FOR? AND THIS DOCUMENT SETS THE GROUNDWORK FOR TELLING THAT STORY. THIS IS WHAT WE WANT TO ACCOMPLISH IN HOWEVER MANY MONTHS OR YEARS ACCORDINGLY, AND HOW YOU WANT TO ADJUST THE SCHEDULE. AND IT GIVES YOU A LEG UP TO ADDRESS THOSE TYPICAL QUESTIONS WHEN IT COMES TO ACTUALLY REQUESTING EXPENDITURES BE CONSIDERED FOR THIS INITIATIVE. AND SO, AS YOU RIGHTLY POINTED OUT PREVIOUSLY BY COMMISSIONER ATTENDANT, GUCCI, WE HAVE NOT BEEN IN THIS POSITION PREVIOUSLY WHEN THE COMMISSION TRIED TO TAKE ON THE UPDATE TO THE INFRASTRUCTURE GUIDELINES, OR EVEN THE UPDATE TO THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES BACK IN 2009. SO I THINK THAT THERE'S A DIFFERENT APPROACH THAT WE HOPE WILL BE SUCCESSFUL AND CERTAINLY LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING ALONGSIDE YOU AS A COMMITMENT TO MAKE THIS SUCCESSFUL. SO THANK YOU, JOE. THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT. UM, AND ONE THING I DIDN'T MENTION THAT, UH, COMMISSIONER WALLY TOUCHED ON WAS THAT THE YOU'LL SEE MENTION OF WORKING GROUPS IN THIS DOCUMENT. MY HOPE IS THAT, UH, EVERYONE ON THE, THIS COMMISSION WOULD BE ABLE TO BE ON ONE OF THOSE WORKING GROUPS. WE ANTICIPATE A HANDFUL OF WORKING GROUPS, UH, EACH, EACH WORKING ON DIFFERENT TOPICS. UM, AND SO THE IDEA WOULD BE TO OPEN IT UP TO SO EVERYONE ON THIS COMMISSION CAN PARTICIPATE IN THE PROCESS AS WELL AS, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE FROM OUTSIDE THE COMMISSION THAT STAFFS MEMBERS, UM, AND EVEN STAKEHOLDERS IN THESE WORKING GROUPS. UH, SO JUST FYI. UH, SO WE DO HAVE A MOTION ON THE TABLE. UM, IT, YOU KNOW, WE'VE HAD A LOT OF DISCUSSION. I DON'T KNOW IF, IF EVERYONE IS COMFORTABLE GOING AHEAD AND MOVING FORWARD WITH A VOTE, UM, AND THAT, AND KNOWING THAT WE'LL PICK UP THESE COMMENTS, UM, AS BEST THAT WE CAN MOVING FORWARD, IT SOUNDS LIKE IS, IS TIMING AN ISSUE? AND THAT COUNCIL HAS GIVEN US THE OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE THIS REQUEST OF THEM, OR IS IT JUST A SCHEDULING ISSUE BECAUSE WE'VE TOLD PLANNING COMMISSION, WE WANT TO MAKE A PRESENTATION TO THEM ARE, YOU KNOW, UM, I MEAN, ONE, I, I LIKE, I I'M FULLY SUPPORTIVE OF US ASKING COUNCIL AND TALKING TO PLANNING COMMISSION AND ACTUALLY UPDATING URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES. I'M A HUNDRED PERCENT BEHIND THAT BEING THE FIRST TIME KIND OF SEEING THE DOCUMENT IN THE FIRST TIME TO HAVE A CONVERSATION, YOU KNOW? UM, AND I, AND I DO, I GUESS DISAGREE OR QUESTION SOME THINGS THAT ARE IN THERE, BUT MAYBE IT'S JUST NOT IMPORTANT BECAUSE WE'LL HAVE TIME TO FLUSH THAT OUT. SO I'M KIND OF A LITTLE, I MUST SAY I'M A LITTLE TORN BETWEEN, YOU KNOW, BIG PICTURE AS SUPPORTIVE, BUT I DO DO HAVE SOME CONCERNS IN SHERWOOD. YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT WE COULD BE MORE EFFECTIVE IN OUR ASS POTENTIALLY IF WE DOCTORED THE DOCUMENT, BUT I DON'T WANT TO PUT THINGS OFF FOR MISS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY WE MIGHT HAVE IF THAT'S THE CASE. UM, YEAH, SO THE, THE TIMING IS A BIT OF AN ISSUE. UM, AND THE, UH, ORIGINALLY THEY ACTUALLY WANTED US TO COME TOMORROW AND, UH, WE'RE DECLINING THAT REQUEST AND SAY, WE CAN COME IN IN TWO WEEKS, BUT THAT MEANS, YOU KNOW, THEY NEED THE BACKUP NEXT WEEK FOR THAT. UM, AND THEN, AND THEN EVEN WITH THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GOING TO MISS COUNCIL UNTIL THEY COME BACK FROM THEIR BREAK IN JULY. AND THEN EVEN THEN WE HAVE TO HAVE OUR DUCKS IN A ROW TO GET ON THAT JULY MEETING BECAUSE ESSENTIALLY THEY HAVE ONE MEETING AND THEY GO STRAIGHT INTO BUDGET AND THEN WE PROBABLY WON'T GET THEIR ATTENTION UNTIL WHO KNOWS MONTHS AFTER THAT, WHENEVER THEY FINISH THE BUDGET. SO, UM, SO, SO THE ISSUE WE NEED TO MAKE A REQUEST TO BE IN WHEN THEY GO INTO, UH, THEY FINALIZE THE BUDGET THAT THIS NEEDS TO [02:20:01] BE IN THERE. OTHERWISE WE WAIT ANOTHER YEAR, IS THAT, I GUESS PART OF THIS, NOT THAT WE WAIT A WHOLE NOTHER YEAR, IT'S JUST THAT, UM, THEY, MY, MY SENSE IS THEY WON'T BE THERE, WON'T BE THE APPETITE TO PUT IT ON THEIR AGENDA BECAUSE THEY HAVE OTHER THINGS INCLUDING THE BUDGET TO DEAL WITH. UM, SO, AND, AND THEN IF THAT PUSHES BACK OUR APPROVAL FROM COUNCIL TO, YOU KNOW, AUGUST OR SEPTEMBER, IT'S JUST THAT MUCH, THAT MUCH BEHIND WE ARE BEFORE WE COULD ACTUALLY EVEN START THE WORK. UM, WHICH, WHICH AS WE SAID, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT A YEAR OF WORK OR SO IT ALL KIND OF STACKS UP, RIGHT? SO I REALLY THINK THAT YOU SHOULD GO AHEAD WITH THE PLANNING COMMISSION, WE, AND THEN WE'VE GOT SEVERAL MONTHS TO TIGHTEN THINGS UP AND ADDRESS, UH, UH, COMMISSION WILL ALWAYS CONCERNS AND ALL THE OTHER CONCERNS THAT WERE RAISED, BUT I THINK WE NEED TO MOVE FORWARD, GO ONTO THE PLANNING COMMISSION AND THEN IRON THINGS OUT AND TO BE READY FOR THAT JULY COUNCIL PRESENTATION. I ALSO AGREE I SUPPORT MOVING FORWARD AND WE CAN IRON THINGS OUT BECAUSE YOU GUYS ARE DOING AN EXCELLENT JOB. AND DAVID, AND I'M SORRY, CHAIR IS GOING TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THE WEEKEND. LIKE THIS IS, LET'S GET THIS, LET'S GET THIS THING GOING. YEAH, THAT'S A GREAT POINT. COMMISSIONER LUKINS BETWEEN PLANNING, COMMISSION AND COUNCIL. WE WILL HAVE, YOU KNOW, A MONTH TO, TO WORK ON IT AS WELL AND TO KIND OF TWEAK IT. SO I THINK ANYTHING THAT WE'RE GOING TO SAY PLANNING COMMISSION IS LIKELY GOING TO SAY AS WELL. SO, YOU KNOW, THERE'LL BE ABLE TO PICK UP ANY DEFICIENCY, ANY DEFICIENCIES THAT MAYBE SOME OF US ARE PERCEIVING, BUT I I'M ON BOARD. LET'S DO IT CLARIFY MEDA CLARIFY. YES, PLEASE. THANK YOU. YOU WILL ALSO GET RECOMMENDATIONS FROM PLANNING COMMISSION. KEEP THAT IN MIND THAT WILL HELP TO TELL YOUR STORY THAT YOU CAN ALSO AUGMENT OR ADD TO YOUR DOCUMENT BY LISTING SPECIFIC PLANNING, RECOMMENDATIONS, PLAN COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS THAT HELP YOU TELL THAT STORY. SO THERE IS A MUCH ADDED VALUE BY HAVING YOUR COLLEAGUES ON THE PLANNING COMMISSION, SUPPORT YOUR INITIATIVE. IT GIVES A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF WEIGHT AND PRESTIGE TO THE ASS THAT YOU YOU'RE GOING TO APPROACH COUNCIL WITH. SO FROM A POINT OF VIEW, WE CAN ONLY SPEAK ON BEHALF OF STAFF. I THINK YOU'RE ON THE RIGHT PATH. AND CERTAINLY IF YOU WISH TO TALK ABOUT IT SOME MORE, I WOULD JUST CAUTION THAT. THEN YOU'RE RUNNING INTO THE FALL SCHEDULE, WHICH PICKS UP QUITE QUICKLY IN TRYING TO BEAT THE HOLIDAY SEASON INTO NOVEMBER. SO YOU'RE KIND OF PRETTY CLOSE. SHOULD YOU START TO ENGAGE THE COUNCIL IN AUGUST OR SEPTEMBER? BECAUSE BY THAT TIME, FOLKS ARE THINKING ABOUT WRAPPING UP MANY PROJECTS BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR. SO JUST, JUST AS A WORD OF CAUTION, THAT THERE'S PLENTY TO DISCUSS AND MODIFY AND KEEP IN MIND THAT THIS IS A LIVING DOCUMENT FOR YOU TO BE ABLE TO AUGMENT AND UPDATE AS YOU SEE FIT, AS YOU TELL YOUR STORY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. RIGHT. OKAY. UH, ANY MORE DISCUSSION? OH, GOOD. ONE'S GOOD. OKAY. THEN WE'LL PUT IT TO A VOTE CHARIOT. YOU CAN JUST RECALL WHO MADE THE MOTION AND THE SECOND PLEASE. I MADE THE MOTION. THANK YOU SECOND. THANK YOU. OKAY. UH, WE'LL PUT IT TO A VOTE COMMISSIONER, TANA, GUCCI PARISHIONER. NOW ROBLEDO MR. LUKIN. I FOR SURE. COLEMAN, MR. AND MINERS ALL CAPS. YES. FISHER WALLET. I, AND I AM AN I THAT IS UNANIMOUS. THANK YOU EVERYBODY EXCITING STUFF. OKAY. A FEW ITEMS TO WRAP IT UP HERE. UM, ITEM TWO [2C. Update from representative on the Downtown Commission regarding last meeting.] C FROM REPRESENTATIVE ON THE DOWNTOWN COMMISSION REGARDING LAST MEETING, HEY, I WAS NOT ABLE TO ATTEND THE MEETING, BUT, UM, ON THE AGENDA WAS DISCUSSION ABOUT THE HOMELESS ACTIVITY IN DOWNTOWN. AND THEN THE SECOND ITEM WAS THE WATERLOO GREENWAY. AND IN AUGUST THE WATERLOO PARK AND THE MOODY AMPHITHEATER WILL BE OPENING. UM, AND JUST AS A SIDEBAR, NOT TO DO IT DOWNTOWN COMMISSION, I, I FAILED [02:25:01] TO MENTION THAT I WANT TO GIVE PROPS TO EVERYONE, ALL OF THE VOLUNTEERS AND PROFESSIONALS THAT SPENT THEIR TIME ON FUNCTIONAL BRAIN AND TESTING THAT THAT WAS A REALLY, REALLY BIG DEAL. SO I JUST MISSED SAYING THAT WITH OUR PREVIOUS PRESENTER, THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR THEIR TIME DOING THAT. OKAY. THANK YOU FOR THAT. THERE WERE TWO ITEMS, [2D. Update from representative on the Joint Sustainability committee regarding last meeting.] TWO D UPDATE FROM REPRESENTATIVE ON THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE REGARDING THE LAST MEETING. UH, LAST MEETING, WE HAD, UM, A FEW UPDATES. WE HAD AN UPDATE ON THE NEW ENERGY CODE. UM, DON'T KNOW IF ANYBODY'S BEEN FOLLOWING THAT. UH, ALL THE BUILDING CODES ARE GOING TO COUNCIL NEXT WEEK FOR ADOPTION. WE'LL BE MOVING TO THE 20, 21 CODES. UM, THE ENERGY CODE IS, UM, GOOD THINGS AND BAD THINGS ABOUT THAT CODE, BUT, UH, IT'S PART OF A LARGER DISCUSSION. WE ALSO GOT A UPDATE ON THE GREEN BUILDING POLICY. THE CITY OF AUSTIN IS UPDATING THEIR GREEN BUILDING STANDARDS. UM, UNFORTUNATELY IT'S NOT IN A WAY THAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THEM UPDATED. UM, FOR INSTANCE, THEY'RE ACTUALLY IN, UH, RAISING SOME OF THE THRESHOLDS TO ALLOW SMALLER PROJECTS TO NOT HAVE TO DO GREEN BUILDING. UM, I MEAN, I UNDERSTAND SMALL PROJECTS HAVE BUDGET CONSIDERATIONS, BUT IT DOESN'T SEEM TO REALLY ALIGN WITH POLICIES THAT WE'VE PASSED. UM, AND IF THE CITY IS SUPPOSED TO BE A MODEL OF WHAT PRIVATE SHOULD BE DOING, I'M NOT SURE THAT REALLY ALIGNS. SO I WAS KIND OF DISAPPOINTED IN THAT. AND THEN WE GOT AN UPDATE, UH, ON THE EMISSIONS REDUCTION PLAN. SO, UM, INTERESTING STUFF, IF, IF ANYBODY'S INTERESTED IN, ON ANY OF THAT, I CAN FORWARD YOU INFORMATION, BUT THAT'S, THAT WAS MOST OF THE MEETING. UM, ITEM TWO E UPDATE AND REPRESENTATIVE ON THE SOUTH CENTRAL WATERFRONT ADVISORY BOARD. UM, COMMISSIONER FRANCO IS NOT HERE TODAY. SO NOTHING ON THAT ONE. SO GO INTO ANNOUNCEMENTS, ITEM THREE H CHAIR ANNOUNCEMENTS. [3A. Chair Announcements;] MY ONLY ANNOUNCEMENT IS THAT, UM, WHICH YOU MIGHT'VE HEARD AT THE VERY BEGINNING OF THIS MEETING, WE DO HAVE A NEW COMMISSIONER, UM, THAT IS REPLACING COMMISSIONER FRAIL. HOWEVER, THEY ARE NOT ABLE TO, UH, PARTICIPATE TODAY BECAUSE THEY HAVEN'T FINISHED THEIR ACQUIRED CITY TRAINING. UM, SO HOPEFULLY BY NEXT MONTH THEY WILL BE ABLE TO JOIN US, BUT I'M GLAD THAT WE GOT SOMEONE APPOINTED VERY QUICKLY AND WE DIDN'T HAVE TO WAIT SIX MONTHS OR A YEAR FOR THAT TO HAPPEN. SO THAT'S EXCITING. AND ITEM [3B. Items from Commission Members;] THREE B UH, ITEMS FROM COMMISSION MEMBERS. DID ANYONE HAVE ANYTHING TO SHARE TONIGHT? WELL, I'LL SPEAK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE, UH, THE DENSITY BONUS THAT WAS JUST VOTED ON LAST THURSDAY NIGHT. UH, I THINK IT WILL BE ANONYMOUSLY AND, UH, OF COURSE THAT PUTS OFFICE, UH, I THINK IT'S THE SAME RATE AS THE OTHER RESIDENTIAL TOWERS AND, AND OF COURSE HOTEL, AND I'LL BE FEEDING INTO THAT AS WELL. SO I THINK MAYBE GETTING AN UPDATE FROM STAFF ON HOW THAT THOSE FUNDS ARE BEING UTILIZED THE FUTURE, BECAUSE AS WE'VE MONITORED OURSELVES WITH THE FUNDS NOT BEING COLLECTED UNTIL SEE, OH, WE HAVEN'T REALLY GOTTEN A RECENT AUDIT ON HOW THE AFFORDABILITY PORTION OF THAT IS BEING DISTRIBUTED, ESPECIALLY AS THE FOCUS MORE AND MORE ON THE FACT THAT WE HAVE A STATE MANDATE AND A CITY MANDATE TO TACKLE THIS HOMELESSNESS ISSUE EFFECTIVELY. AND, UM, I THINK IT'S A REAL GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO SAY, OKAY, IF THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY IS GOING TO START PAYING IN SUBSTANTIALLY MORE, THERE SHOULD BE AN ELEMENT. I THINK OF EXPECTATIONS THAT THE CITY WOULD UTILIZE THAT TO HELP HOMELESS, HELP HOUSE OUR HOMELESS NEIGHBORS. AND IT REALLY GETS SERIOUS ABOUT THAT. IT ALARMS ME THAT I BELIEVE I HAVE CURRENT INFORMATION, THAT THERE IS STILL NO REAL PLAN IN PLACE STEP BY STEP THERE'S PLANS ON THE TABLE, BUT THERE'S BEEN NO PLAN ADOPTED TO TAKE ANY KIND OF TEMPORARY INTERMEDIATE LONG-TERM ACTION THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY PARTICIPATE IN AND EVEN TELL OUR NEIGHBORS. [02:30:01] SO I THINK THAT'S A BIG ASK, BUT I THINK THIS DENSITY BONUS AND THE HOUSING CRISIS FOR OUR HOMELESS NEIGHBORS COULD POSSIBLY BE SOMETHING WE WANT TO DISCUSS. UM, BECAUSE AS WE MENTIONED EARLIER, COMMISSIONERS, THE COST OF DOING BUSINESS DOWNTOWN WITH THAT JUST A BONUS FUNCTIONAL GREEN AND THE NEW STRAIGHT IMPACT. THESE OTHER FEES ARE GOING UP IS NOT INCREASING BY THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS. IT'S MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. SO THESE SAME DEVELOPERS ARE BEING ASKED TO DO THE RIGHT THING. THEY'RE BEING ASKED TO BE GOOD STEWARDS OF THE COMMUNITY BY GETTING PHILANTHROPIC PHILANTHROPIC WITH THEIR, WITH THEIR REVENUES. AND THEY'RE ALSO BEING ASKED TO PAY INTO THE DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM. SO I WONDER IF WE'RE GOING TO THE WELL TOO MUCH WITH THE SAME BASE. SO AGAIN, IF THEY'RE GOING TO PAY, I THINK SHOWING THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY FOR BUILDING HOUSING FOR OUR CITIZENS, THAT WE CAN UTILIZE THAT MONEY IN A TANGIBLE RESULT TO HELP WITH THE HOMELESSNESS ISSUE. I THINK IT WOULD BE SOMETHING WE SHOULD TALK ABOUT BECAUSE THAT DEFINITELY AFFECTS OUR DOWNTOWN PROPERTIES. YES. THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THAT UP PERMISSION TO COMMENT. SO WE HAVE REQUESTED THAT BRIEFING FROM CITY STAFF. UM, WE WERE TOLD THEY WERE NOT PREPARED TO BE ABLE TO DO IT THIS MONTH, BUT THEY WILL COME AT OUR JUNE MEETING TO BRIEF US ON THE STATUS OF THE FEE CALIBRATION. UH, AS YOU MENTIONED, WHAT CITY COUNCIL PASSED LAST WEEK ARE INTERIM FEES AND STAFF IS ACTUALLY WORKING ON MORE PERMANENT FEES THAT ARE DUE TO GO TO COUNCIL BY AUGUST. UM, SO WE'RE GOING TO GET A BRIEFING ON THAT. AND TO YOUR OTHER POINT, I, I THINK, UM, IT WOULD BE GOOD TO SEE OUR MEMBER. I KNOW IN THE PAST THERE WAS A SPREADSHEET THAT WE WOULD SEE OF ALL THE PROJECTS IN THE DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM AND THE FEES THEY'RE PAID. UM, SO AARON, IF WE COULD GET AN UPDATE ON THAT AS WELL, NEXT MONTH, THAT WOULD BE GREAT. UM, AND THEN ALSO NEXT MONTH, AS PART OF THAT CONVERSATION, WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A ACTION ITEM, UM, RELATED TO A DISCUSSION THAT MYSELF AND COMMISSIONER WATLEY AND VICE-CHAIR ROLISON HAD WITH COUNCIL MEMBER TOVA HIS OFFICE. THEY HAVE ASKED US FOR RECOMMENDATIONS, UM, NOT ON THE FEES THEMSELVES, BUT WHEN PROJECTS, UH, HIT THE 24 TO ONE FR CAP, UM, YOU KNOW, TODAY THOSE PROJECTS, AS WE HAVE SEEN ARE JUST SIMPLY APPLYING THE SAME FORMULA THAT THEY DO UNDER THE CAP TO GO OVER THE CAP. AND SO THEN IT'S LIKE, WELL, WHY DO WE EVEN HAVE A CAP? YOU KNOW? SO, UM, THEY'VE ASKED US FOR RECOMMENDATIONS ON, ON RELATED TO THAT. UM, AND ANY COMMUNITY BENEFITS OR WHATEVER WE FEEL IS APPROPRIATE FOR PROJECTS THAT ARE, THAT ARE GOING THAT HIGH. UM, SO THAT'LL BE PART OF THAT LARGER DISCUSSION. MR. WALLY, DID YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SHARE JUST AS FAR AS GETTING A BRIEFING ON THIS, LIKE ONE MORE REQUEST, WHICH IS KIND OF IN LINE WITH WHAT YOU'VE SAID AND COMMISSIONER COLEMAN HAS SAID, UH, BUT A LITTLE BIT MORE SPECIFICALLY, I THINK TO NOT ONLY SEE WHAT KIND OF MONEY HAS BEEN GENERATED THROUGH THE DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM, BUT KINDA HOW THAT MONEY'S BEEN USED AND MAYBE HOW THAT COMPARES TO A UNO, UM, UNIVERSITY NEIGHBORHOOD OVERLAY, WHICH I THINK, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF PEOPLE FEEL LIKE THAT'S BEEN A VERY PRODUCTIVE PROGRAM AS FAR AS, YOU KNOW, BENEFITS TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING. UM, AND, UH, I'D LIKE TO SEE, YOU KNOW, DOWNTOWN, YOU KNOW, WHERE THAT MONEY, IS IT MOSTLY HOUSING VOUCHERS OR IS THERE A TANGIBLE, AFFORDABLE HOUSING, BUT I THINK TO COMMISSIONER COLEMAN'S POINT, YOU KNOW, UM, UH, WELL, ONE I'M A BIG BELIEVER IN THE STAY BONUS PROGRAM. I DON'T THINK IT CAN DO A WHOLE BUNCH BY ITSELF. IT'S JUST ONE PIECE OF THE PUZZLE INSTEAD OF IMPORTANT PIECE. BUT I DO AGREE WITH COMMISSIONER COLEMAN THAT WE NEED TO KIND OF SEE WHERE OUR DOLLARS GO, THESE INCREASED COSTS IN CONSTRUCTION AND HOW IT BENEFITS THE COMMUNITY. AND I'M SURE, I'M SURE THAT DIDN'T SAY BONUS PROGRAM DOES, BUT I'D LIKE, YOU KNOW, TO, FOR US TO BE REALLY EXPLICIT ABOUT HOW THAT WORKS. SO AS WE LOOK ALL THESE COMPETING INTERESTS AND ALL THESE THINGS THAT ARE ADDING ADDITIONAL FEES AND COSTS TO PROJECTS, YOU KNOW, THAT HOPEFULLY, UH, DEVELOPERS AND THE PUBLIC AND POLITICIANS AND STAFF, WE CAN ALL UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, WHICH, WHICH ONE OF THESE ELEMENTS ARE HAVING REALLY DIRECT POSITIVE [02:35:01] EFFECT. AND MAYBE WHICH ONES, YOU KNOW, ARE NOT LEADING TO POSITIVE EFFECT AND JUST CAUSING MORE REFUTE TIME OR, YOU KNOW, MORE CONFUSION. SO ANYWAY, JUST WHERE THOSE, HOW, HOW HAVE WE HAVE WE POSITIVELY INFLUENCE AFFORDABILITY AND, UH, AUSTIN, TEXAS THROUGH THE DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM DOWNTOWN. RIGHT. OKAY. UH, AARON, I'LL FOLLOW UP WITH YOU TOMORROW ABOUT ALL OF THAT. ARE THERE ANY OTHER ITEMS FROM COMMISSIONERS? CAN I ASK YOU A QUESTION REALLY QUICK? UM, JUST GIVEN THE FACT THAT WE ALWAYS TALK ABOUT HOW COTON X'S IN LIMBO, IS THERE ANY STATUS UPDATE ON THAT? I MEAN, I THINK WE'RE IN THE MIDST OF A LAWSUIT. I KNOW WE DON'T REALLY TALK ABOUT IT. SO, UM, I JUST FEEL LIKE THE TOPIC TODAY, YOU KNOW, WE REFERENCED THIS AMBIGUOUS CITY CODE THAT MAY NEVER HAPPEN. SO I'M JUST WONDERING WHAT STATUS UPDATES WE COULD GET TURN FROM ME. UH, SURE. GO AHEAD. THE CODE IS STILL IN LITIGATION COMMISSIONER. THAT'S ALL THE INFORMATION WE HAVE. OKAY. I GUESS MY THOUGHT AND CONCERN IS THAT WE MAKE, UM, SOME OF OUR DECISIONS AND COMMENTS CONNECTED TO THE FACT THAT THAT MAY BE RESOLVED. AND IF IT'S NOT RESOLVED, I MEAN, I DON'T KNOW, THERE'S, THERE'S, UM, SOME CONCERN ON MY END OF, YOU KNOW, TYING UP TOO MUCH OF OUR OPINIONS TO THAT. SO JUST WANTING TO MAKE THAT COMMENT. THANK YOU. YES. THAT'S, THAT'S A GOOD COMMENT. I MEAN, I, I HAD, I REMEMBER HAVING A CONVERSATION WITH A PLANNING COMMISSIONER ABOUT SIDEWALK C AND LOU AND HOW IT, THAT NEEDS TO BE READDRESSED AND THEIR RESPONSE WAS, OH, YOU KNOW, THE CODE'S GOING TO TAKE CARE OF THAT. DON'T YOU DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT. UH, THAT WAS IN 2015 THAT'S SIX YEARS AGO. WE, WE STILL HAVE THE SAME FEES IN THE, AND WE DON'T HAVE A CODE. SO, YOU KNOW, W YOU KNOW, WE, WE CAN'T, WE ANTICIPATE THAT IT'S GOING TO BE APPROVED, UH, BASICALLY, UM, FOR SOMETHING LIKE WHAT WE'RE DOING, THAT'S NOT CODE. UM, I THINK I AM OFFERED IT AND MOVING FORWARD. SO, UM, BUT YEAH, IT REMAINS TO BE SEEN ON WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN WITH THAT LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, ANY OTHER ITEMS? OKAY. WE'LL GO TO THREE C [3C. Items from City Staff;] ITEMS FROM CITY STAFF. UH, THIS IS AARON JENKINS. AND THE ONLY THING I HAVE IS, UM, IF THOSE, I KNOW COMMISSIONER MINERS, HE HAD MENTIONED THAT HE HAD SOME COMMENTS OR CORRECTIONS FOR THE DRAFT DOCUMENT. IF YOU CAN SEND ME ANY, UH, COMMENTS BEFORE THE END OF THIS WEEK, SO THAT I CAN INCORPORATE THAT AND HAVE THAT SENT BACK TO THE CHAIR AND, UM, EVENTUALLY THE GENERAL BODY FOR REVIEW, THAT WOULD BE GREAT. AND SAME, I MEAN, I WROTE DOWN A LOT OF COMMISSIONER, WALLY, YOUR COMMENTS, BUT IF YOU WANT TO TYPE SOMETHING UP AND SEND IT, THAT'D BE GREAT TO MAKE SURE WE DON'T MISS ANYTHING. OKAY. I'LL SEND SOME NOTES. THANKS. THANK YOU. IS THAT ALL YOU HAD AARON? YES. THAT'S ALL OF MY, THANK YOU. OKAY. WELL THEN IT IS EIGHT, 13:00 PM, AND WE ARE ADJOURNED. THANK YOU EVERYBODY. APPRECIATE YOUR TIME. THANK YOU. I APPRECIATE YOUR TIME. HAVE A GOOD EVENING. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.