[Call to Order]
[00:00:04]
IS 6:00 PM TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21ST, 2023.
I'D LIKE TO CALL THIS MEETING OF THE ZONING AND PLANNING COMMISSION TO ORDER.
THE FIRST THING I'M GOING TO DO IS CALL ROLL CALL COMMISSIONER ACOSTA.
AND WE HAVE A NEW COMMISSIONER, COMMISSIONER FOUTS.
AND I'M GONNA GIVE YOU A QUICK OPPORTUNITY TO INTRODUCE YOURSELF.
THIS IS MY FIRST MEETING HERE.
I'M REALLY EXCITED TO BE HERE AND SERVING THIS CITY, UH, HELPING DEALING WITH ALL OUR CHALLENGES AND LAND USE AND HOUSING AND ALL OF THAT.
SOMETHING I'VE BEEN PASSIONATE ABOUT, UH, SINCE I MOVED TO AUSTIN A FEW YEARS AGO.
AND, UH, YEAH, EXCITED TO HEAR EVERYONE'S THOUGHTS AND, UH, TRY TO SERVE THE CITY WITH, UH, THE SPINE GROUP OF PEOPLE.
UH, COMMISSIONER GREENBERG? HERE.
OH, IS THERE ANY PUBLIC COMMUNICATION? FIRST, WE'LL TAKE A LOOK AT THE MINUTES.
[1. Approval of minutes from January 17, 2023]
ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS ON THE MINUTES? GO AHEAD.I'LL LET MR. COMMISSIONER KING GO FIRST.
I DIDN'T SEE, I CAN'T SEE THE DYES THERE.
UM, I WAS GONNA SUGGEST WE POSTPONE IT BECAUSE UNDER SUB SOME OF THE SUBDIVISION CASES IN THE BACK, THERE WASN'T AN INDICATION OF WHAT OUR RECOMMENDATION WAS, SO, OKAY.
I THOUGHT IF WE POSTPONED IT, THAT WOULD GIVE ANDREW A CHANCE TO REFLECT WHAT HAPPENED.
DOES THAT CHAIR COMMISSION, MAY I SUGGEST, UH, TABLING AND THEN I CAN, UH, EMAIL IT TO THE GROUP, UH, LATER? THAT WORK DURING THE MEETING? YES.
SO WE'LL TABLE THE MINUTES AND THEN HE'LL EMAIL THEM OUT AND LET THE RECORD SHOW THAT COMMISSIONER ACOSTA HAS JOINED US.
[Consent Agenda]
ON TO READING THE CONSENT AGENDA.UH, ITEM NUMBER TWO C 14 20 22 1 42 BERG'S PROPERTY DISTRICT SIX WILL BE, UH, UP FOR DISCUSSION.
ITEM THREE ARE REZONING C 14 20 22, 110 76 0 5.
ALBERT ROAD, UH, IS STAFFED, IS REQUESTING POSTPONEMENT UNTIL MARCH 21ST.
ITEM FOUR A, REZONING C 14 20 22, 1 73, STILL HOUSE TWO, BUILDING FOUR IS ON THE CONSENT AGENDA.
ITEM FIVE, RE REZONING C 14 20 22, 1 67 PALMER FIELD HAS BEEN PULLED FOR DISCUSSION.
ITEM SIX, UH, PRELIMINARY PLAN C 8 20 22 0 3 3.
PRELIMINARY PLAN IS DISAPPROVED FOR REASONS AS SHOWN IN EXHIBIT C.
SO WE WILL BE DISCUSSING ITEMS TWO AND FIVE.
WAS ITEM THREE POSTPONED TO MARCH 7TH OR MARCH 21ST? I BELIEVE IT'S THE MOORE CHAIR COMMISSION, LADIES ON ANDOVER.
SO THAT'S BEEN UPDATED TO REFLECT IN POSTPONING TO MARCH 21ST.
SO IF THERE'S NO DISCUSSION, I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING AND APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA AS READ, WHICH INCLUDES DISCUSSION OF ITEMS TWO AND FOUR, POSTPONEMENT OF ITEM THREE, AND DENIAL, I MEAN, SORRY, TWO AND 5, 1, 2, AND FIVE.
SO THAT'S SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER DINKLER.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF THE CONSENT AGENDA AND CLOSING THE PUBLIC HEARING.
SO WE'LL GO AHEAD AND MOVE ON TO ITEM THOMPSON'S HERE ALSO.
OH, COMMISSIONER THOMPSON HAS ALSO JOINED US.
UM, SO WE'LL MOVE ON TO CHAIR.
I JUST WANTED TO SEE IF, UH, THE, THE VOTE HAVE REFLECTED COMMISSIONER THOMPSON OR NOT THAT LAST VOTE.
UH, THANK YOU COMMISSIONER KING.
I'VE ABSTAINED SINCE I MISSED THE BEGINNING OF IT.
[2. Rezoning: C14-2022-0142 - Birgani's Property; District 6]
TO ITEM NUMBER TWO, MR. SHIS, THE DEPARTMENT.THIS IS CASE C 14 20 22, 1 42 BERG'S PROPERTY.
THE ADDRESS IS LOCATED AT 12,604 BLACKFOOT TRAIL.
THE REQUEST IS FROM SF ONE ZONING TO GR M U ZONING, AND THE STAFF RECOMMENDS L R OR L O, I'M SORRY, L O M U, LIMITED OFFICE MIXED USE COMBINING DISTRICT ZONING FOR THIS PROPERTY.
SO THE PROPERTY IN QUESTION IS A, WAS FULLY ANNEXED BY THE CITY ON DECEMBER 31ST, 1997, AND IS CURRENTLY DEVELOPED WITH A SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCE THAT IS ZONED SF ONE TO THE NORTH.
THERE'S A SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD WITH SF ONE ZONING.
THE ATTRACTIVE LAND TO THE SOUTH IS ZONED G R M U C O AND IS DEVELOPED WITH A RESIDENCE AND A RETAIL SALES USE USE
[00:05:01]
TO THE EAST ACROSS BLACKFOOT TRAIL.THERE ARE ADDITIONAL SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCES ZONED SF ONE.
THE LOT TO THE WEST, HAS RR ZONING AND IS DEVELOPED WITH A DAYCARE FACILITY THAT FRONTS ONTO MCNEIL DRIVE.
IN THIS APPLICATION, THE PROPERTY OWNER IS REQUESTING A RE ZONING OF THIS RESIDENTIAL LOT, UM, FROM SF ONE TO M U TO DEVELOP UNDETERMINED USES ON THE SITE.
ACCORDING TO THE DEED, MR. BMI PURCHASED THIS PROPERTY IN 2014.
IN 1985, AN AMENDMENT OF THE CONDITIONS OF THE DEED WAS PROCESSED TO REMOVE A RESTRICTION THAT STATED THAT SAID, LAND SHALL BE USED FOR RESIDENTIAL PURPOSES ONLY, AND NO COMMERCIAL USE SHALL BE MADE THEREOF.
THEREFORE, THE STAFF RECOMMENDS L O M U LIMITED OFFICE MIXED USE COMBINING DISTRICT ZONING FOR THIS PROPERTY.
THIS SITE UNDER CONSIDERATION, MEETS THE PURPOSE STATEMENT OF THE L O M U DISTRICT.
THE PROPOSED OFFICE MIXED USE ZONING WILL PROVIDE A TRANSITION IN THE INTENSITY OF PERMITTED USES ON THE SITE FROM THE G M U ZONING AT THE INTERSECTION OF MCNEIL DRIVE AND BLACKFOOT TRAIL TO THE SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL USES IN SF ONE ZONING TO THE NORTH AND EAST.
THE REQUESTED G M U ZONING IS A COMMERCIAL MIXED USE CATEGORY THAT PERMITS MORE INTENSIVE USES THAT ARE NOT COMPATIBLE WITH RESIDENTIAL SETTINGS OR ALONG A RESIDENTIAL STREET SUCH AS BLACKFOOT TRAIL.
THE LOT UNDER CONSIDERATION DOES NOT MEET THE INTENT OF THE GR DISTRICT AS IT IS LOCATED MID-BLOCK AND TAKES ACCESS TO A LEVEL ONE NEIGHBORHOOD COLLECTOR INSTEAD OF A MAJOR TRAFFIC WAY.
LIMITED OFFICE TWO SUNNYS COMPATIBLE WITH THE RESIDENTIAL USES TO THE NORTH AND EAST OF THE SITE.
L LOM U ZONING WILL PERMIT THE MIXTURE OF LOW INTENSITY OFFICE, COMMERCIAL AND CIVIC USES AND RESIDENTIAL USES THAT PROVIDE SERVICES FOR THE RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENTS TO THE NORTH AND EAST OF THE PROPERTY UNDER CONSIDERATION.
AND I'M HERE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE.
THANK YOU, BECAUSE NOW WE'LL HEAR FROM, UH, APPLICANT.
GOOD EVENING, MADAM CHAIR, HONORABLE MEMBERS OF THIS COMMISSION.
MY NAME IS FRANK F. FUENTES, AND I'M A VERY GOOD FRIEND OF THE OWN, UH, PROPERTY OWNER.
HE HAS A HARD TIME HEARING, SO HE'S ASKED ME TO COME AND HELP HIM PRESENT.
SO I AM HERE, UH, AS THE PRESENTER THAT SAID, UM, I DON'T WANT TO REITERATE ALL THE CHERRY SAID OTHER THAN IF WE COULD MOVE THE, UH, UH, VIGIL TO SHEET NUMBER THREE.
PLEASE, IF YOU CAN GO TO SHEET THREE, PLEASE, OR EXHIBIT THREE, KEEP GOING, PLEASE WRITE ONE RIGHT THERE.
THEY SAY, UH, IF A PICTURE, A PICTURE CAN PAINT A THOUSAND WORDS, A MILLION WORDS, THIS PICTURE CERTAINLY DOES LOT.
ONE IS THE PROPERTY IN QUESTION LOT FOUR, LOT THREE AND LOT TWO.
THAT'S THE SUBDIVISION THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
ALL THAT YOU SEE IN WHITE IS COMMERCIAL USE.
ALL THAT YOU SEE IN BLUE IS RESIDENTIAL.
UH, WHEN I SAW THIS CASE, I REALLY FELT THAT THIS IS NOT AN UNREASONABLE REQUEST IN THE SENSE THAT ALL HE WANTS TO DO IS BE CONSISTENT WITH WHAT THE SUBDIVISION THAT HE IS LIVING IN IS.
IT'S ONLY FOUR LOTS IN THAT SUBDIVISION.
THE SUBDIVISION TO THE, TO THE, I GUESS TO THE NORTH OF, OF LOT ONE.
I'M NOT SURE HOW THE, UM, ACCESS IS THERE, BUT ALL THE ONES THAT ARE IN BLUE THAT IS RESIDENTIAL, THE TWO RESIDENTIAL LOTS TO, UM, TO THE RIGHT OF LOT ONE AND LOT TWO, THEY ARE IN CONCURRENCE WITH HIS REQUEST.
IF WE CAN MOVE FORWARD TO THE OTHER PAGE, AND THAT JUST KIND OF TELLS YOU A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY, UM, OF WHAT THIS PROPERTY HAS BEEN THROUGH THIS PROPERTY.
WHEN HE PURCHASED IT WAS NOT, UH, IN THE CITY.
IT WAS ANNEXED BY THE CITY, AND SO HE KINDA INHERITED THE CITY RULES, IF YOU WILL.
IF WE MOVE ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
WHAT YOU SEE IN HIGHLIGHT YELLOW, WHEN HE PURCHASED THE PROPERTY PROPERTY LATER ON IN 19, UH, 97, THAT LANGUAGE WAS ADDED AND THE LANGUAGE BASICALLY READS THEREFORE, AND IN CONSIDERATION OF THE SUM OF, AND, AND TALKS ABOUT THE DOLLARS.
BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, IT SAYS, UM, AT THE VERY BOTTOM, IT SAYS, AGREE THAT THE RESTRICTIONS IMPOSE UPON THE PROPERTY ARE HEREBY AMENDED AND MODIFIED TO PROVIDE THAT THE PROPERTY IS NO LONGER RESTRICTED TO USED FOR RESIDENTIAL PURPOSES ONLY, AND MAY BE USED FOR ANY LAWFUL PURPOSES.
OBVIOUSLY, WHEN THE CITY AND UH, PIECE OF LAND, YOU HAVE TO GET IT ENTITLED.
THAT'S WHY YOUR COMMISSION EXISTS, AND THAT'S WHY WE ARE HERE.
IF WE CAN MOVE ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
UH, THAT'S NOT THE SLIDE I'M LOOKING AT.
YOU'VE GOT THE WRONG PACKAGE FOR ME.
OH, WELL, I AM LOOKING FOR THE SLIDE THAT SHOWS THE STREETS.
SO YOU SEE SANE BOULEVARD, YOU SEE LOS TRAIL,
[00:10:01]
YOU SEE BLACKFOOT TRAIL, DAKOTA LANE, CORPUS CHRISTI DRIVE, AND PALMER LANE.THOSE ARE ALL STREETS THAT ARE SIMILAR IN NATURE, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, ADJACENT TO BLACKFOOT TRAIL, WHICH IS WHERE HIS PROPERTY IS.
YOU SEE THE RED AND YOU SEE BLACKFOOT TRAIL, AND YOU SEE THE FOUR LOTS.
YOU SEE THE PROPERTY, WHICH SAYS PROPERTY.
YOU SEE THE STREET WHERE YOU SAY STORAGE, CARWASH, CSCO.
AS YOU CAN SEE, THOSE ARE EVEN MORE INTENSE AND THEY REALLY CUT INTO THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
SO AGAIN, OUR REQUEST THAT I JUST CAN'T SEE THAT IT IS UNREASONABLE.
YOU SEE THE MEDICAL OFFICE, UH, AND YOU CAN KEEP GOING ON TO THE OTHER STREETS, AND YOU'RE GONNA SEE, WELL, HERE IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE, THAT'S THE STREET NEXT TO BLACKFOOT TRAIL.
UH, YOU SEE THAT THERE'S EVEN ACCESS TO THE STORAGE FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD, UH, UH, THE THE ADJACENT NEIGHBORHOOD.
AND YOU CAN CONTINUE TO SEE THE COMMERCIAL, UH, PROPERTIES THAT ARE ADJACENT TO ALL THE STREETS.
I DON'T WANT TO, I, I JUST THINK, DON'T THINK THAT THERE'S A LOT TO SAY OTHER THAN IT'S NOT AN UNREASONABLE REQUEST.
UH, I'D LIKE TO HEAR IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.
I'D LIKE TO CONCLUDE JUST SIMPLY BY SAYING, I HOPE THAT YOU GIVE US THE BLESSING THAT WE NEED IN TERMS OF THE REQUEST THAT WE'RE ASKING, WHICH IS, UH, GR UM, EXCUSE M U GR M U.
AND BY THE WAY, THE PROPERTY IS SO INCREDIBLY SMALL.
IT'S 150 FEET BY, BY, UH, BY A HUNDRED FOOT.
PLUS, WITH ALL THE RESTRICTIONS THAT IT HAS ALREADY, YOU CAN ONLY REALLY DEVELOP ABOUT 55% OF IMPERVIOUS COVERAGE.
I DO HAVE MS. VANK REGISTERED, BUT I CURRENTLY DON'T HAVE HER ON THE LINE.
UM, IF I CAN HAVE, UH, MR. UH, BOB KING, UM, PROVIDE YOUR REMARKS.
I, I THINK I'M ON THE THREE MINUTE LIMIT BECAUSE FRANCINE'S NOT AVAILABLE YET.
TECHNOLOGY, UM, MY NAME'S BOB KING.
I LIVE ON, UH, ONE OF THOSE HOUSES OR LOTS THAT'S IN BLUE ON THE PRESENTATION.
UM, THERE'S, UM, CERTAINLY THERE, THERE'S NO QUESTION ABOUT ZONING ALONG MCNEIL.
IT'S IN A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT WAYS.
CAME IN IN A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT WAYS.
THERE'S A LOT OF HISTORY THAT IS KIND OF, UM, GLOSSED OVER.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE PRESENTATION THEY MADE WHERE ACCESS FROM THE STORAGE BUILDINGS, THE MINI WAREHOUSE, WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT, THAT IS A GATED AREA.
UH, I MIGHT HAVE SEEN IT USED DURING CHRISTMAS WHEN A COUPLE OF UPS GUYS WERE THERE.
DIDN'T KNOW WHY OR HOW, BUT IT'S, IT'S MORE LIKE A FIRE GATE AND ACCESS FOR THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
AND, UM, SO, UM, IN LOOKING AT THE SURROUNDING AREA, I WOULD ASK YOU TO, IT'S REALLY HARD TO GO FROM THE VISUAL OF AN OVERHEAD TO WHAT THE STREET LOOKS LIKE.
AND I'M HOPING THAT FRANCINE'S, UM, POWERPOINT PRESENTATION WILL BE AVAILABLE TO SHOW YOU THAT THIS IS A HOUSE.
HE, MR. PAGANI BOUGHT IT AS A HOUSE.
HE BOUGHT IT FOR HIS DAUGHTER.
HE'S OFFERED IT AS A BUFFER TO THE PROPERTY.
HE WAS WANTING TO CHANGE THE ZONING ELEMENT.
UM, AND, UM, SO WE AS A NEIGHBORHOOD HAVE ALWAYS WANTED IT TO STAY THE WAY IT IS.
HE'S BEEN AWARE OF THAT, UH, SINCE, UM, I DON'T KNOW, CERTAINLY BEFORE 2017 AND DURING VARIOUS MEETINGS, WE'VE HAD CONCERNS.
UM, THE, UM, THERE'S A COMMENT IN HERE ABOUT COMPATIBILITY.
[00:15:02]
I'M NOT SURE THAT HOW WELL THAT WOULD PROTECT US, BECAUSE THERE'S A QUESTION WHETHER COMPATIBILITY WILL BE RELEVANT IN THE SHORT ORDER THAT IT MAY BE DONE AWAY WITH.WE, MY SISTER OWNS ONE OF THE LOTS HOUSES REALLY NEXT TO, UM, MR. BAG'S PROPERTY.
AND, UM, ALL OF OUR CONCERN GETS INTO THE SCALE OF A PROPERTY THAT COULD BE BUILT THERE, UM, THE SIZE, UM, OR MASS THAT COULD OCCUR.
AND IT SEEMS LIKE THAT THE INTENT, UH, WOULD ULTIMATELY BE TO JOIN THE TWO TRACKS TOGETHER, AND THAT WOULD CHANGE THE DYNAMICS OF WHAT'S CALLED A SMALL LOT INTO SOMETHING SIGNIFICANTLY D DIFFERENT.
SO WHEN YOU'RE CONSIDERING THIS, WE, WE AS A, UH, NEIGHBORHOOD WOULD MUCH PREFER, UM, SF ONE.
SO, UM, I STILL DON'T HAVE, I STILL DON'T HAVE MS. VAN GRIFF ON THE TELECONFERENCE.
IF I COULD HAVE, UH, SCOTT, UH, PROVIDE THE REMARK.
UH, SCOTT, YOU'LL HAVE THREE MINUTES.
F E H R I AM, UH, A, AN ADJACENT, UH, NEIGHBOR TO THE PROPERTY THAT'S UP.
UH, GOT THE, THE REZONING REQUEST.
MY BACKYARD FENCE LINE IS THE SIDE FENCE LINE, UH, BARTER TO THE PROPERTY IN QUESTION.
SO I LOOK OVER MY BACK FENCE AND THAT LOOKS STRAIGHT INTO THE SIDE OF, UH, THE HOUSE THAT, UH, 12 WHATEVER, OH, FORK AND THE BACKYARD.
UM, I'VE LIVED THERE FOR 30 YEARS, UH, RAISED MY TWO SONS THERE AND ENJOYED BEING SURROUNDED BY A VERY STRONG SINGLE FAMILY NEIGHBORHOOD ON ALL SIDES.
UH, WELL KEPT, UH, IT'S THE ONLY HOME MY SONS HAVE EVER KNOWN, AND THEY'LL INHERIT THE, THE PROPERTY.
WHEN I GO, UH, AS I SAID, MY BACKYARD, EXCUSE ME, I'M READING OFF NOTES.
SO KEEP MY LINE OF, UH, REASONING STRAIGHT BACKYARD SHARES A 91 FOOT PROPERTY BOUNDARY WITH, UM, UH, THE PROPERTY IN QUESTION.
AND I HAVE A NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR TO THE SIDE THAT HAS JUST BEEN MENTIONED THAT ALSO SHARES A CONSIDERABLE PART OF HER, UH, BACKYARD FENCE WITH THE PROPERTY IN QUESTION.
SO BOTH OF US LOOK OVER THE BACK BACKYARD FENCE ONTO THIS PROPERTY.
UM, UP UNTIL RECENTLY, THERE WAS A HEAVY, UH, THAT THE PROPERTY WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IS HEAVILY WOODED OR WAS HEAVILY WOODED, UM, WITH MATURE OAK TREES.
NICE HEAVY SHADE COVER OAK TREES.
UP UNTIL RECENTLY, I WOULD LOOK OVER MY BACKYARD FENCE AND THERE WOULD BE THIS BEAUTIFUL CANOPY OF OAK MATERIAL, OAK TREES, WHICH WOULD BUFFER ME FROM LOOKING ON FURTHER, WHICH IS WOULD BE MCNEIL ROAD.
[00:20:02]
ME AND MCNEIL ROAD, HIS THREE LOTS THAT HE OWNS.IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT YOU WOULD CHOOSE TO, TO BE EXPOSED TO ALL THE TIME'S, NOISY HEAVY TRAFFIC.
SO RECENTLY, UM, THE, UH, BERG MR. BE HAS REMOVED THREE MATERIAL TREES OUT HISS BACKYARD THAT I'M AWARE OF BECAUSE I SAW IT AND I SEE THE SAW DUST CIRCLES WHERE THEY WERE REMOVED IN THE ROOT.
IS THAT THE TIME? IT IS, YEAH.
CAN YOU, DO YOU MIND? I'M SORRY.
DO YOU MIND FINISHING YOUR THOUGHT? WELL, YEAH, LET ME GET TO THE BOY.
UH, SO THOSE TREES GOT CUT DOWN OPENING A BIG OPEN CORRIDOR STRAIGHT TO MCNEIL, AND I'M NOT, I DON'T SEE A PERMIT.
I DID LOOK, BUT AS FAR AS THE ZONING, UH, I WANTED TO MAKE THE POINT OF HOW IMPORTANT THE QUALITY OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND THE CHARACTER OF THIS SINGLE FAMILY IS.
WE ARE DEFINITELY OPPOSED TO THE COMMERCIAL ZONING HE'S ASKING FOR.
AND WE'RE CUT INTO OUR SINGLE FAMILY, UH, UH, ZONING AREA.
I DO HAVE MS, UM, UH, DO YOU HAVE MS. VANDERGRIFF ON THE LINE? SO MS. VAN GRIFF, YOU'LL SELECT STAR SIX, PROCEED WITH EARMARKS.
OKAY, MS. VANDER, UM, PROCEED WITH YOUR REMARKS.
MY NAME IS FRANCINE VANDERGRIFF.
I'M THE PRESIDENT OF THE INDIAN OAKS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION.
THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO CONVEY THE NEIGHBORHOOD'S CONCERNS REGARDING THE ZONING REQUEST.
THE PRESENTATION I'M GOING TO SHARE WITH YOU IS A RESULT OF NUMEROUS MEETINGS.
WE HAVE HAD TO DISCUSS OUR CONCERNS, AND WE'VE COME UP WITH A SOLUTION THAT WE BELIEVE WOULD BE ACCEPTABLE TO EVERYONE.
I'LL MAKE SURE THE COMMISSION RECEIVES A COPY OF THIS PRESENTATION.
SO IF WE CAN GO TO SLIDE ONE FIRST, LET ME STATE CLEARLY THE NEIGHBORHOOD IS OPPOSED.
REZONING 1 26 0 4 BLACKFOOT TRAIL TO GM U.
WE ARE RECOMMENDING REZONING TO SS TWO.
INDIAN OAKS IS AN ESTABLISHED NEIGHBORHOOD OF SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCES.
AS YOU CAN SEE IN THIS SLIDE, THE STREETS ARE LINE OF BEAUTIFUL HERITAGE OAKS.
WE LOVE OUR NEIGHBORHOODS AND HAVE A STRONG SENSE OF COMMUNITY, WHICH IS WHY WE HAVE SERIOUS CONCERNS ABOUT THIS REZONING APPLICATION.
SLIDE THREE REFLECTS THE CURRENT ZONING.
THE APPLICANT OPERATES A VAPE SHOP THAT FRONT MCNEIL AND IS NEXT DOOR TO A DAYCARE FACILITY.
HOWEVER, WHEN YOU DRIVE DOWN BLACKFOOT TRAILS, WHETHER YOU LOOK TO THE LEFT OR RIGHT, YOU WILL SEE RESIDENTIAL.
AND THIS APPLIES TO BOTH OF MR. BRI'S PROPERTY.
I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO DRIVE OUT AND OBSERVE THIS.
AND TO MR. PUENTE'S POINT ABOUT A PICTURE PAINTS A THOUSAND WORDS, I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO LOOK AT THESE OTHER STREETS THAT HE MENTIONED.
UH, FOR EXAMPLE, COR CORPUS CHRISTI.
THAT IS, UH, THAT I BELIEVE THE ZONING ON THAT IS, IS N O.
SO I WOULD JUST ENCOURAGE YOU TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE STREET THAT HE REFERENCED.
THIS IS WHY THE NEIGHBORHOOD IS OPPOSED TO BE ZONING.
IT'S NOT COMPATIBLE WITH RESIDENTIAL SETTING OR RESIDENTIAL STREETS.
THERE ARE THREE SINGLE FAMILY HOMES DIRECTLY ACROSS THE STREET TO THE EAST, THE SINGLE FAMILY HOME ADJACENT TO THE NORTH, AND G R M U ALLOWS HER 60 FOOT HEIGHT STRUCTURE BEFORE TWO TO THREE TIMES THE HEIGHT OF SURROUNDING HOMES.
THERE'S FURTHER ENCROACHMENT OF COMMERCIAL INTO THE RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD.
THE COMMERCIAL PROPERTY OWNED BY MR. BRAG EXTENDS APPROXIMATELY 370 FEET INTO NEIGHBORHOOD FROM MCNEAL DRIVE.
AND THE NEIGHBORHOOD OPPOSES ARTHUR COMMERCIAL ENCROACHMENT.
AND THIS IS A STATEMENT FROM MR. BE'S REZONING CASE FROM 2017.
I'M ASKING THE HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS TO BE FAIR
[00:25:01]
AND SUPPORT THE REZONING OF THE ENTIRETY OF LOT TWO AND INDIAN OAK SUBDIVISIONS IN GRC S I DO HAVE ADJACENT PROPERTY 12 6 0 4 BLACKFOOT ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE PROPERTY.THIS PROPERTY CAN BE USED AS A BARRIER BETWEEN COMMERCIAL LOT AND THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
AND THE FACT THAT MR. BERG ACKNOWLEDGES THAT THERE NEEDS TO BE A BARRIER IS STILL SIGNIFICANT AND TRUE IN 2023.
ADDITIONALLY, FROM THE 2017 CASE, MR. B STATED, I'M A MECHANICAL ENGINEER WITH MANY YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AND EQUIPMENT REPAIR, MODIFY MAINTENANCE AND SALES.
AND I WOULD LIKE TO USE MY EQUIPMENT BACKGROUND AND RUN A SMALL BUSINESS IN PART OF MY PROPERTY OFFERING THOSE TYPE OF SERVICES.
WELL, WE DID NOT GET A SMALL FAMILY OWNED BUSINESS THAT THE NEIGHBORHOOD COULD BENEFIT FROM.
WE GOT A VAPE SHOP THAT IS ADJACENT TO A DAYCARE FACILITY.
YOU MAY HAVE SEEN THIS GRAPHIC ON PAGE 33 OF THE APPLICANT'S DOCUMENTATION, AND THAT WAS A MISREPRESENTATION OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
AND THIS SLIDE IS AN ACCURATE ACCOUNT OF THE RESIDENTS OPPOSED, AND SOME OF THOSE RESIDENTS ARE IN THE AUDIENCE.
THE NEIGHBORHOOD RECOMMENDS REDUNDANT TO FF TWO.
IT SUPPORTS INCREASED HOUSING DENSITY WITHIN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
IT PROVIDES A SMOOTH TRANSITION INTO NEIGHBORHOOD FROM COMMERCIAL TO SINGLE FAMILY.
IT OFFERS COMPATIBILITY WITH ADJACENT AND SURROUNDING SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCES.
AND IT ALLOWS MR. BURGAN TO ACCOMPLISH HIS GOALS ABUSING HIS PROPERTIES FOR COMMERCIAL AND MULTI-FAMILY PURPOSES.
TRACK TWO OWNED BY MR. BURGAN, IS ALREADY ZONED G N U L O FOR COMMERCIAL TRACK ONE.
THE TRACK IN QUESTION WOULD BE SF TWO, ALLOWING FOR MULTI-FAMILY.
THIS IS A VISUAL OF WHAT THE STREET LOOKS LIKE.
DO YOU MIND? I THINK YOU'LL HAVE TO FINISH YOUR THOUGHT THERE.
UM, I WAS JUST SAYING SLIDE A IS A VISUAL OF WHAT THE STREET LOOKS LIKE.
AND IF WE HAVE TIME, IF SOMEONE CAN SCROLL DOWN TO SLIDE 25, THAT IS A, UM, THAT'S A DOCUMENTATION THAT THE APPLICANT PROVIDED REGARDING THE ENTRANCE TO THE STORAGE UNIT.
THAT IS ONLY USED FOR CITY OR EMERGENCY VEHICLES.
AND IN THE 20 YEARS I'VE LIVED IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD, I'VE NEVER SEEN THAT USED.
SO THAT IS NOT AN ACCURATE STATEMENT.
OKAY, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MADAM CHAIR.
UM, IS SHE THE PRIMARY SPEAKER? WAS SHE TIMED FOR THREE MINUTES OR SIX MINUTES? I'M, I'M, IT'S BEEN A LITTLE CONFUSING CHAIR.
PRIMARY SPEAKERS HAVE FIVE MINUTES.
SO WAS SHE TIMED FOR THREE MINUTES OR FIVE MINUTES? FIVE.
NOW WE'LL HAVE THE, UH, THREE MINUTE REBUTTAL FROM, UH, THE APPLICANT, MADAM CHAIR, HONORABLE MEMBERS OF THIS COMMISSION.
UH, AS I WAS LISTENING TO THE NEIGHBORS AND THE NEIGHBORHOOD REPRESENTATIVE, I EMPATHIZE, AND I'M SURE MR. BOGANI EMPATHIZES WITH HOW THEY FEEL ABOUT THIS.
ENCROACHMENT MCNEIL IS A COMMERCIAL CORRIDOR.
WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IS 150 LINEAR FEET.
AND IF I'D LIKE, I'D LIKE TO GO BACK TO SHEETS, UH, UH, SLIGHT NUMBER THREE OF MY PRESENTATION, PLEASE.
AND AGAIN, THIS BARRIER THAT THEY WANTED US TO CREATE WITH HIS PROPERTY IS ONLY A HUNDRED, 150 FEET, WHILE THE ENTIRE SUBDIVISION THAT THAT LOT SITS IS STILL BEING USED AS COMMERCIAL.
SO AGAIN, I'M NOT SURE THAT OUR REQUEST IS UNREASONABLE AND THAT HE JUST WANTS TO BE CONSISTENT WITH HIS SUBDIVISION.
ANYWHERE YOU SEE RESIDENTIAL, NEAR A COMMERCIAL CORRIDOR, UH, ALL YOU GOTTA DO IS LISTEN TO OTHER CASES BEFORE THIS COMMISSION.
ALL YOU'RE GOTTA DO IS LISTEN TO SOME CASES BEFORE OUR COUNCIL.
AND YOU'RE GONNA GONNA SEE THESE ENCROACHMENTS, YOU'RE GONNA SEE THESE DISCUSSIONS AND I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND AND EMPATHIZE, BUT AGAIN, ALL HE'S ASKING FOR IS CONSISTENCY.
UH, AGAIN, I'M NOT SURE THAT THAT'S UNREASONABLE.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, WE'RE FREE.
IF NOT, WELL, WE'LL AWAIT YOUR WISDOM.
[00:30:02]
CHAIR.THAT CONCO, THE SPEAKERS ON THIS ITEM.
UM, ANOTHER POINT OF ORDER, MADAM.
UM, OPPOSITION SPEAKERS ARE ENTITLED TO SIX MINUTES.
THAT'S IN HER BACKUP ON PATCH TO THE AGENDA.
WAS THE PRIMARY SPEAKER IN OPPOSITION GIVEN FIVE MINUTES OR WAS SHE GIVEN SIX? AND LET'S SEE IF THE, SO THE APPLICANT, AND IT WAS MY ERROR, THE APPLICANT AND THE, UH, PRIMARY SPEAKER IN OPPOSITION WERE PROVIDED FIVE MINUTES.
THE APPLICANT, YOU HAVE ONE, UH, ADDITIONAL MINUTE, AND I DON'T WHAT THE, FOR THE PRIMARY SPEAKER SO SHE KNOWS TO PRESS STAR SIX IF SHE'S ONLY GET ONE MORE MINUTE.
APPLICANT, IF YOU CAN, YOU HAVE ONE ADDITIONAL MINUTE TO PROVIDE REMARKS, WE'LL LET THEM GO AND THEN I'LL, OKAY, MS. VANDER.
UH, YOU HAVE ONE ADDITIONAL MINUTE.
I WOULD JUST LIKE TO GO BACK AND, AND JUST REALLY, AND ASK THE COMMISSION TO PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT THE OTHER STREETS OFF OF, UH, MCNEIL CORPUS CHRISTI, LOS INDIAS DAKOTA.
THEY ARE VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE BLACKFOOT TRAIL.
WHEN YOU GO DOWN BLACKFOOT TRAIL, IT IS STRICTLY RESIDENTIAL.
THAT'S NOT HOW SOME OF THESE OTHER STREETS ARE.
AND THEY HA AND LIKE I SAID, WITH CORPUS CHRISTI, IT EVEN HAS A LESSER, UH, ZONING.
SO I JUST WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU GUYS TO COME OUT AND TAKE A LOOK BECAUSE IT IS A UNIQUE STREET, AND WE SHOULD BE GIVEN THAT CONSIDERATION.
WE'LL NOW HEAR FROM THE APPLICANT FOR ONE MINUTE.
MADAM CHAIR, HONORABLE MEMBERS OF THIS COMMISSION.
I THINK THE ONLY THING THAT I CAN ADD IS THAT ONE OF THE CONCERNS THAT TYPICALLY, UH, NEIGHBORHOODS HAVE IS TRAFFIC.
WHAT WE HAVE BEEN PROPOSING ALL ALONG TO STAFF IS THAT WE'LL HAVE A RIGHT OF WAY EASEMENT WHERE NO TRAFFIC GOES THROUGH THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT, THAT, THAT PROBABLY DIDN'T HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO PUT IN THE APPLICATION.
BUT I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING THAT, THAT YOU ALL SHOULD KNOW.
WE'RE NOT HERE TO AFFECT THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
150 FEET CERTAINLY IS NOT GONNA AFFECT THE NEIGHBORHOOD, THE ENTIRE SUBDIVISION.
UH, IF YOU, IF YOU LOOK AT, AGAIN, SLIDE SLIDE NUMBER THREE, YOU'RE GONNA SEE AN IMAGINARY LINE THAT CUTS THROUGH.
KEEP GOING TO, WELL, YEAH, THERE YOU GO.
LAST FOUR LOT, THREE LOT, TWO, LOT ONE.
YOU SEE THAT IMAGINARY LINE IN THE BACK, ALL THAT GOES ENCROACHES INTO, DIRECTLY INTO THE BACK OF THOSE, THOSE RESIDENTIAL LOTS, LOT ONE IS THE ONE THAT'S IN QUESTION.
IT'S A HUNDRED AND 150 FEET, UH, ON THAT SUBDIVISION.
IS THERE A MOTION TO CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING? SO MOVED BY COMMISSIONER SMITH.
SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER DINKLER.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF CLOSING THE PUBLIC HEARING.
SO WHO WANTS TO GO FIRST FOR DISCUSSION? COMMISSIONER STERN.
UM, WELL, TODAY WE'VE HEARD, UM, SEVERAL SPEAKERS FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD WHO HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT, UM, GR M U FOR AN APPLICATION.
AND, UM, I HAVE THOSE SAME CONCERNS.
I THINK, UM, YOU KNOW, GR MIGHT BE, UH, UH, OVER ZONING THIS PROPERTY AND ALLOWING THINGS LIKE PAWN SHOPS OR AUTO REPAIR OR BAIL BOND.
UM, THE GOOD THING, THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT STAFF ALSO AGREES THAT GR M U IS A BRIDGE TOO FAR AND IS INSTEAD RECOMMENDING L O M U LIMITED OFFICE.
AND WHEN YOU LOOK AT LIMITED OFFICE, UM, THERE ARE ADDITIONAL RESTRICTIONS ON THE KINDS OF BUSINESSES THAT ARE MORE IN LINE WITH THAT TRANSITION ZONE.
AND SO I THINK, UM, I, I, I DON'T THINK THAT THE SPEAKERS TODAY HAVE REALLY BEEN COMMENTING BASED ON WHAT STAFF IS RECOMMENDING, JUST BASED ON WHAT THE APPLICANT WAS ASKING FOR.
AND SO, UM, TO BE HONEST, I I WOULD, I WOULD LEAN TOWARDS THE STAFF RECOMMENDATION AT L O M U.
IT SEEMS TO BE THE RIGHT FIT IN THIS PART OF TOWN.
UM, CERTAINLY SF TWO IS NOT
[00:35:02]
I MEAN, IN 2017, THIS COMMISSION HEARD THE CASE FOR 12 6 0 2 BLACKFOOT.SINCE THERE WAS A SINGLE FAMILY HOUSE WITH AN ADDITION FACING MCNEIL, WE RECOMMENDED WITH A UNANIMOUS VOTE TO ZONE THE PORTION ON MCNEIL AS GR AND RETAIN THE SINGLE FAMILY ZONING ON THE SINGLE FAMILY HOUSE ON BLACKFOOT CITY COUNCIL IGNORED OUR RECOMMENDATION AND ZONED THE ENTIRE PROPERTY.
G R M U, THE SINGLE FAMILY HOME AT TWEN AT 12,000 6 0 2 BLACKFOOT REMAINS UNCHANGED.
AND THE STRUCTURE FACING MCNEIL IS NOW, NOW A VAPE SHOP.
TODAY WE ARE BEING ASKED TO REZONE 12 6 0 4 WITH COMMERCIAL ZONING BASED ON THE RATIONALE THAT IT'S A TRANSITION BETWEEN THE CURRENT UNUSED COMMERCIAL ZONING AT 12 6 0 2 AND THE SINGLE FAMILY HOMES ALL AROUND.
THIS WOULD SIMPLY COMPOUND THE ERROR FROM 12 2017.
ADDITIONAL COMMERCIAL ZONING IS INAPPROPRIATE ON BLACKFOOT TRAIL.
12 6 0 4 SHOULD REMAIN SINGLE FAMILY.
THE HOME'S FOOTPRINT CAN BE ENLARGED AND THE SECOND STORY CAN BE ADDED WITH THE ENTITLEMENT THEY HAVE.
UM, SINCE THE NEIGHBORHOOD HAS INDICATED THAT THEY'RE OKAY WITH THE REZONING FROM SF ONE, THE CURRENT ZONING TO SF TWO, I WOULD MOVE TO SUPPORT THE NEIGHBORHOOD, UM, RECOMMENDATION FOR SF TWO.
UH, COMMISSIONER KABAK? YEAH, I'M GONNA BE CONSISTENT HERE IN WHAT I VOTED ON IN 2017.
AND THAT IS THAT, UM, THAT, UM, AND IN FACT WHAT WE HAD RECOMMENDED IS THAT THERE WOULD BE A STEP DOWN AND WE DIDN'T, AND THE CITY COUNCIL DIDN'T VOTE ON THAT, UH, OR DIDN'T VOTE IN FAVOR OF IT, BUT REZONE THE WHOLE ENTIRE PROPERTY.
AND, UM, AND I BELIEVE THAT THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN A STEP DOWN.
AND ALSO THERE IS A, UH, RESTRICTIVE COVENANT ON THAT PROPERTY THAT WE REZONED TO, UM, IN 2017 THAT SAYS THAT VEHICLE, UH, YOU KNOW, TRAFFIC ASSOCIATED WITH THE NON-RESIDENTIAL USE OF THE PROPERTY IS PROHIBITED ON TWO OR FROM BLACKFOOT TRAIL.
I MEAN, SO THAT IS ALREADY IN PLACE THAT THERE'S NOT GOING TO BE COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC ONTO BLACKFOOT TRAIL.
AND I WANT TO BE CONSISTENT WITH THAT TOO.
SO THAT IS, THAT IS WHERE I AM.
SO IF THERE WERE, IF WE WERE TO APPROVE LOM MOTION, OH, DID YOU MAKE A MOTION? OH, WAS THAT A MOTION? OH, I'M SORRY.
SO THERE IS A MOTION TO, UM, AGREE WITH THIS NEIGHBORHOOD RECOMMENDATION OR SORT OF THEIR WILLINGNESS TO COMPROMISE TO SF TWO.
SO IS THERE ANY, SO WE'LL HAVE DISCUSSION ON THE MOTION, AND YOU WERE MAKING A COMMENT, YOU'RE, YOU WERE SUPPORTING, SUPPORTIVE OF THE MOTION AND SAYING THAT YOU WERE GONNA, OH, I DIDN'T EVEN REALIZE YOU HAD MADE HIM A COMMISSIONER.
SO SINCE GIVEN MY EXCHANGE WITH COMMISSIONER SMITH BEFORE THE MEETING
YES, WE DO GET ALONG REALLY WELL.
SO, BUT I, IF WE ARE GOING, IF, IF SINCE YOU DID DID MAKE A MOTION, I'LL SECOND IT.
AND I, I JUST WANTED TO FOLLOW UP ON HER THOUGHTS.
SO SHE SAID THAT THERE IS A RESTRICTED COVENANT THAT REQUIRES ACCESS.
IF THERE'S COMMERCIAL USE, IT REQUIRES ACCESS ONTO MCNEIL ROAD AND PROHIBITS ACCESS FROM BLACKFOOT TRAIL.
SO IF WE WERE TO GO WITH STAFF RECOMMENDATION OF THE, UM, L O M U, ANY COMMERCIAL SERVICES, YOU WOULD, THEY WOULD HAVE TO DEMOLISH 1202 AND 12, 12 0 4 AND 1206 TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO MCNEIL ROAD, IF THAT OH NO, I WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT THAT.
THE PROPERTY, UM, THAT WAS PREVIOUSLY REZONED.
SO BECAUSE IT WAS GIVEN THAT EVERYTHING WAS GONNA FACE MCNEIL.
SO, BUT I'M JUST SAYING TO BE CONSISTENT, I WANNA SAY NO COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC THERE AND THAT'S WHY I'M VOTING AGAINST I GOTCHA.
OR WHATEVER VOTING IN FAVOR OF VOTING AGAINST.
BUT LET, LET ME SEE IF I CAN HELP.
THIS IS A QUESTION FOR THE APPLICANT.
MR. PUENTES, IF YOU CAN COME UP, WOULD YOU ALL AGREE TO PROHIBIT ACCESS TO BLACKFOOT DRIVE? UH, WHEN I MET WITH YOU, I GOT VERY DIFFERENT RESPONSES.
SO IF THE COMMISSION WERE TO MAKE A MOTION, UH, FOR LO OR SF TWO, WOULD YOU AGREE TO PROHIBITING ACCESS,
[00:40:01]
PARTICULARLY IF IT WAS ACTUALLY, IF IT WAS LO MU, WOULD YOU AGREE TO PROHIBITING ACCESS TO BLACKFOOT DRIVE? AS I MENTIONED A MINUTE AGO, IN MY, MY LAST REBUTTAL, UH, ALL ALONG, HIS INTENT HAS BEEN TO HAVE A RIGHT OF WAY EASEMENT COMING OFF OF MCNEIL SO THAT THE COMMERCIAL, UH, INDIVIDUALS THAT WOULD GO INTO BUSINESS THERE WOULD NEVER GO ON BLACKFOOT.THEY WOULD HAVE TO GO THROUGH, I NEED TO CLARIFY THE ANSWER IS YES.
SO THE ANSWER IS YES, ACTION IS NOT THE SAME AS ACTION.
WOULD HE AGREE AS A CONDITION OF THE ZONING TO PROHIBIT ACCESS TO BLACKFOOT TRAIL? YOU'LL AGREE.
CUZ THAT'S ALWAYS BEEN HIS INTENT.
SO THE ANSWER IS YES TO THAT QUESTION.
MAY I ANSWER, MAY I, MAY I SAY SOMETHING ABOUT HELLO? OR IS THAT APPROPRIATE OR SURE, SURE.
SO LO IS OFFICE RIGHT NOW, WE ARE LIVING AT A TIME WHERE WE HAVE AN ABUNDANCE OF OFFICE SPACE ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, AND ESPECIALLY IN AUSTIN, TEXAS.
LO IS JUST, YOU CAN'T EVEN GET FINANCING TO, TO BUILD OFFICES IN THIS, IN THIS MARKET THAT WE LIVE IN AFTER THE PANDEMIC.
SO YOU'RE NOT INTERESTED IN OM USING, WE'RE NOT INTERESTED IN LO OKAY.
BUT, BUT I WANTED JUST TO MAKE THAT COMMENT.
OBVIOUSLY WE ARE AT THE MERCY OF THIS COMMISSION.
OKAY, WELL THAT'S, IT'S THE PROCESS THAT WE GOTTA GO THROUGH AND WE UNDERSTAND.
THAT'S, NO, THAT'S HELPFUL FOR US TO KNOW THEN WE, MAYBE WE SHOULD THANK YOU VERY MUCH AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR QUESTION.
ANY OTHER, I'LL JUST SAY IF THEY'RE NOT, NOT INTERESTED IN ELLA, THAT MAKES MY, UM, DECISION PRETTY STRAIGHTFORWARD HERE.
I'M NOT SURE IF ANYBODY ELSE HAS THE BEST OF THIS.
COMMISSIONER BOONE, IS THAT FOR YOU? SORRY, WHAT WERE YOU SAYING? I MISSED IT.
OH, I, I WAS JUST GONNA SAY THAT THAT KIND OF CLARIFIES, UM, MY COURSE OF ACTION HERE WITH RESPECT TO THE MOTION ON THE TABLE.
IF THEY'RE NOT INTERESTED IN LO, YOU KNOW, I, I THINK STAFF'S RECOMMENDATION TO COMMISSIONER STERN'S POINT IS, IS SALIENT.
AND IF THAT'S NOT THE AVENUE THEY'RE INTERESTED IN, THEN THAT MAKES THE CURRENT MOTION PRETTY STRAIGHTFORWARD TO ME.
COMMISSIONER COSTA AND THEN COMMISSIONER SMITH.
UH, I WAS JUST GONNA COMMENT THAT WHAT I DID LIKE ABOUT THE L O M U PROPOSAL FROM STAFF WAS THAT IT WOULD ALLOW FOR DUPLEX TOWN HOME AND A HIGHER TY A BETTER WIDER RANGE OF TYPOLOGIES, WHICH I THOUGHT WAS A GOOD BUFFER BETWEEN, YOU KNOW, A VAPE SHOP AND A SINGLE FAMILY NEIGHBORHOOD.
SO THAT'S WHY I LIKED THEIR PROPOSAL.
BUT AGAIN, I THINK AS COMMISSIONER BOONE SAID, IF THEY'RE NOT INTERESTED IN THAT AT ALL, THEN IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE A GOOD SUGGESTION TO GO TO GR IT'S A BIG JUMP.
UM, COMMISSIONER SMITH AND THEN COMMISSIONER THOMPSON? YEAH, I'LL BE VERY BRIEF CAUSE I AGREE WITH THE EXACT SAME THING.
I THINK ELLO WILL BE THE APPROPRIATE ZONING, BUT IF THEY'RE NOT INTERESTED IN LO THEN OKAY, THAT'S OFF THE TABLE.
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON? UH, IN RESPONSE TO COMMISSIONER COSTA, I WAS, I WAS ALSO THINKING ABOUT SF THREE AS AS A POSSIBLE COMPROMISE AND, UM, I DO SUPPORT SF TWO, BUT, UM, JUST IN THAT, IN THAT, THINKING OF ALLOWING FOR A DUPLEX OPPORTUNITY, JUST WANTED TO THROW THAT OUT AS A POSSIBILITY AS WELL.
BUT I, I DO WANNA SAY FROM THE APPLICANT, THE MATERIALS, UM, STRATEGICALLY PRESENTED TO OMIT ANY VIEW OF THE RESIDENCE AS ACROSS THE STREET, DIRECTLY ACROSS THE STREET AND ADJACENT TO THIS PROPERTY.
AND I, I FELT THAT WAS A LITTLE, UM, PURPOSEFUL.
AND I, I DO FEEL LIKE THIS PROPERTY FACES ANOTHER SF ONE HOUSE AND IS ADJACENT TO ANOTHER S F ONE HOUSE IS, IS CLEARLY INSIDE OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND IN MY OPINION, NEEDS TO REMAIN IN RESIDENCE.
SO COMMISSIONER THOMPSON, WAS THAT AN ALTERNATIVE MOTION OR IS, DID YOU ALL RIGHT.
I I JUST PUT IT OUT THERE IN CASE IT'S HELPFUL.
ANY OTHER COMMENTS BEFORE WE VOTE ON THE MOTION ON THE TABLE? OKAY.
YES, COMMISSIONER LER, I THINK WHAT BOTHERS ME, AND IT SOUNDS LIKE THE LO'S OFF, BUT HE'S RIGHT, THERE'S NOT, UH, MUCH NEED FOR OFFICE.
LO CAN INCLUDE MEDICAL OFFICE, WHICH MEANS THE TRIP COUNTS WOULD BE HIGHER.
UH, BUT REALLY WHAT BOTHERS ME WITH THAT AS A TRANSITION IS THIS, WE COULD PUT LO OR EVEN ENNO, WHICH IF YOU LOOK ON CORPUS CHRISTI, THERE'S EVEN A LOWER OFFICE CATEGORY PROPOSED IN BACK OF GEO.
UH, AND THAT STREET WAS SIGNALIZED.
SO I'M A LITTLE CONCERNED THAT IF WE DID ANY KIND OF COMMERCIAL ANYTHING, THAT IT WOULD JUST BE DEVELOPED AS COMMERCIAL.
SO I, I'M GONNA VOTE FOR SF TWO.
UM, IF HE DOES ADD STEP TWO, HE COULD PUT, UH, AS MANY AS FOUR UNITS ON THE PROPERTY IF HE DOES CAREGIVER IN THE BACK OF EACH SINGLE FAMILY.
[00:45:01]
VERY SELLABLE FOR HIM.UM, IT WOULD BE AN ASSET FOR HIM IN TERMS OF SALE, IF THAT'S WHERE HE PROPOSES TO GO.
ANY OTHER COMMENTS BEFORE WE TAKE A VOTE? ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF THE MOTION? OKAY.
UH, ALL THOSE OPPOSED? SO LET THE RECORD SHOW THAT MR. STERN IS IN OPPOSITION.
[5. Rezoning: C14-2022-0167 - Parmer Field; District 1]
TO NUMBER FIVE.SO WE'LL HAVE, AGAIN, MR. WEIS AND I JUST WANNA THANK MR. WEIS FOR HANDLING SO MUCH OF THE LOAD THESE DAYS.
SO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING ACCESSIBLE AND EVERYTHING.
SO LET'S LOOK AT ITEM NUMBER FIVE.
IT'S CASE C 14 20 2201 67, WHICH IS PARMER FIELD.
IT'S LOCATED AT SEVEN 10 PERFORMANCE DRIVE THIRTEEN THOUSAND THIRTEEN THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED SIX AND A HALF HARRIS RIDGE BOULEVARD.
THE APPLICANT IS REQUESTING A REZONING FROM L I P D A TO L I P D A TO AMEND THE CURRENT PLAN DEVELOPMENT AREA OVERLAY TO ALLOW FOR OUTDOOR ENTERTAINMENT AS A PERMITTED USE ON THE SITE.
THE STAFF RECOMMEND TO LAP D A LIMITED INDUSTRIAL PLAN DEVELOPMENT AREA, COMBINING DISTRICT ZONING TO CHANGE THE CONDITION OF ZONING.
THE SITE UNDER CONSIDERATION IS A 24 ACRE PLUS AREA SURROUNDED BY A WATER QUALITY POND KNOWN AS PALMER POND THAT IS PART OF A LARGER, APPROXIMATELY 300 ACRE AT TRACT LAND THAT IS LOCATED AT THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF EAST HOWARD LAND IN HARRIS RIDGE BOULEVARD.
THE NORTHEAST PORTION OF THE PROPERTY IS DEVELOPED WITH PRACTICE FIELDS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ST.
IN ADDITION, THESE FACILITIES INTO ADDITION TO THESE FACILITIES, A COMMERCIAL PROJECT CALLED THE PITCH WAS ALSO DEVELOPED ON THE PROPERTY THAT HAS RESTAURANT AND COMMERCIAL USES IN ONE AND TWO STORY CONTAINER PAWS AND AN OUTDOOR COMMUNITY GATHERING SPACE WITH PICKLEBALL COURTS AND VOLLEYBALL COURTS TO PROVIDE SERVICES FOR THE TENANTS AND VISITORS OF THE ADJACENT SOCCER FIELDS.
IN THIS REZONING REQUEST, THE APPLICANT IS ASKING TO CHANGE THE CONDITIONS FOR THIS PORTION OF THE PLANNED DEVELOPMENT AREA OVERLAY BY AMENDING THE PREVIOUS ORDINANCE ORDINANCE 98 0 4 30 DASH P UH, OF THE DELL PDA.
TO ADD OUTDOOR ENTERTAINMENT AS A PERMITTED USE TO ALLOW THE SOCCER FIELDS TO BE USED FOR HOSTING SPORTING EVENTS.
THE STAFF RECOMMENDS THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST TO AMEND THE PDA.
THE PROPOSED PDA AMENDMENT WILL PERMIT THE OUTDOOR ENTERTAINMENT USE TO ALLOW FOR SPORTING EVENTS TO BE HELD ON THE EXISTING PRACTICE FIELDS.
THE PROPOSED OUTDOOR ENTERTAINMENT USE WILL BE LOCATED IN AN AREA WHERE THERE ARE COMMERCIAL SERVICES TO ACCOMPANY THE ADJACENT CIVIC USES.
THE STAFF IS RECOMMENDING L LAP P D A ZONING FOR THIS SITE BECAUSE THE COMMERCIAL CHARACTER OF THE AREA AND BECAUSE THE PROPERTY FRONTS ON TO WILL TAKE ACCESS TO A MAJOR ARTERIAL ROADWAY, HARRIS RIDGE BOULEVARD.
THE PROPOSED ZONING WILL PERMIT THE APPLICANT TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL COMMERCIAL SERVICES IN AN AREA OF VARIETY OF COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL EMPLOYMENT CENTERS ALONG EAST HOWARD LANE.
THIS PROPERTY IS NEAR A DESIGNATED COMMERCIAL CENTER, THE DESSAU PALMER NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER TO THE EAST, AND IS LOCATED BETWEEN TWO ACTIVITY CORRIDORS, THE EAST HOWARD LANE AND PALMER LANE ACTIVITY CORRIDORS AS IDENTIFIED BY THE IMAGINE AUSTIN COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.
AND I'M HERE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE.
QUICK QUESTION, DOES OUTDOOR ENTERTAINMENT ALLOW OUTDOOR MUSIC? JUST YES OR NO? YES.
UM, SO COMMISSION LEES ON ANDREW VERA.
SO, UH, I ONLY HAVE THE APPLICANT, UH, REGISTERED ON THIS ITEM.
I HAVE NO SPEAKERS IN OPPOSITION.
UM, SO, UM, DON'T KNOW IF YOU WANT TO RUN THE CLOCK FOR NINE MINUTES.
IF THEY NEED NINE MINUTES, THERE'S NO REBUTTAL.
IF THERE'S NO, HOPEFULLY NOT SIX, SINCE THERE'S NO REBUT, LET'S RE I WE CAN REBUT THEMSELVES, REBUT THEMSELVES.
IF YOU WANT SEVEN AND A HALF, I MEAN, I'M SURE WE'LL HAVE QUESTIONS FOR YOU.
I'M HERE ON BEHALF OF THE APPLICANT.
I THINK THERE'S, UM, AUSTIN FC IS REQUIRED TO HAVE A MINOR LEAGUE SOCCER TEAM AS PART OF THEIR PROGRAM.
THEY HAVE, UH, THEY NOW HAVE A, WHAT WOULD BE THE EQUIVALENT OF, UH, UH, NOT THE HIGHEST BASEBALL MINOR LEAGUE, BUT THE SECOND.
AND SO WHAT THEY HAVE OUT THERE RIGHT NOW IS THEY'VE GOT A FIELD AND A BLEACHER AREA AND PLACES TO WATCH SOCCER.
THE YOUTH ACADEMY WORKS OUT OUT THERE.
THEY, THEY DO ALL THESE THINGS OUT THERE.
AND SO YOU'RE LOOKING AT THIS AND YOU'RE GOING, WHY DID HE FILE A 24 ACRE
[00:50:01]
ZONING CASE SO THAT THEY COULD SIMPLY PLAY MINOR LEAGUE SOCCER ON THAT FIELD? AND IT TRULY IS BECAUSE WE, WE HAVE A DIFFERENCE OF OPINION BETWEEN SOME FOLKS IS, IS THIS INDOOR OR OUTDOOR ENTERTAINMENT OR OUTDOOR SPORTS AND REC? WE DON'T WANNA QUARREL ABOUT IT, WE JUST WANNA CHANGE THE ZONING AND GET INTO COMPLIANCE.THE KEY DIFFERENCE IS, IS THAT WHEN THE SOCCER TEAM CHARGES ADMISSION, WE BECOME OUTDOOR ENTERTAINMENT.
SO WHAT WE PROPOSE, IF, IF YOU THINK THAT THIS IS AN APPROPRIATE USE, WE WOULD PROPOSE SHRINKING THE BOUNDARIES DOWN FROM THE 24 ACRE LOT THAT WE FILED.
AND, AND LEMME TELL YOU WHY WE DID THAT.
WE HAD TO GET THIS THING FILED QUICKLY AND WE COULDN'T GET FIELD NOTES QUICKLY FOR THE FIELD.
SO WE FILED IT ON THE ENTIRE LOT.
AND NOW AS WE MOVE THROUGH THE PROCESS, IF Y'ALL THINK IT'S, UH, AN APPROPRIATE USE, WE CAN SHRINK THAT DOWN TO INCLUDE THE FIELD IN THE BLEACHER AREA AND, AND THE SURROUNDING AREA.
UM, SO I DON'T THINK WILL HAVE A QUICK QUESTION.
HOW MANY ACRES DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE OUT OF THE 24 TO INCLUDE THE FIELDS, THE BLEACHERS, AND MAYBE AUXILIARY USES? I'M JUST TRYING TO GET IT ON THE RECORD.
I HEARD TWO DIFFERENT FINGERS.
I WAS JUST LOOKING AT THE MAP.
I DON'T ON BY LOOKING AT THE MAP AND I CAN'T IMAGINE IT'D BE SEVEN ACRES, BUT WE, WE'D NEED TO GET AN ENGINEER TO, TO, IF YOU, I'M, I'M TRUSTING AMANDA.
SHE'S GIVING US THE CLUES HERE.
YEAH, IT'S, IT'S MUCH SMALLER THAN 24.
WE JUST DIDN'T HAVE A, A CHANCE TO GET AN ENGINEER TO MAP IT OUT FOR US TODAY.
IS THERE, UH, A MOTION TO CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING? MM.
MOTION FROM COMMISSIONER DINKLER, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER SMITH.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF CLOSING THE PUBLIC HEARING.
OKAY, LET'S MOVE ON TO DISCUSSION.
COMMISSIONER GREENBERG, I HAVE QUESTIONS FOR MR. SU, UM, AND ALSO STAFF.
SO IT DOES SORT OF, THERE WAS ONLY ONE LETTER FROM IN THE BACKUP FROM A NEIGHBOR.
UM, AND THERE'S NOBODY HERE TO OBJECT TO THIS AND I WONDER WHETHER YOU MET WITH THE NEIGHBORS.
UM, THEY'RE VERY CLOSE, REALLY TO THE FIELD.
AND UM, THE NEIGHBOR THAT DID WRITE IN COMPLAINED ABOUT THE MUSIC AND THE DRUMS THAT COME WITH JUST PRACTICE, WHICH GAMES WILL PRESUMABLY BE MORE.
SO I WAS WONDERING, DID YOU MEET WITH THE, THAT WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD OR AT LEAST THE PEOPLE CLOSE BY, UM, ON HARRIS? WELL, THEY BACK UP TO HARRIS RIDGE BOULEVARD, THAT AREA.
SO I WAS, I WAS BACK, I DON'T KNOW MY NORTH FROM MY SOUTH OR MY EAST FROM MY WEST, BUT ON THE PICTURE THEY'RE TO THE RIGHT.
SO I WAS MAKING FUN OF FRANK PUENTES BY WHEN YOU ASKED HIM IF WOULD HE TAKE ACCESS JUST ONE ROAD.
THE ANSWER SHOULD HAVE JUST BEEN YES.
THE ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION IS YES.
WE'VE ACTUALLY, I'VE BEEN DOING THIS LONG ENOUGH NOW.
I DID THE ORIGINAL DELL PDA WAY, WAY BACK, AND THE SAME NEIGHBORS ACTUALLY LIVED THERE AND WE'VE BEEN IN CLOSE CONTACT WITH ALL THEM AND, AND WE'VE TALKED TO THE PRESIDENT AND IF YOU'VE BEEN OUT THERE, YOU KNOW THAT THIS IS KIND OF A COMMUNITY ASSET NOW.
AND WHAT WE FOUND BOTH IN THE PREVIOUS ZONING CASE, AND THIS ONE IS EVERYBODY'S OKAY WITH IT.
THE DRUMS THAT ARE MENTIONED THERE, THAT'S THE SUPPORTER GROUP THAT COMES OUT.
AND OCCASIONALLY WHEN THEY HAVE A GAME, THE YOUTH ACADEMY, THEY COME OUT AND THEY SUPPORT THE YOUTH ACADEMY AND THEY DO WHAT THEY DO BECAUSE THERE WAS ALL THIS CAREFUL TESTING OF THE SOUND, BUT NOT THE SOUND THAT COMES FROM THE GAME BECAUSE, BUT THE SOUND THAT CAME FROM THE, THE SPEAKERS, THE MUSIC, THE SPEAKERS FOR THE RESTAURANT OR WHATEVER THAT USE IS, YEAH, THEY'RE VERY CUTE, UM, IN THE CONTAINERS.
BUT, UM, IT'S PROBABLY PRETTY NOISY DURING A GAME.
UM, I LIVE WAY FARTHER FROM THE STADIUM, UT STADIUM, AND I CAN HEAR A FOOTBALL GAME WHEN THE WIND IS BLOWING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
I CAN JUST TELL YOU THAT OUR CONVERSATIONS WITH THE NEIGHBORS IS THAT THEY'RE, YOU'VE HAD CONVERSATIONS, WE'VE HAD CONVERSATIONS WITH THEM AND WE'VE NOT HEARD.
ANY OTHER DISCUSSION ITEMS? I DID HAVE A QUESTION FOR STAFF.
BLEACHERS SEEMED TO ME LIKE OUTDOOR ENTERTAINMENT AND NOT A PLAYING FIELD.
[00:55:02]
I'M WONDERING WHY WERE THEY ALLOWED TO BUILD, GET A SIDE PLAN THAT ALLOWED THOSE BLEACHERS? THEY'RE NOT, YOU KNOW, THE WOODEN BLEACHERS OR THE ALUMINUM BLEACHERS THAT FOLD UP.WHY WAS THAT ALLOWED BEFORE THEY HAD OUTDOOR ENTERTAINMENT AS A, UM, ALLOWED USE? WELL, I CAN'T SPEAK TO SITE PLAN REVIEW CAUSE THAT'S IN A DIFFERENT DEPARTMENT.
OH, DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT.
I CAN TELL YOU THAT HERE IS THE, THE QUANDARY THAT WE HAVE BETWEEN OUTDOOR ENTERTAINMENT AND OUTDOOR SPORTS AND REC, OUTDOOR SPORTS AND RECREATION IS DEFINED AS OPEN OR PARTIAL AND ENCLOSED OR SCREEN FACILITIES.
THE USE INCLUDES DRIVING RANGES, MINIATURE GOLF COURSES, GOLF COURSES, SWIMMING POOLS, TENNIS PARTS, TENNIS COURTS, OUTDOOR RACQUETBALL COURTS.
SO IN OTHER WORDS, THE IDEA IS OUTDOOR EXERCISE FACILITIES.
I WOULD ASSUME THAT WOULD ALSO INCLUDE PRACTICE FIELDS, BUT THEY DON'T NEED OUTDOOR AUDIENCES.
THERE'S WHERE WE FALL IN TOWN DURING ENTERTAINMENT NEEDS, NEEDS AUDIENCES, SPECTATOR USE.
UH, CONDUCTING AN OPEN OR PARTIALLY ENCLOSED OR SCREEN FACILITIES.
THIS USE INCLUDES SPORTING ARENAS, RACING FACILITIES, AND AMUSEMENT PARKS.
SO THERE'S THAT FINE LINE AND LIKE THEY SAID, AS THIS IS BECOMING A SPECTATOR SPORT FOR PEOPLE TO PAY TO GO SEE, THEN THAT KICKS IT INTO THE OUTDOOR ENTERTAINMENT USE.
AND SO THAT'S WHY THEY'RE HERE SEEKING TO ADD THAT AS A PERMITTED USE IN THE PDA.
NOW, I WOULD IMAGINE IT WAS PROBABLY LOOKED AT AS OUTDOOR SPORTS AND RECREATION WHEN THE PRACTICE FIELDS WERE DEVELOPED.
I CAN'T SPEAK TO IT BECAUSE I WAS NOT THE SITE PLANNER WHO REVIEWED THE APPLICATION WHEN IT CAME THROUGH, BUT THAT WOULD BE MY ASSUMPTION AS STAFF.
UH, COMMISSIONER KING, YOU HAD A COMMENT? YES.
I JUST WANTED TO, UH, JUST CLARIFY WITH THE APPLICANT ABOUT THE FEEDBACK FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD, THE ADJACENT, THE NEIGHBORHOOD RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET THERE.
UH, WHAT WAS THE, WHAT WERE THE COMMENTS THAT YOU RECEIVED, COMMISSIONER? WE HAD, WE HAD MIXED COMMENTS.
WE HAD, UM, SOME FOLKS THAT HAVE BEEN THERE A LONG TIME, UH, FRANKLY WERE CONCERNED ABOUT THE NOISE.
WE HAD PEOPLE THAT HAVE MOVED IN THERE MORE RECENTLY WHO ENJOY THE ACTIVITY AND THE, UH, THE ENERGY AND THE PLACE TO TAKE KIDS AND HANG OUT AND ALL.
AND, AND I CAN ANSWER YOUR QUESTION ON THE BLEACHERS AND I CAN ANSWER YOUR QUESTION ON THE BLEACHERS.
I'M, UH, I DON'T UNDERSTAND ALL OF THE SOCCER CULTURE, BUT WHEN YOUTH ACADEMY IS OUT THERE PRACTICING AND HAVING THEIR GAMES PARENTS, IT'S AMAZING HOW MANY PEOPLE COME OUT AND WATCH AND THE PARENTS COME OUT.
AND EVEN FOR PRACTICES, PEOPLE ENJOY COMING OUT THERE.
AND THAT'S WHAT THAT THAT FIELD WAS BUILT FOR WAS THE YOUTH ACADEMY THAT'S ASSOCIATED WITH THE AUSTIN FC TEAM.
AND, AND THAT WILL NOT BE DISRUPTED BY THIS CHANGE.
THIS CHANGE WOULD SIMPLY ALLOW THE ABILITY TO CHARGE AN ENTRANCE FEE TO COME WATCH, UH, AA SOCCER TEAM.
AND, AND YOU KNOW, I JUST WANT, UH, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF THE, YOU KNOW, THE NOISE AND ALL THAT, AND I CERTAINLY APPRECIATE THE, THE ENERGY AND THE EXCITEMENT, YOU KNOW, OF, OF THESE, UH, UH, SOCCER GAMES AND THE KIDS BEING INVOLVED WITH THAT.
THAT'S, THAT'S REALLY EXCITING AND IMPORTANT.
UH, BUT THE TIMES OF THIS, UH, YOU KNOW, WOULD, WOULD THE TIMES WHEN THERE WOULD BE EVENTS GOING OR, OR ACTIVITIES GOING ON THERE THAT WOULD GENERATE THE NOISE, ARE THOSE GOING TO BE LIKE LATE AT NIGHT OR ON THE WEEKENDS, OR CAN YOU GET A, GIVE AN IDEA? WHAT KIND OF TIMEFRAME ARE WE LOOKING AT FOR THESE SORT OF NOISE ISSUES TO BE, TO ARISE AS A GENERAL RULE? THE MINOR LEAGUE SOCCER GAMES WE'VE PLAYED ON WEEKENDS AS A GENERAL RULE, THEY WOULD START AT SEVEN 30 OR EIGHT AT NIGHT AND THEY'D BE DONE BY NINE OR NINE 30 ON THE WEEKENDS.
THERE'S AN OCCASIONAL SUNDAY NIGHT AND AN OCCASIONAL WEDNESDAY NIGHT GAME.
WE'RE TALKING RIGHT NOW, THE SCHEDULE IS ABOUT 14 FOR THE SEASON.
THE SEASON RUNS FROM MARCH TO SEPTEMBER, SO YOU GET INTO THE SUMMER MONTHS, SO YOU'RE KIND OF OUT OF THE SCHOOL YEAR.
UM, THE WONDERFUL THING ABOUT SOCCER IS IT STARTS AT A CERTAIN TIME AND IT ENDS AT A CERTAIN TIME.
WITH THREE OR TWO OR THREE MINUTES ADDED ON
AND JUST, UH, ONE OTHER FOLLOW UP.
YOU KNOW, I, I HIKE ON THE HIKING BIKE TRAIL BY AUSTIN HIGH SCHOOL AND I HEAR THE BAND AND I JUST LOVE LISTENING TO THE BAND.
IT'S GREAT TO HEAR THEM ALL PRACTICING.
THEY'RE PRACTICING IN THE MORNING AND THINGS LIKE, SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT, UH, YOU KNOW, OTHER, YOU KNOW, TIMES WHEN THAT AREA WOULD BE USED FOR PRACTICES FOR BANDS OR ARE YOU GONNA HAVE BANDS AND THAT KIND OF STUFF.
THEY'RE SOMETIMES THAT WOULD BE A PERMITTED USE TODAY
[01:00:01]
UNDER ITS EXISTING ZONING.THE THING THAT THIS ZONING WOULD ALLOW LITERALLY IS TO ALLOW THE CHARGING OF ADMISSION TO GO WATCH A, A, A GAME.
ALRIGHT, WELL THAT LEADS ME TO MY ANOTHER QUESTION THEN.
THAT 10 PER DOLLARS PER PERSON OR IS THERE LIKE A DISCOUNT FOR KIDS? OH, I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THAT.
IT'S NOT A, IT'S NOT A ZONING QUESTION.
I KNOW THAT'S NOT A ZONING QUESTION.
AND FIRST OFF, I AM KIND OF SURPRISED, I LOOKED AT THE ZONING FOR HOUSE PARK AND IT'S SF THREE, SO, OR AT LEAST ACCORDING TO PROPERTY PROFILE.
SO YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN AWAY WITH SF THREE THERE.
UM, BUT MY QUESTION IS ABOUT WOULD YOU BE, IF NEIGHBOR, IF THE NEIGHBORHOOD WANTED IT, WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO LIMIT HOURS OF NOISE? HOURS, HOURS? WE CANNOT DO THAT BECAUSE THAT'S ALL GOVERNED BY MLS SOCCER THAT THEY LIKE TELLING THE NFL WHAT THEY CAN AND CAN'T DO.
NOW THERE ARE, THERE ARE NOISE REGULATIONS THAT STILL APPLY AND, AND WE WOULD COMPLY WITH THE APPLICABLE NOISE REGULATIONS.
HOW ABOUT IF FOR NON SOCCER EVENTS? BECAUSE WITH THIS ENTERTAINMENT, WHAT, WHAT'S THIS, THIS ENTERTAINMENT USE OUTDOOR ENTERTAINMENT.
YEAH, OUTDOOR ENTERTAINMENT USE.
IF YOU WERE TO HAVE CONCERT THERE, ROCK CONCERT THERE OR SOMETHING, WOULD YOU BE ABLE TO DO A RESTRICTIVE COVENANT OR SOMETHING ON THAT, OR WHATEVER WOULD BE REQUIRED FOR LIMITING THE HOURS OF OPERATION OR ESSENTIALLY IT'S COVERED BY CODE.
THERE'S A SIGN, THERE'S A SOUND ORDINANCE AND A SOUND PERMIT.
WELL, JUST IN CASE THE NEIGHBORS WANTED TO REQUIRE THAT OR ASK THAT, WE, WE'VE NOT HEARD ANY REQUESTS FOR THAT.
COMMISSIONER CLAIR, DO YOU HAVE ANY INDUSTRIAL USES ON THIS PDA OR NOT IN THE ENTIRE PDA? YEAH.
THE, THE LAND USES HAVE CHANGED, BUT I'M SURE THERE ARE.
THE REASON I'M ASKING IS WITH A PDA, IF YOU HAVE AN INDUSTRIAL USE, YOU'RE LIMITED TO 55 DECIBELS.
SOUND ORDINANCE LIMIT YOU TO 75.
SO IT'S A REAL QUESTION CUZ WHEN I LOOKED AT THIS CASE, TO ME IT WAS LIKE, OOH, THE ISSUES ARE GONNA BE HOURS LIGHTING, THE ISSUE'S GONNA BE SOUND.
UM, TRAFFIC LIGHTING WE'RE SOMEWHAT HAMSTRUNG WITH THE PERFORMANCE STANDARDS, THE SITE DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS THAT WERE NEGOTIATED IN 1998.
I HOPE YOU GOT A BONUS FOR THAT ONE, RICHARD
BUT, UM, ALL THIS MAKES ME THINK THE APPROPRIATE THING TO DO HERE IS TO DO, MAKE THE USE CONDITIONAL SO WE COULD LOOK AT THE HOURS THAT WE COULD LOOK AT THE, THE, THE DECIBEL LEVELS.
UM, I HOPE THAT YOU DON'T MM-HMM.
I WENT TO SEE DIANA ROSS, GREAT PERFORMANCE SCHEDULED AT NINE 30 THAT NIGHT.
AND THAT'S THE KIND OF SITUATION I WOULD BE NERVOUS ABOUT.
UM, I DON'T ASSUME YOU'RE GONNA HEAR MUCH FROM THE NEIGHBORS BECAUSE THAT TRACT HASN'T BEEN USED YET.
THOSE ADJACENT TRACKS TO THE NEIGHBORHOODS HAVEN'T BEEN EXTENSIVELY.
MAYBE THEY'VE BEEN USED, BUT THOSE BLEACHERS SEEM TO BE NEW, SO, OH NO, THAT'S BEEN A VERY ACTIVE AREA FOR OKAY.
SINCE, SINCE THE FIELDS AND THE PITCH WAS BUILT.
THE OTHER THING I CAME ACROSS IN LOOKING AT THE NOISE ORDINANCE, WHAT I WAS SEEING IS THERE'S A TREND IN, UM, SOCCER LEAGUES TO BAN THE USE OF, UH, PARTICIPANTS COMING IN AND USING DRUMS OR BLOW HORNS OR STUFF LIKE THAT.
AND I KNOW THAT'S BASE, WHICH IS HARDER TO REGULATE, YOU KNOW, I JUST KEEP THINKING THIS REALLY? YEAH.
I, I JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT TO TELL YOU.
THERE'S HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE THAT LIVE OVER THERE AND YOU WOULD THINK THAT IF THIS WAS A CASE WHERE EVERYBODY WAS WOUND UP ABOUT IT, WE CONTACTED THE PRESIDENT OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION, NOTICES WENT OUT, UM, NOT EVEN A REACTION.
IT, IT JUST HASN'T BEEN, I MEAN, IT'S, IT'S A FUN PLACE.
IT'S, UH, I'M TELLING YOU THE KIDS IN THE YOUTH ACADEMY AND WHAT GOES ON OVER THERE, IT'S VERY ACTIVE AND IT'S BEEN DESCRIBED TO ME AS A, A PRETTY COOL PLACE.
[01:05:01]
I WOULD'VE ANTICIPATED HAVING A WHOLE CROWD OF PEOPLE HERE TONIGHT IF THEY REALLY WERE WORRIED ABOUT THIS.I WAS LIKE YOU LOOKING, I TOLD I A LONG NIGHT ALREADY.
I THINK WE JUST START ALL OVER AGAIN.
UM, I'D MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE STAFF RECOMMENDATION LIMITING THE, UM, OUTDOOR ENTERTAINMENT TO A SEVEN ACRE AREA TO BE DETERMINED WORKING WITH STAFF.
IS THERE A SECOND? I'LL SECOND IT.
SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER KOBASA.
UM, ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION? UM, YOU HAVE A SECOND.
I WOULD ACTUALLY LIKE TO OFFER A SUBSTITUTE, UH, APPROVE THE STAFF RECOMMENDATION, REDUCING THE FOOTPRINT TO FIELDS, BLEACHERS, AND AUXILIARY USES.
IF THEY ONLY NEED FIVE, I ONLY WANT TO GIVE 'EM FIVE, SORRY, SEVEN TO ME I KNOW.
IS YOU'RE I WOULD, YEAH, THAT'S FINE BY ME.
I MEAN, I THINK YOU WERE TRYING, YOU'RE SAYING THE SAME THING.
EXACTLY'S LIMITED, NO MORE THAN SEVEN ACRES.
LIMITING IT TO THE AREAS FEATURES AND AUXILIARY IF THEY NEED IT TO CHARGE THE PEOPLE TO COME AND SIT.
AUXILIARY USES CAN BE A LITTLE TRICKY.
THAT'S WHAT THE MOTION WAS CONFINED, BUT YES, IT WASN'T SEVEN ACRES, IT WAS UP TO SEVEN ACRES.
THAT'S A PERFECT WAY TO DESCRIBE IT.
SO THE MOTION IS UP TO SEVEN ACRES TO SEVEN ACRES SECONDED BY KOBASA.
ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION? ALL THOSE IN FAVOR? AND THAT LOOKS UNANIMOUS.
AND THANK YOU MS. MORROW TOO, FOR GIVING US GREAT GUIDANCE.
THIS, WHAT WAS MR. SAL? YES, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
AND NOW WE'RE MOVING ON TO ITEM NUMBER SEVEN.
I SIT DOWN, I GO, I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT THE 55 DECIBEL ON, ON INDUSTRIAL.
SHE TURNS TO ME AND SHE GOES, WE THOUGHT ABOUT THAT WHEN WE DID OFFICE AND FC OUT THERE, AND THE CODE WAS AMENDED AND IT DOESN'T APPLY IF IT'S NOT AN INDUSTRIAL USE
[7. Presentation and possible action regarding ATX Walk Bike Roll - Update of the Bikeways, Urban Trails and Sidewalks, Pedestrian Crossing and Shared Streets Plans. Presenters: Laura Dierenfield 974-7189, Ann DeSanctis 974-3102, John Eastman 974-7025 and Nathan Wilkes 974-7016, Public Works Department. (Part 1 of 2)]
ARE, THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE TOPICS, AND THIS IS GONNA BE BIASED HERE FOR A SECOND, BUT PRESENTATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING ATP WALK, BIKE ROLL, UPDATE OF THE BIKEWAYS URBAN TRAILS AND SIDEWALK PEDESTRIAN CROSSING AND SHARED STREETS PLANS.MISS STEER FIELD IS GONNA KICK US OFF BEFORE EIGHT O'CLOCK.
UM, AND, UH, WE HAVE, UM, SEVERAL OF MY COLLEAGUES ONLINE THAT WILL BE JOINING, UH, OR WILL BE SPEAKING SHORTLY ON THEIR COMPONENTS OF THIS EFFORT.
I'M WITH THE AUSTIN TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT.
I'M THE DIVISION MANAGER FOR ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION STREET DESIGN, AND WE'RE REALLY PLEASED TO BE BRIEFING YOU ALL ON THE ATX WALK BIKE ROLL INITIATIVE.
THIS WAS AN EFFORT TO UPDATE THE BIKEWAY, UH, SIDEWALK AND URBAN TRAILS PLANS.
AND AS CHAIR BARBARA RAMIREZ SAID, WE'VE UPDATED THE SIDEWALK PLAN TO INCLUDE NOW PEDESTRIAN CROSSINGS AND THE CONCEPT OF SHARED STREETS, WHICH, UH, JOHN EASTMAN WILL TALK A LOT MORE ABOUT HERE IN A MOMENT.
UH, WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE OR MAYBE CAN I DO THEM MYSELF? YEAH, YOU DO.
UM, SO THIS EVENING WE'LL GIVE YOU AN OVERVIEW SINCE, UH, THIS, I THINK IS THE FIRST TIME WE'VE SHARED THIS WITH YOU ALL AS COMMISSIONERS, ALTHOUGH I'M HOPING YOU PARTICIPATED IN VARIOUS WAYS THROUGH THE TWO YEAR PROCESS THAT WE'VE BEEN, UH, UH, HOSTING HERE TO UPDATE THESE PLANS.
UM, WE'LL GIVE YOU AN OVERVIEW OF OUR PLANNING PROCESS AND THEN WE WILL, UH, TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW THIS PLAN RELATES TO THE AUSTIN STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN, OUR NORTH STAR FOR TRANSPORTATION, UM, POLICY, AND HOW WE'LL ITERATIVELY WORK WITH THAT PLAN TO UPDATE ALL OF THEM TOGETHER AND TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT WE HEARD THROUGH OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROCESS, UM, REALLY SOME OF THE, YOU KNOW, CRIPPLING AFFORDABILITY CHALLENGES THAT MANY OF OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS HAVE, AND THE IDEA OF WHO GETS ACCESS TO, UH, THESE FACILITIES ULTIMATELY, UM, WHEN WE THINK ABOUT LAND USE AND MOBILITY TOGETHER.
AND THEN WE WANT TO GIVE YOU ALL A DEEPER DIVE INTO EACH OF THE PLANS AND HEAR FROM THE EXPERTS.
UH, MY COLLEAGUES JOHN EASTMAN WITH THE SIDEWALKS AND SPECIAL PROJECTS, UH, PROGRAM, UH, DIVISION, UH, THE URBAN TRAILS PROGRAM, AND DES SANCTU.
AND THEN NATHAN WILKES WILL SPEAK TO BIKEWAYS AGAIN.
UM, SO AS I MENTIONED, YOU KNOW, THE LAST TIME WE UPDATED THESE PLANS WAS IN SORT OF THE 2014 FOR URBAN TRAILS AND BIKEWAYS IN 2016 TIME RANGE FOR SIDEWALKS.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, PLANS TYPICALLY ARE UPDATED, I GUESS EVERY ABOUT,
[01:10:01]
YOU KNOW, FIVE TO SEVEN YEARS.AND I THINK THERE'S A LOT THAT HAS BEEN GOING ON IN SORT OF THE BEST PRACTICE IN EMERGING METHODOLOGIES TO BUILD OUT THESE SYSTEMS ACROSS NORTH AMERICA AND GLOBALLY.
AND WE'RE VERY TAPPED INTO THOSE AND I THINK ARE CONSIDERED ONE OF THE, UM, LEADING CITIES IN MANY WAYS, UH, ESPECIALLY IN A RETROFIT ENVIRONMENT WHERE WE'RE TRYING TO, YOU KNOW, BUILD OUT THESE NETWORKS THAT WEREN'T THOUGHT OF INITIALLY.
AND, UH, IMPORTANTLY WE HAVE THE AUSTIN STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN THAT IS OUR, THAT NORTH STAR, AS I SAID, OF WHERE WE HEADED AS A CITY, YOU KNOW, AMONG THE, THE, THE STRATEGIES HERE TO TRY TO SEEK OUT A, A 50 50 CITY, A CITY WHERE HALF OF US DRIVE AND ALONE, AND THE OTHER HALF OF US CAN GET AROUND IN OTHER WAYS, WHETHER IT'S WALKING, BIKING, CAR SHARING, OR WORKING FROM HOME.
I THINK WITH A PANDEMIC THAT SHOT UP TO ABOUT A QUARTER OF US NOW WORK FROM HOME
SO WE'RE REALLY SEEING THOSE CHANGES AS A RESULT OF THE PANDEMIC, BUT WITH NETWORKS THAT GIVE PEOPLE COMFORTABLE, SAFE, ACCESSIBLE OPTIONS, WE CAN REALLY START TO SHIFT SOME OF THOSE MODES AND HELP OUR CITY GROW, UM, TOGETHER AS, UH, OVER TIME.
UM, AND WITH, AND IN TERMS OF HOW THE PLANS RELATE, A LOT OF THE STRATEGIES WITHIN THE AUSTIN STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN WILL BE UPDATED TO REFLECT THE BEST PRACTICES EMERGING OUT OF THIS PROCESS.
UH, ATX WALK BIKE ROLE, UH, REALLY CORE TO OUR PLANNING PROCESS WAS CENTERING OUR EFFORTS IN EQUITY.
YOU KNOW, THE CITY OVER, UH, DECADES HAS, UM, NOT ALWAYS DONE THE BEST JOB OF REALLY ADDRESSING, UM, EQUITABLE OUTCOMES IN OUR CITY.
AND ON THE, UM, COATTAILS OF THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN THAT REALLY LEANED INTO MANY OF THE STRATEGIES YOU SEE HERE.
WE, WE DID, UM, REALLY START IN, UH, WITH A FRAMEWORK AROUND EQUITY AND TALKING WITH A LOT OF COMMUNITY LEADERS AND UNDERSTANDING KIND OF WHERE SHOULD WE START IN TERMS OF CENTERING OUR, OUR PLANNING EFFORT AROUND EQUITY.
UH, LOOKING AT THE EQUITY OFFICE'S DEFINITION OF EQUITY AS IT IS ACHIEVED WHEN RACE NO LONGER PREDICTS A PERSON'S QUALITY OF LIFE OUTCOMES IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AND IN, IN DOING, UH, THE WORK ITSELF, WE INTEGRATED COMMUNITY AMBASSADORS AND DEVELOPED WHAT WE CALL EQUITY ANALYSIS ZONES, WHICH I'LL HEAR A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT AS MY COLLEAGUES SHARE, UM, THE, THE DEEPER DIVE INTO EACH PLAN, BUT REALLY UNDERSTANDING WHERE IN OUR CITY DO WE HAVE SOME OF THESE DISPARITIES AND HOW CAN WE ADDRESS THOSE THROUGH, UH, PRIORITIZATION OF THE WORK, UM, THAT'S MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH, UH, THESE PLANS AND THE FUNDS THAT, UH, MANY OF, UH, YOU KNOW, THE VOTERS HAVE APPROVED OVER THE YEARS.
UM, ONE NOTABLE THING THAT YOU SEE ON THIS SLIDE IN TERMS OF THAT, UH, BAR GRAPH THERE IS THE FOCUS POPULATION.
SO WE, UM, WE DID, UH, TRY TO, TO HEAR FROM A REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE OF, OF EVERYONE IN AUSTIN, AND OF COURSE DIDN'T QUITE GET THERE, UH, IN TERMS OF, OF HAVING REPRESENTATION.
AND SO WHAT THIS FOCUS POPULATION ALLOWS YOU TO DO IS TO UNDERSTAND THE FEEDBACK WE GOT, UH, BASED ON RACE AND INCOME, UH, RELATIVE TO ALL THE FEEDBACK WE GOT.
AND THAT KIND OF HELPS GIVE YOU A GLIMPSE INTO, UM, SOME, UH, OF THE, UH, WAYS THAT WE CAN, UH, AMPLIFY VOICES THAT WE DON'T OFTEN HEAR FROM IN OUR PLANNING EFFORTS.
AS I ALLUDED TO IN, AT THE TOP OF MY REMARKS, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE KEY THEMES THAT WE HEARD THROUGHOUT THE PLANNING PROCESS IN TALKING WITH COMMUNITY WAS JUST, UM, YOU KNOW, THE IDEA OF WE'D LO THEY'D LOVE TO HA HAVE A SIDEWALK OR A BIKE LANE OR A URBAN TRAIL, BUT THEY'RE REALLY FOCUSED ON MAKING SURE THEY CAN AFFORD TO LIVE HERE.
AND THOSE, JUST, THOSE AFFORDABILITY ISSUES ARE SO, UM, ACUTE RIGHT NOW IN OUR CITY THAT AS WE ATTEMPTED TO PUT THESE PLANS TOGETHER, IT WAS JUST BECAME SOMETHING THAT WE COULD NOT IGNORE IT REALLY, THEY ARE TOGETHER LAND USE MOBILITY TOGETHER TO MAKE SURE THAT WHEN YOU ASK THE QUESTION, WHO, WHO CAN, UM, BENEFIT FROM THESE, THESE FACILITIES THAT WE CAN, WE CAN REALLY SEEK TO HAVE EVERYONE BENEFIT FROM THOSE FACILITIES AND LOOK TO HOW DOES LAND USE AND MOBILITY WORK TOGETHER TO DO SO.
UM, ONE OF THE WAYS THAT WE CAN DO THAT THROUGH THE MODAL PLANS THEMSELVES IS TO REALLY FOCUS ON HOW CAN WE ADDRESS TRANSPORTATION AFFORDABILITY ITSELF, MAKE, UH, FINDING STRATEGIES TO, UM, PERHAPS SUBSIDIZE CERTAIN TYPES OF TRANSPORTATION TO MAKE THEM MORE ACCESSIBLE TO PEOPLE.
UM, AND YOU SEE HERE A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT STRATEGIES THAT WE'VE COME UP WITH, UH, TO, TO TRY AND, UM, FACILITATE YEAH, THAT AFFORDABLE TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
UM, AND WHEN WE ASKED PEOPLE ABOUT THAT IN OUR PLANNING EFFORT, THAT WAS STRONGLY SUPPORTED.
SO AS YOU CAN SEE HERE, BY BOTH, UM, THE, THE EVERYONE AS WELL AS THE FOCUS POPULATION, SO THE IDEA OF MAYBE SUBSIDIZING TRANSIT AND BIKE SHARE, UM, MAKING SURE THAT THE CITY CAN STEP UP AND HELP IN THOSE WAYS.
UM, A GUARANTEED BASIC MOBILITY PROGRAM.
UH, FAIR ALLOCATION OF TRANSPORTATION SERVICES.
SO REALLY THINKING ABOUT WHEN WE ARE MAINTAINING OUR SYSTEMS, WE'RE MAINTAINING A MULTIMODAL SYSTEM.
UM, AND ALSO, UH, HOW CAN WE REALLY
[01:15:01]
EXPAND SOME OF THE STRATEGIES THAT HAVE EMERGED OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS.YOU KNOW, AUSTIN HAS BEEN QUITE THE, UM, HOTBED OF A LOT OF THESE TRANSPORTATION STRATEGIES AND HOW CAN WE MAKE, YOU KNOW, BIKE SHARE, SCOOTER SHARE, UM, TRUE ALTERNATIVES AND, AND OPTIONS REALLY FOR PEOPLE, NOT JUST ALTERNATIVES, BUT ACTUALLY TRUE OPTIONS.
UM, AND THEN LIGHTING AND PERSONAL SAFETY, YOU KNOW, MAKING SURE THAT PEOPLE FEEL COMFORTABLE WHEN THEY'RE USING THESE FACILITIES.
UM, AND THEN TO GIVE YOU A GLIMPSE OF HOW THESE PLANS IN PURSUIT OF THESE AFFORDABILITY GOALS AND MANY, MANY OTHER DIMENSIONS OF THE, THE POLICIES THAT HAVE EMERGED THROUGH OUR UPDATE PROCESS AND HOW THAT RELATES TO THE AUSTIN STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN.
WHAT YOU SEE HERE IS A, A TABLE OF VARIOUS, UM, A S M P, AUSTIN STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN SECTIONS, AND WHAT WOULD BE THE ACTION ITEMS WE WOULD INTEGRATE INTO THE A S M P TO, TO REALLY ACCOUNT FOR AND SPEAK TO THE FEEDBACK WE RECEIVED FROM THE COMMUNITY OVER THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS IN, IN DOING THESE PLANS, UPDATES.
AND SO THAT WOULD APPEAR NOT JUST THE DIMENSION OF AFFORDABILITY, BUT O OTHER DIMENSIONS OF THE AS S P, UM, AND LIKEWISE WHERE THE, AS MP REALLY SPEAKS TO WHAT THESE MODAL PLANS NEED TO SAY.
THERE'S, UH, ALSO AN ITERATIVE PROCESS TO UPDATE THEM AS WELL.
UM, WITH THAT, I'M GOING TO, UH, TURN IT OVER TO AND DESANTIS WHO'S WITH US OVER THE WEBEX LINK TO, UH, SHARE MORE ABOUT THE URBAN TRAILS PLAN.
IF IT'S NOT, BUT YOU'RE KIND OF WARY WARBLY, THAT'S BETTER.
LET ME KNOW IF I CONTINUE TO BE WARBLY AT ALL.
I'M, AND THANK YOU SOUND VERY FAR AWAY, UM, FROM YOUR MICROPHONE, SO I'M NOT SURE IT'S COMING THROUGH THE HEADSET.
LET'S SEE IF I CAN ADJUST THAT REALLY QUICKLY.
SAYS I AM USING MY HEADSET AND THERE IS THE AUDIO VIDEO SETTINGS AND AUDIO SETTINGS, AND THERE IS A MICROPHONE LEVEL SLIDER THAT MAY HELP.
HOW'S THIS? UM, MAYBE TALK AS LOUD AS YOU CAN AND ANYTHING BETTER HERE? YEP, THAT'S BETTER.
I'M GONNA KIND OF SHOUT, SO, UM, I'LL, I'LL KEEP GOING.
I'M THE ACTING PROGRAM MANAGER FOR URBAN TRAILS, AND I'LL BE SPEAKING SPECIFICALLY TO THE DRAFT URBAN TRAILS PLAN.
OUR LAST URBAN TRAILS PLAN WAS ADOPTED IN 2014, AND SINCE THEN WE'VE BEEN WORKING TO IMPLEMENT THE PROPOSED NETWORK.
THIS PLAN, WE'RE UPDATING THE PROPOSED NETWORK BASED ON FIELD WORK AND COMMUNITY FEEDBACK.
ADDITIONALLY, WE'RE UPDATING HOW THE NETWORK IS PRIORITIZED WITH A NEW DATA-DRIVEN METHOD BASED ON PUBLIC INPUT AND CITY POLICIES.
THE PIE CHART ON THIS SLIDE SHOWS THE FACTORS THAT GO INTO THE NEW PRIORITIZATION METHODOLOGY.
AS YOU CAN SEE, THE TOP THREE METHODS WHERE WHETHER THE NETWORK WILL IMPROVE ACCESS ACROSS MAJOR BARRIERS SUCH AS HIGHWAYS, WELL, RAILROADS IN CREEKS, WHETHER THE TRAILS ARE NEAR HIGH CAPACITY TRANSIT, WHETHER THE TRAILS ARE NEAR KEY NEIGHBORHOOD DESTINATIONS.
HERE YOU CAN SEE A SNAPSHOT OF THE PRIORITIZED NETWORK.
TIER ONE TRAILS ARE SHOWN IN DARK GREEN, AND THESE ARE HIGH PRIORITY FOR URBAN TRAILS TO IMPLEMENT IN THE NEAR TERM.
TIER TWO AND TIER THREE TRAILS ARE STILL IMPORTANT TO THE TRAIL NETWORK, BUT ARE RECOMMENDED TO BE APPROACHED MORE OPPORTUNISTICALLY OVER TIME.
SO, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT'S IF A NEW PARTNERSHIP ARISES OR IF REDEVELOPMENT OCCURS AS SOME OPPORTUNITIES.
AS WE IMPLEMENT THE TRAILS, WE'RE ALSO BEING SURE TO LOOK AT EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY IMPLICATIONS.
WE HEARD CONCERNS FROM COMMUNITIES THAT URBAN TRAILS CAN CAUSE DISPLACEMENT AS DATA ON THIS IS LIMITED.
THE PLAN UPDATE RECOMMENDS STUDYING DISPLACEMENT IMPACTS NEAR TRAILS, DEVELOPING AN ACTION PLAN TO MITIGATE, WE'LL ALSO SEEK TO PARTNER WITH EXISTING ANTI-DISPLACEMENT WORK ALREADY HAPPENING.
THEN BUILDING ON THE SUCCESS OF THE ATX WALK BY GRILL AMBASSADORS THAT LAURA MENTIONED, WE RECOMMEND HIRING COMMUNITY AMBASSADORS SPECIFIC TO URBAN TRAILS.
WE NEED TO MAKE SURE WE'RE NOT ONLY BUILDING TRAILS, BUT TEACHING PEOPLE HOW TO USE THEM AND ENSURING EVERYONE IS COMFORTABLE USING THEM.
[01:20:01]
PART OF THAT, PROGRAMMING IS KEY.THE PLAN RECOMMENDS TRAIL STEWARDS.
YOU CAN ACT AS A RESOURCE ON THE TRAIL AND ALSO RECOMMENDS PLACEMAKING AND TEMPORARY ACTIVATION.
PLACEMAKING ALONG A TRAIL CAN OFFER OPPORTUNITIES TO PARTNER WITH LOCAL ARTISTS THAT REPRESENT THE NEARBY COMMUNITIES.
AND TEMPORARY ACTIVATION CAN BRING NEW AND DIVERSE TRAIL USERS TO THE TRAIL AND MAKE 'EM MORE LIKELY TO USE IT AGAIN.
LASTLY, BUT PERHAPS MOST IMPORTANTLY, HAVE A SUCCESSFUL URBAN TRAIL SYSTEM.
THE URBAN TRAILS PLAN UPDATE INCLUDES AN ADA TRANSITION PLAN AND THE OUTLINE FOR A PROACTIVE MAINTENANCE PLAN THAT I'LL TURN IT OVER TO JOHN EASTMAN.
CAN EVERYBODY HEAR ME ALL RIGHT? NO.
YOU ALSO SOUND A LITTLE FAR AWAY.
I, I APPRECIATE THE, OH, ALL RIGHT.
CHANGE MY, THAT WHY I SOUND WHILE WE'RE AT IT.
UH, I WILL NOTE FOR FUTURE TECHNICAL TAKING NOISE REMOVAL OFF SEEMS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE AS WELL.
SO THE, THE SIDEWALK CROSSINGS AND SHARED STREETS PLAN IS BASED ON, ON THREE REALLY OVERARCHING STRATEGIES THAT FOCUS ON PRIORITIZING EQUITY, AS YOU'VE HEARD, PROVIDING SAFE, COMFORTABLE, ACCESSIBLE PEDESTRIAN PASSAGE ALONG AND ACROSS EVERY STREET, UH, WHICH IS, WHICH IS A, A GREAT NEW ADDITION TO, TO OUR OVERALL FRAMEWORK FOR, FOR PEDESTRIAN PLANNING, UM, AND COLLABORATING WITH PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PARTNERS USING A COMPLETE STREETS APPROACH TO IMPROVING THE PEDESTRIAN NETWORK.
AND THE MAPS THAT YOU SEE ON, ON THE SCREEN, YOU KNOW, CAPTURE THE PLANNED SIDEWALKS AND SHARED STREETS NETWORK IS OUTLINED IN THE PLAN, AS WELL AS THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE, UM, PEDESTRIAN CROSSING GAPS, UH, THAT THE CITY IS PLANNING ON WORKING ON.
SO, THE UPDATE PROCESS REALLY STARTED WITH AN EVALUATION OF THE CURRENT SYSTEM USING EQUITY ANALYSIS ZONES OR EASS.
UM, WE FOUND THAT A DISPROPORTIONATE SHARE OF THE CITY'S PEDESTRIAN HIGH INJURY STREETS ARE LOCATED IN THE FOCUS EASS, WHICH ARE AREAS WITH HIGHER CONCENTRATIONS OF HISTORICALLY MARGINALIZED POPULATIONS.
AND, AND THAT INCLUDES NOT ONLY, UH, BASED ON, ON RACE AND, AND ECONOMICS, UM, BUT UM, PROPORTIONS OF THE POPULATION WITH DISABILITIES AS WELL.
UM, THERE ARE ALSO A HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF GAPS BETWEEN SUITABLE CROSSINGS IN THE FOCUS EASS AS IT COMPARED TO THE CITY AS A WHOLE.
NEXT SLIDE, USING EASS TO LOOK AT.
THE SIDEWALK SYSTEM DID SHOW A COUPLE OF POSITIVE TRENDS, UH, BOTH THE EXTENTS OF THE SIDEWALK NETWORK AND THE CONDITION OF THE NETWORK, OR SLIGHTLY BETTER WITHIN THE FOCUS AZS.
UM, THAT'S A REALLY ENCOURAGING OUTCOME AND, UM, OF THE EQUITY-BASED PRIORITIZATION MODEL, UH, THAT FROM THE ORIGINAL 2009 SIDEWALK PLANNING, UM, THE OVERALL EXTENTS, UM, AND FUNCTIONALITY OF THE SIDEWALK NETWORK, UM, HAVE IMPROVED SIGNIFICANTLY IN THE SIX YEARS SINCE THE LAST SIDEWALK PLANE UPDATE.
UM, THE NETWORK HAS GROWN FROM 2,400 MILES TO 2,800 MILES WHILE IMPROVING FROM 16% FUNCTIONALLY ACCEPTABLE TO 32% FUNCTIONALLY ACCEPTABLE.
SO A LOT OF PROGRESS IN THE LAST 10 TO 15 YEARS, BUT OBVIOUSLY STILL A, A LONG, LONG WAYS TO GO TO ACHIEVING AN EQUITABLE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM.
A SYSTEM WHERE, YOU KNOW, SOMEONE WALKING OR ROLLING OR USING TRANSIT, UM, WHETHER BY CHOICE OR OR FOR ECONOMIC REASONS OR PHYSICAL REASONS, HAS THE SAME LEVEL OF ACCESS TO SCHOOLS, GROCERY STORES, AND, AND OTHER DESTINATIONS AND THE SAME QUALITY OF TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES AS SOMEONE WHO'S, WHO'S DRIVING.
SO, HOW DOES THIS PLAN GET US THERE? FIRST OF ALL, IT BUILDS, UM, ON, ON LOCAL AND NATIONAL RESEARCH AND EXPERIENCE, TAKING A REALLY COMPREHENSIVE AND PRAGMATIC APPROACH TO IMPROVING THE CITY'S PEDESTRIAN NETWORK.
IT BUILDS ON THE WORK OF SAFE HOUSE TO SCHOOL HEALTHY STREETS, VISION ZERO LIVING STREETS.
UM, AS LAURA MENTIONED, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF, A LOT OF NEAT STUFF HAPPENING IN AUSTIN USING CONTEXT SENSITIVE DESIGN IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF, UH, A CITYWIDE PEDESTRIAN NETWORK PLAN.
THE NETWORK WILL INCLUDE SIDEWALKS ON THE, BOTH, ON BOTH SIDES OF MOST STREETS, WHILE
[01:25:01]
RECOGNIZING THAT IN AREAS WITH MATURE TREES AND LANDSCAPING OR STEEP SLOPES, A SIDEWALK ON ONE SIDE OF THE STREET MAY BE SUFFICIENT.UM, AND ON LOW TRAFFIC VOLUME, RESIDENTIAL STREETS, CREATING A SHARED STREETS, UH, CREATING SHARED STREETS IS A MORE SUSTAINABLE, FASTER TO IMPLEMENT AND LOWER COST APPROACH TO IMPROVING THE PEDESTRIAN NETWORK.
SO RATHER THAN TAKING OVER A HUNDRED YEARS TO BUILD SIDEWALKS ON EVERY FRONTAGE OF EVERY STREET, WE CAN ENVISION COMPLETING A CITYWIDE PEDESTRIAN NETWORK IN SOMETHING MORE LIKE A 20 TO 30 YEAR TIMEFRAME.
A CONTEXT SENSITIVE APPROACH WILL ALSO BE USED TO GUIDE CROSSING IMPROVEMENTS AT ALMOST 2000 LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
AND, YOU KNOW, THIS NEW APPROACH IS, IS REFLECTED IN THE UPDATED PLAN NAME, WHICH HIGHLIGHTS THE THREE KEY ELEMENTS, SIDEWALKS, CROSSINGS, AND SHARED STREETS, UM, THAT, THAT WILL MAKE UP A COMPLETE PEDESTRIAN SYSTEM FOR AUSTIN.
AND TO HELP US STAY ON TRACK, THE PLAN INCLUDES INDICATORS WITH 10-YEAR TARGETS THAT WILL BE USED TO BENCHMARK OUR PROGRESS.
UM, AND WITH ADAM, I'M GONNA TURN OVER TO NATHAN WILKES TO TAKE YOU THROUGH THE UPDATES TO THE BICYCLE PLAY, AND THANK YOU.
SO, UM, WE'RE FRAMING THE BICYCLE PLAN UPDATE, WHICH IS AN UPDATE FROM THE 2014 BICYCLE PLAN, UM, AS HAVING KIND OF TWO, TWO CORE STR, UM, CENTRAL CHALLENGES.
AND THE, THE FIRST IS, LIKE, UH, JOHN'S TALKING ABOUT WITH THE PEDESTRIAN NETWORK IS THE HUGE TASK OF MAKING OUR STREETS SAFE, UM, TO GET AROUND.
AND, AND THE PRIMARY KIND OF MECHANISM TO DO THAT IN THE 2014 PLAN, WHICH IS THIS PLAN IS KIND OF TAKING THAT ON, UM, OR CARRYING THAT FORWARD AND EXPANDING AND IS THE ALL AGES AND ABILITIES BICYCLE NETWORK.
SO RATHER THAN SAY, YOU KNOW, UM, WE'RE GONNA TAKE HUNDREDS OF YEARS TO MAKE THE ENTIRE NET, YOU KNOW, EVERY STREET IN THE WHOLE CITY SAFE TO RIDE A BIKE OR A SCOOTER, UH, OR A TRICYCLE, UM, WE'RE SAYING THAT WE'RE GOING TO TAKE A KIND OF STRATEGIC APPROACH TO MAKE, UM, YOU KNOW, TAKE THE STREETS THAT ARE COST EFFECTIVE IN THE CONNECT THE STREETS AND URBAN TRAILS AND, UH, QUIET NEIGHBORHOOD STREETS INTO A NETWORK THAT SERVES PEOPLE'S TRAVEL DEMAND.
UM, SO IN 2014, WE HAD ABOUT A 400 MILE, UM, KIND OF BASIC BACKBONE OF AN ALL AGES AND ABILITIES BIKE NETWORK.
UH, WE'VE EXPANDED THAT, UH, IN THE, UH, ABOUT 50% WHEN WE DID THE AUSTIN STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN IN, IN 2019.
AND WE'VE EXPANDED ANOTHER 50% TO ABOUT A THOUSAND MILES, UM, IN THIS PLANNING EFFORT.
SO THE SECOND CENTRAL CHALLENGE IS REALLY KIND OF INTERROGATING A QUESTION THE LAURA WAS GETTING AT, LIKE, WHO WILL HAVE ACCESS TO THAT, UH, THE, THE ABILITY TO CHOOSE HOW THEY GET AROUND.
AND AS WE KNOW, AND YOU KNOW, PROBABLY CLOSE TO Y'ALL'S HEARTS, UH, HERE ON THIS COMMISSION IS, YOU KNOW, UH, IT TAKES A SAFE STREET AND SOMEWHERE TO GO, UH, AND, YOU KNOW, AND REASONABLE DISTANCES TO, UH, REALLY GIVE A CHOICE TO, UH, BIKE OR SCOOT, UH, TO GET TO TRANSIT, UM, AND, AND TO WALK AS WELL.
UM, SO LOOKING AT THE KINDA EQUITY CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT, YOU KNOW, GIVEN THE AFFORDABILITY AND DISPLACEMENT ISSUES WE'RE HAVING, UM, WHO, WHO REALLY HAS THAT CHOICE? NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO, LIKE I SAID, UM, WE'VE, WE'VE EXPANDED THE ALL LEADERS AND ABILITIES BICYCLE NETWORK.
UM, THERE WAS A LOT OF KIND OF NEW THINGS THAT HAVE COME TO LIGHT IN THE LAST, UM, NINE YEARS.
UM, WE'VE GOT PROJECT CONNECT, UH, TO CONNECT TO, UH, WE'VE GOT I 30, I MEAN, WE, YEAH, WE HAVE TECH CT, R M A BUILDING, A LOT OF KIND OF CONNECTIVITY.
WE'VE GOT, WE VOTED ON THE CORRIDOR PROGRAM, UM, IN 2016 THAT A LOT OF THAT CONSTRUCTION IS COMING ACTIVE.
SO REALLY WE'RE TAKING A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH OF HOW DO WE CONNECT ALL THIS, YOU KNOW, ALL THESE, UH, SAFE PATHWAYS AND WAYS TO GET AROUND TO MAKE, YOU KNOW, SERVE THAT TRAVEL DEMAND THAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT.
UM, WE ALSO KIND OF CO-DEVELOPED THROUGH THE, UH, PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT.
WE TESTED THE IDEA OF THREE DIFFERENT WAYS OF THINKING ABOUT PRIORITIZATION.
IN 2014, WE WERE REALLY FOCUSED ON THE THIRD OF THOSE THREE PRIORITIZATION THEMES, UM, THE CITYWIDE DESTINATIONS.
AND REALLY WE WERE TRYING TO CREATE THAT BASIC BACKBONE.
UM, AGAIN, THIS ISN'T EVERY STREET.
THIS IS JUST, UH, A BASIC LEVEL OF CONNECTIVITY TO GIVE PEOPLE MODAL CHOICE.
BUT, UH, IN THIS PLANNING PROCESS, WE
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TESTED, YOU KNOW, THE ACCESS TO NEIGHBORHOOD DESTINATIONS HAD THE HIGHEST LEVEL SUPPORT, UH, CITYWIDE DESTINATIONS WAS CLOSE BEHIND IT, ALSO WITH REALLY STRONG SUPPORT IN THE KIND OF, UM, AND, AND THEN CONNECTIONS TO NATURE WAS ALSO WELL SUPPORTED, UH, BUT WAS THIRD.SO OUR TAKEAWAY FROM THAT, AND, AND LIKE WE TALKED ABOUT BEFORE, THAT WAS KIND OF THE WHOLE POPULATION THAT PARTICIPATED AS WELL AS OUR FOCUS POPULATIONS, UM, REALLY STRONGLY SUPPORTED ALL THREE OF THOSE THEMES.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE KIND OF CARING FOR THAT.
ALL THREE OF THOSE ARE VERY VALID WAYS TO THINK ABOUT, LIKE WHERE PEOPLE WANT TO GO, HOW THEY, HOW THEY WANT TO MOVE AND, AND CHOOSE THE MODE TO DO IT.
WE'VE ALSO, UM, BUILT FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER THROUGH THIS PLANNING PROCESS, A GIS BASED PRIORITIZATION TO MAKE IT MORE DATA DRIVEN.
UM, AND, UH, WE HAVE ALL THE FACT, UH, FACTORS LISTED THERE, INCLUDING, YOU KNOW, EQUITY, UH, INCOME TRAVEL, DEMAND DESTINATIONS, UM, YOU KNOW, WHERE DENSITY OF JOBS AND, UM, POPULATION ARE, WHERE THE, UH, CURRENT AND FUTURE TRANSIT OF PROJECT CONNECT.
LIKE I SAID, IT'S A BIG DEAL FOR US TO BE FEEDING INTO THOSE SYSTEMS. UM, AND THEN JUST WHERE'S THE, THE NETWORK ABSENT AND ALSO LOOKING AT THE COST EFFECTIVENESS OF THESE INVESTMENTS.
SO THIS, UM, BEYOND THE KIND OF BIKE NETWORK, THESE ARE THE KIND OF BIG FOCUS AREAS THIS TIME AROUND.
AND A COUPLE OF THESE ARE RENEWED, UH, FOCUS AREAS.
THE, THE FIRST, WE'VE TOUCHED ON A NUMBER OF TIMES JUST RAISING THE FLAG THAT WE NEED TO MANAGE AT A CITYWIDE SCALE, THE AFFORDABILITY AND DISPLACEMENT CRISIS, IF WE'RE GONNA HAVE EQUITABLE OUTCOMES ABOUT WHO GETS TO CHOOSE HOW THEY GET AROUND.
UH, THE SECOND RELATES TO THAT IS, UM, WE, WE THINK WE NEED TO DO A LOT BETTER INTEGRATING KIND OF THE DISCIPLINES AND, YOU KNOW, BRINGING TOGETHER LAND PLANNING, AFFORDABILITY PLANNING, MOBILITY PLANNING, TRANSIT PLANNING, UH, AND REALLY TRYING TO COMBINE, UM, ALL THOSE TOOLS FOR THE BEST, BEST POSSIBLE OUTCOMES.
UM, THE NEXT ONE, FEEDING TRANSIT WAS SOMETHING WE TALKED A LOT ABOUT IN THE 2014 PLAN.
LIKE, UM, WE, WE KNEW WELL KIND OF THE STRATEGY, BUT NOW WITH PROJECT CONNECT, IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE, YOU KNOW, ALREADY PRIORITIZING PROJECTS AROUND THE METRO RAPID, UM, STATIONS THAT ARE GONNA BE THE FIRST TO OPEN, YOU KNOW, AS THE L R T AND THE COMMUTER RAIL LINES COME ONLINE.
YOU KNOW, WE WILL ABSOLUTELY BE LOOKING TO, YOU KNOW, HAVE DAY ONE SERVICE, UH, FEEDING THE TRANSIT, UM, EXPANDING ACCESS TO ELECTRIC BIKES.
THAT'S ANOTHER ONE THAT, UH, THOSE WERE EARLY ON THE MARKET IN 2014, AND NOW IT'S A THIRD OF ALL THE BIKES SOLD IN THE US.
UM, CITY COUNCIL JUST RECENTLY PASSED AN EXPANDED E-BIKE REBATE PROGRAM.
SO, UM, INSTEAD OF $300 REBATE, IT'S NOT $600.
AND IF YOU, UH, ARE LOWER INCOME, YOU CAN GET A $1,300 REBATE.
UM, SO SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCING THE BARRIER TO REALLY POWERFUL, UH, MOBILITY TOOL.
UM, WE ARE LOOKING IN THE 2014 PLAN.
WE WERE TALKING A LOT ABOUT TRAFFIC, AND I THINK, UH, THE IDEA OF MOBILITY AND TRAFFIC IS A LOT DIFFERENT THAN IT WAS, YOU KNOW, NOW THAT WE'RE, UM, AFTER THE PANDEMIC AND, UM, REMOTE WORK IS, IS VERY D YOU KNOW, TELEWORK IS VERY DIFFERENT.
UM, BUT WE TALKED ABOUT CLIMATE, UM, BUT WE, I THINK KIND OF UNDER TALKED ABOUT IT AND NOW, UH, YOU KNOW, HOW DO WE SUPPORT CLIMATE PLAN GOALS? ALSO, ON THE FLIP SIDE, HOW DO WE, HOW DO WE PREPARE ON THE RESILIENCY SIDE OF, YOU KNOW, UH, THE SHADE, UM, YOU KNOW, MITIGATING THE HEAT AND THE SUMMER.
UH, ALSO WE'RE LOOKING A LOT CLOSER, LIKE, HOW DO WE USE GREEN STREET APPROACHES AND WATER MANAGEMENT AND JUST HAVE BETTER INTEGRATED INFRASTRUCTURE AS WE DEPLOY IT? UM, WE'VE HEARD A FAIR AMOUNT ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S BEYOND THOSE FLEX POSTS, THE PLASTIC POSTS THAT WE USE TO PROTECT BIKE LANES A LOT.
UM, WE USE THOSE FOR GOOD REASON.
UM, BUT WE ALSO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WE NEED TO BE LOOKING BEYOND THAT, UM, FOR MORE DURABLE AND, AND MORE PROTECTIVE, UH, ELEMENTS, UH, JUST TO MAKE THE NETWORK HIGHER QUALITY AND, AND MORE SUSTAINABLE.
AND, UH, WE'VE GOT A BALANCE STRATEGY WHERE WE LOOK TO VERY QUICKLY EXPAND THE NETWORK AND, AND SERVE THAT TRAVEL DEMAND THROUGH THOSE QUICK BUILD APPROACHES, BUT ALSO BRING IN THE QUALITY OVER TIME.
UM, AND THE LAST POINT IS, UM, FROM THE EQUITY FOCUS AND THE AUSTIN STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN ALREADY TALKS ABOUT THIS, BUT JUST ACKNOWLEDGING THE NEED FOR BETTER SOCIAL SUPPORT SERVICES AND, AND THOSE AT THE BOTTOM OF, OF OUR SOCIETY THAT ARE MOST VULNERABLE, UM, UH,
[01:35:01]
DO NEED BETTER SUPPORT.UH, AND THAT RELATES TO THE EQUITY OF, AGAIN, MOBILITY OUTCOMES.
SO, UM, TRANSITIONING FROM THE BIKE PLAN TO THE OVERALL PLANNING PROCESS, UM, ON THE LEFT IS ALL THE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS THAT WE'RE, UM, GOING THROUGH BRIEFINGS RIGHT NOW WITH, UM, WE'VE GOT ALL THREE PLANS PUBLISHED ONLINE, THE DRAFT PLANS PUBLISHED ONLINE, AND A COMMENT DEADLINE ON MARCH 20TH.
SO WE'D LOVE FOR Y'ALL TO KIND OF SHARE THOSE WITH YOUR NETWORKS.
AND, UM, THERE'S THE ABILITY TO COMMENT AND PEOPLE CAN UP VOTE.
UM, AND WE'LL BE LOOKING AT THOSE AFTER THAT COMMENT DEADLINE AND, AND MAKING CHANGES GOING INTO PLANNING COMMISSION AND COUNCIL IN THE APRIL AND MAY TIMEFRAME.
AND LASTLY, UM, JUST TO WRAP UP, YOU KNOW, WE THINK IT'S BEEN REALLY POSITIVE BRINGING ALL THREE OF THESE PLANS TOGETHER AT THE SAME TIME.
UM, UH, AND, YOU KNOW, WALKING, BICYCLING, ROLLING URBAN TRAILS, LIKE THESE ARE ALL, UM, SHORT RANGE KIND OF MOBILITY TOOLS LIKE IN THE ZERO TO THREE PLUS SOME KIND OF MILES.
SO THEY SHARE, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE ALL VULNERABLE USERS, UM, UH, KIND OF USER CLASSES AND, AND KIND OF THUS THEY SHARE A LOT OF, UM, KIND OF OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES.
AND, UM, UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT, UM, STUDIES HAVE SHOWN, UM, IS THAT PEOPLE THAT WALK ON BIKE AS PART OF THEIR DAILY LIFE, UH, ARE HAPPIER AND HEALTHIER.
UM, YOU KNOW, ALL THESE MODES ARE ALSO AN IMPORTANT PART OF SUPPORTING THE MODE SHIFT GOALS, THE, THE STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN THAT, UM, LAURA TALKED ABOUT AT THE START.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT CAME OUT OF THE KIND OF EQUITY, UM, LENS OF THIS IS, YOU KNOW, WHETHER, UH, IT'S PEOPLE THAT ARE YOUNGER OR OLDER OR UNHOUSED OR JUST DON'T HAVE ACCESS OR DON'T WANT TO HAVE ACCESS TO A CAR, UH, REALLY THINKING ABOUT HOW TO GIVE THESE PEOP EVERYBODY, YOU KNOW, ACCESS TO TRANSPORTATION CHOICES TO GET TO THE PLACES THEY NEED IS A SUPER IMPORTANT, UM, KIND OF INDIVIDUAL, RIGHT? AND, UM, KIND OF THE LAST POINT HERE IS JUST THAT, YOU KNOW, ALL OF THESE PLANS TOGETHER HAVE ENORMOUS POTENTIAL TO SUPPORT OUR KIND OF BROADEST, UM, CITY GOALS.
AND, AND THAT'S A VERY EXCITING THING THAT I THINK WE CAN DO, DO BETTER TO KIND OF BUILD THE BRIDGES AND THE COALITIONS.
SO, UH, WHETHER IT'S THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, UH, AND I JUST WENT TO A BRIEFING AND THERE'S A GAP IN, UH, KIND OF THE KNOWN STRATEGIES AND WHERE WE NEED TO GET TO IN THAT PLAN.
SO IT'S LIKE WHERE, HOW DO WE STEP UP AND DO EVEN MORE AS A COMMUNITY, UM, THE AUSTIN STRATEGY HOUSING BLUEPRINT, UM, YOU KNOW, HOW DO WE GET SMARTER ABOUT HOUSEHOLD AFFORDABILITY AND USING MOBILITY TOOLS PLUS, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, ALL OF OUR AFFORDABILITY TOOLS, UM, AS WELL AS WE CAN THE EQUITABLE TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENTS.
YOU KNOW, HOW DO WE FEED TRANSIT AND, AND FEED TRANSIT NOT JUST FROM THE HALF MILE WALKING RADIUS, BUT THE TWO MILE, YOU KNOW, BICYCLE AND SCOOTER RADIUS, UM, UH, IMAGINE AUSTIN AS OUR COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AND THEN, UH, YOU KNOW, EVEN THE PARK COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.
UM, SO WITH THAT, UM, WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE AND HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS AND, UM, YEAH, THANKS SO MUCH FOR HAVING US HERE.
AND I THINK I'M ALSO SUPPOSED TO GIVE A PLUG IF Y'ALL WOULD LIKE TO TAKE ANY ACTION OR ENDORSEMENT, UH, IT WOULD BE WELCOME THROUGH THE PROCESS.
OKAY, I'M LOOKING AROUND THE ROOM.
DOES ANYBODY HAVE QUESTIONS FOR THE YES, COMMISSIONER NE FAUST.
YES, I DO HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT MAINTENANCE ON BIKE FACILITIES.
I ALWAYS LOVE IT WHEN I SEE A NEW ONE UP AND THEN GET A LITTLE BIT SAD AFTER A MONTH AND IT'S FULL OF DEBRIS WHILE THE ROAD FOR CAR, THE SPACE FOR CARS IS, YOU KNOW, YOU COULD EAT OFF OF IT, BUT THEN ALL THE DEBRIS AND EVERYTHING GETS KIND OF SHOVED TO THE SIDE AND THEN IT SEEMS TO STAY THERE.
AND I WAS WONDERING WHAT'S THE PLAN TO KEEP THOSE CLEAR? CUZ I KNOW IF YOU'RE RIDING A BICYCLE, A LITTLE PEBBLE OR SOME LOOSE DEBRIS IN THE ROAD CAN BE ACTUALLY QUITE DANGEROUS, AS I'M SURE YOU'RE AWARE OF.
SO YEAH, WHAT IS THE PLAN FOR MAINTENANCE AND TO KEEP THOSE LANES CLEAR AND SAFE OVER TIME? YEAH, IT'S A LITTLE KNOWN, BUT AUSTIN, UM, RESOURCE RECOVERY, I THINK THE COUNT IS UP TO THREE, BUT THEY HAVE TINIER SWEEPERS, AND THERE'S A GOOD AND BAD THING.
IT'S GOOD BECAUSE THEY FIT IN THE BIKE LANES.
UH, IT'S A LITTLE NOT AS GOOD BECAUSE THESE
[01:40:01]
UNITS CAN'T ALWAYS DRIVE ON THE HIGHWAY AND, UM, THEY HOLD LESS.SO, UM, I THINK THE, THE PROBLEM YOU'RE DESCRIBING IS REAL, AND IT'S ONE THAT IT WILL NEED KIND OF ONGOING PLANNING AND, AND WE'RE IN KIND OF CONTINUOUS CONVERSATIONS WITH AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY, BUT THE SHORT OF IT IS LIKE, AS WE, YOU KNOW, UM, BICYCLING SCOOTERING NEEDS LESS SPACE THAN A DRIVING LANE.
LIKE THE, IF YOU'VE EVER LOOKED AT LIKE ONE OF THE REAL SWEEPERS, THE BIG ONES, LIKE THEY'RE A LARGE TRUCK AND THOSE JUST DON'T FIT IN THE INFRASTRUCTURE.
SO WE, WE DO NEED KIND OF THE, UM, KIND OF OPERATIONS, UH, IN THE BUDGETING AND THE EQUIPMENT, WHICH WE DO HAVE SOME, UM, YOU KNOW, PROBABLY WE DO NEED MORE.
UM, BUT YEAH, THANKS FOR THE QUESTION.
GO AHEAD, COMMISSIONER COSTA AND THEN KING, AND THEN THOMPSON.
THIS IS PROBABLY AN EMBARRASSINGLY DUMB QUESTION, BUT JUST WHAT ARE THE FEATURES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF A SHARED STREET? LIKE, IS THAT A STREET THAT HAS A SIDEWALK THAT HAS A BIKE LANE ATTACHED, OR IS IT ONLY A SHARE? UM, JUST WHAT ARE THE FEATURES OF A SHARED STREET AND THEN A SET SECOND PITCHES FOR YOUR BIKE SHARE PROGRAMS? WHAT ARE THE CONSIDERATIONS FOR SMALLER FRAME BIKES FOR CHILDREN OR EXTRA ACCOMMODATIONS TO HOOK UP A BABY, UH, THINGS LIKE THAT FOR FAMILIES THAT WANNA BE ABLE TO ACCESS BIKE PROGRAMS? YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT HAVE BEEN THE CONSIDERATIONS FOR THOSE ACCOMMODATIONS? ASKING FOR A FRIEND
SO, SO I'LL, I'LL ANSWER THE, THE QUESTION ABOUT SHARED STREETS AND ABSOLUTELY NOT A, A A A A A DUMB QUESTION AT ALL.
IN FACT, UM, RE RESIDENTIAL SHARED STREETS ARE A VERY NEW CONCEPT, PARTICULARLY IN NORTH AMERICA.
UM, IN EUROPE, THE CONCEPT OF WOOFS, UM, AND SHARED STREETS IS, IS PRETTY WELL ESTABLISHED IN NORTH AMERICA, NOT AT ALL.
AND SO WE'RE THE, THE, UM, WE'RE WORKING THROUGH STILL A PILOT PROGRAM TO REALLY DEVELOP WHAT TE TECHNIQUES ARE GONNA WORK.
AND WE'RE, YOU KNOW, WORKING WITH NEIGHBORHOODS, TRYING THINGS, THE THE ASPECTS THAT WE THINK ARE KEY BASED ON OUR RESEARCH AND WHAT WE'VE BEEN FINDING SO FAR.
NUMBER ONE, STRONG GATEWAY TREATMENTS, RIGHT? SO THAT PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THAT THEY'RE COMING INTO A VERY DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENT.
AND SO, AND ALSO KEY IS IT'S AN ALTERNATIVE TO SIDEWALK AT SIDEWALKS.
SO IT'S NOT INTENDED TO BE, AND SIDEWALKS, IT'S, WE CAN'T POSSIBLY AFFORD OR EVEN FIND THE CONSTRUCTION CREWS TO BUILD 1500 MILES OF SIDEWALKS IN A REASONABLE TIMEFRAME.
SO WE, YOU KNOW, UM, ALL THOSE STREETS ARE SHARED STREETS ALREADY, BUT THEY'RE SHARED STREETS WHERE, UM, EFFECTIVELY, YOU KNOW, THERE'S NOT A RECOGNITION OR AN ACCEPTANCE THAT, THAT PEOPLE ARE GONNA BE WALKING IN THE STREET AND BICYCLING IN THE STREET.
UH, UH, AND SO WE'RE TRYING TO CHANGE THAT PERCEPTION AND CLEARLY COMMUNICATE TO EVERYBODY U UTILIZING THAT STREET THAT THIS IS A SPACE WHERE YOU CAN EXPECT TO SEE PEDESTRIANS IN THE STREET.
UM, AND SO IT'S A COMBINATION OF GATEWAYS, MARKINGS, CLEAR SIGNAGE, UH, AND THEN ALSO TREATMENTS, UM, SIMILAR TO SPEED MITIGATION TREATMENTS WE'RE USING, EXPERIMENTING WITH PINCH POINTS AND OTHER TREATMENTS TO REALLY TRY AND, AND SLOW VEHICULAR TRAFFIC DOWN.
AND THEN WE'RE, WE'RE INSTITUTING FEEDBACK LOOPS WITH THE NEIGHBORHOODS WHERE WE'RE WORKING ON THESE PILOT PROGRAMS TO KIND OF REALLY FIGURE OUT THE, THE TEMPLATE OF MATERIALS AND, AND WHAT, YOU KNOW, TOOLS IN THE TOOLKIT ARE GONNA WORK THE BEST.
BUT, UM, REALLY GOOD QUESTION.
I, I DON'T HAVE THE FINAL ANSWER YET CUZ IT'S, IT'S AN EVOLVING, UM, PRAC, BUT THE KEY IS IT'S NOT SIDEWALKS.
I'LL TAKE THE BIKE SHARE QUESTION.
I ACTUALLY REALLY LOVE THAT QUESTION.
UM, YOU'RE PROBABLY WELL AWARE THAT THERE IS NOTHING CURRENTLY, UM, FOR KIDS OR I, I THINK YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT CARRYING EVEN SMALLER KIDS.
BUT, UM, IT'S SOMETHING THAT EVERY TIME I TRAVEL, I TURN THE WHEELS TO MY OWN HEAD ABOUT ALL THE BARRIERS ABOUT WHY I CAN'T, UM, GET AROUND IN THE WAY I WOULD PREFER TO GET AROUND.
AND, YOU KNOW, I THINK AS WE, WHETHER WE'RE TAKING AN EQUITY FOCUS OR, UH, THINKING ABOUT PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES OR THINKING ABOUT FAMILY PRETTY CITIES, FAMILY FRIENDLY CITIES, LIKE JUST BRINGING THAT LINE OF REASONING IN AND WHY CAN'T WE, UM, YOU KNOW, WHY AREN'T THERE PEACE CYCLES WITH, UH, YOU KNOW, KID SEATS ON THEM? UH, WOULD ANYBODY USE THOSE? UM, SO, UH, YOU KNOW, WITH ALL THAT, I'LL PROBABLY MAKE SOMEBODY SQUIRM SAYING THAT, BUT, UM, YEAH, COMES A LOT OF LOGISTICAL, UH, QUESTIONS, BUT I, I THINK THOSE ARE GOOD QUESTIONS TO ASK AND I THINK WE'LL BE HAPPY TO SPEAK TO THAT, UH, KIND OF IN OUR PLAN AS FAR AS ASPIRATIONS.
YOU FROM A BIKE SHARE PERSPECTIVE THOUGH, WE WERE MUCH MORE FOCUSED
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ON, YOU KNOW, LET'S SAY THE LRTS GO UP TO LAMAR AND ONE A THREE, CAN WE GET BIKE SHARE IN THAT AREA IN SERVING THE RUNDBERG NEIGHBORHOOD BECAUSE BIKE SHARE, YOU KNOW, AND, AND THE E-BIKES AS PART OF BIKE SHARE ARE VERY POTENT KIND OF TOOLS FOR PEOPLE TO ACCESS STATION AREAS AND, AND OTHER NEEDS.AND RIGHT NOW THEY'RE IN A VERY LIMITED AREA.
SO CAN WE THINK CREATIVELY EXPAND THOSE SYSTEM AREAS? THANK YOU.
I KNOW IT'S BEEN A LONG NIGHT.
I REALLY, JUST TO SAY THAT SHE'S, AND SIGNAGE I DON'T THINK WILL BE ENOUGH FOR A SHARED EAST PATH OR FOR ANY KIND OF SHARED STREET.
AND I SAY THAT JUST BECAUSE HAVING DRIVEN ON STREETS WHERE THERE'S NO, YOU KNOW, WHERE THERE IS, YOU KNOW, INDICATION THAT THERE ARE CYCLISTS ON THIS ROAD, IT HAS NOT SLOWED TRAFFIC.
IT HAS NOT MADE ME FEEL ANY MORE CONFIDENT TO, TO BE ON IT AS SOMEONE WHO'S TRIES TO BE A BRAVE CYCLIST.
UM, SO FOR CHILDREN OR ELDERLY OR FOR PEOPLE IN WHEELCHAIRS, I DON'T, I DON'T IMAGINE THAT BEING ENOUGH TO REALLY CALL IT A SHARED STREET OR SOMETHING THAT, WHERE CARS WILL NOT FEEL THE ENTITLEMENT TO BE ABLE TO JUST DRIVE STRAIGHT THROUGH FOLK.
SO THAT'S MY ONE COMMENT THUMB THAT AND THAT, YOU KNOW, I, I, I REALLY APPRECIATE BUDGETS.
I I GET THAT THIS IS TRYING TO FIND A WAY TO CONNECT A LOT OF SPACE WITH A LITTLE BIT OF TIME TO GET PEOPLE TO HAVE THE EXPERIENCE OF GOING THROUGHOUT THE CITY WITHOUT A CAR.
AND I, I GET THAT AND I, I SUPPORT THAT ENTIRELY.
BUT TO REALLY, YOU KNOW, MAYBE THAT'S MORE OF US AS CITIZENS TO REALLY ADVOCATE FOR MORE BUDGET, GO, GO TOWARDS YOUR EFFORTS.
CUZ THIS IS A, A GREAT FIRST STEP AND A GREAT CONCEPT TO MOVE, TO MOVE TOWARDS FOR ALL AGES AND ALL ABILITIES.
BUT I JUST DON'T THINK IT'S, IT'S SIMPLY JUST NOT ENOUGH TO SAY SIGNAGE AND PAINTED ROADS.
IT'S, IT'S, IT'S NOT WHAT IT NEEDS TO BE.
AND, AND I'M SORRY IF I DIDN'T MAKE CLEAR, JUST WANNA RESPOND TO THAT.
UM, THE, THE SHARED STREETS PILOTS AREA GO WELL BEYOND THE KIND OF SIGNAGE AND, AND, AND PINED STREETS WE'RE, WE'RE DOING THINGS MORE SIMILAR TO WHAT WAS DONE WITH THE HEALTHY STREETS INITIATIVE, WHERE WE'RE NARROWING THE STREETS DOWN TO LITERALLY 12 TO 14 FEET WIDE AND FORCING YIELD FLOW AND SO, AND FORCING CARS TO DRIVE IN THE WRONG LANE ON THAT RESIDENTIAL STREET.
SO IT, IT REALLY, AND AND HAVING GATEWAY TREATMENTS THAT FORCE THEM TO ENTER GOING AGAINST WHAT IS THE TRADITIONAL TRAFFIC, THEY ARE, THEY, THEY MAKE DRIVERS VERY UNEASY AND THEY'RE, THEY WERE TRYING TO COMMUNICATE, THESE ARE VERY DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS, UM, BUT THEY'RE ONLY APPROPRIATE IN CERTAIN CONTEXTS TO BE ABSOLUTELY CLEAR, IT'S ONLY APPROPRIATE IN, IN WHAT ARE ALREADY VERY LOW VOLUME, VERY LOCAL NEIGHBORHOOD STREETS.
UM, LOW STREETS IN THE CITY WILL STILL GET SIDEWALKS.
BUT YEAH, I WANNA BE CLEAR, WE'RE WE'RE USING PRETTY DARN AGGRESSIVE TREATMENTS AND THEN WE'RE, WE'RE CHECKING TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE, THEY'RE AGGRESSIVE ENOUGH AND, AND THEY'RE GETTING TO THE GOALS THAT HAVE BEEN OUTBOUND.
I JUST WANTED TO BRIEFLY UNDERSCORE THE POINT THAT JOHN MADE ABOUT SPEED AND VOLUME.
THAT'S REALLY THE TEST YOU USED WHEN YOU WANNA THINK ABOUT A SHARED SPACE OR A SEPARATED SPACE.
SO REALLY WHEN THERE'S HIGHER VOLUMES, HIGHER SPEED, YOU'RE SEPARATING THOSE SEPARATIONS CAN INCLUDE THE IDEA OF A SHARED USE PATHWAY WHERE THERE'S SHARED USE FOR BIKING AND WALKING ON A SEPARATED FACILITY.
SO JUST SOME THE WORD SHARE CAN KIND OF APPEAR IN DIFFERENT PLACES AND IT'S REALLY ABOUT MANAGING TO THE CONTEXT AND MAKING SURE YOU'RE SEPARATING THE MORE VULNERABLE WHERE APPROPRIATE WITH THOSE HIGHER SPEEDS AND VOLUMES.
COMMISSIONER KING AND THEN COMMISSIONER THOMPSON.
AND, UH, THE COMMISSIONER F I THINK YOUR YOUR POINT ABOUT, UH, RECOMMENDING FUNDING, UH, WE HAVE A, A, AN ITEM ON THE AGENDA TONIGHT LATER ABOUT BUDGETING.
WE COULD CERTAINLY INCLUDE A RECOMMENDATION ABOUT FUNDING, UH, IN THE BUDGET AND THAT ITEM IF, IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT YOU DESIRE.
UH, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, MY QUESTION TO, YOU KNOW, TONIGHT IS A, JUST A COUPLE ABOUT, UH, THE NETWORK.
YOU KNOW, I, I APPRECIATE THIS, THIS COMPREHENSIVE, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, UH, VIEW OF BIKES, YOU KNOW, BIKE, WALK AND ROLL.
YOU KNOW, I, I THINK IT'S GREAT TO SEE ALL THESE TOGETHER AND, AND IN THE INTEGRATED FASHION HERE, BUT I WONDER, AND AND IT'S CERTAINLY THE FOCUS ON, UH, THE POINT ABOUT ADA AND THAT'S WHAT I WANT TO KIND OF TALK ABOUT JUST REAL BRIEFLY HERE.
I HAD A CALL, UH, UH, LAST YEAR FROM SOMEONE WHO WAS USING THE SIDEWALKS AND TO, TO, AND IN THEIR WHEELCHAIR TO GET TO WORK EVERY MORNING.
AND THEY WOULD START EARLY IN THE MORNING ABOUT FOUR O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING SO THEY COULD GET THROUGH THE NETWORK WITHOUT HAVING TO FIGHT THE TRAFFIC AND EVERYTHING ELSE THAT GOES ON AT THE REGULAR TIME, YOU KNOW, THE NORMAL DRIVING TIMES.
AND SO THEY FOUND IT VERY DIFFICULT TO, WHAT THE PROBLEM THEY FOUND WAS NOT NECESSARILY THE ACCESS, BUT THE LIGHTING THAT THERE WERE GAS WHERE THERE WAS NO LIGHTING, YOU KNOW, ALONG THE ROUTE.
AND SO I THINK LIGHTING NEEDS TO BE AN IMPORTANT PART OF ALL OF THESE, ALL OF THESE, UH, UH, TRANSIT, UH, STRATEGIES HERE, OPTIONS THAT WE HAVE.
AND, AND I KNOW THAT IT HAS TO BE CAREFUL IN NUANCE.
WE DON'T WANT TO, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, UH, TOO MUCH LIGHT ON THE NEIGHBORHOOD, THINGS LIKE THAT, OR
[01:50:01]
EFFECTIVE BIRDS, THINGS LIKE I UNDERSTAND THAT, BUT I THINK THAT THERE'S A WAY THAT WE COULD DO THIS THAT DOES PROVIDE MORE EQUITABLE ACCESS TO THE, TO THE, TO OUR TRANSIT SYSTEM, TO ADA, TO PEOPLE IN WHEELCHAIRS THAT NEED THAT ACCESS OR OTHER ADA UH, ISSUES THAT PEOPLE HAVE.SO, UH, I JUST WANNA GET THAT POINT OUT THERE.
AND THE OTHER, UH, POINT I WANTED MAKE OR QUESTION I WANTED TO ASK IS HOW TO WHAT EXTENT WAS THE EQUITY OFFICE INVOLVED IN THIS PLANNING AND HAS THE AUSTIN TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT GONE THROUGH AN EQUITY ASSESSMENT BY THE EQUITY OFFICE? LAURA'S WALKING UP IF YOU GUYS, SHE'S COMING READY.
OKAY, WELL, I'M SURE MY COLLEAGUES CAN ALSO SPEAK TO THIS THOROUGHLY AND I WOULD INVITE THEM TO, BUT, UH, YES, THE EQUITY OFFICE HAS BEEN INVOLVED FROM REALLY DAY ONE IN HELPING TO, UH, ESTABLISH THE EQUITY FRAMEWORK AND, AND HOW TO GO ABOUT THAT EFFORT.
UM, AND OF COURSE, IN ROUTE IN ROOTING THE DEFINITION OF EQUITY IN WHAT THEY VIEW AS EQUITY, UM, UH, IS, HAS BEEN AN IMPORTANT PIECE THAT WE'VE CARRIED THROUGH AND LEARNED, FRANKLY FROM OTHERS ABOUT, UM, HOW, HOW TO THINK ABOUT THAT IN DIFFERENT WAYS.
WE WERE JUST AT THE MAYOR'S COMMITTEE ON PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AND APPRECIATING, UM, THAT DEFINITION RELATIVE TO, TO THOSE VULNERABLE POPULATIONS.
UM, AND THEN, UH, I'M LOSING MY TRAIN OF THOUGHT ON YOUR SECOND PART OF YOUR QUESTION.
GONE THROUGH AN EQUITY ASSESSMENT.
WE WERE PART OF THE FIRST COHORT, SO WE'RE KIND OF CONSIDERED SOME OF THE, UH, THE EARLY ADOPTERS OF TAKING ON, UM, OUR WORK FROM AN EQUITY LENS AND CONTINUE THAT WORK NOW WITH OUR EQUITY INCLUSION OFFICER, UH, RAMON GOMEZ.
AND, AND THEN I GUESS MY FINAL POINT IS GOING TO BE ABOUT, YOU KNOW, I, I APPRECIATE THE POINT ABOUT DISPLACEMENT AND COORDINATING THE DISPLACEMENT, UH, ANALYSIS STUDY WITH THE, UH, AND I'M ASSUMING YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT PROJECT CONNECT, CUZ THAT IS, IS THE, WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF FUNDING FOR THAT EQUITY OF, I'M, I'M SORRY, FOR THE DISPLACEMENT ANTI DISPLACEMENT THAT YOU'RE REFERENCING IN THIS STUDY.
WHAT, WHERE, HOW WILL THAT BE FUNDED? THE, THE KIND OF BROADER POINT WAS THAT UNLIKE PROJECT CONNECT THAT HAD LIKE A PIGGYBACK PROVISION THAT INCLUDED ANTI DISPLACEMENT FUNDING, NONE OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE SOURCES THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HAVE SUCH A FUNDING SOURCE.
MORE OF WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IS THAT FROM, FROM OUR PLANNING PROCESSES, UH, AND OUR EQUITY CENTERING EQUITABLE OUTCOMES WILL NOT BE POSSIBLE WITH THE CURRENT LEVELS OF AFFORDABILITY AND KIND OF DISPLACEMENT ISSUES THAT THE COMMUNITY IS EXPERIENCING.
AND SO WE ARE RAISING THAT FLAG TO, UH, MAKE SURE THAT IT'S HEARD LOUD AND CLEAR THAT, THAT WE ARE EXTREMELY SUPPORTIVE OF KIND OF UPPING THOSE EFFORTS.
UM, YOU KNOW, THE O THE FLIP SIDE OF THAT, WHICH WE TALKED ABOUT WAS LOOKING AT HOUSEHOLD AFFORDABILITY AND JUST MAKING SURE THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, AT OUR HIGHEST LEVEL STRATEGIES IN, IN TERMS OF GIVING PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, UH, EXPENSES ARE, ARE ALL EXPENSIVE.
WHETHER, WHETHER THEY'RE, UH, EXPENSES, WHETHER THEY'RE HOUSING EXPENSES OR TRANSPORTATION EXPENSES AND TRANSPORTATION BEING THE SECOND, UM, WE ARE OFFERING KINDA STRATEGIES AND, AND TOOLS TO HELP, UM, ON THAT SIDE OF AFFORDABILITY.
WELL, AND, AND YOU KNOW, JUST ONE OTHER QUICK POINT ABOUT, UH, EQUITY, UH, AND, AND ACCESSIBILITY OF THE, THE, THESE TRANSIT, UH, UH, STRATEGIES.
UH, THE, THE, THIS, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT AFFORDABILITY, YOU KNOW, AND THE SUBSIDIES FOR THE E-BIKES AND THE SCOOTERS, YOU KNOW, I UNDERSTAND THAT AND I APPRECIATE THAT THEY'RE NUANCED TO THE MEDIUM FAMILY INCOME LEVELS.
SO THE LOWER INCOME LEVELS GET HIGHER REBATES AND, AND, UH, SUBSIDIES.
AND THAT'S THE WAY IT SHOULD BE.
AND I THINK THERE SHOULD BE A CUTOFF MAYBE, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE WE, WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO GO AROUND, WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH RESOURCES, BUT PART OF THAT REALLY OWNING AND RIDING AN E-BIKE OR A SCOOTER IS INSURANCE, COMPREHENSIVE INSURANCE.
THAT, AND SO IS HOW IS THAT GOING TO BE ADDRESSED? WILL THE RIDERS OF THE E-BIKES AND LOW INCOME RIDER OF THE E-BIKES AND SCOOTERS, WILL THEY BE ABLE TO GET A SUBSIDY TO, TO PAY FOR INSURANCE? WHAT? YEAH, THAT'S WHICH, WHICH KIND OF INSURANCE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT LIKE AUTO INSURANCE, EXCEPT IT'S FOR A SCOOTER.
IF YOU'RE DRIVING A SCOOTER, IF YOU'RE DRIVING A, YOU KNOW, AND YOU LOOK OUT THERE, YOU'LL SEE YOU CAN GET INSURANCE TO RIDE A SCOOTER OR YOU'RE, OR RIDE A E-BIKE.
THAT'S NOT PART, PART OF, AND I SAY THAT FROM AN EQUITY PERSPECTIVE BECAUSE PEOPLE WITH LOTS OF MONEY WHO CAN GO OUT AND BUY THESE E-BIKES AND SCOOTERS, THEY'RE GONNA HAVE THAT, BUT OTHER PEOPLE WHO, THEY'RE NOT GONNA HAVE THAT PROTECTION.
SO I THINK THAT NEEDS TO BE AN, AN, AN ISSUE THAT'S LOOKED AT.
AND, AND JUST TO POINT OUT THAT THAT'S NOT A PROVISION IN THE CURRENT SUBSIDY PROGRAM AND I THINK TO YOUR POINT, OFTEN PEOPLE ARE ENSURING THESE, THESE BICYCLES THROUGH THEIR HOMEOWNER'S INSURANCE, WHICH IS ANOTHER INTERESTING BARRIER TO EXPLORE FROM AN AFFORDABILITY PERSPECTIVE.
SO I THINK WHAT WE'RE UNCOVERING WITH THIS DISCUSSION TONIGHT IS SOME OF THIS SYSTEMIC ISSUES
[01:55:01]
THAT WE CAN START TO REALLY THINK ABOUT WHEN WE THINK ABOUT AN INTEGRATED APPROACH.AND YOU KNOW, TO YOUR POINT EARLIER ABOUT THE ANTI-DISPLACEMENT FUNDING, WHEREAS PROJECT CONNECT HAS NAMED THAT AS A STRATEGY WITH FUNDING, WHAT WE'RE SAYING IS WE NEED TO START DOING MUCH DEEPER INTEGRATED PLANNING ACROSS THE BOARD, UH, TO ACHIEVE THESE OUTCOMES.
SO, AND IT'S SOMETHING WE'RE PLEDGING, UH, THROUGH OUR BIKEWAY EFFORTS.
UH, NATHAN'S REALLY BEEN LEADING THAT, UM, TO DO, TO DO BETTER AT, AT THAT INTEGRATED EFFORT.
AND I THINK THE SYSTEMIC ISSUES YOU POINT OUT ARE, ARE NOT LOST ON US FOR SURE.
SO I HAVE THOMPSON KOBASA AND GREENBERG STILL WANNA MAKE SOME COMMENTS.
OOH, WELL I'LL TRY TO BE QUICK.
UM, I DID WANNA ASK FOLLOW UP ON MR. WILKES COMMENTS ABOUT THE CLIMATE PLAN AND I I WASN'T QUITE FOLLOWING.
YOU WERE SAYING THERE'S SOME GAPS THERE AND I, I WONDER IF YOU CAN HELP US HELP YOU IN OUR RECOMMENDATION, UM, MAYBE ARTICULATE A FEW THINGS THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL, WHAT KIND OF RESOURCES WOULD BE HELPFUL? YEAH, SURE.
SO TO, TO EXPAND ON WHAT I WAS SAYING, UM, AND I MIGHT GET THIS HAIR WRONG, BUT THE GENERAL GIST OF IT IS, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE AS A COMMUNITY THROUGH THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN HAVE SAID WE ARE GONNA GET TO NET ZERO CARBON EMISSIONS OR CARBON OR CLIMATE, I, I DON'T KNOW, OR, YOU KNOW, UM, THERE'S OTHER THINGS BESIDES CARBON BY 2040.
POWER GENERATION IS THE BIG, THE BIG ONE AND TRANSPORTATION IS A CLOSE SECOND.
AND THEN THE OTHER STUFF LIKE THEY'RE THERE LIKE INDUSTRIAL USES, ET CETERA.
BUT, UM, BECAUSE WE CONTROL AUSTIN ENERGY, THERE'S A PLAN AND I THINK IT'S ON LIKE A 10 YEAR TIMEFRAME TO GET TO NET ZERO AND IT'S HAPPENING.
SO NOW THEY, THEY JUST CONVENED A, UH, TRANSPORTATION AND, YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOW IN THE IMPLEMENTATION PHASE OF THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN AND THEY CONVENED A TRANSPORTATION AND LAND USE, WHICH WAS GREAT, THAT THAT'S THE FRAMING.
THEY'RE PLANNING THAT, YOU KNOW, THOSE TWO SYSTEMS ARE, ARE TOTALLY INTEGRATED.
AND WHAT THEY WERE SAYING IS THEY'RE, THEY DID ALL THESE PROJECTIONS ABOUT HOW THEY GET TO NET ZERO AND THEY'VE ACCOUNTED FOR SOMETHING LIKE TWO THIRDS OF HOW THEY'RE GONNA GET THERE AND THERE'S LIKE A THIRD UNACCOUNTED FOR.
SO I WAS JUST MAKING THE POINT THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN DOING A LOT OF WORK TO SHIFT MODAL PATTERNS AND BEHAVIORS AND THE KIND OF ORIENTATION OF OUR CITY.
UM, YOU KNOW, AS WE BRING ON PROJECT CONNECT, AS WE BUILD SHARED STREETS, AS WE BUILD THE ALL AGES BIKE NETWORK, WE MAY BE CALLED TO GO, YOU KNOW, IF WE'RE GONNA TRY TO HONOR THAT GOAL THAT WE SET, YOU KNOW, THIS IS JUST THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN,
SO THAT, THAT WAS KIND OF THE POINT OF THERE'S A GAP IN KIND OF WHERE WE'RE PROJECTED TO GET TO IN, IN CLIMATE EMISSIONS RIGHT NOW.
ARE, ARE THERE ANY RESOURCES OR, UM, YOU KNOW, POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS THAT THIS COMMISSION COULD MAKE THAT COULD BE HELPFUL IN THAT REGARD? I, I'D LIKE TO SHARE ONE WITH YOU.
I HAD A GREAT CONVERSATION WITH A, A COMMUNITY ADVOCATE TODAY AND, AND, AND, AND SHARE HER COMMENTS ARE GOING TO BE IN THE PLAN.
I THINK WE'LL BE ADDING AN ACTION ITEM, BUT I THINK THIS FALLS SOMETHING THAT FALLS FIRMLY IN YOUR, IN YOUR WHEELHOUSE FOR, FOR THIS COMMISSION IS, UM, CREATING SOME MINIMUM PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE CONNECTIVITY STANDARDS THAT APPLIES CITYWIDE TO ALL DEVELOPMENT.
AND SO HER CONCERN WAS IN SOME OF THOSE AREAS A LITTLE BIT OUTSIDE THE INNER RING OF AUSTIN WHERE WE DON'T HAVE A DENSE NETWORK OF ROADS, RIGHT? SO THOSE AREAS WHERE WE HAD LARGE MULTI-FAMILY DEVELOPMENTS IN IN THE SEVENTIES, EIGHTIES, NINETIES, EVEN THAT, YOU KNOW, THEN FENCED OFF THE ENTIRE, YOU KNOW, PROPERTY AND THERE ARE NO GATES IN THEM AND THERE'S REALLY NO INCENTIVES FOR THE MANAGEMENT COMPANIES TO CREATE THOSE OPENINGS THAT WOULD ALLOW, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE TO GET FROM THAT DEVELOPMENT WHERE THEY'RE GOING BY WALKING.
SO THEY HAVE TO GO OUT THE FRONT AND IT BECOMES THIS HUGE TRIP AND WE NEED TO THINK MORE CREATIVELY ABOUT THAT.
AND SO I, I THINK IT'S AN AREA I'M SURE Y'ALL TALK ABOUT AND HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, POLICY WORK IN THAT AREA, YOU KNOW, EVERY MAJOR CITY'S TRYING TO FIGURE THAT, THAT IT'S A TOUGH NUT TO CRACK.
BUT THAT'S ONE I WOULD THROW OUT THERE JUST IS TOP OF MIND CUZ WE HAD SOMEBODY TALKING TO ME ABOUT IT TODAY.
UM, IF I COULD ASK THAT, THE VIDEO THAT I EMAILED TO OUR VERY HELPFUL AV PERSON WHOSE NAME I DIDN'T CATCH, UM, AND YOU CAN MUTE IT CUZ IT'S, BUT UM, I'M A BICYCLIST AND I'M JUST GONNA POINT OUT THAT THERE IS KIND OF A PROBLEM AND UM, WITH SOME OF,
[02:00:01]
AND I REALLY APPRECIATE EVERYBODY'S WORK, BUT THIS VIDEO WHICH WAS SENT TO ME, IT IS 31ST STREET AT LAMAR AND ST.ANDREWS EXEMPLIFIES AND IT'S GONNA TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF TIME SOME OF THE ISSUES THAT I'VE BEEN HEARING ABOUT AND THAT IS LIKE A STREET MINIMUM WIDTH IS NEEDED.
I'M A BICYCLIST AND IN FACT THAT THIS IS THE ROUTE THAT I HAVE WALKED MY DAUGHTER TO, UM, RIKER WOODS AND THIS IS IN FRONT OF ST.
ANDREWS AND IT EXEMPLIFIES THE NEED FOR MINIMUM WIDTHS, UM, FOR IF YOU WANNA PUT A BIKE LANE IN CUZ THIS IS A TWO-WAY STREET AND THAT IS THE MARKING FOR THE BIKE LANE AND THEY PUT IN UM, AND THERE'S, I KNOW THAT PYLONS ARE USED FOR MARKING BIKE LANES AND YOU CAN SEE AND YOU WILL SEE THAT THEY'RE REALLY NOT THE GREATEST BARRIERS AND THIS IS WHEN TRYING TO IMPROVE SOMETHING THEY DIDN'T REALLY LISTEN TO THE NEIGHBORHOODS AND YOU AND I THINK YOU DO NEED TO LISTEN TO PEOPLE WHO DO USE THOSE STREETS AND ALSO THE SCHOOL.
AND IT ALSO SHOWS HOW PYLONS MAYBE DON'T WORK CUZ I WOULDN'T WANNA RIDE MY BIKE THERE AND IN FACT I DON'T, I REUSE 34TH STREET.
AND SO I WOULD LIKE TO POINT THIS OUT BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE WHILE THERE'S A LOT OF GOOD THINGS GOING ON, I WAS REALLY HOPING NOT THIS, UM, I WAS REALLY HOPING BIG PARKING FOR THE BIKE PART.
AND I THINK THE BIKE PART IS THE TRICKIER PART OF ALL OF THE URBAN TRAILS AND THE SIDEWALKS, UM, IS TO HAVE MORE SPECIFICS.
FOR EXAMPLE, IF I'D LIKE TO PUT TOGETHER A RESOLUTION FOR NEXT MEETING TO INCLUDE SPECIFIC POINTS LIKE, UM, LIKE A MINIMUM BIKE, LOOKING AT BEST PRACTICES FOR DESIGN, SELECTION OF ROUTES, MINIMUM STREET WIDTH AND EVERYTHING FOR BIKE LANES.
AND UM, I'VE BEEN LOOKING THROUGH THE TCM ON MORE SPECIFICS AND I DON'T SEE THEM AND IN FACT I NOTICED, UM, WHEN THE ASMP OR WHEN THE TRANSPORTATION CRITERIA MANUAL WAS UPDATED, UM, WE HAD SENT A RECOMMENDATION THAT WAS, UM, UNANIMOUS AND IT WAS, IT WASN'T EVEN ACKNOWLEDGED, IT WAS COMPLETELY IGNORED AND WE HAD SOME THINGS ABOUT BICYCLES.
UM, UM, SO I'D LIKE TO, I'D LIKE TO JUST BE A LITTLE BIT MORE CONCRETE AND HAVE STANDARDS AND THAT'S WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR, JUST A COMMENT.
BUT THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK AND UM, AND I KNOW THAT IT IS REALLY HARD TO GET A HANDLE ON AN ENTIRE CITY.
UM, JUST PERHAPS JUST A LITTLE BIT OF CONTEXT FOR, FOR THE, THE VIDEO AND THE EFFORT JUST TO MAYBE REST YOU A BIT ASSURED ON, ON UM, THE PROCESS THERE THAT UM, THAT'S ACTUALLY ABOUT, I THINK MAYBE GOING ON MAYBE TWO YEARS NOW, RIGHT? SO NOW THERE'S ACTUALLY, IT'S A VERY DIFFERENT CONDITION.
THAT WAS HAPPENED TO BE A DAY WHEN THEY DID, UM, VACCINES
WE'RE DEFINITELY STILL IN THE MIDST OF THAT, BUT IT WAS THE FIRST DAY THAT THAT SORT OF PILOT PROJECT WAS UP AND UM, IT WAS DEFINITELY A PRODUCT OF A VERY DEEP AND ONGOING CONVERSATION WITH THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND WITH THE SCHOOL AND WITH THE COMMUNITY.
IT'S ONE OF ONLY THREE REMAINING GAPS IN THE SHOLL CREEK TRAIL ACTUALLY.
THERE'S TO SORT OF UN UNDERSTAND THE SHOLL CREEK TRAIL FROM, UM, FROM THE LADYBIRD LAKE ALL THE WAY UP TO ITS TERMINUS WAY UP NORTH.
THERE'S ONLY KIND OF THREE BIG GAPS.
ONE'S THE WASHOUT, UH, THE OTHER IS THAT REALLY, UM, NARROW PIECE THAT KIND OF, YOU CAN WALK UNDERNEATH A KIND OF A CRAGGY OVERHANG, UM, RIGHT BELOW 31ST STREET AND THEN THE 31ST STREET GAP.
SO IT'S A DEFINITELY A, A VERY, UM, ONGOING AND DEEP PROCESS THAT WE'RE TRYING TO WORK THROUGH COMMUNITY TO GET TO AN ANSWER.
UM, AND DEFINITELY APPRECIATE YOUR CALL TO, TO ACTION ABOUT INVOLVEMENT CUZ THAT'S REALLY AT THE HEART OF IT.
UM, AND THEN FURTHER ON THE DETAILS, PERHAPS NATHAN CAN SPEAK TO THIS, BUT UM, YES, THE TRANSPORTATION CRITERIA MANUAL DOES DO A MUCH BETTER JOB THAN IT DID IN GIVING THOSE GUIDANCE AND, UM, NATHAN'S ACTUALLY BEEN A PART OF NATIONAL, UM, BEST PRACTICE IN CONTEXT SENSITIVE SOLUTIONS THAT DO GET TO WHAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT WITH MINIMUM STANDARDS TO ACHIEVE THE COMFORT AND, UM, ATTRACTION THAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR FOR THESE TYPES OF NETWORKS.
WELL, AND COULD I ASK THEM THE NICE THANK YOU.
AND I IN FACT TODAY AND I WILL, UM, SPARE YOU SHOWING THE PICTURE OF THAT.
BUT TODAY AS I WAS LEAVING FOR THIS MEETING, ONE OF THE PEOPLE, PEOPLE WHO LIVES ON 31ST STREET SENT ME A PICTURE OF A FIRETRUCK AND HOW IT WAS COMPLETELY BLOCKING THE FIRE, THE BIKE LANE AND ALL THAT.
BUT I WOULD LIKE, UM, ALSO THE PICTURE THAT SAYS, UM, STEEP HILL LAMAR BIKE LANE BECAUSE THIS IS IN THE HERITAGE NEIGHBORHOOD, WHICH IS ALSO WHERE I LIVE.
[02:05:01]
BEING, THIS IS BEING ADVERTISED AS AN ALL ABILITIES BIKE.ALL AGES, ALL YEAH, ALL AGES AND ABILITIES BIKE LANE.
AND IT'S A VERY STEEP, IT'S, IT'S A, IT'S A STEEP HILL AND I KNOW THAT HAVING READ THROUGH BEST PRACTICES THAT THERE IS A REQUIREMENT OR A SUGGESTED MAXIMUM OF GRADIENT AND THIS DEFINITELY IS MORE THAN THAT.
AND IN FACT ACROSS THE STREET IS 31ST STREET WHERE THAT OTHER THING WAS FILMED.
AND SO I WOULD JUST LIKE TO SEE JUST MORE NAILING DOWN AND UM, AND ESPECIALLY ON ALL AGES AND ABILITIES, JUST REALLY PAYING ATTENTION BECAUSE WE DO HAVE A PERSON IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD WHO DID RIDE THIS IN HER, UM, WHO HAS RIDDEN HERE, SHE ONLY RIDES, SHE, SHE RELIES ON HER BIKE AND SHE WON'T EVEN CROSS IT.
SHE HAD TO SPIN OUT INTO THE PARKING LOT THAT'S RIGHT AT THE STOP SIGN.
SO, UM, I'M MAKING THESE POINTS CUZ I THINK THAT PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT DOES NEED TO BE A LITTLE BIT BETTER AND JUST, UM, NAILING DOWN CRITERIA FOR ALL AGES IN ABILITY AND WITH THE STREETS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
THIS, UH, HAPPENS TO BE PART OF A PROPOSED NEIGHBORHOOD WAY AND SO IT'S NOT YET ALL AGES, JUST TO BE CLEAR.
AND WE WOULD SEEK TO TRY TO MAKE A CONNECTION, YOU KNOW, ACROSS, UH, ALONG AND ACROSS 31ST HERE AT LAMAR TO OPEN UP THOSE OPPORTUNITIES.
BUT TO YOUR POINT, THE, THE CONTEXT MATTERS A GREAT DEAL, AND GETTING TO THE LEVEL OF COMFORT THAT SOMEONE WOULD ACTUALLY USE IS REALLY THE POINT.
UM, AND I DON'T KNOW IF NATHAN WANTS TO SPEAK TO ANY OF THIS MORE, BUT DEFINITELY APPRECIATE, UM, YOU RAISING THESE SPECIFICS AS THEY KIND OF RELATE TO THE RETROFIT ENVIRONMENT THAT WE DEAL WITH
YEAH, I'M, I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY, ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE KIND OF CRITERIA THAT WE USE.
AND THERE, THERE IS CRITERIA, AND I COULD PROBABLY, UM, KEEP YOU WAY LONGER THAN YOU WANT TALKING ABOUT SAID CRITERIA, YOU KNOW, UM, YOU KNOW, JUST REALLY BASIC, THE MINIMUM PAINTED BIKE LANE, YOU KNOW, AND THIS IS THE NATIONAL KIND OF FEDERAL HIGHWAY STANDARDS IS FIVE FEET.
ONCE YOU GET INTO PHYSICAL PROTECTION, YOU HAVE TO START THINKING ABOUT HOW DO YOU FIT THE SWEEPER, UH, WHICH IS WE HEARD EARLIER, YOU KNOW, BECOMES, UH, BASICALLY I WAS TALKING ABOUT MINIMUM, I'M SORRY TO INTERRUPT, BUT MINIMUM STREET WIDTHS, LIKE FOR IF YOU DO THIS AND THIS, IF YOU HAVE THAT, AND I, YEAH, NO, I UNDERSTOOD PCM AND I DON'T SEE, AND, AND YEAH, MAYBE TO WEAVE TOGETHER, I UNDERSTAND, UM, KIND OF YOUR SPECIFIC POINT HERE, BUT TO WEAVE ALL THIS TOGETHER, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT IS ONE OF THE MOST UNIQUE PLACES THAT WE'VE EVER WORKED WITH IN TERMS OF A STREET LIKE THAT, IS IF YOU TAKE AWAY THAT HILL, WHICH I AGREE WITH YOU, LIKE HILLS ARE BARRIER IN A WAY THAT PEDESTRIAN HYBRID BEACON, AND WE'RE HAVING CONVERSATIONS ABOUT MAKING THAT CROSSING SAFER.
LIKE THAT'S ONE OF THE FEW SAFE PLACES TO CROSS LAMAR ANYWHERE AROUND THERE.
IT, IT BACKS UP, THERE'S BRAKES IN THE BIKE LANE.
SO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT LIKE BARRIERS UPON BARRIERS, DEPENDING ON, YOU KNOW, IF YOU GO NORTH OR SOUTH, IT DOESN'T NECESSARILY GET BETTER.
SO THE PHB AND THE CROSSING OF LAMAR IS, UH, KIND OF AN ASSET OF SORTS, UM, FOR SAFE CROSSING AND THE HILL BARRIER IS ALWAYS GONNA BE THERE.
UM, AND TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE, THAT'LL BE A DIFFERENT LEVEL OF BARRIER.
THE, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THAT PICTURE OF THE HILL THOUGH, THE BIGGER, THE BIGGER THING HAPPENING THERE IS WHAT LAURA WAS TALKING ABOUT, WHICH IS, IS THE SHOAL CREEK TRAIL CONTINUOUS OR IS IT FOREVER BROKEN? AND WE'RE, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE'RE HAVING A COMMUNITY CONVERSATION THERE ABOUT IS GIVEN THAT IT'S A NARROW STREET, GIVEN THAT IT'S A CONSTRAINED RIGHT AWAY, GIVEN THAT THERE'S A CLIFF, YOU KNOW, LIKE A BLUFF DOWN INTO A GREEN BELT, WHAT IS THE RIGHT FIT TO BALANCE A CONSTRAINED STREET AND, AND A TRAIL? AND YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT IS OUT THERE IS KIND OF A PILOT PROJECT AND, UH, WHAT IS KIND OF INCREMENTALLY DONE OVER TIME IF WE CONTINUE TO, UH, KIND OF BUILD ON IT.
UM, YOU KNOW, IF THE PILOT KIND OF MOVES FORWARD, YOU KNOW, ALREADY THE, THE ST.
ANDREWS USES HAVE KIND OF ADAPTED IN TERMS OF THEIR PICKUP DROP OFF HAS MOVED OFF OF 31ST.
UM, THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT RESTARTING IT, BUT THEY HAVE ONE OF THE BEST MANAGED PICKUP DROP-OFFS I'VE EVER SEEN.
YOU KNOW, WE'VE SEEN A LOT OF SCHOOLS ALL OVER THE CITY.
THAT'S NOT TO SAY THAT THERE'S NOT ANY KIND OF HARDSHIP THAT THEY'VE TAKEN ON IN TRYING TO MAKE ALL OF THIS WORK OUT, BUT YOU KNOW, REALLY WHAT'S HAPPENING ON 31ST, UH, IN THE BIGGER SCHEME OF THINGS IS THAT WE DO NOT HAVE THE PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY FOR A TRAIL FOR THE SHOLL CREEK TRAIL.
UM, AND THE ONLY PUBLIC THING WE HAVE IS THE STREET, WHICH, UH, AS YOU, AS YOU SHOWED, LIKE WHEN THEY STILL HAD THAT PICKUP DROP OFF AND THE VACCINE THING WAS HAPPENING, LIKE THERE WAS A LOT OF DEMANDS ON THE STREET.
IT LOOKS VERY DIFFERENT, UM, YOU KNOW, TYPICALLY TODAY, BUT, OKAY.
[02:10:01]
GREENBERG.OKAY, SO I JUST HAVE A COUPLE COMMENTS AND THEN I'LL END WITH A QUESTION.
SO ON SLIDE EIGHT, THIS IS REALLY PICKY, BUT IT'S KIND OF SURPRISING TO ME THAT THE LOWEST LEVEL OF SUPPORT IS FOR FAIR ALLOCATION OF TRANSPORTATION SERVICES, UM, WHICH MAKES ME WONDER WHETHER IT WAS SOMETHING ABOUT THE WAY THE QUESTION WAS WORDED.
UH, I KNOW THAT, YEAH, I MEAN, PEOPLE, I PREFER THAT MONEY BE SPENT ON ME AND NOT ON YOU.
UM, BUT WE DON'T, YOU MAY INTERNALIZE THAT, BUT YOU'RE NOT GONNA ANSWER THAT WAY.
UM, SO THAT'S JUST A COMMENT ABOUT THE SLIDE EIGHT.
THE OTHER IS THAT, UM, FOR ME, I BELIEVE THAT THE PRIORITY SHOULD BE FOR PEDESTRIAN SYSTEMS. EVERYONE BENEFITS, AS LONG AS YOU'RE NOT HOMEBOUND WITH PEDESTRIAN SYSTEMS. NOT EVERYONE USES BICYCLE OR SCOOTERS, ALL AGES AND ALL ABILITIES IS A NICE EXPRESSION, BUT EVEN WHEN IT'S FLAT, IT'S NOT A REALITY THAT, I MEAN, BICYCLES AND SCOOTERS ARE NOT FOR ALL AGES AND ALL ABILITIES.
UM, BUT PEDESTRIAN SYSTEMS DO BENEFIT EVERYONE.
SO MY QUESTION IS, HOW MUCH OF THE ALLOCATION GOES TO THE URBAN TRAILS? HOW MUCH TO SIDEWALKS AND HOW MUCH TO THE BIKEWAY PLANS? UM, THERE'S NO PIE CHART SORT OF SAYING, HOW ARE THESE RESOURCES BEING DIVIDED? QUESTION.
SO, UH, LET ME TRY AND ANSWER THAT.
IT'S REAL COMPLEX BECAUSE THERE'S, THERE'S TWO MAIN BUCKETS OF OF FUNDING TO TALK ABOUT.
THERE'S, THERE'S MAINTENANCE FUNDING, AND THEN THE'S ALSO CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT FUNDING.
UM, WHAT I CAN TELL YOU IS OVERALL THROUGH THE BOND PROGRAMS, UM, THE SIDEWALK PROGRAM, AND PARTICULARLY WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE SIDEWALK PROGRAM AND SAFE ROUTE TO SCHOOL PROGRAM COMBINED, WHICH SAFE ROUTE TO SCHOOL FUNDS A LOT OF SIDEWALKS NEAR SCHOOLS, AS WELL AS, UH, AS SOME OTHER FACILITIES INCLUDING BIKEWAYS, UM, RECEIVE SIGNIFICANTLY MORE FUNDING THAN BIKEWAYS.
UM, YOU KNOW, EXACTLY HOW MUCH MORE KIND OF DEPENDS WITH EACH BOND PROGRAM.
UM, NATHAN, I COULD PROBABLY TELL YOU THAT THE BREAKDOWN, SO THERE'S OVERALL, FROM A MAINTENANCE PERSPECTIVE, I CAN TELL YOU, IN FACT, I'VE BEEN ADVOCATING ON BEHALF OF URBAN TRAILS RIGHT NOW IN THE, THE ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGETS.
THEY HAVE VIRTUALLY NO MAINTENANCE FUNDING.
UM, OUR TOTAL MAINTENANCE FUNDING NOW AFTER MANY YEARS OF ADVOCATING AND, AND SUCCESS IS NOW ON THE ORDER OF MAGNITUDE OF 9 MILLION A YEAR.
JUST SIX YEARS AGO, WE WERE AT $250,000 A YEAR TO MAINTAIN A 2,400 MILE NETWORK.
AND THAT WAS, TO ME, ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE, THE, THE GREAT POSITIVE OUTCOMES OUT OF THAT 2016 SIDEWALK POINT IS WE REALLY ELEVATED THAT MAINTENANCE ISSUE AND, AND WE WERE HEARD AND THERE WAS A RECOGNITION ON THE PART OF THE COMMUNITY AND, AND DECISION MAKERS.
AND EVEN LAST YEAR, THERE'S BEEN INCREMENTALLY, WE'RE STILL NOT ANYWHERE NEAR WHERE WE NEED TO BE, UM, YOU KNOW, BUT WE'RE, WE'RE GETTING CLOSER.
SO OVERALL, I CAN TELL YOU THAT THE PEDESTRIAN SYSTEM GETS SIGNIFICANTLY MORE FUNDING THAN, THAN THE BICYCLE SYSTEM, BUT EXACTLY HOW MUCH REAL GETS PRETTY COMPLEX AND NUANCED AND, AND GETS INTO A DISCUSSION IN E OF EACH INDIVIDUAL BOND PROGRAM.
SO 10 TIMES AS MUCH, TWICE AS MUCH
SO I, I WANT, WELL, I THINK TWO TO THREE TIMES AS MUCH AS IS PROBABLY WHAT'S IN THE RANGE.
I MEAN, WHAT JOHN'S TALKING ABOUT OF $10 MILLION OR 9 MILLION A YEAR IN OPERATING LIKE MAINTENANCE FUNDING IS EXTREMELY SIGNIFICANT.
UM, LIKE JUST FOR CONTEXT, LIKE WITH ALL THE 2016 AND 2020 BOND FUNDING, BIKEWAYS WILL GET UP TO ABOUT EIGHT TO 9 MILLION A YEAR IN THE PEAK, TWO TO THREE YEARS OF SPENDING IN LIKE THE 25 TO 20 20, 25 TO 2027.
SO, UM, I, I WOULD, YEAH, I WOULD GUESS LIKE TWO TO 3, 3, 3 TO FOUR, MAYBE EVEN FIVE TIMES THE LEVEL OF FUNDING WHEN YOU THROW IN THAT OPERATING FUNDING, UM, YOU KNOW, URBAN TRAIL.
YEAH, I WOULD A SEPARATE SEPARATE THING.
BUT WAIT, WHEN YOU COM WHEN YOU COMBINE THE, THE SIDEWALK SAY ROUTE TO SCHOOL, AND THEN YOU ALSO START FACTORING IN THINGS LIKE THE CORRIDOR PROGRAM.
ONE OF THE MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS OF THE CORRIDOR PROGRAM IS TO EITHER ADDRESS ALL THE GAPS OR BRING ALL OF THE SIDEWALKS ALONG THE FULL LENGTH OF EVERY QUARTER INTO ADA COMPLIANCE.
SO, SO THE CORRIDOR PROGRAM IS WHOLE VERY SIGNIFICANT, UM, INVESTMENT IN SIDEWALKS.
THERE'S THE FI AND LOU PROGRAM, WHEN YOU AGGREGATE IT ALL UP, I WOULD GUESS THAT IT'S AT LEAST FOUR TO FIVE TIMES, POSSIBLY SIGNIFICANTLY MORE, BUT IT'S KIND OF DIFFICULT.
THERE'S A LOT OF DIFFERENT POTS OF
[02:15:01]
MONEY AND DIFFERENT FUNDING SOURCES, WHICH AGAIN, VERY WONDERFUL BE TO WORKING, WORKING IN AUSTIN.THAT'S, THAT, THAT IS TACKLING THIS ISSUE SO AGGRESSIVELY AND, AND JUST TO KIND OF GET AT THE ALL AGES AND ABILITIES BICYCLE NETWORK IS THE KIND OF, THAT'S, THAT'S REALLY IN RESPONSE TO OUR OLD STRATEGIES.
YOU KNOW, BACK IN THE 2009 PLAN, THERE WAS NO MENTION OF PROTECTED BIKE LANES OR THIS NOTION THAT WE, YOU KNOW, NEEDED TO DO BETTER THAN THAT.
AND IN 2014 WE DID A COMMUNITY-WIDE, STATISTICALLY VALID KIND OF PHONE SURVEY.
AND WHAT WE FOUND WAS THAT ONLY 15% OF THE POPULATION THINKS IT'S REASONABLE AND SANE TO RIDE AT A PAINTED BIKE LANE.
YOU KNOW, LIKE IMAGINE A SIDEWALK THAT HAD A PAINTED LINE, RIGHT? BUT IF WE SHIFTED INTO THESE ALL AGES AND ABILITIES BIKEWAY STRATEGIES, WHICH INCLUDE, YOU KNOW, COMBINING TRAILS WITH QUIET NEIGHBORHOOD STREETS, WITH PROTECTED BIKE LANES AND SAFE CROSSINGS OF BUSY STREETS LIKE THE PHP AND LAMAR, YOU GET INTO 55 TO 60% OF THE POPULATION IS NOW INTERESTED AND WILLING TO RIDE A BIKE.
UM, YOU KNOW, FOR TRIP TYPES THAT MAKE SENSE.
IF YOU HAVE A 20 MILE COMMUTE TO WORK, YOU, YOU'RE PROBABLY TODAY YOU'RE TRYING TO TELEWORK.
BUT LIKE, UM, YOU KNOW, LIKE A 20 MILE BICYCLE RIDE IS NOT REASONABLE, BUT A THREE MILE, UH, TRIP TO THE PARK IS SOMETHING THAT COULD BE REASONABLE OR A TWO MILE TRIP TO THE ORANGE LINE STATION, YOU KNOW, THAT'S GONNA BE BUILT WOULD BE REASONABLE.
SO THAT'S REALLY WHAT WE MEAN.
AND YOU KNOW, THE ALL AGES AND ABILITIES APPROACHES REPRESENT ESSENTIALLY AN AT LEAST FOUR TIMES KIND OF, UM, INCREASING KIND OF MAGNITUDE OF THE POTENCY OF THOSE TOOLS.
UM, AGAIN, BACK TO THE KIND OF CLOSING SLIDE THAT WE HAVE TO FURTHER THE HIGHEST LEVEL GOALS OF, OF OUR CITY, AND THIS IS NOT, YOU KNOW, IN THOSE STATISTICS, I DECIDED THAT LEAVES LIKE 40% OF PEOPLE IN AUSTIN WHO IT, IT'S NOT FOR THEM.
UH, IT'S ABOUT GIVING AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE OTHER WAYS TO GET AROUND SO THAT THEY HAVE THE CHOICE TO DO IT.
UM, YOU KNOW, SO WE CAN DO THINGS LIKE BUILD LESS PARKING IN OUR BUILDINGS, UM, YOU KNOW, AND JUST START LIGHTENING THE LOAD OF OUR, OUR CURRENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM.
I I MEAN, MORE AGES AND MORE ABILITIES JUST ISN'T AS CATCHY.
I MEAN,
AND I'LL REPORT BACK IN ABOUT 80 YEARS.
NO, I WON'T BE ALIVE, BUT, UH, I'LL, I'LL TELL YOU LATER HOW FAR I TAKE A DEATH.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER DINKLER.
UM, I'M, I ACTUALLY WANT TO COMPLIMENT YOU ON YOUR PRESENTATION.
IT IS REALLY WONDERFUL TO SEE PEOPLE THINKING ABOUT PLANNING IN AN INTEGRATED WAY.
AND I WAS ESPECIALLY, UH, PLEASED TO SEE, HEAR ABOUT THE GUARANTEED MOBILITY PROGRAM, CUZ I THINK YOU'RE TRYING TO GET MORE PEOPLE TO WALK AND BIKE AND USE TRANSPORTATION.
UM, SO THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF THOUGHT IN THIS AND I DON'T WANT YOU THINKING WE'RE NOT ALL APPRECIATIVE OF THE EFFORTS.
I REALLY HOPE THERE IS SOME WAY WE'RE MEASURING ON PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.
SO I'M HOPING PERFORMANCE STANDARDS ARE A BIG PART OF THIS DISCUSSION.
AND THEN I WANT TO KEY ON COMMENTS THAT OUR NEW COMMISSIONER MADE, AND I HEARD COMMISSIONER KOBASA MAKE IS I DON'T THINK SAFETY IS JUST ABOUT LIGHTING ON TRAILS, UH, AND BIKE PATHS.
I, I AM APPALLED AT HOW FEW PROTECTED BIKE LANES WE HAVE.
YEAH, 50 MILES PROTECTED BIKE LANES IS SQUAT, AND WE REALLY GOT THOSE JUST THROUGH THE LAST, UH, ROUND OF MOBILITY BONDS.
WHAT ARE WE DOING TO INCREASE SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS LIKE, UH, PUBLIC, UM, MOBILITY, UH, EXCUSE ME, PROTECTED BY CLIENTS? IS THAT EVEN CONSIDERATION IN TERMS OF AN AMENDMENT? YEAH, I'LL, I'LL START WITH THE SAFETY ONE.
AND I THINK LIGHTING IS AN IMPORTANT POINT AND WE, IT WAS ONE THAT WE FLOATED TO THE PUBLIC JUST BECAUSE THERE ARE INCONSISTENCIES IN THE SURE.
KIND OF EQUIT MOTOR, EQUIT, EQUITABILITY, YOU KNOW, BASICALLY STREETS THAT DON'T HAVE CARS, WE DON'T LIKE, YOU KNOW, AS A COMMUNITY IS KIND OF HOW IT GOES RIGHT NOW.
AND WE THINK, YOU KNOW, WE TESTED THAT WITH THE PUBLIC.
UM, UH, WE'VE BEEN WORKING A LOT CLOSER WITH OUR VISION ZERO OFFICE AND WE HAVE A REALLY TALENTED
[02:20:01]
GROUP OF PEOPLE, UH, THERE THAT ARE DOING A LOT OF DATA ANALYTICS.AND WE'VE ALSO BEEN LEARNING A LOT TOGETHER.
AND THE IDEA OF SYSTEMIC SAFETY IS ONE THAT IT, YOU KNOW, I CAME FROM A BICYCLE INFRASTRUCTURE BACKGROUND AND WHAT'S HAPPENED IS THE VISION ZERO, LIKE LET'S REDUCE CRASHES AND THE LET'S MAKE STREETS SAFE TO RIDE A BIKE.
AND NOW A SCOOTER ARE KIND OF GROWING INTO THE SAME THING OF LIKE, LET'S JUST MAKE SAFE STREETS AND THESE ARE GONNA BE SAFE STREETS TO CROSS AS A PEDESTRIAN TO ACCESS THE BUS STOP.
UH, THE SPEEDS ARE GONNA BE, YOU KNOW, AND THIS LITERALLY HAPPENS EVERY TIME WE DO A PROTECTIVE BIKE LANE PROJECT BECAUSE WE'RE CONSTRAINING THE PHYSICAL ENVELOPE WHERE YOU CAN DRIVE A CAR, SO YOU CAN'T JUST TEXT AND TAP THE CURB.
YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU GET REALLY DISTRACTED, LIKE YOU'RE, YOU'RE IN AN ENVELOPE THAT YOU HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION.
SO A EGREGIOUS SPEEDING 10 MILES AN HOUR OVER THE SPEED LIMIT COMES DOWN BY 90%, UM, CRASHES COME DOWN ABOUT 30%.
AND WE SEE THIS LIKE PROJECT OVER PROJECT OVER PROJECT, UM, EVERY SINGLE PROJECT THAT WE LOOK AT, HOW DO WE PUT A PROTECTED BIKE LANE IN, WE'RE THINKING THE EXACT SAME TIME, LIKE, WHERE DO THE ADA CURB RAMPS NEED TO BE? WHERE DO SIDEWALKS NEED STREET SPACE? WHERE DO PEOPLE NEED TO CROSS THE STREET TO CONNECT THE PEDESTRIAN NETWORK? YOU KNOW, AND ON AND ON AND ON.
SO, UM, YEAH, I, I THINK IT'S A GREAT POINT AND IT'S ONE THAT, UH, YEAH, I THINK BOTH IN, IN, UM, KIND OF LOOKING AT, I PUT A LOT OF KIND OF SYSTEMIC SAFETY STUFF IN THE BICYCLE PLAN.
AND I THINK WITH THE SIDEWALK PLAN GOING BEYOND A SIDEWALK PLAN INTO LIKE A PEDESTRIAN PLAN, LOOKING AT LIKE, SO WHAT IF THERE'S A SIDEWALK? IF YOU CAN'T CROSS THE STREET TO WHERE YOU NEED TO GO, THEN, YOU KNOW, UH, IS THIS, WE'RE NOT REALLY TALKING ABOUT THE WHOLE PROBLEM.
I'M SORRY, I DIDN'T MEAN TO INTERRUPT.
I'M, IS THERE, IS THIS WORTH HAVING A DISCUSSION WITH THE C I P OFFICE ABOUT, BECAUSE YOU KNOW, THAT MOBILITY BOND ON ALL THE BIKE LANES, THE ONLY STREET THAT GOT THE PROTECTED BIKE LANES WAS STASSY, AND I WAS VERY GRATEFUL FOR THAT.
BUT NO OTHER STREET THAT WAS PROPOSED FOR BIKE LANES, I THOUGHT, I THINK GOT PROTECTED LANES.
SO IS IT WORTH INTEGRATING THE BOND FOLKS? UM, IN THIS PLANNING DISCUSSION, WE, UH, WE ARE ONE IN THE SAME.
SO LAURA, I THINK SHE'S STILL AT THE PODIUM AND, AND MYSELF, LIKE WE WORK ON LIKE WITHIN A DIVISION THAT IMPLEMENTS ALL THE BOND FUNDED PROTECTED BIKE LANE PROJECTS ACROSS THE CITY.
WE ALSO WORKED WITH, YOU KNOW, DESIGN OF SAFE ROUTES AND UM, THAT KIND OF THING.
BUT, UM, YEAH, WE'RE, WE'RE, YEAH, IT'S NOT JUST DASNY.
UH, WE'VE PUT IN, I, I CAN'T RECITE THE NUMBER OF, THE NUMBER OF MILES OF PROTECTED BIKE LANES WE'VE PUT IN IN THE LAST, UM, YOU KNOW, FIVE YEARS.
WOULD IT BE VERY SIGNIFICANT? UM, AND, AND IT'S CERTAINLY A STRATEGY WE'RE LOOKING TO DO A LOT MORE.
AND JUST, YEAH, FOR SOME CONTEXT, I THINK WE, WE GOT TO HALF THE NETWORK BUILD OUT THE INITIAL 400 MILES REACHED HALF OF IT, SO 215 IN, UM, MIDDLE OF 2021.
AND SO IN TERMS OF NUMBER OF LIKE PROTECTED BIKE LANES, WE'RE PROBABLY INTO THE 60 PLUS MILES, UM, WHICH IS STILL A LONG WAY TO GO TO YOUR POINT, BUT 15 MIGHT BE A YEARLY 60, 60 OUT OF HOW MANY MILES OF BIKE LANES? UH, LIKE 200, WELL, 215 WOULD, WE WOULD CONSIDER ALL AGES.
AND THEN, UM, OF THAT, THERE'S MANY OTHER TYPOLOGIES.
SO SHARED USE PATHWAYS, UM, SHARED, UH, WE CALL NEIGHBORHOOD BIKEWAYS AND OTHER, OTHER, MAYBE, MAYBE YOU CAN SIMPLIFY IT, 60 PROTECTED BIKE LANES OUT OF HOW MANY TOTAL BIKE LANES? WE PROBABLY HAVE SOMETHING LIKE TWO OR 300 MILES, I DON'T HAVE THE NUMBER MEMORIZED OF, OF UNPROTECTED BIKE LANES.
WHAT, WHAT, UH, THOSE ARE ALL OLDER AND, YOU KNOW, BASICALLY WE DON'T DO PAINTED BIKE LANES FOR NEW PROJECTS ANYMORE.
SO WE ARE JUST IN THE PROCESS OF EVERY TIME WE GET AN OPPORTUNITY TO, UH, REVISIT THE STREET, WE'RE LOOKING TO GET TO THAT KIND OF QUALITY BAR, IF THAT MAKES SENSE.
APPRECIATING YOUR COMMENT ABOUT PERFORMANCE METRICS AND ABSOLUTELY IN INTEGRATED, THERE ARE SEVERAL OF THOSE THAT WE ALREADY MEASURE AND THEN THIS, THE PLANNING EFFORT WILL HELP US TO, UM, CREATE MORE, FOR EXAMPLE, THE PEDESTRIAN CROSSING PROGRAM, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO GET TO HALF OF OUR HIGH, UM, AND VERY HIGH PRIORITY CROSSINGS IN 10 YEARS GOAL.
SO THERE'S A NUMBER OF, UM, METRICS THAT WE'VE SET FOR OURSELVES TO, WHICH WOULD REQUIRE FUNDING THOSE TOO.
SO IT'S SORT OF, WE HAVE TO SORT OF SET THE GOAL AND TRY TO HELP TO RESOURCE IT.
BUT, UM, CERTAINLY HERE YOUR POINT, WE'RE GONNA COME UP WITH A BUDGET RECOMMENDATION, SO MAYBE THAT'S WHAT WE'RE DOING NEXT.
I'M GONNA TRY AND TIE THIS ALL UP.
SO WE GENERALLY HEAR ZONING CASES WHICH FOCUS ON LAND USE IN THE OUTER RIM OF OUR CITY.
SOMETIMES WE HEAR SUBDIVISION CASES AND SOMETIMES, VERY RARELY DO WE EVER SEE A SITE PLAN.
SO FOR THE MOST PART, WE DO NOT GET TO DECIDE
[02:25:01]
IF THERE'S A BIKE LANE OR A SIDEWALK.ALL WE DEPEND UPON THESE PLANS SO THAT IT'S IN THE ASMP SO THAT THE SITE PLAN DEVELOP, OR THE SITE PLAN REVIEWER CAN THEN POINT TO IT AND SAY, YOU HAVE TO BUILD A SIDEWALK HERE BECAUSE IT'S IN THE PLAN.
SO WE DON'T REALLY GET TO SAY THAT MUCH ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT THERE'S A BIKE LANE OR A SIDEWALK OR A NERVINE TRAIL.
SO, UM, ALL THAT BEING SAID, WE DO, I DO FEEL LIKE THERE'S A NEW POLICY FOR THE STREET IMPACT FEE THAT DOESN'T ALLOW US THE SAME LEVEL OF FLEXIBILITY FOR INVESTMENT BY DEVELOPERS, UM, OF THEIR, YOU KNOW, FOR IMPROVE FOR THESE TYPES OF IMPROVEMENTS, RIGHT? MOSTLY THEY CAN ONLY PAY FOR THINGS THAT INCREASE THE CAPACITY OF THE ROADWAY.
AND THERE ARE SMALL WAYS THAT THEY CAN CONTINUE TO CONTRIBUTE AND WE ARE TRYING TO CHIP AWAY AT THOSE THAT HAVE ALREADY EXISTED.
BUT JUST POINTING OUT THAT IT'S VERY HARD TO ASK DEVELOPERS TO PUT IN A SIDEWALK OR PUT IN A BIKE LANE THESE DAYS WITH THESE, WITH OUR NEW POLICIES.
I DO WANNA SAY THAT WE HAVE THE ABILITY AS A, AS A LAND COMMISSION, LAND USE COMMISSION TO, WE SIT ON THE CODES AND ORDINANCES COMMITTEE, WE REVIEW CODES, WE TALK ABOUT WAYS THAT WE CAN, UM, IMPROVE OUR CODE, AND ONE OF THOSE WAS A SUBDIVISION, UM, RECOMMENDATION THAT WE MADE AS A GROUP TO THAT CODES AND ORDINANCES, UM, COMMISSION COMMITTEE.
AND IT'S KIND OF GOTTEN BURIED UNDER ALL THE OTHER, UM, AFFORDABILITY IMPROVEMENTS AND THINGS THAT ARE GOING ON HERE LATELY.
SO, UM, WE, I WILL BRING IT UP AGAIN, THE SUBDIVISION ORDINANCE BECAUSE I DO BELIEVE AS, UM, MR. EASTMAN MENTIONED THESE, UM, MINIMUM BIKE HEAD CONNECTIVITY STANDARDS ARE PART OF THE MISSING LINK THAT WE SEE OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
SO, UM, THAT'S REALLY ALL I HAVE TO SAY.
UM, THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME, MR. WILKES AND ANN, AND MR. EASTMAN.
WHERE ARE WE? WE ARE ON ITEMS FROM THE COMMISSION.
CAN I MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES AS THEY WERE? OH, YES.
BEING POSTED AT 6 39 THIS FOR THIS AFTERNOON, HAS ANYBODY HAD A CHANCE? THE TABLE AND CAST MOTION? YES.
I'VE READ THOSE, THOSE, UH, UPDATED MINUTES AND THEY LOOK ACCURATE TO ME.
SO WE'VE REMOVED THE MINUTES FROM THE TABLE.
SMITH HAS MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER DINKLER.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF THE MINUTES AS REVISED.
OKAY, SO THEN WE'RE NO PROBLEM.
SO WE'RE MOVING ON TO ITEM NUMBER EIGHT, WHICH IS DISCUSSION, POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING MAD MATTERS RELATED TO THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE.
I DON'T THINK WE HAVE ANYTHING ON THAT, BUT, UM, NINE
[9. Discussion and possible action to consider establishing a Working Group tasked to draft a recommendation regarding Budget FY 23-24. (Sponsors: Commissioners Denkler and King)]
IS DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION TO CONSIDER ESTABLISHING A WORKING GROUP TASK TO DRAFT A RECOMMENDATION REGARDING THE BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 23 THROUGH 24, WHICH IS REALLY JUST 24, BUT, UM, DOES ANYBODY WANNA WORK ON THAT WORKING GROUP? IT'S DUE, WHEN IS IT DUE? IT'S DUE AT THE END OF MARCH.SO WE WILL HAVE A MEETING ON THE SEVENTH, AND I THINK THE OTHER MEETING IN MARCH IS ON THE 21ST.
SO WE ESSENTIALLY HAVE TWO MEETINGS TO COME UP WITH A BUDGET RECOMMENDATION.
I AM HAPPY TO OFFER MY SERVICES.
AGAIN, I'M GETTING VERY PRACTICED AT THE BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS.
UM, I DO THINK ANYONE THAT'S OFFERING TO DO THIS, UH, SHOULD BE SOMEONE WHO BELIEVES THEY'LL BE STAYING ON FOR A WHILE.
SO, UH, IF YOU WANNA VOLUNTEER, HELP ME, LET ME KNOW.
ARE YOU VOLUNTEERING? OKAY, SO ANNE KING.
SO KING GREENBERG AND DINKLER.
I'M SORRY, JUST TO CLARIFY, I HAVE MY HAND RAISED BECAUSE WHAT I WAS GOING TO OFFER IS TO SEND, UH, THE RECOMMENDATION WE MADE LAST YEAR.
OH, THE BUDGET RECOMMENDATION.
I, I, I WILL SEND THAT TO ANDREW SO HE CAN SHARE IT WITH THE COMMISSION, UH, MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION SO WE CAN LOOK AT WHAT WE RECOMMENDED LAST YEAR AND MAYBE USE THAT AS A TEMPLATE THAT YOU COULD GO IN AND UPDATE OR F CHANGE.
AND I, WHAT IS IT CALLED? UM, SO THEN THE TWO OF YOU WILL BE THE WORKING GROUP.
AND OF COURSE, IF PEOPLE HAVE SUGGESTIONS ON WHAT WE THINK THE BUDGET SHOULD INCLUDE RELATING TO LAND USE, TRANSPORTATION, PARKS, WHATEVER, PLEASE SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO ANDREW AND HE CAN DISTRIBUTE THEM TO, UH, T I AND ANYONE ELSE WHO'S, UH, COMMISSIONER GREENBERG AND ANYONE ELSE WANTING TO SERVE.
AND I WANNA SAY THANK YOU BECAUSE I YOU DID A GOOD JOB LAST YEAR AS DID.
I DO WANNA TAKE, IS IT CALLED A POINT OF PRIVILEGE? I REALIZE THAT WE FINISHED THE DISCUSSION ON ITEM NUMBER SEVEN, BUT WE DIDN'T TALK ABOUT A RESOLUTION OR ANY DOCUMENTATION THAT WE WOULD PERHAPS LIKE TO SEND ALONG CHAIR, COMMISSIONER.
[02:30:01]
THEN, UH, PRIOR TO MOVING BACK TO THAT ITEM, IF WE CAN FORMULATE A MOTION YES.TO, UH, CREATE THAT WORKING GROUP.
IS THERE A MOTION? I MOVED TO CREATE THE WORKING GROUP OF COMMISSIONERS, DANER AND COMMISSIONERS GREENBERG SECONDED.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF THE BUDGET WORKING GROUP.
[7. Presentation and possible action regarding ATX Walk Bike Roll - Update of the Bikeways, Urban Trails and Sidewalks, Pedestrian Crossing and Shared Streets Plans. Presenters: Laura Dierenfield 974-7189, Ann DeSanctis 974-3102, John Eastman 974-7025 and Nathan Wilkes 974-7016, Public Works Department. (Part 2 of 2)]
TO GO BACK TO NUMBER SEVEN, AND I'M HAPPY TO PUT TOGETHER A RESOLUTION IF YOU WANT, IF YOU ALL WOULD LIKE TO SEND STUFF TO ANDREW.UM, AND I WILL GET WITH MS. DEERFIELD ABOUT THE DEADLINE AND IF YOU CAN SEND SOMETHING OUT TO THE GROUP BEFORE THE NEXT MEETING.
WE CAN ALL SEE IT AND WE CAN ALL COMMENT ON IT AND GET FINALIZED.
GROUP BEFORE HE SAY GROUP BEFORE? NO, HE SAID BEFORE.
LIKE, WE USUALLY DO, LIKE WE SEND IT TO ANDREW, HE POSTS IT AND WE CAN COMMENT ON IT.
AND SO, AND JUST, I'LL GET SOMETHING STARTED AND, AND JUST OWN IT AND I'LL JUST DO MY OWN THING.
LIKE WE, I USUALLY DO ANYWAYS, SO.
UM, IF I CAN HAVE, UH, THE CHAIR AND THE VICE CHAIR BE THE CO-SPONSORS, THAT'S OH, THE ITEM FOR THE FOLLOWING MEETING? YES.
ALRIGHT, WHAT ABOUT THE, THE, WE ARE MESS TONIGHT.
WE'RE NOT USING, I DON'T KNOW IF WE NEED TO SAY FOR NEXT TIME, WE'D LIKE TO CONSIDER A RESOLUTION CONCERNING SOME STATE BILLS THAT WERE PROPOSED.
ABOUT, UH, CHARTER SCHOOLS BEING, OH WAIT, WE'RE, BUT WE'RE NOT TO, ARE WE STILL ON? WE'RE STILL, I, WE'RE STILL, WE'RE WE OKAY.
CHAIR, I MEAN, MR. COBAS AND I ARE GONNA PUT FOR NUMBER SEVEN, WE'RE GONNA PUT TOGETHER A RESOLUTION.
EIGHT, WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT NINE.
YOU GUYS PASSED A WORKING GROUP.
10 IS DISCUSSION OF POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING NEIGHBORHOOD LEVEL PLANNING.
ARE WE APPOINTING A WORKING GROUP OF YOU TWO? AND IS THIS SUPPOSED TO DO SO? OH, NO, I THINK WE SHOULD DO, BECAUSE WE'RE NOT POSTED AND WHAT WE, WHAT WE ALWAYS DO IS WE JUST SEND SOMETHING TO ANDREW, I'LL WRITE SOMETHING.
CHAIR BARRA RAMIREZ WILL WRITE SOMETHING.
ANYBODY CAN WRITE ANYTHING AND JUST SEND IT TO HIM SO THAT IF YOU WANNA WRITE SOMETHING, GO AHEAD.
AND IF YOU DON'T, YOU CAN JUST, DON'T, DON'T.
[10. Discussion and possible action regarding neighborhood level planning. (Sponsors: Commissioners King and Acosta)]
AND THAT'S, UH, COMMISSIONER KING.SO THANK YOU FOR PUTTING THIS ON THE AGENDA.
I, I, I ASKED AND FOR THIS, AND I THINK I HAD A CO-SPONSOR HERE, COMMISSIONER ACOSTA ON, ON THIS.
AND REALLY THE, THE IDEAL HERE IS JUST TO GET THIS ON OUR AGENDA SO WE COULD THEN REQUEST AN UPDATE FROM CITY STAFF ON THE CITY PLANNING SERVICES FOR THIS AND THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR.
WE HAVEN'T HAD AN UPDATE ON THE SMALL AREA PLANNING, THEN SPEC SPECIAL, THE STUDIES, PLANS, THE IMAGINE AUSTIN CENTERS PLANS, SORT OF GETTING ALL AN UPDATE ON ALL THESE PLANS AND ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE TYPES OF PLANS THAT THEY, THEY DO AND THEY, THAT WE HAVE, UH, OUR NEIGHBORHOOD PLANS.
SO THAT'S JUST SORT OF AN UPDATE ON ALL THE PLANS FROM, FROM THE CITY STAFF, UH, AND THEN WE CAN TAKE IT FROM THERE WHETHER WE WANNA MAKE ANY RECOMMENDATIONS OR NOT.
I JUST WANTED TO GET IT ON THE AGENDA TO, TO KIND OF GET, GET THE STAFF TO COME AND GIVE US AN UPDATE.
WE HAVEN'T HAD ONE IN MAYBE TWO OR THREE YEARS ON, ON THESE SMALL AREA PLANS.
SO, AND I'M NOT MAKING A MOTION RIGHT NOW TO DO THAT, BUT THAT'S THE, I, THAT WAS THE INTENTION OF THIS ITEM, THAT IT WOULDN'T JUST BE A ONE MEETING ITEM, IT WOULD BE SOMETHING WE PUT ON HERE, UH, TO THEN, UH, JUST KIND OF LOOK AT PLANNING JUST GENERALLY HERE, NEIGHBOR PLANNING BEING ONE OF THOSE TYPES OF PLANS.
SO REALLY I WOULD, UH, WHAT I WOULD SUGGEST TO ASK IS IF WE COULD GET, IF WE COULD HAVE ON THE, UNDER THIS ITEM FOR THE FUTURE, HAVE AN UPDATE FROM CITY STAFF ON, ON PLANS, ON, ON THE, ON THE CITY PLANNING SERVICES AND PLANS THAT, THAT ARE, THAT THEY'RE WORKING ON.
IS THAT SOMETHING YOU CAN HELP US WITH MR. RIVERA CHAIR COMMISSION LAY ON AIR? I CAN CERTAINLY, UM, FORWARD THE INQUIRY AND REQUEST.
YEAH, AND I APPRECIATE THAT HAVING BEEN ON THE NEIGHBOR, UH, THE SMALL AREA PLAN JOINT COMMITTEE PREVIOUSLY, BECAUSE THAT WAS ORIGINALLY THE FOCUS OF THE SMALL AREA PLAN JOINT COMMITTEE WAS FOR PLANNING COMMISSIONERS AND ZAP COMMISSIONERS TO COME TOGETHER AND KIND OF MOVE ALONG THE PROCESS.
AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT'S GOING ON NOW.
[02:35:01]
I KNOW WE USUALLY GET A WORK, A REPORT, BUT DO YOU, HAVE YOU MET LATELY OR DO YOU MEET REGULARLY? NO, WE HAVEN'T MET, NO, WE HAVE NOT HAD A SMALL PLANNING COMMITTEE MEETING IN, I DON'T KNOW, FIVE OR SIX MONTHS OR SO.AND, AND IT'S, SO WE'RE KIND OF AT A VO I AM AT LEAST AT AVOID IN TERMS OF THESE SMALL AREA PLANS.
AND JUST TO KIND OF GET AN IDEA FROM STAFF ON WHAT, WHAT'S THE KIND OF STRATEGY RIGHT NOW ON THE PLANS, WHAT ARE THE PRIORITIES FOR THE PLANS AND WHAT ARE THE, WHAT IS CURRENT STATUS OF THOSE PLANS.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]
TO FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. AND THE COMMISSIONER GREENBERG HAD ONE.IT WAS JUST CONCERNING HOUSE BILL 1707 AND, UM, SENATE BILL SAYS SF, BUT 4 72, WHICH CONCERNED ZONING AND OTHER REGULATIONS FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS.
SO YOU WANT, YOU WANT A BRIEFING ON THAT IS WHAT YOU'RE ASKING? NO, NO.
WELL, I'D WANT A BRIEFING ON IT BEFORE I CAN MAKE A RECOMMENDATION.
I, YOU KNOW WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
OH, THAT'S, NO, I DON'T WANT A BRIEFING.
WELL, HOW ARE WE GONNA MAKE A MOTION IF WE DON'T HAVE A BRIEFING? KNOW WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT
IT'S NOT EVEN ON THE CITY'S RADAR.
THIS WAS BROUGHT UP TO US BY, UM, THE STATE REP WHO WANTS US, SUGGESTED THAT WE CALL ATTENTION TO THESE BILLS SO THAT THE CITY DOES PAY ATTENTION.
SO I DON'T KNOW WHO WOULD BRIEF US.
THE CITY HAS A LEGISLATIVE LIAISON.
AND IT'S NOT ON THE LEGISLATIVE AGENDA.
UM, I CAN HELP PERHAPS SOLICITATE SOME INFORMATION IF THE CITY INTERGOVERNMENTAL OFFICER IS AWARE OF THIS.
SHE'S BEEN CONTACTED BY MY COUNCIL MEMBER.
UM, IN TERMS OF INFORMATION, I WANTED TO PREPARE TO SEND YOU A COPY OF WHAT THE CITY DOES IN TERMS OF CHARTER SCHOOLS AND AIS DS.
THEY BASICALLY HAVE THE EXACT SAME STANDARDS FOR SITE DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS EXCEPT FOR IMPERVIOUS COVER.
THERE'S AN AG OPINION SAYING THAT THEY BOTH HAVE TO DO THAT ACCURATELY.
AND I THOUGHT I'D PROVIDE YOU A COPY OF THE BILL, UH, IF YOU WANT TO HAVE, UM, THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL OFFICER HERE, YOU KNOW, WE CERTAINLY CAN EX UH, ASK MS, UM, BRONCO TO COME, BUT I THOUGHT THAT WOULD GIVE YOU ENOUGH INFORMATION TO SAY WE WANT SITE DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS AND NOT HAVE THE CHARTER SCHOOLS TOTALLY EXEMPT FROM THEM IN TERMS OF PARKING AND ALL THE THINGS THAT THE, THIS BILL IS TRYING TO DO.
AND OF COURSE, THE BILL AFFECTS THE ENTIRE STATE, NOT JUST AUSTIN, RIGHT? MM-HMM.
SO IT'S THAT IF I, WE CAN CERTAINLY MAKE SURE THAT, UM, WE CAN ASK HER TO ATTEND IF YOU WANT SOME INFORMATION.
UM, AND I CAN EVEN SEND YOU COPIES OF THE INNER LOCALS THAT YEAH.
THAT WE'VE EXECUTED WITH THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
I'M JUST CONFUSED AS TO IF WE, IF WE WANNA MAKE A MOTION ABOUT A RELU, MAKE A HAVE A RESOLUTION.
YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT THE RESOLUTION'S ABOUT.
THERE'S ALREADY, THERE'S ALREADY A DRAFT IN, THERE'S A BIT, YEAH.
THERE'S BILL LANGUAGE TO LOOK AT.
UM, BECAUSE, UM, AND I THINK ASKING FOR THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL PERSON, YEAH, I MEAN, AND IT JUST SO HAPPENED THAT SOME OF US WERE IN A ROOM WITH A BUNCH OF LEGISLATORS.
LEGISLATORS, HERE'S WHO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IT, AND WE SO PASSED ON.
WE DIDN'T REALIZE WE WERE IN A BUBBLE, BUT YEAH, WE WERE.
SO IT THAT, UM, I'LL SEE IF YOU CAN ATTEND, BUT THIS, I HOPE WE'LL GIVE YOU SOME INFORMATION AS TO WHAT THEY'RE TRYING TO DO AT A STATEWIDE LEVEL AND WHAT AUSTIN DOES.
SO I'LL MAKE SURE YOU GET EVERYTHING THAT I MENTIONED AND THEN I'LL SEE IF WE CAN GET, UM, INTERGOVERNMENT OFFICER HERE.
YEAH, YEAH, THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
YEAH, MY COUNCIL MEMBER TOLD ME TO GO FOR IT, SO I'M JUST LETTING YOU KNOW
YEAH, I HAVE NO PROBLEM IF I KNOW WHAT IT IS.
I UNDERSTAND, I UNDERSTAND THAT VOTING BLINDLY EITHER.
I WOULD, UH, LIKE TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO JUST, UH, REMIND FOLKS THAT, UM, FOR THAT VERY REASON, THAT'S WHY DURING, UM, FUTURE ITEMS, UM, WE DON'T NECESSARILY DELVE INTO THE MERITS OF THE CASE OR OF THE ISSUE.
IT'S JUST TO, UM, BRING TO THE ATTENTION THAT THIS ITEM WILL BE ON A FUTURE AGENDA.
[COMMITTEE REPORTS & WORKING GROUPS]
ON TO, WE'LL FIGURE THIS OUT.CODES AND ORDINANCES, JOINT COMMITTEE, WE ARE MEETING DURING SPRING BREAK, BUT I WILL BE, I THOUGHT IT WAS CANCELED.
WAS IT CANCELED? IT WAS CANCELED.
I BELIEVE THAT MEETING IS NEEDED.
[02:40:01]
WAS, IT'S IT'S THREE 16.AND I THINK I WILL BE ON THE BEACH, BUT I WILL BE VIRTUALLY ATTENDING.
THE MEETING THAT WAS POSTED FOR TOMORROW IS CANCELED.
S I THERE'S A MEETING IN MARCH.
YES, IT'S DURING SPRING BREAK, SO HOPEFULLY SOME I, I'M, MS. HEMPLE SAID SHE WOULD BE THERE.
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, JOINT COMMITTEE.
ANY UPDATES WE HAVEN'T MET? OKAY.
SO YOUR PLANNING JOINT COMMITTEE ALSO HAS NOT MET.
THANKS EVERYONE FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION.