Mar 27, 2023 Design

COMMISSIONER LUKINS PRESENT.

UM, VICE CHAIR MINORS HERE.

UM, COMMISSIONER ROLLON.

ABSENT.

COMMISSIONER COLEMAN.

COMMISSIONER WATLEY.

OKAY, MOVING ON.

[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]

AGENDA ITEM ONE, APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES.

UH, DO WE HAVE A MOTION? I'LL MAKE A MOTION FOR APPROVAL.

STAFF BRIEFINGS, UH, OF THE PROJECT CONNECTS, PRESENTED BY LINDSEY WOOD AND PETER MULLEN.

SO WE HAVE A MOTION FROM COMMISSIONER TANA GUCCI.

DO WE HAVE A SECOND? I'LL SECOND.

UH, APPROVE THE MEETING.

MINUTES FROM FEBRUARY ARE APPROVED.

ITEM TWO,

[2. Staff briefing regarding Project Connect updates. Presented by Lindsay Wood and Peter Mullan, Austin Transportation Department.]

GOOD EVENING.

THANK YOU COMMISSIONERS FOR HAVING US HERE TODAY.

UM, I'LL, I'LL INTRODUCE MYSELF AND MY COLLEAGUES BRIEFLY AND, AND THEN WE'RE EXCITED TO GIVE YOU AN UPDATE ON THE AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL.

UH, I AM LINDSEY WOOD, THE EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT FOR AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP, AND I HAVE MY COLLEAGUE PETER MULLEN JOINING ME VIRTUALLY PETER, IF YOU'RE ABLE TO INTRODUCE YOURSELF.

THANKS, LINDSAY.

UH, CAN YOU HEAR ME? YES.

THIS IS, UH, PETER MULLEN.

NICE TO SEE YOU ALL.

AND WE, UH, PAOLO, UH, FARIA, WHO IS OUR SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN DESIGN AND GIANNIS BANKS WITH OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT TEAM.

YOU TODAY WITH AN UPDATE IN OUR PLANNING PROCESS TO TALK ABOUT WHERE WE ARE AND WHERE WE'RE GOING NEXT.

SO WHO ARE WE? UH, AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP IS THE ENTITY THAT, UH, IS, WAS CREATED BY THE VOTERS TO INDEPENDENTLY, UM, IMPLEMENT AND DELIVER AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL.

SO WE ARE COMING TO

[00:05:01]

AND YOU CAN ADVANCE THE SLIDES, PLEASE.

UH, SO WHAT IS LIGHT RAIL? JUST A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE BACKGROUND HERE.

UM, WE'RE, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A, A SYSTEM OF LIGHT RAIL IN AUSTIN THAT WOULD BE A, A HAVE DIFFERENT COVERAGE AREAS TO THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH AND THE EAST.

AND YOU CAN SEE HERE IF, IF IT WERE A LITTLE LARGER, UH, WE ARE MOSTLY STREET RUNNING WITH SOME POSSIBLE EXCEPTIONS TO THAT.

AND REALLY LOOKING AT HOW WE CAN CONNECT WITH THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT AND CONNECTING THE LIGHT RAIL WITH OUR PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE FACILITIES, WHILE ALSO SHARING, UM, THE PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY AND, AND BEING ALONGSIDE THE STREET NETWORK.

AND NEXT, AND OUR PURPOSE IN THIS PROJECT REALLY IS TO PROVIDE OPTIONS THAT IMPROVE MOBILITY, CONNECTIVITY, AFFORDABILITY, AND SUSTAINABILITY, AND CAN CONTINUE.

SO WHERE WE ARE TODAY, UM, AS, AS YOU MAY KNOW, THE VOTERS, UM, APPROVED A REFERENDUM IN 2020, LATE NOVEMBER, 2020 TO INVEST IN EXPANDING AUSTIN'S TRANSIT SYSTEM.

AND IN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS OF CONTINUING TO PLAN AND ADVANCE THE LIGHT RAIL ELEMENTS OF THAT PROGRAM, WE'VE EXPERIENCED THE SAME COST ESCALATIONS AND INFLATION AND REAL ESTATE COSTS GOING UP.

AS YOU KNOW, REALLY EVERYONE HAS ACROSS THE COUNTRY FROM FAMILIES TO BUSINESSES, TO THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY AS WELL.

AND SO IN RESPONSE TO THOSE, WE HAVE DEVELOPED FIVE OPTIONS THAT WE ARE BRINGING TO THE COMMUNITY FOR FEEDBACK THAT WORK WITHIN THOSE CONSTRAINTS.

AND ALL OF THE OPTIONS THAT WE'RE GOING TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT FIT WITHIN OUR BUDGET APPROVED BY THE VOTERS IN THE 2020 REFERENDUM.

AND NEXT, OH, YOU CAN SKIP THAT ONE.

UH, AND THEN THE MAINTENANCE FACILITY THAT YOU CAN SEE INDICATED IN ALL OF THESE MAPS BY THE GREEN CIRCLE WITH THIS ONE BEING NEAR RIVERSIDE AND 71, UM, YOU SEE TWO DIFFERENT WAYS TO CROSS LADYBIRD LAKE HERE, UH, ONE AT GUADALUPE IN SOUTH FIRST AND THE OTHER BEING AT TRINITY AT THE WATERFRONT CROSSING.

SO EACH OF THESE, UH, WE BELIEVE SERVE THOSE GOALS THAT I MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY.

AND, AND YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT HOW WE, THE CRITERIA, JUST BRIEFLY, THAT SUPPORT THESE OPTIONS CAN GO ONE FURTHER.

UM, SO THE KEY THINGS TO NOTE HERE ARE THAT ALL OF THESE FIT WITHIN OUR CAPITAL BUDGET.

WE HAVE VERIFIED DIFFERENT ALTERNATIVES OF HOW TO GET THROUGH DOWNTOWN THAT YOU'LL SEE HERE TODAY.

THAT COULD INCLUDE BEING AT THE STREET LEVEL, BEING UNDERGROUND, BEING ELEVATED, AND, UM, LOOKING AT THE TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY OF THOSE.

AND THEN LOOKING AT ALL OF THESE OPTIONS THROUGH THE LENS OF WHAT WILL BE INVESTIBLE BY OUR FEDERAL FUNDING PARTNER.

THAT IS THE FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION THAT HAS THEIR OWN SET OF REQUIREMENTS IN ORDER TO FUND WHAT IS ROUGHLY ANTICIPATED TO BE ABOUT HALF OF OUR PROGRAM COST AND BALANCING THOSE AND, AND AUGMENTING THOSE CRITERIA WITH OUR OWN COMMUNITY VALUES.

AND YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT AND THOSE COMMUNITY VALUE CRITERIA LISTED HERE FOR MOBILITY, ACCESS TO OPPORTUNITIES, ENVIRONMENTAL, UM, LAND USE AND HOUSING.

AND WHAT THIS REALLY MEANS IS FINDING THE BEST OPTIONS THAT CONNECT PEOPLE, UM, AFFORDABLY TO WHERE THE, THE KEY DESTINATIONS THEY WANNA GO, AND THOSE KEY OPPORTUNITIES.

SO CONNECTING PEOPLE FROM AFFORDABLE HOUSING TO EMPLOYMENT CENTERS OR TO PLACES OF EDUCATION, UM, AND, AND REALLY CONNECTING OUR COMMUNITY AND IN THOSE PRIORITY AREAS.

SO WITH THAT, I'M GONNA REALLY QUICKLY GO THROUGH EACH OF THESE SO WE CAN JUST KIND OF TAB THROUGH THE FOLLOWING MAPS.

YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.

UM, JUST TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT, BIT OF BACKGROUND DATA AND INFORMATION.

EACH OF THE OPTIONS YOU'RE GOING TO SEE TODAY ALSO HAVE A MAINTENANCE FACILITY, WHICH IS, UM, A 35 TO 40 ACRE PIECE OF LAND WHERE WE NEED TO LOCATE A FACILITY TO STORE AND MAINTAIN OUR TRAINS.

AND NEXT .

AND EACH OF THE OPTIONS THAT YOU SEE HERE, I MENTIONED THERE ARE FIVE.

SO, UH, EACH ONE HAS A DIFFERENT AREA OF COVERAGE.

UH, THERE'S A, THE, YEAH, THERE'S A GLITCH.

UM, IT, IT'S LOOKING VERY SEPARATED.

UM, ALL OF THOSE LINES ACTUALLY COME TOGETHER BUT ARE NOT PROJECTING, RIGHT? SO I'LL TRY TO DESCRIBE IT.

UM, EACH OF THESE OPTIONS HAVE DIFFERENT AREAS OF COVERAGE EXTENDING FARTHER, PERHAPS TO THE NORTH, SOUTH, OR EAST WITH THIS FIRST ONE, UH, RUNNING FROM ABOUT 38TH STREET ALONG NORTH LAMAR DOWN TO OLTORF AT SOUTH CONGRESS AND TO THE EAST ALONG EAST RIVERSIDE.

DRIVE TO ROUGHLY RIVERSIDE AND 71 AT YELLOW JACKET, THOUGH IT, IT LOOKS NOTHING LIKE THAT MAP.

[00:10:01]

AND WE'RE ANTICIPATING CARRYING BOTH OF THOSE OPTIONS FORWARD INTO OUR, UH, ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS PROCESS.

BOTH OF THESE WOULD PRESUME CROSSING DOWNTOWN AT THE STREET LEVEL AND NEXT.

SO EACH OF THESE, I'M REALLY ONLY GOING TO REFERENCE AS AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT'S ALREADY AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE, AND WE'RE SEEKING FEEDBACK ON THESE, BUT YOU'LL BE ABLE TO COMPARE EACH OF THESE OPTIONS WITH THE NUMBER OF WRITERS, SERVE, NUMBER OF STATIONS, AND VARIOUS DIFFERENT CRITERIA.

AND YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT.

SO THE NEXT OPTION, UM, AGAIN, THERE ARE APPEAR TO BE GLITCHES ON PROJECTING ALL OF THESE.

UH, BUT THIS ONE EXTENDS FURTHER NORTH, ALL THE WAY UP NORTH LAMAR TO JUST NORTH OF 180 3 AND THEN TO THE EAST AT EAST RIVERSIDE DRIVE IN PLEASANT VALLEY.

AND AGAIN, CROSSING THROUGH DOWNTOWN AT EITHER OF THOSE LOCATIONS AT THE STREET LEVEL.

AND YOU CAN SKIP THROUGH THE NEXT, WE PROVIDED THIS AS BACKUP INFORMATION FOR THE DATA ON EACH OPTION, BUT I WON'T TALK THROUGH THOSE.

UH, THE NEXT ONE BEING A VERY, OH, GO AHEAD.

WELL, I JUST WONDER, SINCE WE SEEM TO BE HAVING A, AN ISSUE WITH THE, I THINK THE TRANSLATION FROM POWERPOINT TO PDF IS, HAS CREATED THIS WEIRD THING.

DO YOU WANT ME TO SHARE MY SCREEN? BECAUSE I CAN PULL UP THE MAPS.

I THINK IF IT MIGHT BE USEFUL FOR PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO SEE THE ACTUAL, IS THAT POSSIBLE? UM, SORRY, I, I'VE, I'VE BEEN TRYING TO SOLVE AN ISSUE WITH OTHER ASPECTS OF THE MEETING, BUT I WILL CEASE STAFF RIGHT NOW.

OH, IT'S NOT POWERPOINT.

IT THE, WHEN WE LOOKED AT THE, OUR MATERIALS DON'T LOOK LIKE THAT.

I'M NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FILE, BUT PERHAPS, OH, THERE.

SO THAT LOOKS FINE.

SO LEMME GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING OF THE OPTIONS.

HOW ABOUT THAT? ALL RIGHT.

SO A A LITTLE BIT.

SLOW ME A SECOND.

THERE WE GO.

UM, SO THIS, OH, YOU CAN GO ONE MORE THERE.

WE, OKAY.

SORRY.

IT'S, IT'S, THERE MIGHT BE A, SORRY, A DELAY.

YEAH, IT WAS A DELAY.

SORRY.

PETER, DO YOU WANNA JUST GO TO THE OPTION MAP? YEAH, LET ME JUST, LET ME JUST GET OUT OF THIS FOR A SECOND.

CAUSE I THINK IT'S CYCLING ALL THE WAY THROUGH.

WELL, WHILE HE'S DOING THAT, UH, I, WE, WE CAN MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE THE MAPS FOR REFERENCE.

I'M GOING TO JUST QUICKLY NOTE WHAT, UM, THE LAST REMAINING ONES ARE.

THE VARIATION THERE BEING THE NEXT OPTION REACHES THE AIRPORT FROM DOWNTOWN.

AND WHEN DOING SO, UH, THE LIMITS TO THE NORTH ARE ROUGHLY AT GUADALUPE AND 29TH, AND ALSO CROSSING THROUGH DOWNTOWN AT THE STREET LEVEL.

AND THEN OUR LAST TWO, UM, GO THROUGH DOWNTOWN DIFFERENTLY.

SO INSTEAD OF BEING AT THE STREET LEVEL AND, AND INTERACTING WITH, UM, YOU KNOW, PEDESTRIANS AND DRIVERS AND BICYCLES AT THAT SAME LEVEL, WE ARE SEPARATED, SO EITHER BEING ELEVATED OR UNDERGROUND.

AND IF ELEVATED PARTIALLY THROUGH DOWNTOWN, ROUGHLY FROM EIGHTH STREET TO THE RIVER, THEN OUR LIMITS, UH, RUN AGAIN FROM ROUGHLY 29TH.

SO JUST NORTH OF UT AND AGAIN, DOWN TO OLTORF TO THE SOUTH ON SOUTH CONGRESS, OR SORRY, UM, ON THIS ONE.

OH, ONE MORE.

THERE YOU GO.

UM, OLTORF TO THE SOUTH ON SOUTH CONGRESS AND EAST TO EAST RIVERSIDE, UH, DRIVE IN 71.

AND THE LAST ONE, ONE MORE FORWARD IS IF WE'RE UNDERGROUND DOWNTOWN, A PORTION OF DOWNTOWN BEING UNDERGROUND IN A SUBWAY, UH, FROM JUST SOUTH OF THE UT CAMPUS, FROM M L K TO EIGHTH STREET.

AND THEN ON AN ELEVATED STRUCTURE, TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE HILL ON GUADALUPE AND COMING UP ONTO A BRIDGE TO STAY ELEVATED OVER LADY BIRD LAKE, UM, CAN EXTEND FROM UT TO THAT SAME EASTERN ENDPOINT OF RIVERSIDE AND 71.

TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW THESE, UM, SURE.

SO PETER, DO YOU WANNA

[00:15:01]

COULD EACH LOOK THROUGH DOWNTOWN? YEAH.

SO, UM, OBVIOUSLY ONE OF THE, THE NEW OPPORTUNITIES THAT WE'VE BEEN STUDYING, UM, AS A WAY TO OPTIMIZE THE PROGRAM IS BEING, UM, ON THE STREET OR AT GRADE, UH, IN DOWNTOWN.

SO, UM, WE'VE GOT JUST SOME VIEWS OF WHAT THAT MIGHT LOOK LIKE, UM, AS WELL AS THE, THE POSSIBILITY OF BEING ELEVATED DOWNTOWN.

SO THIS IS A, A VIEW LOOKING WEST ON THIRD STREET, UM, FROM ABOUT SAN JACINTO.

UM, SO THIS IS IN THE, THE, YOU KNOW, AS WE SAID, THERE ARE TWO WAYS WE CAN POTENTIALLY CROSS THE RIVER IN THESE NEW OPTIONS, EITHER ON THE EAST SIDE OF DOWNTOWN OR ON THE WEST SIDE OF DOWNTOWN.

UM, EITHER AT TRINITY STREET ON THE EAST STORE AT BASICALLY GUADALUPE ON THE WEST.

UM, AND THIS IS OBVIOUSLY, THIS VIEW WOULD BE WITH THE EASTERN RIVER CROSSING.

UM, ANOTHER VIEW LOOKING AT TOWARDS PUBLIC SQUARE, UH, LOOKING NORTHWEST FROM FOURTH AND GUADALUPE, UM, THIS VIEW WOULD APPLY THE EITHER RIVER CROSSING OPTION.

UM, AND SO YOU CAN SEE, UH, IN, YOU KNOW, WE, IN THIS CONFIGURATION AS WELL AS ON THIRD STREET, THE IDEA IS THAT WE WOULD HAVE, UM, ONE LANE OF, UH, TRAFFIC ON EITHER SIDE OF THE LIGHT RAIL GUIDEWAY.

UM, IN BOTH OPTIONS, THE LIGHT RAIL GUIDEWAY IS, IS DEDICATED TO LIGHT RAIL TO, FOR PURPOSES OF PROVIDING, UH, TRANSIT EFFICIENCY AND ALSO SAFETY.

UH, AND YOU CAN SEE ON THE RIGHT SOME PRECEDENCE OF, YOU KNOW, HOW STREET RUNNING LIGHT RAIL HAS BEEN EMPLOYED IN OTHER CITIES AROUND THE WORLD.

UM, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE LOTS OF, OF, OF DETAILS TO BE FURTHER STUDIED ABOUT, YOU KNOW, HOW THAT EXTRA LANE OF, OF TRAFFIC, UH, COULD BE USED OR SHOULD BE USED.

SO THAT'S MORE, MORE TO COME ON THAT.

UM, ONE OF THE ALTERNATIVES WE, IS, THAT'S INCLUDED IN SOME OF THE OPTIONS, UM, IS THE POSSIBILITY OF BEING, UH, ELEVATED THROUGH DOWNTOWN.

SO THIS IS, I GUESS THE SAME VIEW LOOKING TOWARDS REPUBLIC SQUARE WITH THE ELEVATED STRUCTURE, UM, AND LOOKING TOWARDS, UH, THE ELEVATED STATION, UH, ADJACENT TO REPUBLIC SQUARE.

SO YOU CAN SEE THAT, UH, STAIRS COMING DOWN FROM THE, THE PLATFORM CENTER RUNNING.

UM, IN THIS CASE, WE'RE ABLE TO ESSENTIALLY GET ONE ADDITIONAL LANE IN GUADALUPE.

SO IN THIS CASE, WE'RE SHOWING A DEDICATED BUS LANE ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE G WAY, AND THEN TWO TRAFFIC LANES ON THE EAST SIDE.

UM, BUT YOU GET A LITTLE BIT OF SENSE OF, UH, HOW THAT ELEVATED STRUCTURE WILL LOOK DOWNTOWN.

AND OBVIOUSLY THERE ARE SOME EFFICIENCIES REGARDING, UH, YOU KNOW, SEPARATING THE LIGHT RAIL FROM OTHER MOBILITY MODES.

UM, BUT YOU KNOW, IT DOES HAVE SOME VISUAL IMPACT ON THE URBAN REALM, AND I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE WANNA HAVE A PUBLIC DISCUSSION ABOUT.

UH, THIS IS ANOTHER VIEW OF THE ELEVATED, UH, STRUCTURE, WHAT IT COULD LOOK LIKE.

AGAIN, THIS IS NOT DESIGNED YET, BUT JUST AN IDEA TAKE BASED ON PRECEDENCE FROM OTHER STRUCTURES.

UM, TYPICAL, UH, ELEVATED LIGHT RAIL STRUCTURES, UH, LOOKING SOUTH FROM FOURTH STREET.

UM, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, HOW THAT MIGHT FUNCTION WITH THE, THE REST OF THE MODES AND THE, UM, THE URBAN STREET SCAPE.

UM, AS I MENTIONED, THERE ARE TWO OPTIONS THAT WE'RE CONSIDERING FOR THE, FOR THE, UH, THE STREET RUNNING OPTIONS FOR HOW TO CROSS THE RIVER.

ONE IS, UM, ON THE EAST SIDE OF TRINITY STREET WHERE WE WERE PREVIOUSLY CROSSING, UH, WITH THE BRIDGE.

UM, SO THIS IS A VIEW OF THAT BRIDGE LOOKING TO THE WEST.

AND SO THE ALIGNMENT IS PRETTY MUCH THE SAME AND PLAN FROM WHAT WE HAD BEFORE.

UM, BUT OBVIOUSLY BECAUSE WE'RE NOT TRANSITIONING TO A TUNNEL, UM, WE WOULD BE PROPOSING IN THIS OPTION, RIGHT, TO TRANSITION FROM A BRIDGE TO RUNNING AT ON THE STREET, UM, ONCE WE GET TO THE NORTH SIDE OF THE LAKE.

SO THE NORTH SIDE OF THE LAKE IS TO YOUR RIGHT, UM, THAT BRIDGE WOULD THEN BASICALLY SORT OF TRANSITION AT THE TOP OF THE, OF THE SLOPE TO AT GRADE.

AND THEN YOU COULD SEE THE TRAIL, UH, BASICALLY IT'S BE ABLE TO RUN UNDERNEATH THAT STRUCTURE AND CONTINUE EASTWEST UNIMPEDED.

UM, WHEN WE LOOK AT THE OTHER RIVER CROSSING ON THE SOUTH SIDE ON THE, SORRY, ON THE WEST SIDE OF DOWNTOWN, THERE ARE, AGAIN, DIFFERENT OPTIONS ABOUT HOW TO BE ORGANIZED, UH, VERTICALLY.

UM, YOU KNOW, THIS IS AN OPTION WHERE WE EXTEND THE ELEVATED STRUCTURE, UM, FROM THE BRIDGE, UH, ACROSS THE LAKE ONTO THE SOUTH SIDE, AND STAY ELEVATED ACROSS SOUTH FIRST.

UM, AFTER WE MAKE THAT TURN ACROSS SOUTH FIRST, AND THEN WE COME DOWN TRANSITION TO BEING AT GRADE, UM, BETWEEN BARTON SPRINGS ROAD AND CONGRESS, SORT OF IN THAT BOW TIE AREA, YOU CAN SEE SOME IMAGES OF, OF THAT ON THE RIGHT.

UM, ANOTHER ALTERNATIVE TO BASICALLY TO BE, UH, TRANSITIONED FROM THE BRIDGE TO RUNNING, UM, ON STREET LEVEL BEFORE WE GET TO SOUTH FIRST STREET.

UM, SO THEN BASICALLY CROSSING

[00:20:01]

THE SOUTH FIRST UPGRADE AND THE CONTINUING UPGRADE WITH AN UPGRADE STATION, UM, BETWEEN BARNES SPRINGS ROAD AND COMMERCE AVENUE.

SO THOSE ARE JUST SOME, SOME OF THE OPTIONS THAT THAT APPLY AND WHAT, UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE DIFFERENT CONFIGURATIONS OF HOW THEY GET THROUGH DOWNTOWN MIGHT LOOK LIKE OR HOW THEY WOULD BE ORGANIZED.

UM, AND AGAIN, SOMETHING THAT WE WANT TO GET FEEDBACK AND DIALOGUE ABOUT IN THIS PERIOD.

AND SPEAKING OF THIS PERIOD, WE ARE IN AN OPEN PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD THAT KICKED OFF MARCH 21ST WITH OUR, UM, IN-PERSON OPEN HOUSE.

AND THAT COMMENT PERIOD WILL BE OPEN FOR THE NEXT SIX WEEKS TO MAY 2ND.

WE'LL BE HOSTING A VIRTUAL OPEN HOUSE ON APRIL 6TH, AS NOTED HERE.

AND ALL OF OUR MATERIALS, UM, THOUGH UNCORRUPTED ARE ALSO ON OUR WEBSITE, BOTH AT THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP WEBSITE AND THE PROJECT CONNECT.COM WEBSITE, UH, WHERE EVERYTHING IS PUBLICLY AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW AND COMMENT.

SO WITH THAT, HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.

THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR.

THANK YOU MS. WOODS.

AND THANK YOU MR. MULLEN.

UM, WE APPRECIATE YOUR COMING TO DESIGN COMMISSION.

DO YOU MIND CLARIFYING WHERE YOU ARE IN THE PROCESS AND WHAT YOU'RE SEEKING FROM US TONIGHT? SO WE ARE IN A PROCESS THAT IS CALLED PROJECT DEVELOPMENT IN A, IT'S A FEDERALLY FUNDED, WHEN WE ARE SEEKING FEDERAL FUNDING, WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH VERY PRESCRIPTIVE STEPS.

AND IN PROJECT DEVELOPMENT, WE'RE ESSENTIALLY GOING TO BE APPROACHING A, LET'S CALL IT, UM, ADVANCED CONCEPTUAL, OR, YOU KNOW, MAYBE A 15% DESIGN LEVEL AS OUR NEXT MILESTONE.

AND WE ARE SEEKING OUR COMMUNITY AT LARGE FEEDBACK ON THESE FIVE OPTIONS BECAUSE ONLY ONE OF THESE OPTIONS WILL BE ADVANCED FORWARD INTO THE ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS AS PART OF NPA, AND WE WILL BE PREPARING AN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT ON THAT ONE LOCALLY PREFERRED OPTION TO ADVANCE FORWARD.

OKAY, GREAT.

THANK YOU FOR CLARIFYING.

UM, THAT'S HELPFUL IN KIND OF FEEDBACK FROM THE PUBLIC, A LOT OF THESE TRAIN STATIONS, I WOULD ASSUME ARE COMBINED WITH PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT.

WHAT IS THE CONVERSATION WITH PRIVATE DEVELOPERS, UM, AND HOW, HOW, HOW IS THAT ENGAGEMENT PROCESS? PETER, DO YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT OUR APPROACH TO JOINT DEVELOPMENT? SURE.

SO, UM, WE ARE TRYING TO LOCATE STATIONS IN THE PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY.

UH, SO, YOU KNOW, WE ARE TRYING TO UTILIZE, UM, PUBLICLY OWNED LAND WHEREVER WE CAN.

UH, THAT BEING SAID, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT WE'RE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO COLLABORATE WITH, UM, OUR ADJACENT PRIVATE SECTOR PARTNERS TO ENHANCE WHATEVER THE OVERALL, THE EVENTUAL CONFIGURATION OF THIS, OF THE STATION IS AND COULD BE.

UM, AND AGAIN, THAT'S VERY CONTEXT SPECIFIC, UM, AND DEPENDS A LOT ABOUT THE NATURE OF THE, WHERE THE STATION'S LOCATED AND THE ADJACENCIES.

BUT THE IDEA BEING THAT LET'S FIGURE OUT WHAT'S BEST FOR THE PUBLIC IN TERMS OF THE PUBLIC REALM, THE CONFIGURATION OF THE PUBLIC REALM TO CREATE, UH, REALLY A SEAMLESS, UH, EXPERIENCE OF THIS NEW MOBILITY INFRASTRUCTURE.

AND I THINK LOOKING FOR, TO COLLABORATE WITH OUR PARTNERS WHEREVER AND WHENEVER WE CAN, BUT ALSO KNOWING THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE TO BE ABLE TO IMPLEMENT PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE, UM, YOU KNOW, INDEPENDENT OF WHAT THE PRIVATE SECTOR MAY OR MAY OUT TO.

MOST OF OUR STATIONS ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET.

SO OUR LIGHT RAIL GENERALLY RUNS KIND OF LIKE, IF YOU THINK OF WHERE A MEDIAN MIGHT, UM, NORMALLY BE, THAT'S WHERE THE TRACKS WOULD BE.

WHEN WE HAVE A STATION, THERE'S A PLATFORM AND THAT PLATFORM CAN BE ACCESSED BY, UH, THE CROSSWALKS AT WHATEVER THE NEAREST INTERSECTION ARE.

SO YOU, YOU KIND OF GO TO THE STREETLIGHT, GO INTO THE CROSSWALK, WALK INTO THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET, AND THAT'S WHERE THE PLATFORM IS BETWEEN THE, THE TWO TRACKS IS IN MOST CASES.

LAND OWNERS TO REALLY ACTIVATE THE GROUND FLOOR WITH COMMERCIAL SPACE, UM, AND MAKE SURE THE PUBLIC IS ENGAGED AND THAT DOWNTOWN FEELS LIKE IT BELONGS TO EVERYONE.

UH, ONE MORE QUESTION FROM ME AND THEN I'LL OPEN IT UP TO OTHER COMMISSIONERS.

UM, WE'RE CURRENTLY UPDATING THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES, WHICH ARE USED ON DENSITY BONUS PROJECTS.

UM, BUT WE'RE REALLY FOCUSED ON MAKING THAT PEDESTRIAN EXPERIENCE ACTIVATED, UM, AS MUCH AS WE CAN, TRYING TO GET, UH, PRIVATE

[00:25:01]

WHEN I SEE THE ELEVATED LIGHT RAIL, UM, I MEAN I GUESS IT FITS WITH OUR PARKING PODIUM CITY THAT WE'RE BUILDING, UH, .

WHAT, WHAT IS REALLY DRIVING THE ELEVATED TRACKS AND, UM, WHERE, WHERE IS THAT CONVERSATION? UM, YEAH, ABSOLUTELY.

SO FIRST I WOULD NOTE THAT THAT IS GOOD FEEDBACK.

WE APPRECIATE THAT AND, AND WELCOME, UM, MAKING COMMENTS IN THIS PERIOD TO, TO HELP US REALLY WEIGH THE TRADE OFFS FOR THOSE DIFFERENT WAYS OF GETTING THROUGH DOWNTOWN.

WHAT DROVE THE INTRODUCTION OF AN ELEVATED OPTION IS THAT WE HAVE LIMITED SPACE TO WORK WITH, AND THE FOOTPRINT FOR THE TRANSIT WAY FOR THE LIGHT RAIL, UM, OUTSIDE OF STATION AREAS IS, IS CLOSE TO 30 FEET.

AND THEN AT THE STATIONARY IS WE ALSO, WE HAVE TO WIDEN THAT OUT, UM, YOU KNOW, ROUGHLY ANOTHER 20 FEET.

SO WE CAN JUST FOR ROUND NUMBERS, SAY, CALL IT 50, UH, WHERE WE NEED TO FIT A STATION PLATFORM.

SO YOU CAN IMAGINE THAT WE'RE IN VERY CONSTRAINED AMOUNT OF RIGHT OF WAY AND WHAT WE CAN FIT IN THE REMAINING SPACE BECOMES LIMITED FOR VEHICULAR TRAFFIC, FOR BUSES, FOR, UM, OUR BACK OF CURB FACILITIES FOR PROTECTED BIKEWAYS AND SIDEWALKS AND REALLY CREATING THAT ACTIVATED SPACE YOU MENTIONED.

SO AN ELEVATED OPTION HELPS REDUCE THE FOOTPRINT AT THE STREET LEVEL FOR THE LIGHT RAIL, UM, WHERE WE ONLY NEED TO FIT SORT OF THE, THE COLUMN FOR THE STRUCTURE VERSUS 50 FEET OF INFRASTRUCTURE AT THE STREET LEVEL.

UM, BUT THAT, THAT TRADE OFF IS NOW RATHER THAN PEOPLE SORT OF, UM, ACCESSING THE STATIONS, YOU KNOW, RIGHT THERE FROM THE SIDEWALK OR THE CROSSWALK.

AND, UM, NOW NEED TO USE STAIRS OR ESCALATORS OR ELEVATORS TO GET UP AND DOWN FROM THAT.

AND, AND THERE ARE THE VISUAL IMPACTS AS WELL.

SO THERE ARE TRADE OFFS THERE.

UM, ADDITIONALLY SEPARATING THE LIGHT RAIL FROM THE STREET LEVEL DOES HAVE, UM, OPERATIONS BENEFITS FOR THE LIGHT RAIL, SO IT DOESN'T HAVE TO INTERACT WITH THE STREET INTERSECTIONS AND, UM, AND CROSSINGS GOING THROUGH THERE AND, AND TRAFFIC AS WELL.

COMMISSIONER GUCCI, OH, SORRY, MR. MARTIN, YOU SPEAKING? NO, NO, I JUST, I THINK YOU ZEROED IN ON, YOU KNOW, A CRITICAL TENSION AND TRADE OFF IN TERMS OF THE OPTIONS.

AND SO IT'S EXACTLY THE, THE, THE THING THAT WE WANT TO HAVE A DIALOGUE ABOUT.

YEAH, THIS IS VERY EXCITING TO ME AND THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.

UH, THERE, I GOT TWO QUESTIONS.

ONE OF 'EM IS BECAUSE I WAS ONE OF THE AUTHORS THAT THE IMAGINE AUSTIN, AND WE WERE TALKING ABOUT TRANSIT OR ORIENTED DESIGN, AND I DIDN'T SEE ANY MENTION AS TO HOW MANY OF THOSE, UH, THOSE TRANSIT-ORIENTED DISTRICTS WERE GONNA BE INCLUDED IN YOUR PRESENTATION.

THE SECOND THING I'M GONNA TOUCH ON LATER IS I'M KIND OF LIKE, UH, REALLY BEEN RESEARCHING THE, UH, TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE IN JAPAN.

AND I TOOK A TRIP OVER THERE JUST RECENTLY, ABOUT FOUR MONTHS AGO, AND I WAS JUST INFATUATED WITH WHAT THEY HAVE THERE.

YOU KNOW, THEY HAVE ALL KINDS OF STUFF ABOVE GROUND, UH, BELOW GROUND.

AND IN THE STATIONS LIKE JEN HAD, UH, REFERRED TO EARLIER.

THE STATIONS ARE VERY CRITICAL TO KIND OF THE SUCCESS OF THAT, CUZ THAT'S ACTUALLY A PLACE WHERE THE COMMUNITY NOT ONLY CATCHES OR SWITCHES TRANSPORTATION MOATS, BUT THEY ALSO DO THE SHOPPING THERE.

THEY DO THEIR DINING THERE, AND THAT'S ALL VERY EXCITING.

SO LET'S GO BACK TO THE FIRST ONE, WHICH IS ABOUT IMAGINE AUSTIN THE TODS.

HOW DOES THIS TIE INTO THAT KIND OF LIKE THAT MAP THAT WE HAD CREATED BACK THEN? YES.

SO ACTUALLY THE, UM, CITY COUNCIL JUST RECENTLY ADOPTED AN AN UPDATED TRANSIT OR ACTUALLY EQUITABLE TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT POLICY PLAN THAT WILL SUPPORT LOOKING AT TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENTS ALONG, UM, THE, WE'RE WILLING THE TRANSIT SYSTEM AS A WHOLE.

UH, WE'RE HERE TODAY TO TALK ABOUT THE LIGHT RAIL ELEMENTS, BUT, BUT THERE ARE MANY OTHER MODES CONNECTING TO IT, INCLUDING METRO RAPID AND, UM, COMMUTER RAIL AS WELL.

BUT IN REFERENCE TO THE LIGHT RAIL, UM, THOSE ARE BEING STUDIED, THERE ARE VARIOUS PLANNING GRANTS ALSO FUNDED BY, UM, THE FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION TO LOOK AT EQUITABLE.

SO WITH AN AFFORDABLE HOUSING COMPONENT, TRANSIT ORIENTED DISTRICTS AROUND THE STATION AREAS OF THE LIGHT RAIL.

SO THAT WILL BE PART OF THE PLANNING PROCESS AND, AND THE CITY JUST ADOPTED THAT POLICY PLAN.

UM, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, A MULTIPLICITY OF USES, WHETHER THAT'S INTEGRATED THE STATION OR SURROUNDING THE STATION IS SOMETHING THAT WE'RE VERY INTERESTED IN, AGAIN, IN PROMOTING AND, AND COLLABORATING WITH, UM, ADJACENT PROPERTY OWNERS TO PROVIDE.

YES, HONOR, I THINK YOUR, I THINK YOUR COMMENT ABOUT, ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF STATIONS, THE ROLE THAT STATIONS HAVE AS, AS, LET'S JUST SAY NEIGHBORHOOD CENTERS, RIGHT? THAT CAN PROVIDE,

[00:30:01]

UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK THE, THE E T O D POLICY PLAN IS, IS CERTAINLY HELPS TO PROVIDE SOME OF THAT FRAMEWORK AS WELL.

BUT I THINK WHEN WE GET INTO ACTUAL DESIGN, UM, WHICH, YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOT THERE YET, UM, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE DEFINITELY WANT TO CONSIDER OR PROMOTE.

AND WE HAVE A, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A NEW URBAN DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE TEAM THAT, FOR WHOM I THINK THAT'S GONNA BE AN IMPORTANT FOCUS.

AND I WANTED TO SAY, PETER, I I APPRECIATE THAT AND, AND I, I DIDN'T SAY ABOUT THE STATIONS, BUT THE STATIONS ARE ACTUALLY THE NETWORK OR THE CONNECTION POINT OF MULTIMODAL TRANSPORTATION.

RIGHT? THAT'S RIGHT WHERE THE SUBWAY COMES IN, THAT'S WHERE THE ABOVE AND THE BELOW AND EVERY, THE BUSES ACTUALLY MEET.

SO THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT, YOU KNOW, THE MULTIMODAL ASPECT OF THAT, AND I HOPE YOU GUYS ARE GONNA, UH, GONNA LOOK AT THAT.

AND THEN THE THING ABOUT THE ABOVE GROUND DEAL, HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT THE CABLE CA YOU KNOW, THE WHAT, WHATEVER YOU CALL 'EM, LIKE A SKI LIFT OR WHERE THE CABLE'S KIND OF LIKE, YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE, UH, STUFF MEETING THE GROUND.

IT'S, I, I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU CALL THAT, BUT IT'S LIKE A SKI LIFT KIND OF APPROACH.

SO THERE'S A GONDOLA, BUT THAT'S ONE, ONE SKILL IS GODLESS.

UM, MAYBE, MAYBE LINDSAY COULD TALK ABOUT, I FEEL LIKE GODLESS RESURFACED AS A PUBLIC CONVERSATION, YOU KNOW, ONCE A YEAR, RIGHT? EVERYBODY COMES IN LIKE, WHAT ABOUT GONDOLAS? GOLAS ARE, ARE PARTICULARLY GREAT WHEN WE HAVE LOTS OF TOPOGRAPHY, RIGHT? OBVIOUSLY, CUZ IT'S A WAY TO NAVIGATE THAT.

UM, THEY'RE NOT CONSIDERED, I THINK A HIGH CAPACITY TRANSIT OPTION, SO IT'S A LITTLE BIT APPLES AND ORANGES.

UM, THERE IS AN INCREDIBLE, UM, UH, I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S CALLED LIGHT RAIL, BUT THERE'S AN INCREDIBLE SYSTEM IN WOOER TALL GERMANY, UM, WHERE THE STORE, THE TRAINS ARE ACTUALLY HUNG FROM A STRUCTURE, BUT THEY'RE, THEY'RE LIKE TRAIN CARS.

UM, BUT IT'S, IT'S THE ONLY ONE LIKE IT IN THE WORLD AND I DON'T THINK WE WE'RE, WANTED TO BUILD A ONE-OFF OURSELVES.

SO WE'RE A, WE'RE A TWO OFF.

SO, UM, WE'RE STICKING WITH, YOU KNOW, SORT OF CONVENTIONAL, AT LEAST, UH, LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM.

AND I PLEASE ADDRESS SOME THANK YOU VERY MUCH, A LITTLE BIT.

THANK TWO.

SO EARLY PLANNING THAT WENT INTO THIS INCLUDED ESTIMATING THE NUMBER OF RIDER THAT WOULD USE THE SYSTEM, AND EACH OF THESE FIVE OPTIONS THAT WE SHOWED YOU TODAY, UM, SERVE A, A VARIED NUMBER OF WRITERS THAT RANGES ANYWHERE FROM ABOUT 20,000 ON AN AVERAGE WEEKDAY.

SO, YOU KNOW, PICK A TUESDAY, NOT A SPECIAL EVENT, JUST A, AN AVERAGE TUESDAY, UM, TO ABOUT 40,000 RIDER A DAY.

AND, AND LIGHT RAIL REALLY IS THE BEST MODE TO SERVE THAT HIGH VOLUME AND CAPACITY OF PEOPLE MOST EFFICIENTLY.

THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH.

VICE CHAIR MINS.

SO IF WE AREN'T REACHING NORTH LAMAR TRANSIT CENTER, OUR MAINTENANCE FACILITY OPTION BECOMES THE RIVERSIDE IN 71.

THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.

UM, I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT ONE OF THE PROPOSALS IN PARTICULAR, I BELIEVE IT'S PROPOSAL TWO THAT IS, UH, HYPOTHETICALLY GOING TO THE NORTH LAMAR TRANSIT CENTER.

UM, I LIVE IN THIS T O D SO, YOU KNOW, JUST FULL DISCLOSURE THERE, UH, IN THE, THE CRESTVIEW JUSTIN LANE AREA.

UM, SO I THINK THE QUESTION I HAVE IS THAT, UM, IT LOOKS LIKE SOME OF THE COMPLICATIONS FOR THAT SECTION INCLUDE THE STATE OWNED LAND ON LAMAR, UH, AS WELL AS THE EXISTING METRO RAIL RED LINE TRACKS.

UM, NOW I'M A LITTLE CURIOUS WHY YOU ALL HAVEN'T LOOKED AT, AND MAYBE YOU HAVE, UM, YOU KNOW, POTENTIALLY HAVING THAT TERMINUS JUST SOUTH OF THE METRO RAIL STATION, UM, YOU KNOW, RYAN DRIVE, THEY'RE REDEVELOPING THAT LAND, UH, AND TRYING TO DO IT IN CONJUNCTION WITH THIS PROJECT CONNECT.

UM, SO I GUESS I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, HAVE YOU LOOKED AT OR IS IT POSSIBLE TO LOOK AT, UM, POTENTIALLY LOWERING THE BURDEN OF THE REGULATION, YOU KNOW, WITH, UH, THE STATE AND THEN POTENTIALLY, UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WITH THE, WITH THE RAIL BY JUST LOCATING THAT TERMINUS SOUTH OF METRO RAIL IN THE CRESTVIEW STATION AREA? YES, WE DID LOOK AT THAT OPTION AND, AND EVEN SOME OTHER VARIATIONS OF, UM, A NORTHERN TERMINUS BEING, YOU KNOW, SOUTH OF CRESTVIEW, MAYBE KIG OR, UM, OR OR TRIANGLE OR 45TH STREET, DIFFERENT VARIATIONS OF THAT CONCEPT.

AND GENERALLY WHAT DRIVES OUR REQUIREMENTS ON THAT ARE THAT WE HAVE TO HAVE A VIABLE MAINTENANCE FACILITY IN THIS INITIAL CORE SYSTEM.

UM, SO WHILE THIS SYSTEM WILL BE EXPANDED UPON IN THE FUTURE, UM, IN, IN LATER PHASES, WE, WE MUST HAVE A MAINTENANCE FACILITY IN THE INITIAL PHASE.

AND REALLY THE TWO OPTIONS ARE EITHER AT NORTH LAMAR TRANSIT CENTER OR THAT AREA NEAR RIVERSIDE AND 71.

[00:35:01]

AND BECAUSE OF HOW FAR, UH, KIND OF OUT THAT IS LOCATED, OUR REACH WITHIN, LET US GO FURTHER NORTH THAN ABOUT 38TH TO MAYBE 45TH STREET.

AND, AND WE, WE CAN'T REALLY, THE, THOSE FACILITIES I MENTIONED ARE, UM, DIFFICULT TO LOCATE CLOSER INTO THE CORE, GIVEN THE SIZE AND AND NATURE OF THOSE FACILITIES.

THOSE ARE THE CLOSEST IN THAT WE CAN GET THEM WITH THE AMOUNT OF LAND AND, AND COMPATIBLE LAND USE AND OTHER, UM, FEATURES THAT ARE NEEDED FOR THOSE FACILITIES.

OKAY, THANK YOU.

YEAH, I WOULD ADD, I WOULD ADD ALSO THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A, A REALLY SIGNIFICANT POPULATION OF OF CORE TRANSIT USERS, UM, YOU KNOW, AROUND, IN NORTH OF THE NORTH LAMAR TRANSIT CENTER.

SO WE FELT LIKE IF WE'RE GETTING, I MEAN, IN ADDITION TO EVERYTHING THAT LINDSAY SAID ABOUT THE MAINTENANCE FACILITY, WHICH IS ABSOLUTELY CORRECT, UM, WE FELT LIKE IF WE GOT AS FAR AS CRESTVIEW, WE REALLY SHOULD GET ALL THE WAY TO 180 3 SO WE COULD SERVE THAT COMMUNITY.

SO THAT'S KIND OF WHAT INFORMED, UM, THAT THAT OPTION.

THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER CAROL.

UH, DO WE HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS FROM COMMISSIONERS? UH, COMMISSIONER CAROL, I, I'M SORRY, CAN I INTERJECT FOR A SECOND? OUR COMMISSIONERS AND GUESTS THAT ARE JOINING ONLINE, IF YOU DON'T MIND MUTING YOUR MICROPHONE WHEN YOU'RE NOT SPEAKING, APPARENTLY WE'RE GETTING SOME FEEDBACK FROM AT XN.

THANK YOU CHAIR.

UH, SO ON THESE OPTIONS, THIS SLIDES ALL SAY 5,000 RIDER.

THAT MEANS EVERY OPTION IS CALCULATED TO SERVE THE SAME RIDERSHIP.

NO, UM, BUT THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THAT UP.

THE 5,000 WRITERS MEANS EACH ONE OF THOSE LITTLE BLUE PEOPLE, THE SYMBOLS IS EQUAL TO 5,000 RIDER.

SO REQUIRES A LITTLE BIT OF MATH, UH, TO MULTIPLY OUT THE NUMBER OF LITTLE BLUE SYMBOLS SHOWN THAT EACH REPRESENTS 5,000.

SO IT'S MEANT TO SHOW A TOTAL SCALE.

YOU'LL SEE ONE OPTION THAT, UM, ALL OF THOSE PEOPLE ARE BLUE, AND THEN YOU SEE OTHER ONES WHERE THEY'RE KIND OF EMPTY PEOPLE TOWARD THE END OF THAT SCALE.

THAT HELPS YOU SEE, UM, HOW EACH OPTION RELATES TO THE OPTION WITH THE MOST WRITERS, THE ONE WITH THE MOST, WHERE THEY'RE ALL SHADED BLUE IS ROUGHLY ABOUT 40,000 PER DAY.

AND THE, THE ONE WITH THE LOWEST NUMBER IS AROUND 20,000 PER DAY.

BUT THAT IS GOOD FEEDBACK.

WE HAVE HEARD THAT, UM, FROM MULTIPLE PLACES AND ARE WORKING ON PROVIDING BETTER CLARITY AROUND THOSE FIGURES.

SURE.

UH, OTHER QUESTION IS, I MEAN, THIS, THIS WHOLE PROJECT OR, OR WHAT'S LEFT OF IT WON'T BE ABLE TO BE COMPLETE WITH USING JUST PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY.

SO WHAT'S THE PLAN FOR ACQUIRING PRIVATE LAND TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN? SO WE WILL GO THROUGH, AS PART OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROCESS, WE MUST GO THROUGH THE ENVIRONMENTAL CLEARANCE EFFORTS AND RECEIVE, UM, A COMPLETION AND BASICALLY A RECORD OF DECISION FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS NOTED FOR THE PROJECT BEFORE WE CAN ACQUIRE RIGHT OF WAY.

AND THEN WE WILL FOLLOW THE UNIFORM ACT, WHICH IS, IS FOR ALL FEDERALLY FUNDED PROJECTS FOR ALL REAL ESTATE ACQUISITION, UM, WHICH INCLUDES RELOCATION SUPPORT SERVICES FOR, UH, ANY, ANY DISPLACEMENT THAT COULD OCCUR.

GENERALLY, MOST OF, UM, SO LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, ALONG EAST RIVERSIDE DRIVE, MOST OF THE RIGHT OF WAY IMPACTS ARE NOT DISPLACEMENT.

THERE'S, THERE'S A VERY SMALL NUMBER OF THEM ALONG THAT PART OF THE CORRIDOR, AND THEY'RE, UM, SLIVERS OF PRIVATE, UM, PROPERTY WHERE WE NEED PERHAPS TO HAVE A SIDEWALK EASEMENT OR SOMETHING OF THAT NATURE.

BECAUSE WHAT WE'RE BUILDING IS NOT JUST THE LIGHT RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE, IT'S ALSO THE SIDEWALKS, BIKE LANES, UM, ANY STREET RECONSTRUCTION NEEDED AND RELOCATIONS OF UTILITIES THAT WOULD CONFLICT WITH THE LIGHT RAIL, WHICH IN, IN SOME CASES REQUIRES AN EASEMENT IN THAT ADJACENT PROPERTY TO THE RIGHT OF WAY.

AND SO THIS SCALED BACK VERSION IS OBVIOUSLY DUE TO COST.

, DOES YOUR CURRENT BUDGET INCLUDE ACQUIRING THAT, THOSE PROPERTIES? YES, IT DOES.

UH, MORE EXPENSIVE TO DO THAT AND YOU'RE THEREFORE BUILDING LESS RAIL, UH, YOU KNOW, PER DOLLAR.

UH, AND THEN I I JUST WANT TO REITERATE SOMETHING THAT WAS TOUCHED ON EARLIER ABOUT THE ELEVATED, UM, THE ELEVATED RAIL VERSION.

I MEAN, OBVIOUSLY IT'S EXPONENTIALLY,

[00:40:01]

UM, BUT AS, UH, CHAIR WEAVER POINTED OUT, THERE'S ALSO AN URBAN DESIGN, UH, ASPECT TO IT.

AND, AND SPECIFICALLY THE INTERACTION WITH PEDESTRIANS AS COMMISSIONER TANA GUCCI POINTED OUT, UH, THE STATIONS THEMSELVES ARE ALSO A PLACE WHERE, YOU KNOW, THEN YOU CATCH A BUS OR YOU TAKE A BIKE AND, AND YOU GO THAT LAST MILE, RIGHT? UM, AND SO I WOULD ASSUME THAT WOULD BE MUCH MORE DIFFICULT TO DO AT, AT AN ELEVATED, UH, STATION AND RAIL.

SO, UM, OBVIOUSLY, YOU KNOW, THERE, THERE ARE PLACES WHERE YOU HAVE LESS RIGHT OF WAY TO WORK WITH AND, AND, AND MAYBE IT'S NOT FEASIBLE TO GET PRIVATE LAND.

BUT, UM, IT SOUNDS LIKE SINCE WE'RE LIMITED TO, TO THESE CONDENSED PLANS THAT SHOULD BE, UH, PRIORITIZED AS PART OF THE DECISION.

I MEAN, AS YOU SAID, EVEN BETWEEN TWO OPTIONS, THERE'S ONE THAT SERVES TWICE AS MANY PEOPLE MM-HMM.

UM, AND THAT, THAT'S REALLY INFORMATIVE TO ME.

SO THAT'S ALL I HAVE.

WE APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENTS.

WE WILL NOTE THEM OURSELVES, AND WE ALSO WELCOME ALL OF YOU SHOULD YOU WANT TO FORMALLY REGISTER COMMENTS DURING OUR COMMENT PERIOD, UM, THAT WE HAVE PROVIDED THE LINK IN OUR BACKUP MATERIALS TO THOSE.

AND I'LL ALSO NOTE THAT WE ARE HAVING OUR TEAM AS WE SPEAK, UH, REPLACE THOSE BACKUP MATERIALS THAT APPEAR TO HAVE GOTTEN CORRUPTED UPON SUBMITTAL.

SO YOU WILL HAVE ALL OF THE CORRECT MAPS THAT ARE ALSO ON OUR WEBSITE.

THREE, UH, STAFF BRIEFING REGARDING CAPITAL DOMINANCE OVERLAY CODE AMENDMENT AS DIRECTED BY A COUNCIL RESOLUTION NUMBER 2020 25 1 9 DASH 0 8 7.

DO WE HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS FROM COMMISSIONERS? ALL RIGHT.

WELL, THANK YOU MR. MULLENS.

THANK YOU MS. WOODS, FOR YOUR TIME.

THANK YOU ALL.

ITEM

[3. Staff briefing regarding Capitol Dominance Overlay Code Amendment as directed by Council Resolution No. 20220519-087. Presented by Zack Lofton, Housing and Planning Department.]

UM, PRESENTED BY ZACH LOFTON FROM HOUSING AND PLANNING MICROPHONE.

DO I NEED HOLD IT DOWN OR IS IT GOOD? OKAY, GOOD.

Y'ALL CAN HEAR ME.

REDUCING THE INTENSITY IN THE AREA IF YOU WANNA THINK ABOUT IT THAT WAY.

UM, SO YEAH, THIS IS A STAFF BRIEFING ON THE, THE COMMISSION ACTUALLY ASKED FOR PREVIOUSLY, AND SO I JUST WANNA MAKE THAT CLEAR.

SO YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT LINE.

SO WITH THIS RESOLUTION, UH, COUNCIL ACKNOWLEDGE THAT HOUSING IS NEEDED IN MIXED USE IN TRANSIT RICH AREAS SUCH AS DOWNTOWN, UH, AND THEY ASK STAFF SPECIFICALLY TO EVALUATE POSSIBLE IMPACTS THAT, THAT A, A RESOLUTION LIKE THIS WOULD HAVE ON THE CAPITAL DOMINANCE OVERLAY.

AND SO STAFF ANALYZE MULTIPLE FACTORS FOR POTENTIAL IMPACTS TO THE GENERAL GOALS OF THE CAPITAL DOMINANCE OVERLAY, WHICH IS EXISTING, AS WELL AS MORE RECENT PLANNING EFFORTS.

AND SO A FEW OF THE THINGS THAT WE LOOKED AT RELATED TO THIS, UM, THIS PARTICULAR TASK THAT COUNCIL HAD GIVEN US WERE PROPERTY OWNERSHIP OF THE PROPERTIES WITHIN THE CAPITAL DOMINANCE OVERLAY.

WE LOOKED AT WHETHER THE LAND IS PUBLICLY OR PRIVATELY HELD.

WE LOOKED AT ADJACENT DEVELOPMENT PATTERNS, UH, IN THE URBAN FORM AROUND THESE PROPERTIES.

AND THEN WE LOOKED AT THE PROPENSITY OF SOME OF THESE, THESE PROPERTIES WITHIN THE CAPITAL DOMINANCE OVERLAY TO REDEVELOP.

AND THEN FINALLY, AND RELEVANTLY, BASED ON THE PREVIOUS PRESENTATION, WE LOOKED AT FUTURE TRANSIT INVESTMENTS, UH, IN THE AREA AS WELL.

SO ULTIMATELY, STAFF DETERMINED THAT ALLOWING CVC COMPLIANT PROPERTIES WEST OF LAVACA STREET, AND I'LL SHOW YOU A MAP IN JUST A SECOND, UH, NEAR FUTURE TRANSIT LINES ON GUADALUPE AND LAVACA, ALLOWING THOSE PROPERTIES TO PARTICIPATE IN THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS, UH, PROGRAM COULD ACCOMMODATE INCREASED HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE DOWNTOWN CORE WHILE STILL PRESERVING THE OVERALL INTENT OF THE CAPITAL DOMINANCE OVERLAY.

AND SO WE BELIEVE THESE CHANGES WOULD HAVE ONLY MARGINAL IMPACTS, UM, SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE IN THE CAPITAL DOMINANCE OVERLAY, THE MAJORITY OF THE AREA IS ALREADY REGULATED BY CAPITAL VIEW CORS.

AND SO THAT'S GONNA BE THE MAIN INSTRUMENT THAT'S GONNA BE, UM,

[00:45:01]

AND SO IN THE END, STAFF IS RECOMMENDING TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION TOMORROW NIGHT, UH, AND TO COUNSEL, UH, APPROVAL OF THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO ALLOW PROPERTIES WITHIN THE CAPITAL DOMINANCE OVERLAY, UH, TO PARTICIPATE IN THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM.

SO LONG AS THESE PROPERTIES CONTINUE TO COMPLY WITH THE CAPITAL VIEW CORRIDORS AND CBC OVERLAY DISTRICT WHERE APPLICABLE SPECIFICALLY AS OUTLINED IN THE STAFF RESOLUTION.

SO IF YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, THERE'S A MAP SHOWING STAFF'S RECOMMENDATION.

AND WITH THAT, I'LL BE HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS THAT Y'ALL HAVE.

COMMISSIONERS, DO WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? YES, COMMISSIONER LUKINS, THANKS FOR THE PRESENTATION.

BUT, UH, WALK US THROUGH YOUR, WALK US THROUGH THE GRAPHIC.

SO DO YOU WANNA SHOW THE, UM, THE MAP AGAIN? THANK YOU.

SO IN THIS MAP YOU CAN SEE THE CIRCLE THERE IS THE, UM, THE CAPITAL, OR EXCUSE ME, IS THE CAPITAL DOMINANT'S OVERLAY IN THE CENTER OF THE DARK LARGE BUILDING IS THE STATE CAPITAL AND RADIATING FROM THE STATE CAPITAL ARE THE CAPITAL VIEW CORRIDORS.

SO SPECIFICALLY IN THE RESOLUTION THAT, UM, COUNCIL HAD GIVEN US, THEY WANTED US TO LOOK AT PROPERTIES THAT COULD PARTICIPATE IN, UM, THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM THAT ARE CURRENTLY WITHIN THE CAPITAL DOMINANT OVERLAY, WHICH IS THE CIRCLE.

SO PROPERTIES WITHIN THAT, WHICH YOU CAN SEE HIGHLIGHTED IN GOLD, THOSE PROPERTIES WILL STILL NEED TO COMPLY WITH THE REGULATIONS OF THE CAPITAL VIEW CORRIDORS.

SO IN SOME AREAS YOU CAN SEE, UM, THERE ARE PROPERTIES THAT ARE BEING REGULATED BY CAPITAL VIEW CORRIDORS, AS WELL AS THE CAPITAL DOMINANCE OVERLAY.

THIS, UH, RECOMMENDATION FROM STAFF WOULD BE THAT THESE PROPERTIES COULD PARTICIPATE IN THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM SO LONG AS THEY COMPLY.

SO THE CAPITAL DOMINANCE OVERLAY WOULDN'T BE THE REGULATION THAT'S KEEPING THEM FROM, FROM COMPLYING WITH OR, UH, PARTICIPATING IN THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY GOALS.

SO WHERE ARE THE, UM, BUILDINGS THAT HAVE THE ABILITY TO, UH, PARTICIPATE IN DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS? YOU SAID YOU ANALYZED THAT? YEAH, SO WE HAD ANALYZED, UM, I'M NOT GONNA CALL IT SPECIFIC PROPERTY WHERE ALREADY IN THE MAP.

WHAT'S THAT? WHERE ARE THEY ON THE MAP, ROUGHLY? ROUGHLY WEST OF LAVACA STREET, WHICH IS HIGHLIGHT GOLD.

THAT'S WHAT THE DARK GOLD DARK UH, GOLD IS.

DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM.

THAT'S WHAT WE'RE SAYING.

WOULD HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE IN THE, UM, OKAY.

AND THEN OBVIOUSLY THOSE PROPERTIES WOULD HAVE TO COMPLY WITH THE CDC, SO YOU CAN DEDUCE WHAT YOU KNOW, IF THEY'RE WEST OF LAVACA STREET.

GOTCHA.

AND ALSO NOT BEING REGULATED BY CDCS.

DOES THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION? YES, YOU DID.

GREAT.

UM, I HAVE A QUESTION.

WHY IS THE LINE WEST OF LAVACA? WHY IS IT NOT ALL OF THE CDO? YEAH, SO THAT IS A GREAT QUESTION.

SPECIFICALLY, WHENEVER WE WERE LOOKING AT THE DIFFERENT ELEMENTS IN THIS ANALYSIS, YOU KNOW, WE WANTED TO LOOK OBVIOUSLY WHAT, WHAT ARE THE PROPERTIES THAT STAND TO REDEVELOP? BUT SPECIFICALLY I THINK THE, THE MAIN OVER OVERARCHING ELEMENT TO THIS RECOMMENDATION IS THE FACT THAT THERE'S GONNA BE HIGH CAPACITY TRANSIT ON THE WESTERN SIDE OF THE CAPITAL D IT'S OVERLAY, AND ALLOWING PROPERTIES TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CAPITAL, OR EXCUSE ME, IN THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM, WOULD COMPLIMENT FUTURE HIGH CAPACITY TRANSIT AND VICE VERSA.

THAT IS, YOU KNOW, THAT, THAT, THAT IN ITSELF IS ENOUGH.

UM, THERE'S OBVIOUSLY THE REALITY THAT THE CAPITAL DOMINANCE OVERLAY IS THE EXISTING REGULATION, AND THAT'S WHAT COUNCIL ASKED US TO LOOK AT.

UM, AND SO MAINTAINING THE INTEGRITY OF THE CAPITAL DOMINANCE OVERLAY, UH, WAS, WAS THE DIRECTION THAT WE GOT FROM COUNCIL.

I GUESS, UM, I'M KIND OF INTERESTED IN WHY LAVACA IS SUCH A HARD LINE, IF, IF THE TRANSIT LINE IS GOING, IS IT ON GUADALUPE OR IS IT LAVACA? UM, I THINK, YOU KNOW, BASED ON THE, THE PREVIOUS PRESENTATION TOO, THAT'S NOT YET CERTAIN.

WE DO KNOW THAT THOSE TRANSIT INVESTMENTS THOUGH WILL BE, UH, WEST OF LAVACA.

THAT ON THE OTHER, ON THE EAST SIDE OF LAVACA, YOU START ENCROACHING ON A LOT OF THE CAPITAL BUILDINGS AND STATE, STATE OWNED LAND.

WELL, IT SEEMS LIKE IF I'M LOOKING AT THE MAP, THERE'S REALLY THREE SPECIFIC PROPERTIES THAT BENEFIT OUT OF THIS, AND THAT'S ABOUT IT.

UM, WHEREAS IF IT WERE BOTH SIDES OF LAVACA, MAYBE YOU COULD GET HIGH DENSITY ON BOTH SIDES OF THE LINE.

WHAT, IS THERE ANY FURTHER CONVERSATION AMONG STAFF ABOUT THAT? THERE HAS, AND SPECIFICALLY THE FACT

[00:50:01]

I SEE.

AND SO THAT WAS ANOTHER BIG PIECE OF, OF HOW WE KIND OF TAILORED THIS RECOMMENDATION.

UM, DO WE HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS FROM COMMISSIONERS, VICE CHAIR MINERS? YES.

UM, I'M JUST CURIOUS BECAUSE, UH, I KNOW THAT IN THIS AREA, UM, THERE ARE SOME PROJECTS THAT HAVE ADOPTED MIXED USE.

UM, CLEARLY IF WE ARE, UM, YOU KNOW, LOOKING TO INCORPORATE THEM INTO THE DENSITY BONUS, UM, WE WOULD LIKELY PUSH FOR THAT.

UM, HOWEVER, UM, THERE'S ONE, UH, KIND OF HIGH PROFILE PROJECT.

UM, IT'S A 32 STORY RESIDENTIAL TOWER, UH, THAT IS BEING DEVELOPED BY EARL STONE PARTNERS, I BELIEVE, UM, ACCORDING TO, TO MY SOURCE.

UM, AND IT LOOKS LIKE THEY'RE BUILDING 220 NEW RESIDENCES ON 14TH AND LAVACA.

UM, I DON'T KNOW IF THIS FALLS INTO THAT, UH, OVERLAY, UM, BASED ON HOW IT'S PICTURED HERE, BUT I BELIEVE IT IS, UH, IT'S, IT'S AN OLD KIND OF FILLING STATION THAT WAS RECENTLY DEMOLISHED.

UM, I DON'T KNOW WHERE WE ARE IN THE PROCESS WITH THIS PARTICULAR TOWER, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE IF THIS DOES GO UP AS PLANNED, UM, ARE THERE ZONING CONSIDERATIONS THAT ARE ALREADY IN THE WORKS? OR IS THIS, UH, I GUESS WHAT, WHAT'S THE, WHAT'S THE CONNECTION THERE? ARE THEY, DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS PROJECT AND IF THEY'RE SEEKING, UM, ANY, UH, CHANGES TO ZONING? I'M NOT FAMILIAR WITH THAT SPECIFIC PROJECT.

UM, SPECIFICALLY WE WERE FOCUSING THE ANALYSIS ON, ON HOW IT WAS LAID OUT IN THE COUNCIL RESOLUTION.

SO CONSIDERING PROJECTS WAS ALL WE'RE LOOKING AT, I'M NOT FAMILIAR WITH THAT PROJECT.

I'M NOT SURE IF THEY WOULD BE REQUIRED TO GET A ZONING CHANGE EITHER, LIKE YOU HAD KIND OF REFERENCED MM-HMM.

BUT I WILL SAY THAT THE MAJORITY OF THE PROJ OF THE, UH, PROPERTIES IN THE, THE GOLD AREA ARE CURRENTLY ZONED DMU.

UM, THERE ARE A FEW THAT ARE, UH, ZONED CBD AS WELL, WHICH ARE TWO OF THE MORE COMMON ZONING DESIGNATIONS THAT PURSUE DEVELOPMENT BONUSES THROUGH THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM.

SO, OKAY.

YEAH, IT LOOKS LIKE THIS ONE IS THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF 14TH AND LAVACA, SO MAYBE IT'S FALLING RIGHT OUTSIDE OF THAT RANGE.

BUT THEN AGAIN, IT'S GONNA BE A 32 STORY TOWER THAT REALLY, UM, ISN'T GONNA BE PARTICIPATING IN THE DENSITY BONUS.

UH, AND IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE IT WOULD BE INCLUDED JUST GIVEN THIS GRAPHIC, OR MAYBE IT WOULD BE PARTIALLY INCLUDED.

IT'S HARD TO TELL.

SO IF, IF IT'S ON THE SOUTH SOUTHWEST CORNER, UHHUH , THEN IT WOULD BE WITHIN THE, UH, THE AREA THAT STAFF'S RECOMMENDED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE DOWNTOWN NCAA BONUS PROGRAM.

THAT SAID GOTCHA.

THE RECOMMENDATION FROM STAFF DOES NOT DO ANYTHING TO THE CAPITAL VIEW CORRIDORS.

UM, JUST SO THAT'S CLEAR.

THERE'S, THAT'S A WHOLE OTHER DISCUSSION.

WE WERE TASKED SPECIFICALLY WITH LOOKING AT PROPERTIES RELATED TO THE CAPITAL DOMINANCE OVERLAY.

UM, YEAH, SO, YEAH, WELL IT LOOKS LIKE, UM, THIS IS IS SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO GO INTO EFFECT PRETTY SOON IF PEOPLE ARE ALREADY THAT FAR ALONG IN THEIR PLANNING STAGES, CUZ THAT'S ALREADY TAKING ONE OF THESE PARCELS THAT ARE PROPOSED OFF OF, UH, YOU KNOW, THE POTENTIAL TO BE REDEVELOPED AND REDEVELOPED AFTER IT'S ALREADY BEEN REDEVELOPED.

UM, SO THAT'LL BE YEARS TO COME BEFORE THAT'S APPLICABLE.

SO THAT'S MY, MY 2 CENTS.

CURATED OUR RECOMMENDATION, CORRECT.

UM, COMMISSIONER LUKINS, ASK WHY.

I WAS JUST GONNA ASK WHY THE, UH, THE, THE BLOCKS THAT ARE, UH, ADJACENT TO CONGRESS, SETH, THE COBB CAPITAL AREN'T SHOWN AS BEING, UH, UH, YELLOW.

DON'T THEY HAVE ANY, CAN YOU IMAGINE THEM NOT BEING REDEVELOPED? YEAH, I THINK WE, WE WANT TO BE CAREFUL ABOUT BEING TOO PRESUMPTUOUS.

SO FIRST OFF, A LOT OF THE PROPERTIES THAT YOU KIND OF OUTLINED THERE ARE REALLY SMALL PARCELS.

UM, THE LIKELIHOOD WITH A, WITH A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT OWNERS, UM, WHETHER IT BE PUBLIC-PRIVATE OR JUST SEPARATE PRIVATE OWNERS.

AND SO THE LIKELIHOOD THAT THAT WOULD REDEVELOP INTO SOMETHING THAT WOULD REALISTICALLY PURSUE THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS IS, IS UNLIKELY.

OBVIOUSLY, UM, YOU KNOW, WE CAN'T MAKE THE DECISION FOR THE PROPERTY OWNERS, BUT THAT, THAT WAS ANOTHER PIECE.

IN WHAT, IN WHAT SORT OF, UM, OKAY.

CORRECT.

UH, ARE THERE ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONER CAROL? SO I'M UNDERSTANDING THIS CORRECTLY.

ARE YOU SAYING STAFF IS ONLY RECOMMENDING THE PROPERTIES IN THAT GOLD HATCH? THAT'S RIGHT.

EVALUATE POTENTIAL, UM, THE POTENTIAL OF PROPERTIES WITHIN THE CAPITAL DOMINANCE OVERLAY, ALLOWING THEM TO PARTICIPATE.

BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT COUNSEL ASKED YOU TO DO? CORRECT.

COUNSEL ASKED US TO

[00:55:01]

WHAT WOULD THAT DO? WELL, I GUESS IT'S UNCLEAR THEN WHAT CRITERIA YOU USE TO DETERMINE POTENTIAL.

SO, BECAUSE THERE'S A LOT OF PROPERTIES LEFT OUT ON THE MAP THERE.

YEAH, SO I, I MENTIONED A FEW OF THEM.

SO PROPERTY OWNERSHIP, AS I REFERENCED A LOT OF THESE PROPERTIES, SO TO CLEARLY DEFINE, SO THE CAPITAL BUILDING, THE CAPITAL DOMINANCE OVERLAY IS WITHIN A QUARTER MILE OF THE CAPITAL BUILDING.

, SO GENERALLY SPEAKING, IT'S NOT A TON OF REAL ESTATE, BUT WITHIN THE CAPITAL DOMINANCE OVERLAY, THERE'S A LOT OF PUBLICLY OWNED LANDS, SPECIFICALLY STATE OWNED LAND.

AND THAT'S, THAT'S, UH, ANOTHER PIECE OF THE PUZZLE.

SOME OF THOSE, UM, SOME OF THOSE PROPERTIES ARE REDEVELOPING, BUT THERE'S LESS OPPORTUNITY THAT THE CITY HAS, UM, RELATED TO REGULATING THOSE PARCELS BECAUSE IT'S, UM, STATE OWNED PROPERTIES AND THEY'RE NOT NECESSARILY REQUIRED TO COMPLY WITH LOCAL ZONING REGULATIONS.

UM, SO PROPERTY OWNERSHIP AND THEN, AS I SAID, WHETHER IT WAS PUBLICLY OR PRIVATELY OWNED, ADJACENT DEVELOPMENT PATTERNS, OBVIOUSLY WE WANT TO PRESERVE THE INTENT OF THE CAPITAL DOMINANCE.

THAT'S WHAT THE CAPITAL DOMINANCE OVERLAY IS INTENDED TO DO.

SO YOU WANNA PRESERVE THAT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE WHILE STILL ACKNOWLEDGING THAT TRANSIT INVESTMENTS COULD CREATE A, A, A NEED OR A NECESSITY FOR, FOR MORE INTENSE DEVELOPMENT.

AND SO, AS YOU ALSO SEE, UM, A LOT OF THE CAPITAL DOMINANCE OVERLAY IS ALREADY REGULATED BY CAPITAL VIEW CORRIDORS 71% IN FACT.

AND SO IT TURNS INTO SLIM PICKENS AS FAR AS PROPERTIES THAT WOULD, YOU KNOW, CONCEIVABLY PURSUE A DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS.

AND YEAH, I JUST, JUST CONFUSED AS TO WHY NOT, WHY NOT IF YOU'RE, IF YOU'RE JUST SAYING THESE PROPERTIES ARE ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE, IT'S A VOLUNTARY PROGRAM, THEY DON'T HAVE TO PARTICIPATE.

EXACTLY.

SO WHY DON'T YOU JUST LET ALL OF THE PROPERTIES PARTICIPATE IF THEY WANT TO? WHY ARE WE LIMITING IT TO JUST THOSE ON THE, THAT ONE STREET? YEAH.

SHORT ANSWER IS TO PRESERVE THE INTEGRITY OF THE CAPITAL DOMINANCE OVERLAY THAT IS THE EXISTING REGULATION FROM THE CODE.

AND SO IN AN EFFORT TO PRESERVE THAT, BECAUSE OUR, OUR, WE WEREN'T TASKED WITH DOING AWAY WITH THE, WITH THE, UM, CAPITAL DOMINANCE OVERLAY, WE WERE TASKED WITH LOOKING AT WHICH PROPERTIES COULD PARTICIPATE.

SO THAT'S WHY.

KNOW, WHATEVER THE CASE IS.

I HAVE A QUESTION OR A COMMENT.

COMMISSIONER TINA GUCCI.

YEAH, THIS IS MORE FUNDAMENTAL, YOU KNOW, UM, I'VE BEEN ON THIS DESIGN COMMISSION FOREVER AND I'VE ALWAYS SEEN THE DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM.

IT'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO ACTUALLY HAVE BUILT, BUILT UNITS ON SITE THAT THOSE THAT U USUALLY COULDN'T AFFORD IT, YOU KNOW, LESS THAN LESS THAN WHATEVER IT IS.

BUT THE OTHER THING IS, IS THAT, YOU KNOW, IT ALSO CONTRIBUTES TO THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING, UH, PACKAGE OR WHATEVER THE FUNDING.

BUT, BUT WHEN, WHEN, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THESE PROPERTIES RIGHT HERE, THERE'RE SO EXPENSIVE THAT THERE WOULDN'T EVER BE A CHANCE THAT THERE WOULD BE ANY ONSITE BUILT UNITS, UH, FOR PEOPLE THAT COULDN'T OTHERWISE AFFORD IT.

AND IF THEY COULD, THEY PROBABLY WOULDN'T WANNA LIVE THERE BECAUSE IT'S JUST SO MUCH OUT OF, OUT OF THEIR, YOU KNOW, THEIR REALITY.

SO CAN YOU SPEAK TO THAT AS TO, UH, WHY THIS IS KIND OF LIKE, UH, , WHAT, WHY IT KIND OF FITS MY GOAL OF AFFORDABLE HEALTH OR DENSITY BONUS WHEN, WHEN THIS PROPERTY'S SO EXPENSIVE THAT IT'S NOT GONNA AFFORD, IT'S NOT GONNA, UH, IT'S NOT GONNA, UH, PROVIDE MORE EQUITY OR MORE WHATEVER THE GO, THE ORIGINAL GOALS OF DENSITY BONUS WERE? YEAH, SO I THINK, YOU KNOW, AS THIS COMMISSION IS WELL AWARE, PART OF THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM IS AN EXCHANGE FOR, UM, FOR BONUS AREA, YOU PROVIDE COMMUNITY BENEFITS.

WE KNOW THAT 50% OF, OF, UM, THAT BONUS IS EARMARKED FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING.

SO WHETHER IT'S BUILT ON SITE OR IN ANOTHER AREA THAT WOULD BE, UM, TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF THROUGH, THROUGH FEES IN LIEU.

I MEAN, APART FROM THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE, I DON'T, I DON'T HAVE A GREAT ANSWER APART FROM THE FACT THAT IF A, IF A PROJECT DOES SUBMIT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS HERE, THEY WOULD BE REQUIRED TO EITHER PROVIDE AFFORDABLE HOUSING OR SUBMIT, UM, YOU KNOW, PAY FEES IN LIEU.

AND SO THERE IS A, THERE IS A BENEFIT FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING, WHETHER IT'S EXACTLY, YOU KNOW, HOW WE WOULD LIKE IT TO BE OR, OR, YOU

[01:00:01]

I THINK THAT'S TO BE DECIDED.

AND, YOU KNOW, EVERYBODY MIGHT HAVE A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE ON THAT.

SPECIFICALLY FOR THIS, WE SEE THIS AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO INCREASE, UM, INCREASE THE EITHER FEES IN LIEU OR THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN THIS AREA, WHICH IS CURRENTLY BEING PRECLUDED BY THE CAPITAL DOMINANCE OVERLAY.

YEAH, I, I, IF I'M NOT, UH, MISTAKEN, I THINK THE FEE IN LIE IS A SET FEE.

IT DOESN'T REALLY MATTER WHAT THE PROPERTY VALUE IS OR THE VALUE OF THE PROJECT IS, IS, IS THAT CORRECT? THAT IS CORRECT.

SO, YOU KNOW, WHEN, WHEN, WHEN Y'ALL ARE BUILDING ON GOLD SITES LIKE THIS, I MEAN, THEY'RE ACTUALLY SHOWN IN GOLD THAT IT SEEMS LIKE THE HIGH, IT SHOULD BE A LITTLE HIGHER FEE, UH, FEE LOU OR WHATEVER IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE BECAUSE, UH, BECAUSE THAT'S JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE GETTING MORE BENEFIT OUT OF IT WHEN IT'S BUILT IN THIS, UH, VERY, UM, EXPENSIVE DISTRICT.

UM, I HAVE ONE MORE COMMENT AND THEN I'LL PASS IT TO YOU, COMMISSIONER CARROLL.

SO I THINK, UM, MY OFFICE IS AT 11TH AND OASIS, SO I'M VERY FAMILIAR WITH THIS AREA IN THINKING OF THE EXPERIENCE OF WALKING DOWN 12TH STREET FROM THE CAPITOL, UM, AND WHAT THE ZONING AND NEW PROJECTS ARE.

SO YOU'RE PROPOSING A DENSITY BONUS, UM, UP UNTIL I, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE CROSS STREET IS.

IT LOOKS, WHAT'S THE CROSS STREET WHERE IT EXTENDS? IT'S LIKE GUADALUPE, THE, WHERE, WHAT EXTENDS IS IT GUADALUPE? OKAY.

UM, AND THEN WE HAVE A 375 FOOT TOWER GOING IN AT 12TH AND SAN ANTONIO, AND THAT'S WHERE THE CBD ENDS.

AND THEN WE KIND OF SWITCH INTO A PATCHWORK OF OLD ZONING CODES FOR THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

AND SOME OF THEM ARE ZONE DMU AND THERE'S A CONDITIONAL OVERLAY FOR 12TH STREET OF 60 FEET.

UM, THERE'S A FEW PROJECTS WHO HAVE GOTTEN, UH, THERE'S NOT DENSITY BONUS FOR THAT NEIGHBORHOOD.

SO SOME OF THOSE PROJECTS HAVE GOTTEN ADDITIONAL HEIGHT FOR OFFERING AFFORDABLE UNITS.

UM, SO SOME, THERE'S SOME PROJECTS THAT EXTEND UP TO 90 FEET, BUT THE GRADE CHANGES, SO THEY KIND OF FLATTEN OUT TO READ ALL IS 60 FEET.

UM, SO IT SEEMS LIKE I, I APPRECIATE THE OP THE DESIRE OF COUNCIL TO UNLOCK NEW PARCELS, BUT I FEEL LIKE WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE IS ALMOST A MORE CONFUSING BADGE WORK OF ZONING CODE.

UM, SO I, I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S ANY WAY TO MAKE IT MORE DIRECT TO WHAT COUNCIL'S OBJECTIVE WAS, WHICH WAS UNLOCKED THE ENTIRE CBO.

I THINK YOUR COMMENT ABOUT SOME OF THE PARCELS ARE SMALLER OWNERS, WELL, SMALLER OWNERS CAN COMBINE THE PROPERTY FOR REDEVELOPMENT.

AND IF YOU CONTINUE AS YOU ARE NOW, THAT THOSE PROPERTY OWNERS OR DEVELOPER WOULD HAVE TO COME BACK W FOR A PRETTY ARDUOUS PROCESS WHEN THIS COULD ALL JUST BE TAKEN CARE OF NOW BY INCLUDING THE WHOLE AREA THAT CITY COUNCIL ASKED FOR.

SO I GUESS I'M JUST POINTING OUT THAT IT'S A LITTLE PATCHY AND, UM, JUST REQUESTING A SECOND LOOK ON HOW TO MAKE A COHESIVE SOLUTION.

COMMISSIONER CAROL.

THANK YOU CHAIR.

SO, UH, HERE'S WHAT THE RESOLUTION SAYS.

CITY COUNCIL INITIATES AN AMENDMENT TO CITY CODE TO ALLOW PROPERTIES WITHIN THE CAPITAL DOMINANCE OVERLAY DISTRICT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM.

SO LONG AS THESE PROPERTIES CONTINUE TO COMPLY WITH THE CAPITAL V CORRIDORS AND THE C V C OVERLAY DISTRICT, WERE APPLICABLE AND DIRECTS THE CITY MANAGER TO PROCESS AMENDMENTS NECESSARY TO ACCOMPLISH THE PURPOSES SET FORTH IN THIS RESOLUTION.

SO, NOWHERE DO I SEE WE NEED TO PRESERVE THE CAPITAL DOMINANCE OVERLAY, AND NOWHERE DOES I, DOES IT SAY THAT STAFF IS TO HYPOTHESIZE WHETHER A PROPERTY IS GOING TO BE REDEVELOPED OR NOT.

SO I I STILL CONTEND THAT THIS IS NOT WHAT STAFF WAS DIRECTED TO DO.

OKAY, THAT'S ALL.

TO ITEM NUMBER FOUR, A DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON WHETHER THE PROJECT 62 EAST AVENUE LOCATED AT 62 EAST AVENUE, COMPLIES WITH THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN, PRESENTED BY ALIYAH BOJO AND DREW RAPHAEL.

THANK YOU, MR. LOFTON.

UM, WE'LL MOVE ON

[4. Discussion and possible action on whether the project 62 East Avenue, located at 62 East Avenue, complies with the Urban Design Guidelines for the City of Austin in accordance with Land Development Code § 25-2-586 (C)(1)(a)(ii). Presented by Leah Bojo and Drew Raffaele, Drenner Group, PC.]

HELLO

[01:05:01]

COMMISSIONERS.

I'M LEO BOJO WITH JENNER GROUP.

I'M JOINED BY MY TEAM S TG, THE ARCHITECT LED BY KELLY HANSON AND W D W D G LED BY CLAIRE DRUMMOND.

AND THEN DREW RAFA IS WITH ME, OF COURSE.

UM, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

UM, SO WE ARE HERE TO TALK ABOUT 62 EAST AVENUE.

UM, I'M GONNA GIVE A LITTLE INTRODUCTION, THEN I'M GONNA HAND IT OFF TO THE, TO THE DESIGN TEAM.

UM, THIS PROJECT IS ON A VERY SMALL SITE, JUST UNDER 12,000 SQUARE FEET.

UM, WE ARE ABLE TO ADMINISTRATIVELY ACHIEVE 15 TO ONE F A R WITH PARTICIPATION IN THE, IN THE RAINY DISTRICT DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS, AND THEN THE, THE REGULAR DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS.

UM, AND WE ARE, BUT WE ARE GOING TO MOVE ON TO CITY COUNCIL WITH A REQUEST FOR AN F A R OF 29 AND GET THEIR APPROVAL HOPEFULLY FOR THAT.

UM, WE DID VISIT WITH THE WORKING GROUP.

WHEN WE VISITED WITH THE WORKING GROUP.

OUR REQUEST WAS AROUND 27 F A R.

SINCE THAT TIME, WE'VE DONE SOME ADDITIONAL DESIGN WORK AND WE'VE INCREASED OUR REQUEST JUST A BIT TO 29 F A R.

JUST TO MAKE SURE Y'ALL ARE CLEAR ON THAT, ON THAT SLIGHT CHANGE, IT DOES INCREASE THE SQUARE FOOTAGE, OBVIOUSLY A BIT.

IT ALSO INCREASES THE, UM, AFFORDABLE HOUSING FEE AND, UM, ONSITE AFFORDABILITY, WHICH I'LL GET TO IN A LITTLE BIT.

UM, THIS IS EXPECTED TO BE A 684 FOOT BUILDING, 57 STORIES, 215 MULTI-FAMILY UNITS, UM, INCLUDED, INCLUDING BOTH ONSITE AND MARKET RATE OR ONSITE AFFORDABLE AS WELL AS MARKET RATE UNITS.

UM, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

UM, SO THIS SITE IS ZONED CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT.

UM, YOU CAN SEE IN THAT LITTLE SNP THERE THAT IT IS ON EAST AVENUE.

IT IS ON TEXT DOT RIGHT OF WAY, WHICH WILL COME UP LATER.

UM, AND IT IS CURRENTLY UNDEVELOPED.

NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, HERE, JUST TO ORIENT YOU AS TO WHERE EXACTLY WE ARE IN THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS AREA.

YOU CAN SEE WE'RE DOWN THERE ON THE, ON THE, THE EASTERN EDGE OF THE RAINY DISTRICT.

NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.

SO HERE, WE'LL, WE'LL WALK YOU THROUGH THE PROJECT COMPLIANCE WITH THE OBVIOUSLY SUBSTANTIAL COMPLIANCE WITH THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES, WHICH IS WHAT WE'RE HERE TO TALK ABOUT TONIGHT.

PRIMARILY, UM, WE WILL BE COMPLYING WITH GREAT STREETS THROUGH A FEE AND LIEU BECAUSE WE ARE ON TECH DOT RIGHT OF WAY.

UM, WE'LL HAVE AN AUSTIN ENERGY GREEN BUILDING, AT LEAST TWO STAR RATING.

UM, AND WE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT OUR COMMUNITY FEE, COMMUNITY BENEFITS, WHICH, LIKE I SAID, ARE GONNA BE A MIX OF ONSITE AND AFFORDABLE, ONSITE AFFORDABLE AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING FEE IN LIEU.

NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.

AND AT THIS POINT I'D LIKE TO HAND, ACTUALLY, YOU CAN JUST GO ONE MORE.

THANKS.

UM, HERE, I'LL HAND IT OVER TO STG TO TALK ABOUT THE BUILDING.

WE HAVE THESE SUMMARY SLIDES TO KIND OF SHOW YOU WHICH, UM, GUIDELINES WE BELIEVE WE MEET.

SO I'LL LET, BUT I'LL LET KELLY, UM, AND HER TEAM TALK ABOUT, UM, IN MORE DETAIL ABOUT THE BUILDING AND THE DESIGN.

HI, MY NAME IS KELLY HENSON.

I'M AN ARCHITECT AT STG DESIGN, UM, HERE TO TALK ABOUT 62 E.

SO, UH, NEXT SLIDE.

OUR PROJECT IS A 57 STORY MULTI-FAMILY, UM, IN THE RAINY DISTRICT, AS LEAH SAID.

AND IT'S, UH, DESIGNED AS A CONTEMPORARY MINIMALIST TOWER.

UM, SO WE HAVE A CONTINUOUS ARCHITECTURAL EXPRESSION FROM THE BASE OF THE PROJECT ALL THE WAY UP TO THE TOP.

UM, WE'RE FOCUSING ON A MATERIAL PALLET THAT GIVES THE BUILDING A UNIQUE PRESENCE IN THE DOWNTOWN SKYLINE.

UM, BUT WITHOUT COMPETING WITH THE SURROUNDING, UH, PROJECTS THAT ARE PLANNED IN THE AREA AND, UM, ADDING INTEREST TO THE SKYLINE, UH, WE'VE PAID THE EQUIPMENT.

UM, WE CAN GO INTO SPECIFIC MATERIALS FURTHER ON IN THE PRESENTATION.

FRONT AND, UM, WE ALSO HAVE A BIKE ENTRY ON THE FRONT OF THE BUILDING THAT WILL BE GLASS AS WELL WITH A MURAL ON THE INTERIOR TO ACTIVATE IT.

SO THIS IS OUR GROUND FLOOR.

UM, AS YOU CAN SEE, WE ARE ON AN EXTREMELY SMALL SITE IN DOWNTOWN.

UM, SO WE ARE VERY LIMITED ON WHAT WE ARE ABLE TO DO WITH THIS SITE.

WE HAVE DONE OUR BEST TO, UM, PUSH IT AS MUCH AS WE CAN WITH ADDING IN THE BUILDING SERVICES, THE REQUIRED EGRESS, THE CORE, UM, SQUEEZING IN A PARKING GARAGE ENTRANCE.

UM, AND THAT HAS LEFT US APPROXIMATELY 600 SQUARE FEET FOR A LOBBY.

UM, AND WE'VE ALSO, SINCE WE WERE ON TECH STOP RIGHT OF WAY, WHICH WE'LL ALSO COVER LATER ON, WE'VE HAD TO PUSH OR WE HAVE CHOSEN TO PUSH THE, UM, GROUND FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN SO THAT WE HAVE A NICE SEATING AREA AND LANDSCAPED AREA IN FRONT OF THE PROJECT, UM, THAT ADDS MORE OF A PEDESTRIAN SCALE TO OUR GROUND LEVEL.

AND WE HAVE, UM, A NICE BUFFER ZONE WITH THE LANDSCAPING.

UM, IT'S A NICE SHADED RELAXING AREA IN FRONT OF THE PROJECT.

UM, THE GROUND FLOOR WILL HAVE A GLASS

[01:10:01]

UH, WE'LL SEE THAT LATER ON AS WELL.

AND, UM, WE'VE, WE'RE TRYING TO FOCUS THE DESIGN ON, UM, HAVING A CRAFTED MATERIAL FEEL.

UM, SO THIS IS THE PUBLIC STREET SCAPE GUIDELINES JUST TO, UM, SHOW WHAT WE ARE IN COMPLIANCE WITH.

I'M GONNA HAND THIS OVER TO CLAIRE WITH DWG.

THANKS KELLY.

I'M CLAIRE DRUMMOND, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT WITH DWG, AND I'LL RUN US THROUGH THIS EXTERIOR SPACE.

SO AS LEAH AND KELLY MENTIONED, WE DO HAVE THE TEXT DOT R O W IN FRONT OF OUR, UH, BUILDING HERE.

AND SO WITHIN THAT WE ARE SHOWING THE STANDARD CONCRETE WALK WITH A TWO FOOT BUFFER OF PAVING AT THE CURB.

AND THEN WITHIN OUR PROPERTY LINE SET, WE HAVE LANDSCAPE AREAS TO MAKE THE SPACE LUSH GREEN.

AND WITHIN THOSE AREAS, WE'RE ALSO PROVIDING ORNAMENTAL TREES TO FIT THE SCALE OF THAT SPACE WITHIN THE, IN THE FRONT OF THE BUILDING.

UM, IN ADDITION TO THAT LANDSCAPE PLANTING AREA, WE DO HAVE A SHADED SEEDING AREA WITHIN THOSE TREES IN THAT CONTEXT OF THE PLANTING.

UH, AND THEN IN ADDITION TO THAT FURNISHED AREA, WE HAVE A PAIR OF BIKE RACKS AND A TRASH, UH, RECEPTACLE TO COMPLETE THE SITE FURNISHINGS IN THAT SPACE.

UH, ALSO PART OF THIS DESIGN WITH THE STREET SCAPE IS OUR LANDSCAPE LIGHTING SCHEME.

SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE THIS AREA IS OCCUPIABLE AND COMFORTABLE AT NIGHT AS WELL.

AND SO WE, UH, ARE ALSO PROVIDING, UH, LIGHTING AT THAT SEEDING AREA WITHIN THE BENCH, INTEGRATED INTO THAT SPACE.

UM, AND THEN LIGHTING AT THE TREES IN THE PLANTING AREA AS WELL TO WORK TOGETHER WITH THE BUILDING LIGHTING AT THAT, UH, BUILDING FRONTAGE.

AND I THINK I'LL PASS IT BACK TO OH, OH, YES.

SO THEN , OUR OTHER SLIDE FOR THE STREETSCAPE, UH, THE TREES THAT WE ARE WORKING WITH, UH, IN FRONT OF THIS SITE IN THE LANDSCAPE AREAS ARE YON, HOLLIES.

UH, THESE ARE TREES THAT WE'VE WORKED WITH, UH, ON OR IN PROPOSED AND, UH, IDENTIFIED AS GOOD CANDIDATES FOR THIS STREET AND THIS SIZE OF SPACE.

UH, JUST LOOKING AT THE AMOUNT OF SHADE THAT THEY PROVIDE AS A LARGER ORNAMENTAL THAT STILL FITS WITHIN THIS BUILDING CANOPY.

UM, AND SOMETHING THAT WILL NOT EXCEED, UH, THE PROVIDED HEIGHT OF THE SPACE.

AND WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.

SO THIS IS A DEPICTION OF THAT, THAT LANDSCAPE AREA.

UM, EMPHASIZING THE SEATING AREA IN FRONT OF THE FRONT DOOR OF THE SPACE.

AND AGAIN, A SUMMARY OF THE PLAZAS AND OPEN SPACE GUIDELINES THAT WE ARE, UH, IDENTIFYING FOR COMPLIANCE IN THIS PROJECT.

AND HERE'S ANOTHER VIEW OF THAT STREET SCAPE THAT ALLOWS US TO SEE THE ENTIRE LINEAR FRONTAGE OF THIS SPACE.

SO THE BIKE RACKS TO THE LEFT AND THE TRASHCAN BEYOND THAT, UH, THE SEATING AREA IN THE CENTER AND THE LANDSCAPE ALL INTERMINGLED THROUGHOUT WITH THOSE TREES UNDERNEATH THE BUILDING CANOPY.

ALL RIGHT, SO WE'LL TAKE YOU THROUGH THE BUILDING GUIDELINES.

UH, NEXT SLIDE.

SO AS I TALKED ABOUT BEFORE, WE HAVE OUR CONTINUOUS GRID PATTERN ON THE FACADE.

THAT'S KIND OF OUR MAIN ORGANIZING ELEMENT THAT ADDS THE UNIQUE PRESENCE TO THE SKYLINE.

AND THIS IS INTEGRATED WITH THE BUILDING, UM, BALCONIES AND OTHER FEATURES OF THE PROJECT.

FLOOR, YOU CAN SEE A LITTLE BIT CLOSER.

AND THEN FOCUSING ON OUR, UM, GROUND

[01:15:01]

UM, THERE'S A LAYERING OF MATERIALS WITHIN THE GRID.

SO WE HAVE OUR OVERALL GRID, UM, THAT'S KIND OF EXPANDED TO GIVE A LITTLE BIT MORE TEXTURE TO THE FACADE.

UM, AND THEN WITHIN THAT GRID, THERE'S A METAL PANEL THAT'S A DIFFERENT COLOR TO ADD TO THAT LAYERING.

AND THEN WE HAVE VISION GLASS AND SPANDREL GLASS THAT ARE INTENTIONALLY KIND OF DIFFERENT COLORS SO THAT IT, UM, ADDS KIND OF A PATTERNING EFFECT TO THE FACADE.

AND, UM, WE HAVE A MASONRY ON THE GROUND FLOOR AND, UM, THAT CONTINUES UP THE TOWER.

WE ALSO HAVE A FIBER CEMENT, RAIN SCREEN, AND A PERFORATED METAL PANEL.

THIS IS AN IMAGE OF THE BUILDING AND NIGHT TO DEMONSTRATE THE, UH, LIGHTING QUALITY.

SO, UM, AS YOU CAN SEE, WE HAVE DIFFERENT LAYERS OF LIGHTS TO HIGHLIGHT THE MAIN, UM, BUILDING INTEREST ENTRANCE, SORRY.

UM, AND THEN LAYERING ON TOP OF THAT FOR MORE PEDESTRIAN SCALE LIGHTING, AND THEN UP FOR MORE OF OUR GENERAL LIGHTING.

UM, AND WE'VE ALSO, UH, PAID ATTENTION TO HOW THE GARAGE ENTRANCE INTERACTS WITH THE PEDESTRIAN STREETSCAPE.

SO, UM, THAT WAS ONE OF THE COMMENTS EARLIER.

WE'LL ADDRESS THAT LATER ON.

BUT YOU CAN SEE SOME OF THAT, UM, BEING ADDRESSED IN THIS RENDERING WITH THE, UM, PEDESTRIAN NOTIFICATION AND THEN THE DRIVE BEING PULLED OUT A LITTLE BIT FARTHER.

AND SO THIS IS A MATERIAL PALLET.

UM, SO WE WENT THROUGH THIS, UH, WITH THE OTHER IMAGE.

SO WE HAVE OUR METAL PANEL GLASS, OUR FIBER CEMENT, WE HAVE, UH, LOT OF PLASTERS IN THE PROJECT, AND THEN OUR MASONRY.

AND, UM, ON THE GROUND FLOOR, WE ALSO HAVE A STEEL STOREFRONT SYSTEM.

AND WE ARE, UM, COMPLYING WITH A MINIMUM TWO STAR, A G B RATING.

WE ARE, UM, TARGETING A THREE STAR RATING WITH THE PROJECT, UM, FOR PART OF OUR DENSITY BONUS AND COMMUNITY BENEFITS.

AND I WILL WRAP UP HERE A LITTLE BIT WITH, UM, OUR COMMUNITY BENEFIT BONUS MATRIX.

SO THIS IS AN, OUR, UM, COMMUNITY BENEFITS ARE BEING MET ENTIRELY THROUGH AFFORDABLE HOUSING.

UM, LIKE I SAID EARLIER, OUR, UM, BONUS AREA IS ABOUT 245,000 SQUARE FEET, UM, BASED OUT OF THE TOTAL ACTUAL SQUARE FOOTAGE OF 341,000.

IT'S A LOT OF BONUS AREA BECAUSE IT'S SUCH A SMALL SITE.

UM, WE ARE GONNA BE RESERVING 30, ABOUT 3,500 SQUARE FEET OF HABITABLE AREA UNDER THE RAINY PROGRAM, AS WELL AS, UM, 5% OF THE AREA OVER 15 TO ONE OR PART OF, OF THE DISCRETIONARY PART AS ONSITE AFFORDABLE.

SO WE'RE MAKING THE DISCRETIONARY PART MATCH THE RAINY PROGRAM.

AND THEN IN THE MIDDLE WE'RE DOING JUST THE STRAIGHT UP DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM.

SO THAT'S ENTIRELY A FEE.

UM, SO WHAT THAT COMES OUT TO IS, UM, 9,562 SQUARE FEET OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING, WHICH IS PROBABLY GONNA BE ABOUT 10 UNITS, UM, MATCHING THE MIX OF COURSE, AS IS REQUIRED IN THE RAINY PROGRAM.

UM, AND ABOUT $804,000 IN AFFORDABLE HOUSING FEES.

UM, WE ARE, THAT IS BASED ON THE $5 PER SQUARE FOOT RAINY FEE THAT IS CURRENTLY IN PLACE.

NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.

UM, I DID WANNA BRING UP ONE CONVERSATION WE HAD WITH STAFF THAT WE'VE INCORPORATED INTO OUR PROJECT.

UM, WE DID, WE GET SOME QUESTIONS AFTER WE WERE WENT TO THE WORKING GROUP ABOUT ARE THERE ANY WAYS THAT WE COULD KIND OF WORK TO ACTIVATE OUR GROUND FLOOR? UM, AND ACTUALLY THAT IS THE RIGHT, UM, SLIDE.

OH, ACTUALLY, I'M SORRY.

THIS IS THE REGULAR GROUND FLOOR ACTIVATION.

I APOLOGIZE IF YOU COULD GO ONE MORE.

THERE WE GO.

FROM THE REST OF THE CONDO USE, UM, AT THAT FUTURE DAY.

UM, SO YOU CAN SEE THAT LITTLE YELLOW AREA.

IT IS A VERY SMALL LOBBY, ABOUT 600 SQUARE FEET, BUT YOU CAN SEE THAT ON THIS SLIDE WE HAVE HIGHLIGHTED A SMALL AREA THAT'S MAYBE A THIRD OF THE SPACE.

UM, WHAT WE HAVE IDENTIFIED THERE IS THAT THAT IS A PLACE WHERE WE COULD POTENTIALLY HAVE A COMMERCIAL USER SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE, POTENTIALLY WHEN THE REST OF EAST AVENUE BUILDS OUT.

THERE'S A LOT OF PROJECTS IN PLAY THERE WHEN MAYBE WHEN I 35 IS BURIED SOMEDAY, WHEN THAT, AND WHEN THAT AREA IS A DIFFERENT AND MORE ACTIVE SPACE, UM, THERE COULD POTENTIALLY BE A RETAIL USER THERE.

WHAT WE DON'T WANNA DO IS BUILD A RETAIL SPACE RIGHT NOW AND HAVE IT SIT EMPTY.

SO WHAT WE'VE DECIDED TO DO INSTEAD IS LIKE, WE'VE IDENTIFIED THAT AREA.

WE HAVE IDENTIFIED IT AS A PLACE WHERE THERE WILL BE LIKE WATER SERVICE AND THINGS LIKE THAT.

SO LIKE A SMALL, REALLY, LIKE A SMALL CAFE OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT WOULD PROBABLY BE THE THING THAT MAKES THE MOST SENSE.

WE'VE COMMITTED TO IDENTIFYING IT AS A SEPARATE UNIT IN THE CONDO DOCK SO THAT IT WOULD BE VERY EASY TO SELL, UH, OR RENT SEPARATELY

[01:20:01]

UM, AND SO, UM, I'M HAPPY WITH, WITH THAT KIND OF CREATIVE SOLUTION, AND I WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT.

SO IT WON'T SHOW ON THE SITE PLAN RIGHT NOW, BUT IT WILL SHOW IN THE, IN THE CONDO DOCS, AND WE COULD PUT A NOTE ON THE SITE PLAN TO SORT OF IDENTIFY THAT FOR A FUTURE TIME.

UM, AND THEN NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

AND THEN HERE WE HAVE OUR WORK GROUP RECOMMENDATION.

I'M PLEASED TO SAY THAT WE DID GET A RECOMMENDATION OF SUBSTANTIAL COMPLIANCE, UM, THAT THE COUPLE OF THINGS THAT WERE MENTIONED THAT WE CAME BACK AND WORKED ON AFTER HAVING THAT MEETING, UM, WERE THE VAULT COVER, UM, AND HOW WELL IT INTEGRATES INTO THE WALKING, UM, INTO THE SIDEWALK, THE WALKING AREA.

UM, AND SO WE HAVE IDENTIFIED, UM, A PAVER INLAY ON THE VAULT COVER SO THAT IT WILL LOOK, UM, SIMILAR AND IT WILL NOT BE A, A BREAK IN THAT PATTERN.

UM, AND THEN WE ALSO, UM, WERE CALLED OUT TO IMPROVE THE PEDESTRIAN SAFETY FOR FOLKS CROSSING THAT DRIVEWAY.

AND SO, UM, YOU CAN KIND OF SEE IT ON SOME OF THOSE, ON SOME OF THOSE RENDERINGS.

IT'S VERY SMALL, BUT WE ARE GONNA INTEGRATE A, UM, A PEDESTRIAN NOTIFICATION SYSTEM, RUMBLE STRIPS.

AND THEN AS KELLY MENTIONED, WE'VE PULLED THE DRIVEWAY OUT SO THAT WHEN YOU'RE WALKING, YOU HAVE BETTER VISIBILITY AS A PEDESTRIAN.

UM, AND WITH THAT, I WOULD SAY THAT OUR TEAM, YOU CAN GO ONE MORE SLIDE, IF YOU DON'T MIND.

UM, OUR TEAM IS HERE FOR QUESTIONS AS YOU HAVE THEM.

THANKS.

THANK YOU, MS. BOJO.

UM, DO WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FROM COMMISSIONERS? UH, COMMISSIONER SALINAS, EVERYTHING THAT, UH, YOU SHOWED, IS THAT ALL THE PARKING THAT'S ALL ABOVE GREG? YES.

SO YOU GOT 14 STORIES OF PARKING, AND THEN YOU HAVE AN AMENITY SPACE ABOVE THAT RIGHT NOW, IS THAT A MINUTE? IS THAT JUST FOR THE RESIDENCE? YES.

AND SO ON THE GROUND FLOOR LEVEL, THAT ACTIVATION, UH, THAT YOU SHOWED, THAT RESI, THAT'S THAT RETAIL AREA, FROM WHAT I CAN TELL, LOOKS LIKE THAT WOULD BE THE ONLY ACTIVATION ON THAT GROUND FLOOR.

THAT'S RIGHT.

WE TRIED, OH MY GOSH, I'M SORRY.

WE TRIED TO SEE IF WE COULD MAKE THAT WORK.

AND IT IS, I MEAN, THE, THE LOBBY IS 600 SQUARE FEET.

IT'S JUST SUCH A TINY FLOOR PLATE.

IS THERE ACTUAL COMMITMENT BESIDES HIGHLIGHTING A LITTLE AREA TO PUT INFRASTRUCTURE IN THERE, MECHANICAL, PLUMBING, ELECTRICAL FOR THAT SPACE? I KNOW WE'RE GONNA HAVE WATER THERE BECAUSE IT'S RIGHT ACROSS FROM THE WATER VAULT.

UM, I MEAN, I THINK I'M SO SORRY.

I THINK WE COULD TALK, WE COULD CERTAINLY TALK ABOUT HOW ELSE WE CAN MAKE THAT SPACE, UM, MOST EASILY CONVERTIBLE.

UM, I THINK WE'VE HAD, THE REASON WE CHOSE THAT SPACE IS BECAUSE IT IS A SPACE THAT COULD MAKE SENSE.

UM, WE, WE LOOKED AT A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT LITTLE AREAS IN THAT AND, AND STARTED REARRANGING THINGS AND, UM, THIS IS WHAT WE CAME UP WITH.

THAT'S THE BEST SPOT.

YEAH, I, I MEAN, I SEE AS A VERY, OBVIOUSLY VERY TIGHT, WHAT ARE YOUR DIMENSIONS THERE ON THAT, ON, ON THAT WIDTH? THE, THE SITE WIDTH? THE SITE WIDTH? I KNOW IT'S 72 FEET PLUS THE DRIVEWAY, SO I DON'T KNOW.

A HUNDRED FEET TOTAL.

OKAY, THANKS.

UM, AND THEN, UH, ALL THAT BIKE STORAGE IS FOR THE RESIDENCE, OR IS THERE ANYTHING FOR THE PUBLIC OR THE IDEA IS THAT IT WOULD BE FOR THE RESIDENTS.

UM, THE APPLICANT IS OPEN TO POTENTIALLY SELLING PASSES OR, OR TO FIGURING THAT OUT, BUT THAT'S GONNA REQUIRE A, A BREAK IN IT, LIKE TWO, YOU KNOW, TWO SEPARATE SPACES.

AND SO IT'S, THERE'S NOT A LOT OF ROOM, UM, WHICH IS WHY WE DIDN'T WANT TO NECESSARILY COMMIT TO IT AT THIS POINT.

LET'S, ALL MY QUESTIONS FOR NOW.

ANY ADDITIONAL COMMISSIONER LUKES YES.

PRESENTATION? I'VE GOT A, I WANNA MAKE SURE SOMETHING THIS.

SO PRETTY MUCH THE SOLE PUBLIC BENEFIT FROM THIS IS 10 UNITS AND 804,000 BUCKS.

IS THAT RIGHT? YES.

THAT, I MEAN, THAT'S THE, UH, COMMUNITY BENEFITS THROUGH THE MATRIX.

SO, SO I GUESS I'M JUST THINKING THIS BEING IN THE, UH, URBAN DESIGN COMMISSION, I THINK YOU MAY, MAYBE YOU WENT TO THE WRONG PLACE BECAUSE AS, AS MUCH AS I LOVE TALL BUILDINGS, THIS STRUCK ME AS BEING, UH, YOU KNOW, A LITTLE BIT UNINSPIRING.

AND THEN, UH, RECOGNIZING THAT THERE'S ONLY SO MUCH YOU CAN DEAL WITH, UH, AT, AT, YOU KNOW, AT THE GR THE SURFACE AT THE GRAY AT, UH, THERE'S ONLY SO MUCH YOU CAN DO A COUPLE BIKE ACCIDENTS FROM YO POND.

HOLLY JUST STRUCK ME AS BEING KIND OF THE MINIMAL POSSIBLE YOU COULD POSSIBLY DO.

SO I JUST, JUST GENERALLY JUST FEEL LIKE, UH, I DON'T SEE ANY URBAN DESIGN FOR ANYBODY TO, TO DRESS ADDRESS.

RIGHT.

THAT'S ALL.

I'M GONNA, NOT JUST A COMMENT AND HIM, THAT'S ALL.

MICHELLE.

UH, VICE CHAIR MINORS.

UH, OBVIOUSLY IT'S ON EAST AVENUE, YOU KNOW, WE'VE SEEN THIS GIANT WALL, UH, PARKING PODIUMS, UM, THAT FRONT I 35.

UM, SO, UH, WITH THIS PARTICULAR PROJECT, I KNOW THAT THERE ARE SOME CHALLENGES.

[01:25:01]

THERE ISN'T A LOT OF ACTIVATION ON THAT STREET.

I THINK ANY EFFORT THAT YOU CAN MAKE, EVEN IF IT'S WITHIN YOUR LOBBY AND CONVERTING IT, I, I THINK THAT'S AMAZING BECAUSE REALLY THERE'S NOT A LOT GOING ON THERE NOW IN ORDER TO WORK AROUND THAT.

WE'VE HAD, UM, SOME OF THE OTHER PROJECTS, INCLUDING, I BELIEVE YOUR NEIGHBOR TO THE SOUTH, THE RIVER, I MAY BE GETTING THE NAME WRONG, BUT I THINK IT'S CALLED THE RIVER STREET RESIDENCE, OR THE RIVER RESIDENCES, AS WELL AS ANOTHER PROJECT, UM, WHERE THEY HAVE, UH, INCORPORATED ARTWORK OR SOME SORT OF ACTIVATION INTO THE ALLEYWAY.

UM, I KNOW WITH ONE OF THOSE, THEY ACTUALLY CREATED AN ART GALLERY, UM, IN THE ALLEY.

SO I THINK, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT STOOD OUT TO ME WAS HOW, YOU KNOW, SOME OF YOUR NEIGHBORS ARE ACTIVATING THAT ALLEY.

COULD YOU ACTIVATE IT ON THE FIRST FLOOR? I DON'T KNOW.

BUT I DO THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, I, I'VE SEEN SOME CREATIVE USE OF PARKING GARAGES.

I KNOW THERE ARE A FEW BARS THAT HAVE INCORPORATED THEMSELVES INTO A PARKING GARAGE, SO I DON'T SEE WHY YOU COULDN'T ACTIVATE A SECOND STORY, UM, YOU KNOW, WITHIN THE GARAGE FACING THE ALLEY, UM, YOU KNOW, IN SOME WAY, SHAPE OR FORM.

SO I, I, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT WOULD LOOK LIKE, BUT I THINK AT THE VERY LEAST, UM, I'M, I'M SHOCKED TO SEE AS WELL THAT YOU DON'T HAVE ANY PUBLIC ART.

AND I KNOW THAT THERE'S ALREADY A PRECEDENT BEN SET, UM, WITH YOUR NEIGHBORS AGAIN, UTILIZING THAT ALLEY.

UM, SO, YOU KNOW, I JUST THINK THAT, UM, WHAT YOU'VE SHOWN US TODAY, UM, IT DOESN'T INSPIRE ME TO, TO FEEL LIKE WE'VE ADDED A LOT OF COMMUNITY BENEFIT, UH, BEYOND, YOU KNOW, THE, THE HOUSING THAT'S SEEMS LIKE IT'S MOSTLY REQUIRED, UM, FROM THE DISTRICT.

UM, SO I, I DON'T KNOW.

I, I JUST AM HAVING A HARD TIME, UH, GETTING EXCITED ABOUT THIS PROJECT.

AND I THINK YOU COULD DO FAR MORE, UH, TO, TO ENLIVEN IT, PROVIDE AMENITIES FOR YOUR RESIDENTS, UH, WHERE THEY CAN ALSO, UM, YOU KNOW, ENJOY THAT WITH, UH, THE PUBLIC REALM AS WELL.

IF I COULD RE RESPOND.

UM, WE DID, I AM FAMILIAR, VERY FAMILIAR WITH 84 EAST AVENUE SITE, UM, AND WE DID LOOK AT SOMETHING SIMILAR AS FAR AS, UH, A BACK AN ALLEY FACING USE.

UM, AND UNFORTUNATELY, AS YOU CAN SEE, IF, IF YOU LOOK AT MAYBE SLIDE 10, UM, THERE'S JUST NO, I MEAN, THERE REALLY IS NO ROOM.

I KNOW THAT'S NOT A VERY, UM, APPEALING ANSWER, BUT THERE, WE, WE REALLY DID LOOK AT WAYS THAT WE COULD MOVE THINGS AROUND.

AND YOU CAN SEE THAT WE, WE PUT ALL THE BACK OF HOUSE STUFF IN THE BACK.

I DON'T THINK THERE'S ANY OPPOSITION TO LIKE A MURAL ON THE BACK WALL.

AND I THINK WE'D BE HAPPY TO CONSIDER SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

THE REASON WE DIDN'T INITIALLY DO IT IS BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE AN ENTRANCE BACK THERE BECAUSE WE, I MEAN, I MEAN, WE HAVE LOADING AND THINGS LIKE THAT, BUT WE DON'T HAVE ROOM FOR LIKE A GALLERY SPACE WHERE A PERSON WOULD WALK THROUGH.

UM, BUT IF A MURAL OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, JUST TO KEEP IT NICE AND KEEP THE BACK OF IT CLEAN WOULD BE HELPFUL.

I THINK THAT'S DEFINITELY SOMETHING WE COULD CONSIDER.

AND, AND THERE'S NO OPPORTUNITY FOR SECOND LEVEL ACTIVATION ON THE BACK AT ALL, EVEN IF THEY WERE TO ENTER THROUGH THE LOBBY, LIKE, OR THROUGH THE GARAGE.

I DON'T KNOW.

I GUESS I DON'T KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT IT.

RIGHT? IT'S GENER YEAH, THAT'S THE GENERATOR AND THE EMERGENCY ACCESS ON THE TRASH ROOM.

I MEAN, YOU KNOW, LIKE I SAID, I'M HAPPY.

I MEAN, I CAN'T ANSWER IT ON THE SPOT.

I'M HAPPY TO GO BACK AND LOOK AT IT.

WE HAVE LOOKED AT IT EXTENSIVELY, UM, AND IT'S JUST, I MEAN, IT'S JUST AN INCREDIBLY SMALL SITE, BUT YEAH.

BUT I MEAN, I'M HAPPY, WE'RE HAPPY TO CONSIDER IT.

I JUST DON'T THINK, I CAN'T, I CAN'T SAY RIGHT NOW THAT WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO DO THAT.

RIGHT.

I THINK AT THE VERY LEAST, YOU KNOW, ART IS MM-HMM.

, UM, SOMETHING THAT YOU COULD EASILY, UH, YOU KNOW, COMMISSION, UM, FROM, FROM A LOCAL ARTIST, UH, TO JUST TIE IN WITH YOUR NEIGHBORS AT THE VERY LEAST.

I THINK WE CAN TALK ABOUT ART BACK THERE.

HAVE DONE MORE TO, TO PRODUCE A MORE GRAY STREETS LIKE FRONTAGE.

OKAY, COMMISSIONER CAROL, SO I'LL START OFF BY SAYING, I, I APPRECIATE THE SMALL FOOTPRINT THAT YOU HAD TO WORK WITH.

UH, IT'S NOT AN EASY TASK THAT YOU WERE GIVEN THE, THAT SAID, I, I DO SHARE THE SENTIMENT THAT, UM, I'VE HEARD FROM A COUPLE OF MY FELLOW COMMISSIONERS, UH, AND THAT IT JUST COMES ACROSS UNINSPIRED, ESPECIALLY GIVEN THAT THIS IS ESSENTIALLY THE SECOND PROJECT THAT THIS TEAM HAS DONE WITH THE SAME CONDITION.

UM, I, I WOULD'VE EXPECTED, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING MORE INVENTIVE THAN JUST DOING THE SAME THING YOU DID LAST TIME.

UM, THE, THE STREET SCAPE IN PARTICULAR IS, IS AN AREA THAT, YOU KNOW, COULD

[01:30:01]

AND I THINK THAT WOULD'VE HELPED GO A LONG WAY.

UH, I MEAN, I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU SET IT BACK SOME, BUT IT'S NOT VERY MUCH.

I'M NOT SURE HOW MUCH SHADING IT'S EVEN GONNA PROVIDE OR THOSE, UM, OR THOSE EON HOLLY'S.

UM, I APPRECIATE YOU MENTIONED SOMETHING AT THE VERY END ABOUT THE PAVING AND THE PEDESTRIAN REALM ACROSS THE DRIVE.

IT'S NOT REFLECTED IN THE DRAWINGS, THOUGH.

I'M LOOKING AT ALL THESE SITE PLANS.

IT DOESN'T SHOW ANY PAVERS.

IT DOESN'T SHOW ANY TRAFFIC CALMING DEVICE OR ANYTHING.

UM, AND SO, YOU KNOW, IF IT'S NOT ON THE DRAWINGS, IT DOESN'T EXIST IN MY MIND.

UM, AND AGAIN, TO ME THAT'S LOW HANGING FRUIT THAT, THAT COULD BE ADDRESSED.

THAT'S ALL I HAVE.

THANK YOU COMMISSIONER TANA GUCCI.

ONE OTHER LOW HANGING FRUIT.

FOLLOWING UP ON COMMISSIONER CAROL'S COMMENT IS THE GUIDELINES FOR PLAZA IS AN OPEN SPACE, AND I NOTICED THAT, UM, Y'ALL SAID NA TO EMPHASIZE CONNECTIONS TO PARKS AND GREENWAYS WHEN YOU HAVE THE BUTLER TRAIL THAT'S SO CLOSE AND YOU HAVE WALLER CREEK, WHICH IS GONNA BE DEVELOPED HERE PRETTY SOON.

I MEAN, THAT SEEMS LIKE LOW HANGING FRUIT TO ME, AND I THINK THAT COULD ACTUALLY ACTIVATE YOUR STREETSCAPE, UH, PROBABLY MORE THAN SOME OF THE OTHER THINGS THAT YOU HAVE MENTIONED OR HAVEN'T MENTIONED.

AND THE OTHER CONCERN I HAVE IS THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE GOING FOR 29 TO ONE, WHICH IS A ABOVE THE, WHAT'S USUALLY, UM, ALLOWED.

AND WHAT BOTHERS ME A LITTLE BIT, OR IS A CONCERN OF MINE IS, IS THE TRAFFIC THAT'S THAT'S GONNA GENERATE ON THE RAINY STREET, UH, AREA, WHICH IS ALREADY SO DANGEROUS.

AND, YOU KNOW, YOU GOT, LIKE, I THINK HE SAID YOU HAD NINE LEVELS OF PARKING.

I'M NOT SURE HOW MANY CARS THAT, UH, TURNS OUT TO BE, BUT YOU KNOW, THE TRA THE, THE TRAFFIC SITUATION, THE TRANSPORTATION SITUATION OVER THERE IS ALREADY DANGEROUS ENOUGH.

UH, THEY CAN BARELY GET EMERGENCY VEHICLES IN THERE, YOU KNOW, AND I'M JUST WORRIED THAT EVEN MORE BRINGING MORE CARS ONTO THE STREET, WHETHER YOUR YOUR CARS ARE GONNA BE GOING INTO THE RAINY STREET AREA, IT'S JUST GONNA ADD TO KIND OF THAT, UH, THAT THE TRAFFIC COUNT THERE.

SO THOSE ARE MY TWO CONCERNS.

BUT I, I LOVE THE BUILDING THOUGH.

I LOVE THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE BUILDING.

I HAVE TO SAY THAT IT, IT WAS VERY, VERY HANDSOME.

UH, COME COMMISSIONER LADNER.

UM, YEAH, I THINK THE BUILDING'S REALLY BEAUTIFUL TOO.

I JUST WANTED TO COMMENT A LITTLE BIT ON THE LANDSCAPE, UM, BRIEFLY.

AND I, OBVIOUSLY Y'ALL ARE SO CONSTRAINED HERE, AND THE TECH DOT SITUATION IS REALLY UNFORTUNATE NOT TO BE ABLE TO HAVE STREET TREES.

I THINK FROM A LANDSCAPE STANDPOINT, IT'S GORGEOUS.

IT JUST FEELS VERY PRIVATE.

UM, AND I KNOW DWG HAS DONE SOME OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL POCKET PARKS THROUGHOUT THE CITY, SO I JUST DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S A WAY TO EXPAND THAT A LITTLE BIT.

I STRUGGLE WITH THE FACT THAT I PERSONALLY PROBABLY WOULDN'T WANT TO SIT THERE, UM, BECAUSE OF ALL THAT SUN COMING FROM THAT DIRECTION IN THE MORNINGS.

BUT, UM, PERHAPS THERE IS A WAY TO MAKE IT A LITTLE BIT MORE PUBLIC FEELING WITH SOME OF THOSE KIND OF POCKET PARK TYPE PROJECTS THAT YOU'VE WORKED THROUGH.

AND THEN I ALSO LOVE THE IDEA OF INTEGRATING ART, EVEN IF IT'S SOME TYPE OF A BEAUTIFUL SCULPTURE ON ONE OF THOSE CORNERS THAT HAS A LOCAL ARTIST TO IT.

BUT AGAIN, APPRECIATE THE CONSTRAINTS.

UH, IT'S REALLY DIFFICULT THERE.

YOU'RE, YOU'RE GETTING, WE INITIALLY SAW 27 TO ONE, AND NOW YOU'RE AT 29 TO ONE.

UM, I'LL JUST ADD IN A FINAL COMMENT.

I APPRECIATE THAT, YOU KNOW, IT IS A TIGHT SIDE AND THERE IS THE TEXT THOUGHT RESTRAINT.

AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE SAW THIS IN THE WORKING GROUP, WE JUST KIND OF ACKNOWLEDGED ALL OF THE RESTRAINTS ON THE PROJECT.

UM, BUT I JUST, THE ULTIMATE PRODUCT REVIEWING IT, AGAIN, IT JUST FEELS ULTIMATELY HOSTILE TO THE PUBLIC REALM.

UM, AND I THINK THERE'S A FEW COMMENTS HERE ABOUT HOW IT COULD BE JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE FRIENDLY AND ENGAGING TO THE PUBLIC AND THE ENTRANCE TO THE BUILDING.

SO IF THERE IS A LITTLE COFFEE SHOP KIOSK, IS THERE A WINDOW AND A PATHWAY UP THAT CAN INVITE NEIGHBORS TO STOP BY FOR A COFFEE? THAT'S PRETTY EASY, YOU KNOW? AND THEN ARE THERE A FEW BENCHES OUTSIDE WHERE PEOPLE CAN SIT AND ENJOY THE COFFEE? MM-HMM.

, RIGHT? WE'RE MAKING, WE'RE MAKING A NEIGHBORHOOD, UM, HOPEFULLY, AND, YOU KNOW, DENSITY BONUS PROJECTS, WE ARE SEEKING A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN A STANDARD PROJECT, RIGHT?

[01:35:01]

BUT I, I, SO THERE'S A BUNCH MORE BUILDING THAT'S CREATED, BUT I DON'T SEE ANY ADDED BENEFIT TO THE PUBLIC.

SO I WOULD, I WOULD JUST ENCOURAGE TO, TO TRY TO TAKE A SECOND LOOK THERE AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT CAN YOU CONTRIBUTE TO THE URBAN FABRIC? UM, DO WE HAVE A MOTION? WHO'S GONNA BE THE BRACE? CAN I MAKE A MOTION? I GUESS DO, CAN I MAKE A MOTION, UH, TO, UH, REQUEST THE INCORPORATION OF, UH, PUBLIC ART IN, IN SOME WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM? OR DO I NEED TO WAIT UNTIL WE HAVE A MOTION THAT IT SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLIES TO KIND OF AMEND THAT? RIGHT.

SO WE, YOU CAN MAKE A MOTION AND STATE WHAT AMENDMENTS YOU WANT TO IT.

UM, I'D LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION THAT THIS SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLIES WITH THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES, UM, UNDER THE CONDITIONS THAT PUBLIC ART IS INCORPORATED AND THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, THEY TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT, UM, OFFERING, UH, OR ARE COMMITTING TO, UM, A PUBLIC AMENITY, UM, BEYOND JUST THE HYPOTHETICAL IN THEIR LOBBY.

DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? DOES THAT TRACK? YES, I'VE GOT IT NOTED.

DO WE HAVE A SECOND? SECOND.

UM, SO WHAT WE HAVE ON THE FLOOR IS A MOTION BY VICE CHAIR MINOR, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER LADNER, THAT 62 EAST DOES SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLY WITH THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES WITH THE ADDITION OF PUBLIC ART AND A CONSIDERATION FOR THE PUBLIC REALM.

YEAH, I'D SAY COMMITMENT, EVEN LIKE A COMMITMENT.

CUZ RIGHT NOW IT'S, IT FEELS HYPOTHETICAL JUST TO EXPAND ON THAT LANGUAGE.

WELL, WE NEED TO CLEAN UP THE LANGUAGE BEFORE WE CAN TAKE IT TO A VOTE.

YEAH, LET'S JUST CHANGE THAT WORD.

I THINK I DID CHA I THINK I SWITCHED THE, THE WORDING, UH, TO COMMITMENT.

SO LET'S USE THE WORD COMMITMENT.

SO THE MOTION IS 62 E SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLIES WITH THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES WITH THE ADDITION OF PUBLIC ART AND A COMMITMENT TO THE PUBLIC REALM.

UH, DO WE WE HAVE TWO IN FAVOR.

DO WE HAVE ANY NAYS? WE HAVE ONE, NO, TWO NOS.

AND WE HAVE THREE NO VOTES.

UM, ALL RIGHT.

COMMISSION.

GUCCI, ARE YOU VOTING? I'M ABSTAINING ON THIS.

I'M PROBABLY LEANING MORE TOWARDS SNOW.

I LIKE THE BUILDING SO MUCH THAT I'M NOT GONNA VOTE .

COMMISSIONER CAROL, I'M ABSTAINING AS WELL.

SO WE HAVE TWO YAYS, TWO NAYS, AND I'M ABSTAINING.

I HAVE TO DECIDE.

UM, ALL RIGHT, I'LL VOTE YES.

SO THE MOTION PASSES, UM, WITH THOSE FRIENDLY AMENDMENTS.

WE'LL GET A LETTER TO YOU SHORTLY.

THANK, THANK YOU.

UM, EXCUSE ME, I'M SORRY.

I THINK WE HAVE ONLY THREE AFFIRMATIVE VOTES AND WE'LL NEED SIX AFFIRMATIVE VOTES FOR THE MOTION TO PASS.

OH GOSH.

YOU'RE RIGHT, YOU'RE RIGHT.

WE'RE SHORT ON QUORUM TODAY.

SO, I MEAN, JUST ON OUR NUMBERS.

SO WHAT HAPPENS NOW, SOPHIA? SO THE MOTION FAILS AS OF NOW, UM, AND SOMEONE CAN PROPOSE ANOTHER MOTION.

CAN WE HAVE A NO RECOMMENDATION? IS THAT ALLOWED? WELL, LET'S SEE IF WE CAN GET ANOTHER MOTION GOING.

COMMISSIONER TANA GUCCI, WOULD YOU LIKE TO TRY TO PROPOSE A MOTION? WHY DON'T YOU START WITH COMMISSIONER CARROLL? UH, OR I CAN GO BACK.

YEAH, LET, LET'S TALK ABOUT THE LOW-HANGING FRUIT, YOU KNOW, THE CONNECTIONS, THE, UM, EMPHASIZED CONNECTIONS TO PARKS AND GREENWAYS.

LET, LET'S JUST TALK ABOUT THE LOW.

IT'S TOO MUCH LOW TO ASK.

[01:40:01]

I THINK THAT'S A REALLY, A PRETTY EASY THING TO DO.

UM, I, I KIND OF AGREE THAT THERE'S NOT ENOUGH, UM, UH, COMMUNITY BENEFITS TO THIS PROJECT, UH, ESPECIALLY KNOWING THAT YOU'RE TRYING TO GET 29 TO ONE NOW INCREASE, YOU KNOW, TO THE F A R.

SO I, I THINK JUST, YOU KNOW, A LITTLE BIT OF MORE WORK NEEDS TO BE DONE ON THIS, AND I'M NOT SURE HOW TO DO IT, BUT I THINK THAT CONNECTION TO THE PARKS AND GREENWAYS IS AN EASY WAY TO DO IT.

IF THERE ARE, IF I MAY, IF I MAY, SURE.

IF THERE ARE, UM, MORE THINGS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE US TO CONSIDER AND YOU WANT TO MAKE A LIST OF THINGS AS YOUR RECOMMENDATION, UM, THAT WOULD BE FINE.

THAT'D BE GREAT.

UM, SO WE CAN JUST GO FORWARD FROM HERE KNOWING EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANNA SEE AND INCORPORATE THOSE THINGS, IF THAT WOULD WORK.

I DON'T KNOW IF THAT CAN BE A NO RECOMMENDATION OR IF THAT NEEDS RECOMMENDATION IN FAVOR, BUT EITHER WAY, IF WE COULD JUST GET THAT FEEDBACK FROM YOU, WE COULD GO FORWARD FROM HERE.

AND, AND JUST TO CHIME IN HERE, THE CODE DOES SAY THE DESIGN COMMISSION SHALL EVALUATE AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING WHETHER THE PROJECT COMPLIES WITH THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES.

SO THERE CAN BE A MOTION ON THE FLOOR ABOUT HOW THE PROJECT DOES NOT COMPLY, BUT I BELIEVE THERE NEEDS TO BE A MOTION EITHER WAY.

AND I THINK IN THE PAST WE'VE SEEN THINGS LIKE THAT THAT SAYS, DOESN'T COMPLY YET, BUT IF YOU INCORPORATE THESE THINGS, THEN IT WOULD BE COMPLIANT AND THEN WE CAN ON THOSE THINGS.

COMMISSIONER LUKINS, WELL, I'LL MAKE A MOTION.

THAT DOES NOT COMPLY WITH THE, UH, URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES.

I'LL SECOND IT.

SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLY.

I'LL SECOND THAT.

WELL, OKAY.

SO OUR OPTIONS AS A COMMISSION, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE AN APPLICANT HERE WHO WOULD LIKE TO GET A LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION.

THEY'RE ASKING FOR ADVICE ON HOW THEY CAN MAKE THE PUBLIC SPACE BETTER.

YOU KNOW, WE DON'T HAVE BINDING AUTHORITY.

THEY'RE, THEY COULD GO ON IN THE PROCESS WITHOUT OUR RECOMMENDATION.

WE CAN WRITE A LETTER WITH A RECOMMENDATION, WITH REQUEST ON HOW TO MAKE THE PUBLIC SPACE BETTER, OR WE CAN JUST GIVE THEM A LETTER THAT SAYS IT.

IT'S NOT COMPLIANT WITH URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES.

I SEE AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE HERE.

SO I JUST WOULD ENCOURAGE US TO COME TOGETHER TO WRITE A LIST OF REQUESTS OF RECOMMENDATIONS, UM, FOR THE APPLICANT.

UM, BUT MOVING THIS MOTION TO A VOTE, UH, SO WE HAVE A MOTION THAT THE PROJECT DOES NOT COMPLY WITH THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES.

ALL IN FAVOR? WE HAVE 1, 2, 3.

UM, UNLESS WE ALL AGREE ON SOMETHING, THEN WE'RE NOT GONNA HAVE A RECOMMENDATION BECAUSE WE'RE SO SHORT ON PARTICIPANTS TONIGHT.

SO THREE DOES NOT MAKE A VOTE EITHER.

TAKING IT BACK TO THE FLOOR TO ONE LAST ATTEMPT TO TRY TO GET A RECOMMENDATION FOR YOU.

UM, IN ORDER FOR THIS TO PASS WITH THE RECOMMENDATIONS, I MEAN, COULD WE GO AROUND AND FIGURE OUT WHAT WE NEED IN ORDER TO ADD TO THAT LIST, THAT ORIGINAL LIST THAT, UH, WAS CREATED IN ORDER FOR IT TO PASS? YEAH, I THINK THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO.

SO THE QUESTION IS THEN WHAT DO WE NEED TO SEE BEYOND THOSE TWO ELEMENTS? SO YEAH, WE HAVE PUBLIC ART, UM, A COMMITMENT TO THE PUBLIC REALM, EMPHASIZED PARKS IN GREENWAY.

AND, AND, AND JUST FOR CLARIFICATION ON THE PUBLIC REALM, WHAT WAS IT? WE WERE TRYING TO GET, UM, KIND OF A LITTLE BIT MORE CONCRETE ON THE LOBBY SPACE ON HOW WE'RE ENGAGING THE PUBLIC, WHERE WHETHER IT'S A COFFEE WINDOW TO THE PUBLIC.

SO THERE'S SOME SORT OF ENGAGEMENT AND IT'S NOT JUST GO STRAIGHT UP TO THE SIXTH FLOOR OR 14TH FLOOR.

UM, AND I LIKE THE SUGGESTION OF THE POCKET PARK.

YOU KNOW, I THINK A LOT CAN BE DONE ON THAT GROUND STREET LEVEL, EVEN IF YOU HAD TO KINDA LIKE, DIG IN, YOU KNOW, KIND OF TAKE IT INTO THE BUILDING, SACRIFICE SOME OF THE BUILDING SPACE.

BUT I THOUGHT THAT WAS A GREAT, UH, COMMENT BECAUSE DWG HAS A GREAT REPUTATION FOR WORKING WITH THOSE POCKET PARKS.

UH, EV CHARGING IN IN THAT GARAGE.

SO WE HAVE POCKET PARK COMPONENTS.

UM, ANYONE ELSE HAVE ANY RECOMMENDATIONS? QUESTION? I JUST HAVE A POINT OF INFORMATION REALLY QUICK.

CAN I, CAN I ASK, IS THERE, UM, COMMISSIONER LUKINS WAS SPEAKING YES.

I'M SORRY.

I JUST, ROBERT'S RULES, USUALLY YOU CAN ASK A POINT OF INFORMATION.

UM, COMMISSIONER LUKES, I WAS JUST GONNA ASK WHAT, WHAT'S, UH, WHAT THEY HAVE IN THE WAY OF, UH,

[01:45:01]

I DON'T HAVE THE METRIC OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD IMMEDIATELY, BUT WE ARE COMPLIANT WITH THE, UM, SORRY, EV CHARGING REQUIREMENT FOR AEG V FOR LEVEL TWO CHARGING STATIONS.

I BELIEVE WE HAVE 10 OF THEM, NINE FOURTEENS, 14 FLOORS OF PARKING AND 10 CHARGING STATIONS.

SO WE HAVE 275 PARKING STALLS AND, UM, NINE EV CHARGING STATIONS.

THEY, WE ARE EVALUATING THE PROJECT THOUGH TO SEE, UM, FOR FUTURE HOW MANY WE ROUGHEN FOR DEMAND.

I WOULD THINK THAT AT SOME POINT IN THE NEXT, UH, 10, 15 YEARS OF THE MAN WILL BE ALMOST A HUNDRED PERCENT.

DON'T YOU THINK THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE ARE CONSIDERING WITH THE INSTALLATION? YES.

SO I SORT LIKE TO SEE THIS THING, UH, UH, SET UP TO WHERE IT CAN ACCOMMODATE EV IN EACH ONE OF THOSE ARE AT LEAST A SIGNIFICANT, UH, NUMBER OF, UH, OF, UH, PARKING SPACES, SEEING THAT IN 25 YEARS, AND I'M ASSUMING THIS BUILDING WILL BE STANDING IN 25 YEARS, THAT IT'LL BE A HUNDRED PERCENT, UH, EV SO I JUST WONDER.

SO I JUST NEED YOU ALL TO HELP IF SOMEBODY'S MORE FAMILIAR WITH THIS ABOUT, UH, HOW WE ENSURE THIS, UH, PARDON GARAGE CAN SUPPORT EV WHEN EV IS AT A HUNDRED PERCENT.

SO OUR ENGINEER HAS, THE LOAD CAN BE EVALUATED AND THERE CAN BE ROUGH ENDS.

UM, WE'RE HAPPY TO HAVE, WE'RE HAPPY TO HAVE THAT AS ONE OF THE EXAMPLES THAT THINGS THAT WE CAN INCORPORATE.

WE CAN LOOK INTO IT.

UM, SORRY, I KNOW ROBERT'S RULES JUST POINT OF INFORMATION JUST MEANS THAT YOU CAN USUALLY INTERJECT AND ASK A QUESTION.

THEY WERE SPEAKING OVER SOMEONE THAT, THAT WAS, SORRY, I APOLOGIZE.

UM, VICE CHAIR MINERS.

I'M JUST CURIOUS, UM, DO WE HAVE, UH, FOLKS WHO ARE ABSTAINING REGARDLESS OF THE, UH, PROPOSAL BECAUSE OF, UH, CONFLICT OF INTEREST? BECAUSE I'M WONDERING IF WE'LL EVEN BE ABLE TO ACHIEVE OUR, UH, FULL VOTE COUNT, UM, GIVEN THE COURT.

NO, THAT WOULD BE A RECUSAL AND THEY WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CONVERSATION.

OKAY, GOOD.

SO NO ONE'S RECUSED, SO, OKAY.

UH, DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS THAT THEY HAVE FOR APPLICANT WHO'S TRAINED TO MAKE A BETTER BUILDING FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND THE PUBLIC COMMISSIONER? LUKES, I'M JUST MAKE A SUGGESTION THAT'S, THAT'S KIND OF ROUND ROBIN ATTEMPT AT, AT REDOING THEIR PROJECT, UH, ON THE FLY.

I'M JUST WONDER IF MAYBE, UH, WE CAN GET TOGETHER LATER AND THEY CAN COME BACK AND HAVE AN ACTUAL LIST OF THINGS FROM US AS OPPOSED TO START TRYING TO, YOU KNOW, KIND OF DO IT ON THE FLY.

THAT'S MY ONLY, IT'S ALL I CAN THINK OF.

RESPECTFULLY.

WE WOULD ASK THAT WE'D BE ABLE TO GO FORWARD TONIGHT IF AT ALL POSSIBLE, JUST FOR PROJECT DEADLINES, SO, OKAY.

UM, I'LL MAKE THE MOTION.

UM, THAT'S 62 EAST SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLIES WITH THE ADDITION OF INCREASED EV CHARGERS, UM, LET'S SAY TO 10% OF PARKING SPACES.

WELL, I THINK THERE, THERE'S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE BUILDING BEING, UH, THE PARKING GARAGE, ACTUALLY HAVING THE CHARGING STATIONS AND THE PARKING GARAGE BEING ABLE TO SUPPORT MORE STATIONS.

AND I'VE GOT THE ACTUAL TERM FOR THAT.

BUT I THINK EVERY BIT OF THIS, EVERY BIT OF THIS PARKING GARAGE SHOULD BE ABLE TO SUPPORT EV AT SOME, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE IN, IN A RELATIVELY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME, THIS, UH, THERE'LL BE A HUNDRED PERCENT EVS.

SO, UH, 62 EAST, UM, COMPLIES WITH THE SUBSTANTIAL, SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLIES WITH URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES, WITH BILL, WITH INCREASED, WITH SUPPORT FOR EV CHARGERS, WITH THE ADDITION OF PUBLIC ART, WITH THE COMMITMENT TO INCORPORATING THE PUBLIC REALM THROUGH A COFFEE KIOSK AS AN EXAMPLE, UM, BY ADDING AN ADDITION TO EMPHASIZE PARKS AND GREENWAYS AND ADDING POCKET PARK COMPONENTS TO THE GROUND FLOOR.

DO WE HAVE ANY OTHER FRIENDLY AMENDMENTS? DID YOU GET THE ART? WE GOT THE ART.

THE WHAT? THE ART YOU MENTIONED? YES.

[01:50:01]

DO WE HAVE A SECOND? SECOND.

COMMISSIONER SALINAS.

UM, ALRIGHT.

ALL IN FAVOR, PLEASE SAY AYE.

AYE.

OKAY, SO WE HAVE, WE HAVE A QUO.

I'M SORRY, WHO VOTED IN FAVOR? AYE.

I I HAVE TANA GUCCI MINORS.

SO I THINK EVERYONE BUT LUKE, WE NEED A SIXTH PERSON.

I DON'T SEE CAROL.

WE DO NOT HAVE ONE.

WE HAVE 5, 2, 3, UNLESS WE HAVE FIVE.

SO WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? IT MEANS NO LETTER.

I'M SORRY.

I MEAN, IF YOU, IF THE APPLICANT WANTS TO COME BACK TO SIGNED COMMISSION, WE'RE HAPPY TO TRY TO DO AGAIN, BUT I DON'T THINK WE CAN ISSUE ONE TONIGHT.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH, CHAIR.

UM, UH, GIVEN THAT WE'RE TWO HOURS IN AND THE NEXT AGENDA ITEM'S GONNA BE A LONG ONE, COULD I ASK IF WE COULD TAKE A FIVE MINUTE BREAK? YES.

CAN IT BE 10 MINUTES? ? IT'S, IT'S YOUR SHOW.

COMMISSIONER TANA GUCCI, CAN WE HAVE YOU BACK ON SCREEN PLEASE? PRESENT? THANK YOU.

DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON A RECOMMENDATION TO CONSIDER WHETHER THE DRAFT SILK PARK VISION PLAN REFLECTS THE SHARED VALUES FOR URBAN AREAS AND THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES.

UM, ITEM SIX, I APOLOGIZE.

ITEM FIVE,

[5. Discussion and possible action on a recommendation to consider whether the Draft Zilker Park Vision Plan reflects the Shared Values for Urban Areas in the Urban Design Guidelines. Presented by Gregory Montes, Parks and Recreation Department, and Claire Hempel, Design Workshop.]

UM, WE DO NOT HAVE QUORUM TONIGHT FOR THIS ITEM BECAUSE WE HAVE SEVEN MEMBERS PRESENT.

TWO MEMBERS ARE RECUSING ON THIS ITEM, SO WE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO VOTE TONIGHT.

UM, WE CONTEMPLATED A PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION TONIGHT AND VOTING AT THE NEXT MEETING, BUT THAT DOESN'T ALLOW VOTING MEMBERS TO ASK QUESTIONS, SO THAT DOESN'T SEEM APPROPRIATE.

UM, AND WE RECOGNIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS ITEM TO THE PUBLIC.

WE HAVE RECEIVED MANY LETTERS.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

UM, WE'D LIKE TO KEEP THE TESTIMONY TOGETHER WITH THE HEARING AND PRESENTATION.

SO WE DECIDED TO HAVE A SPECIAL CALLED MEETING, UH, TO REVIEW THIS AT A TO BE DETERMINED DATE.

UM, SO SOPHIA WILL BE COORDINATING THAT ITEM, UM, BUT THAT WAY WE CAN MAKE SURE ALL OF THE TESTIMONIES ARE HEARD BY THE VOTING MEMBERS AND ALL QUESTIONS CAN BE ASKED OF THE VOTERS.

UM, SO THANK YOU.

DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS BEFORE I MOVE ON? UH, I AM, I'M NOT SURE, UH, IT COULD BE AT CITY HALL.

UM, WE'RE NOT SURE OF THE DATE AND TIME YET, BUT IT WILL BE A SPECIAL CALLED MEETING FOR THIS ITEM ALONE, SO YOU WON'T HAVE TO SIT THROUGH OTHER PRESENTATIONS IN THE FUTURE.

UM, BUT WE REALLY RESPECT HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS FOR THE PARKS DEPARTMENT, UM, FOR THE PUBLIC AT LARGE.

AND WE REALLY APPRECIATE EVERYTHING THAT EVERYONE'S PUTTING INTO THIS CONVERSATION.

KIND OF REACH OUT PERSONALLY TO OUR FELLOW, MY FELLOW COMMISSIONERS AND TELL 'EM HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS.

AND, AND JUST TO ADD TO THAT, THE DATE, IT WILL BE BETWEEN NOW AND THE NEXT DESIGN COMMISSION DATE.

UM, SO BETWEEN NOW AND APRIL 24TH, AND ANYONE WHO DID REGISTER TO SPEAK AND WE HAVE YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION, WE WILL BE ABLE TO REACH OUT AND LET YOU KNOW ALL THE DETAILS.

AND IF YOU DID NOT, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO STOP BY AND RIGHT HERE AND JUST LEAVE YOUR, YOUR NUMBER EMAIL AND THAT WAY WE CAN DEFINITELY GET YOU THAT INFORMATION.

I, I HAVE ONE COMMENT IS THAT WE KIND OF REACH OUT REALLY SOON AND GET COMMITMENTS FROM THESE FOLKS BECAUSE THIS IS A LOT OF, UH, A LOT OF PREPARATION GOES INTO THESE PRESENTATIONS AND, AND I HATE TO PUT THE, UH, YOU KNOW, THE APPLICANTS, UM, KIND OF LIKE GIVE THEM A LOT OF TROUBLE, HAVE TO RESCHEDULE THIS WITH THEIR SPEAKERS AND ALL THAT.

SO LET'S, UH, TRY TO GET A COMMITMENT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AND I'LL

[01:55:01]

YES, IT'S, IT'S CERTAINLY A CHALLENGING TIME AS WE'RE ONBOARDING NEW COMMISSIONERS AND I KNOW TWO COMMISSIONERS THAT WERE APPROVED BY THE CITY CLERK ARE STILL PROCESSING.

SO HOPEFULLY WE CAN GET THOSE MEMBERS ON BOARD, UM, WHICH WILL MAKE THIS VOTE, UM, VERY IMPORTANT VOTE MORE MEANINGFUL.

SIX, DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON COMMISSIONER LIAISON APPOINTMENTS FOR THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION AND THE SOUTH CENTRAL WATERFRONT COMMISSION.

MOVING ON.

UM, ITEM

[6. Discussion and possible action on commissioner liaison appointments.]

WE HAVE OPENINGS.

I'M NOT SURE, GIVEN THE LOW TURNOUT TONIGHT, IF IT MAKES SENSE TO POSTPONE THIS AGENDA ITEM UNTIL WE HAVE ALL OF THE NEW COMMISSIONERS PRESENT.

SO I WOULD RECOMMEND THAT WE POSTPONE THIS TO THE NEXT DESIGN COMMISSION MEETING.

UM, COMMISSIONER CARROLL C COULD I JUST ASK MAYBE IF THERE'S SOMEONE HERE WHO IS INTERESTED AND THEN MAYBE THEY COULD BE APPOINTED? IF NOT, WE CAN BRING IT BACK NEXT TIME.

UM, I AM INTERESTED IN THE SOUTH CENTRAL WATERFRONT, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S OBNOXIOUS BECAUSE I'M ALREADY DOWNTOWN COMMISSION ALSO , WHAT WAS THE OTHER, UH, JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION.

COULD YOU TELL ME A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THESE OR IS THAT NOT THE RIGHT? UM, COMMISSIONER CAROL, DO YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION? SURE.

THE, THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE IS A, UH, COMMITTEE THAT'S, IT'S, IT'S, I THINK EVERY MEMBER IS MADE UP OF, UH, MEMBERS OF OTHER COMMISSIONS, BOARD AND COMMISSIONS, BUT THEIR TASK WITH OVERSEEING THE CITY'S ENVIRONMENTAL GOALS, INCLUDING THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, WE, WE HELPED, RIGHT, THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, AND NOW WE'RE HELPING TO OVERSEE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF IT.

UH, SO THAT'S THE, A LARGE MAJORITY OF THE WORK, BUT PRETTY MUCH ANYTHING HAVING TO DO WITH, UH, SUSTAINABILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES COMES THROUGH THAT, THAT COMMITTEE.

AND THEN, DO YOU RECOMMEND THE COMMISSIONERS AT LEAST ONE OF THESE? IF I, I'M JUST KIND WE'RE IT'S THE BEST PRACTICE HERE FOR COMMISSIONERS TO WELL, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S UP TO EACH INDIVIDUAL.

UM, IT CURRENTLY, IT'S SIMILAR TO THIS COMMISSION.

THEY MEET ONCE A MONTH.

UM, UH, FOURTH WEDNESDAY OF EVERY MONTH, UH, IN, IN THIS BUILDING AT, AT NINE, SIX O'CLOCK.

UH, AND THEN THERE'S ALSO, YOU KNOW, WORKING GROUPS WITH, ON THAT COMMITTEE YOU CAN JOIN IF YOU WANT EVEN MORE WORK TO DO .

UH, BUT IT, IT'S, UH, IT'S A PRETTY INTERESTING GROUP.

IT'S A, IT'S A DIVERSE GROUP.

UH, DO YOU WANNA GIVE IT A TRY? WELL, I'M IN, I'M JUST KINDA INTERESTED IN HEARING LIKE WHAT ALL THE DIFFERENT ONES ALL ARE OR WHAT, WHAT OTHER OPENINGS.

YOU SAID SOMETHING ABOUT SOUTH CENTRAL.

UM, AND SO, I DON'T KNOW, I, I'D BE INTERESTED ON SERVING ON SOUTH CENTRAL WATERFRONT.

AND THE INTERIM IF, AND YOU WANNA STAY ON THE DOWNTOWN COMMISSION TOO? OKAY.

IF, IF NO, CAN I ASK A QUESTION? INTERESTED.

I WISH ANNE WAS HERE CUZ SHE WOULD VOTE.

NOW, , CAN I ASK A QUESTION REALLY QUICK? YES.

UM, IS YOU, YOU'RE IN THE DISTRICT, RIGHT? SO ARE, ARE YOU, YOU THE, THE ONLY PERSON REALLY THAT LIVES IN, IN THE DISTRICT THAT'S REPRESENTING THAT AREA? BECAUSE TO ME IT MAKES SENSE, YOU KNOW, I KNOW THEY'RE BOTH GONNA HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF OVERLAP.

UM, YOU HAVE INTEREST IN DOING IT, SO I DON'T KNOW, IT MAKES SENSE TO ME IF IT'S YOUR DISTRICT.

YEAH, I AM.

I LIVE DOWNTOWN AND THAT'S KIND OF MY WORK AREA, SO I'M JUST REALLY KIND OF WELL VERSED ON THE ISSUES OF THAT.

SO THAT'S WHY I'M DOING DOWNTOWN COMMISSION.

UM, SOUTH CENTRAL WATERFRONT HAS SIMILAR LAND USE ISSUES, SO I FEEL SOMEWHAT WELL VERSED ON THE ISSUES GOING ON THERE WITH THE TURS, UM, AND PROJECTS THAT ARE SEEKING, YOU KNOW, SIMILAR TO DENSITY BONUS, BUT THEY'RE REALLY CATCHING ALL OF THAT THROUGH THE PUTT.

SO I'M KIND OF INTERESTED IN THOSE CONVERSATIONS.

IT'S JUST PERSONALLY WHAT I'M TRACKING.

CAN I MAKE A MOTION TO APPOINT YOU? OKAY.

I JUST THINK IT MAKES SENSE IF YOU LIVE IN A DISTRICT, DO YOU HAVE SOME, YOU KNOW, UH, VESTED INTEREST, WHICH I THINK IS GREAT.

UH, THANK YOU.

DO WE HAVE A SECOND? I SECOND.

DO WE HAVE A VOTE? CAN'T ALL IN FAVOR? I CAN'T.

I WAS THINKING MAYBE IT WAS JUST APPOINTMENTS BY THE CHAIR.

IS IT A VOTE? I CAN'T REMEMBER.

[02:00:02]

I DON'T KNOW.

I MEAN, IT'S, SINCE YOU ARE THE CHAIR, I GUESS YOU CAN APPOINT YOURSELF.

I'LL APPOINT YOU.

UM, YEAH, WE, WE DON'T HAVE TO TAKE A VOTE.

I'LL SERVE AS THE INTERIM AND THEN IF SOMEONE COMES ON WHO SEEMS TO BE MORE IN TUNE WITH IT, I'LL STEP DOWN.

UM, LADNER, COMMISSIONER LADNER, DO YOU WANNA UH, I'M OKAY RIGHT NOW.

I, I JUST WANNA LEARN ABOUT MORE AND FIGURE OUT WHAT MY CAPACITY IS.

WELL, IT'S AN OPENING, SO RIGHT NOW NO ONE WILL BE SERVING BECAUSE COMMISSIONER CARROLL IS STEPPING DOWN.

SO IT WOULD BE GREAT TO HAVE SOMEONE WHO GOES TO THE MEETINGS AND COMES BACK AND TELLS US WHAT'S GOING ON.

THAT'S OH, I SEE WHAT YOU'RE SAYING.

WHICH ONE? JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION COMMITTEE.

I DUNNO IF THAT'S MY THING.

I I JUST MAYBE LEMME LOOK INTO IT A LITTLE BIT MORE.

IS THAT POSSIBLE OR YOU'RE TRYING TO GET IT? IT'S ON THE AGENDA.

WE'RE TRYING TO GET IT DONE TONIGHT.

COMMISSIONER SALINA IS, IS, UH, GOING TO OH, COOL.

TO TAKE ON JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE.

IS IS THAT, ARE YOU GONNA SAY SOMETHING COMMISSIONER? I WAS JUST GONNA SAY WE COULD LEAVE IT ON FOR THE NEXT MEETING IF NOBODY WANTS TO DO IT.

WE'RE GOOD.

GOT IT.

AND THEN DO YOU WANNA START INTERIM? GIVE IT A STAB, SEE IF YOU LIKE IT.

SO YEAH, ALL WE'RE DOING IS ATTENDING THESE, UH, COMMISSION MEETINGS AND THEN REPORTING BACK.

THAT'S RIGHT.

UPDATE FROM THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES, WORKING GROUP COMMISSIONER CARROLL.

UH, SO WE HAVE JOHN SALINAS, COMMISSIONER SALINAS ON FOR A JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE AND I'LL SERVE ON SOUTH CENTRAL WATERFRONT.

ITEM SEVEN,

[7. Update from the Urban Design Guidelines Working Group regarding updates to the guidelines.]

UM, I JUST WANT TO SAY ONE THING, UH, JUST SO WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE, THAT THAT APPOINTMENT WILL STILL HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE CITY CLERK, THE CLERK'S OFFICE AND COUNSEL.

SO IT'LL TAKE A WHILE TO BE EFFECTIVE, BUT, UM, UH, I THINK THEY'LL NOTIFY YOU AND, UM, BUT YOU, I COULD SHOW YOU COULD ATTEND THE MEETING AND TELL US SO IT'S, YOU KNOW, GOING ON, BUT YOU WON'T BE SITTING AT THE PLATFORM UNTIL THE PAPERWORK IS DONE PROCESSING AT THE CITY CLERK.

UM, COMMISSIONER CARROLL UPDATE ON THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES.

UM, SO MOVING, MOVING FORWARD, UM, I GUESS WE DON'T HAVE COMMISSIONER COLEMAN HERE.

I WAS GOING TO TOUCH BASE WITH HER TO SEE IF THEY'RE MOVING FASTER.

UM, BUT I DO WANT TO BRING UP AN ITEM TO STAFF AND THAT WE'RE, UH, I THINK SOON WE NEED TO START LOOKING AT ORGANIZING A COMMUNITY EVENT FOR THIS SUMMER TO PRESENT THE FIRST DRAFT.

AND SO I GUESS WE NEED TO SCHEDULE A MEETING JUST TO START TALKING ABOUT THAT AND PLANNING IT AND FINDING DATES AND, UM, LOCATIONS.

THAT WOULD BE GREAT TO HAVE THAT DATE SO THAT FOLKS KNOW WHEN TO FINISH, GIVE, GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO WORK TOWARDS.

UM, THAT'S GREAT.

SO WE'RE ON THE PROCESS FOR THAT.

CLOSE TO WRAPPING UP.

UM, NOT CLOSE.

WE, UH, WELL THERE'S FIVE GROUPS WORKING ON FIVE DIFFERENT TOPICS.

SOME GROUPS ARE FURTHER AHEAD THAN OTHERS.

UM, BUT THE IDEA IS THAT EACH GROUP WOULD HAVE A SET, A DRAFT SET OF RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, SOMETIMES THIS SUMMER TO TAKE TO THE PUBLIC, GET SOME FEEDBACK, AND THEN GO DO ANOTHER ITERATION.

RIGHT.

DO ANOTHER ROUND OF FEEDBACK AND THEN GET A THIRD DRAFT TO, TO TAKE TO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS LIKE BACK HERE AND TO COUNCIL.

UM, ALL THAT SAID IS IF YOU'RE REC, IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING ON ANY OF THE GROUPS, UM, LET ME KNOW.

AGAIN, THOSE ARE WORKING GROUPS.

THEY'RE JUST WORKING GROUPS, SO THEY'RE UNOFFICIAL.

COOL.

YEAH, I'M INTERESTED IN THAT.

AND I WOULD SAY IT'S IMPORTANT TO GET INVOLVED IN THAT BECAUSE THAT WILL BE OUR NEW RULING DOCUMENTS.

THE BETTER THAT YOU CAN KNOW THAT AND SHAPE THAT AND PROVIDE HELPFUL FEEDBACK, UM, IT BECOMES A MORE USABLE DOCUMENT FOR YOU AS YOU'RE REVIEWING PROJECTS, UM, WHICH IS IMPORTANT.

EIGHT, UPDATE FROM THE REPRESENTATIVE.

UM, ITEM

[8. Update from representative on the Downtown Commission regarding last meeting.]

THE, THE DOWNTOWN COMMISSION.

THAT'S ME.

UM, SO WE REVIEWED THE HOMELESS STRATEGY UPDATE, UM, BY DIANA GRAY

[02:05:01]

FROM AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT.

WE DISCUSSED A POSSIBLE ACTION AND WE ULTIMATELY RECOMMENDED THE NEW DUNCAN NEIGHBORHOOD PARK CONCEPT PLAN AND PHASE TWO IMPLEMENTATION.

UH, THEY HAD ALL THE THINGS WE ASK FOR , FOR PARKS, ACCESSIBILITY, BIKE RACKS, A BATHROOM.

SO, UM, WELL DONE.

UH, WE REVIEWED THE 20 23 20 24 CITY BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS AND WE ALSO REVIEWED, UM, A RECOMMENDATION FROM A WORKING GROUP ON THE ANTI-GRAFFITI, UM, AN ANTI GRAFFITI RECOMMENDATION, UH, THAT PAST UNANIMOUSLY, I PERSONALLY DID NOT SUPPORT THE RECOMMENDATION.

UM, WHAT IT'S DOING IS CREATING AN ANTI-GRAFFITI TASK FORCE, UH, WHICH WILL HAVE A BUDGET.

THEY'RE REQUESTING 2 MILLION, UH, FOR PAINT AND ENFORCEMENT.

UM, THE PAINT, UH, WILL BE USED ON PUBLIC PROJECTS, UM, BUT I FIND IT A LITTLE BIT HOSTILE TO SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS WHO MAY RECEIVE GRAFFITI AND THEY'RE GETTING KIND OF RECOMMENDATIONS THAT THEY HAVE TO REMEDY OR THE GRAFFITI WITHIN 24 HOURS.

AND AS A SMALL BUSINESS OWNER, THAT'S SOMETIMES NOT YOUR BIGGEST PRIORITY.

SO I JUST THINK THAT THE RECOMMENDATION COULD BE MORE SUPPORTIVE OF SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS WHO ARE NOT BENEFITING FROM THAT PUBLIC FUND THAT'S SET ASIDE FOR IT.

UH, AND THAT'S WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT.

UH, ITEM NINE, UPDATE FROM THE REPRESENTATIVE ON THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE.

UNFORTUNATELY I WAS UNABLE TO ATTEND THE LAST MEETING, SO I HAVE NO UPDATE.

REPRESENTATIVE ON THE SOUTH CENTRAL WATERFRONT ADVISORY.

UPDATE FROM

[10. Update from representative on the South-Central Waterfront Advisory Board regarding last meeting.]

UH, COMMISSIONER FRANCO HAS GONE AWOL , SO WE HAVE NO UPDATE.

UM, ALL RIGHT.

SO I THINK FOR THE NEXT MEETING, SOPHIA, UM, I THINK WE SHOULD ADD WORKING GROUP MEMBERSHIPS, UH, WHENEVER WE GET THE BULK OF OUR NEW COMMISSIONERS ON.

UM, SO WE CAN TALK ABOUT APPOINTMENTS AGAIN, UM, POTENTIALLY, UH, IN WORKING GROUP MEMBERSHIPS AND GO OVER WHAT THEIR PURPOSE IS.

UM, DO YOU WANT THAT ON THE AGENDA FOR NEXT MONTH? EVEN IF THE TWO, WELL WHAT I SEE RIGHT NOW ARE THAT THERE'S TWO COMMISSIONERS THAT HAVE BEEN APPOINTED, THEY JUST HAVEN'T GONE THROUGH THEIR TRAINING.

SO IF THEY HAVEN'T BY NEXT MEETING, WOULD YOU STILL WANT TO TALK ABOUT THIS OR DO YOU WANNA WAIT UNTIL WE HAVE YEAH, ONLY IF WE HAVE THOSE TWO PEOPLE ON.

CAUSE WE HAVE 1, 2, 3 NEW COMMISSIONERS THAT CAN BE JOINING THINGS.

SO, AND THEN AFTER THAT WE'LL STILL HAVE A FEW MORE AND WE CAN JUST ADD IT TO THE AGENDA AND EXPLAIN AGAIN.

BUT I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT WE HAVE A LOT OF ACTIVITY GOING ON RIGHT NOW MM-HMM.

SO I THINK MAKING SURE EVERYONE'S INVOLVED IS IMPORTANT.

YEAH, THAT WORKS.

AND IT COULD BE REASSIGNMENTS OR REVISITING WHO'S DOING WHAT, UM, BASED ON WHAT THE NEW MEMBER, WHO THE NEW MEMBERS ARE AND WHAT SKILLS THEY HAVE.

UM, ALRIGHT.

WITH THAT IT IS 8 36 AND HO HOLD ON.

HO HO HOLD ON.

I HAVE ONE ISSUE I'D LIKE TO BRING UP.

YES SIR.

COMMISSIONER, I THINK THERE'S SUPPOSED TO BE AN AGENDA ITEM FOR, FOR COMMISSIONERS, YOU KNOW, INPUT.

SO SINCE COMMISSIONER CARROLL IS HERE, I THOUGHT THIS WAS A GREAT TIME TO BE ABLE TO DISCUSS THIS.

YOU KNOW, THIS MORNING WE KIND OF TALKED ABOUT THIS WORKING GROUP MEMO ON A CERTAIN PROJECT, AND I'M NOT GONNA SAY WHAT THAT IS, BUT EVERYBODY IS KINDA LIKE, EVERYBODY KIND OF WANTS TO CHANGE THE FORMAT OF THE WORKING GROUP MEMO, UH, TO WHERE THERE IS NO THAT WE DON'T SAY WHETHER IT COMPLIES OR NOT.

WELL, WE'VE BEEN DOING, USING THIS TEMPLATE AND USING THIS FORMAT FOR A LONG TIME.

SO IT'S VERY UNCOMFORTABLE FOR ME TO KIND OF LIKE, UH, ISSUE A MEMO WITH MY NAME ON IT WHEN ALL THE APPLICANTS ARE SO USED TO SEEING, UH, THE KIND OF TEMPLATE THAT, OR THE KIND OF MEMO THAT WE USED TO HAVE THAT SAYS WHETHER WE COMPLY OR NOT.

SO I WAS GONNA SAY THAT IF SOMEBODY WANTS TO CHANGE THAT, I'M GONNA BE LEAVING AND COMMISSIONER CARROLL'S GONNA BE LEAVING.

I'D LIKE TO GET HIS INPUT ON THIS.

BUT THIS IS KIND OF SOMETHING THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING FOR THE LAST FIVE OR SIX YEARS AND IT'S, IT'S SOMETHING THAT PEOPLE EXPECT, YOU KNOW, THEY HAVE EXPECTATIONS, THEY, ESPECIALLY THE APPLICANTS.

SO IF WE'RE GONNA CHANGE THAT, YOU KNOW, I WOULD LIKE SOMEBODY ELSE TO WRITE THESE MEMOS AND, AND I JUST DID IT VOLUNTARILY SO WE COULD GET DONE TIMELY CUZ I HAVE THE TEMPLATES TO DO THAT.

BUT, UH, I DON'T KNOW HOW Y'ALL FEEL

[02:10:01]

ABOUT THAT PART OF IT.

IF, IF IT'S SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO BE CHANGED, UM, WITHIN THE WHOLE, WITHIN THE WHOLE COMMISSION, NOT JUST WITHIN OUR WORKING GROUP.

BUT WHAT I'M SAYING IS THAT WE MAKE A DECISION BECAUSE THE OTHER COMMISSIONERS, THE FULL COMMISSION CANNOT REVIEW THESE PROJECTS AS CLOSELY AS WE DO.

SO WE ACTUALLY KIND OF LIKE LOOK AT IT OBJECTIVELY, UH, AGAINST THIS GUIDELINES AND WE CHECK MARKET, YOU KNOW, AND WE DO THIS KIND OF LIKE THIS CHECKLIST THING AND, AND UNFORTUNATELY I'M, I'M, I'M SAYING THAT A LOT OF THE COMMISSIONERS WHEN THEY COME TO THE MEETING, THEY DON'T EVEN READ THAT, THAT MEMO.

SO THEY COME THERE NOT, NOT, NOT HAVING READ THE MEMO, THEY HEAR THE PRESENTATION AND THEY GO OFF ON SOME TANGENTS THAT, YOU KNOW, AREN'T EVEN COVERED IN THE GUIDELINES.

SO I THINK THERE HAS TO BE SOME CLARITY AS TO THIS PROCESS.

AND, AND I'M GONNA BE LEAVING AGAIN PRETTY SOON, JEN, SO I WAS GONNA LEAVE IT UP TO YOU TO KIND OF BE IN CHARGE OF THESE MEMOS OR, OR JOSHUA WHAT, WHOEVER.

BUT I, I FELT LIKE ON THIS ONE IS SO CONTROVERSIAL THAT I THOUGHT MAYBE I SHOULD AT LEAST GET IT STARTED FROM AN E OBJECTIVE STANDPOINT IN, IN THE APPLICANT KNOWS WHO I AM AND IS USED TO SEEING THOSE MEMOS FROM ME.

SO WHAT DO YOU THINK? SO I APPRECIATE THE COMMENT AND I KIND OF WANNA POSE A LITTLE BIT OF THE SITUATION AS I SEE IT.

UM, I FEEL LIKE SOMETIMES IN THE WORKING GROUP, UH, YOU KNOW, THROUGH, THERE'S A MAYBE A FALSE CONFIDENCE GAINED IN LOOKING AT THE POINTS AND THEN, YOU KNOW, NOT REALLY TAKING ALL OF THE COMMENTS THAT WERE MADE AS AT THE WORKING GROUP AS THE COACHING THAT THEY REALLY ARE TO BRING UP THE PROJECT TWO TRUE COMPLIANCE.

UM, AND SO, YOU KNOW, KIND OF THE PROJECT THAT WE SAW TODAY, I THINK WAS A CASE IN POINT OF THEY SAW THEIR WORKING GROUP MEMO AND SAID, OKAY, WELL WE'RE GOOD.

WE DON'T NEED TO DO ANYTHING.

IN FACT, WE'RE GONNA GO FOR HIGHER A R.

AND UH, YOU KNOW, REALLY THAT URBAN INTERACTION WAS TOTALLY FORGOTTEN.

UM, SO I THINK TRYING TO AVOID SITUATIONS WHERE WE'RE GIVING PEOPLE FALSE CONFIDENCE THAT THEY DON'T NEED TO DO ANYTHING, UM, TO BRING THEIR PROJECT UP TO BETTER IN THE PUBLIC REALM, I THINK THAT'S WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO AVOID.

AND SO, UM, IT'S CHALLENGING BECAUSE I, WE ALL RECOGNIZE THAT THE OLDER URBAN URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES HAVE A LOT OF HOLES AND, UM, YOU KNOW, SERVE THEIR PURPOSE AT THEIR TIME.

BUT WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING, IF YOU'RE THE APPLICANT AND YOU'RE LOOKING AT IT AND YOU'RE THINKING, WOW, I GOT MOST OF THESE AND THEY'RE MUST BE ALL THE SAME, SO THAT MEANS I SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLY, UM, WELL, THEY'RE NOT REALLY, TRULY HAVE WORTH THE SAME AMOUNT OF EACH OTHER.

THIS IS A VERY SUBJECTIVE THING.

AND SO TO EVEN APPLY POINTS TO IT AT ALL IS REALLY NOT NECESSARILY ACCURATE.

SO I THINK WE JUST WANNA MAKE SURE WE'RE GIVING THE MOST USEFUL TOOL TO THE APPLICANT TO TRY TO IMPROVE THE PROJECT BEFORE IT COMES TO A FULL HEARING.

SO TRYING TO MAKE THAT MORE EASILY UNDERSTOOD WAS THE GOAL.

AND KIND OF, I THINK SOPHIA AND I MET AND WE TALKED ABOUT HOW TO MAYBE AVOID THAT PITFALL OF THE FALSE CONFIDENCE.

AND SO THAT'S, THAT'S WHERE I WAS COMING FROM ON THAT.

UM, COMMISSIONER CARROLL, THANK YOU CHAIR.

UM, I, I'M NOT, I WASN'T PART OF THIS, UH, CONVERSATION, BUT, UH, I CAN SHARE A LITTLE BIT OF INSIGHT.

UH, AND PART OF THAT IS JUST THE HISTORY OF THIS IS THAT PROJECTS USED TO COME DIRECTLY TO THE DESIGN COMMISSION AND GET REJECTED.

UM, AND IT OBVIOUSLY CREATED, REJECTED ALL THE TIME.

AND SO THE, THE THOUGHT WAS, WELL, IF YOU CREATE A FIRST STEP THAT YOU COULD HAVE A REVIEW, AND, AND THEN THEY GET AN UNDERSTANDING OF WHERE THEY STAND BEFORE THEY COME TO THE DESIGN COMMISSION, THAT IDEALLY THERE'D BE A BETTER OUTCOME.

AND ONE OF THE APPROACHES THAT, THAT I TOOK WHEN I WAS LEADING THAT WORKING GROUP WAS REALLY TO BE, UH, REALLY STRICT AND, AND PUSH THEM AS HARD AS POSSIBLE THAT, UM, THAT HOPEFULLY THAT WAY, BY THE TIME THEY DID COME TO DESIGN COMMISSION, IT, IT WAS A, IT WAS A MUCH EASIER REVIEW.

AND SO I THINK THAT SORT OF ALIGNS WITH THE COMMENTS THAT YOU MAKE ABOUT NOT GIVING THEM A, A IMPRESSION, UM, THAT THEY'RE GONNA EASILY GET A YAY VOTE AT THE DESIGN COMMISSION.

BUT SO, SO THAT STEP IS A VERY IMPORTANT STEP.

[02:15:01]

UM, AND I, AND AS COMMISSIONER TANA GUCCI SAID, SOMETIMES IT, IT'S EVEN A, A DEEPER DIVE THAN MAYBE AT THE FULL COMMISSION.

AND, AND THAT'S WHERE YOU COULD REALLY, UH, SEE THE BALL MOVE AS FAR AS PUSHING THEM TO DO MORE.

UM, AND, AND THEN OF COURSE IT JUST BENEFITS THEM BY THE TIME THEY GET HERE.

HOPEFULLY IT'S, IT'S JUST AN EASIER REVIEW.

UM, BUT, AND, BUT A LOT OF THAT HAS TO, IT, IT COMES DOWN TO THE MEMBERS OF THAT WORKING GROUP REALLY, UH, EVALUATING THAT PROJECT AND, AND PUSHING THEM, PUSHING THEM ON IT.

SO VICE CHAIR MINERS.

UM, SO I KNOW THAT I'M SOMEONE WHO'S BEEN, UH, KIND OF ON THE SAME, UH, SIDE WITH THE CHAIR AS FAR AS, UM, NOT WANTING TO GIVE THAT FALSE IMPRESSION.

I THINK THAT GOING THROUGH EACH OF THE GUIDELINES DOES HAVE ITS MERIT, BUT I THINK, YOU KNOW, TO KIND OF, UM, UTILIZE THIS PRE-FLIGHT MEETING, UM, IN A WAY THAT'S ADVANTAGEOUS FOR THE APPLICANT, I FEEL LIKE IF WE JUST ARTICULATED THE LANGUAGE THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'LL GO THROUGH, UH, YOU KNOW, EACH GUIDELINE AND TELL YOU WHERE WE SEE DEFICIENCIES, AND IF YOU ADDRESS THOSE DEFICIENCIES, YOU'RE MORE LIKELY TO ACHIEVE SUBSTANTIAL COMPLIANCE.

UM, I, I THINK IN THE CASE, YOU KNOW, WE'VE HAD TWO PROJECTS IN A ROW NOW, UH, WITH THE WATERLINE AND THEN WITH 62 EAST TODAY, WHERE, YOU KNOW, THEY HAD THAT FALSE IMPRESSION.

UM, I THINK WITH THE ONE THAT WE'RE REFERRING TO RIGHT NOW, UM, I, I, I THINK THAT IF, IF THEY HAVE THE FALSE IMPRESSION GOING INTO OUR NEXT MEETING, THAT THEY SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLY, I MEAN, AT SOME POINT I THINK THEY'RE GONNA HOLD THAT AGAINST US.

WE'RE SHOOTING FOR PREDICTABILITY.

UM, SO I THINK, YOU KNOW, THE PROCESS ITSELF IS REALLY GOOD.

IT'S JUST, UH, YOU KNOW, WE SHOULD SAY, HEY, THE, THESE ARE, THESE ARE WHERE YOU'RE MEETING IT, THIS IS WHERE YOU'RE NOT MEETING IT.

UM, THE MORE YOU MEET IT, THE MORE LIKELY YOU ARE TO HAVE THE FULL COMMISSION, UH, ESTABLISHED, SUBSTANTIAL OR, YOU KNOW, RECOMMEND, UH, SUBSTANTIAL COMPLAINTS.

SO THAT'S MY 2 CENTS.

AND, AND I, I WANTED TO SAY, I, I APPRECIATE, UH, COMMISSIONER CAROL'S COMMENTS BECAUSE YEAH, WHEN WE IMPLEMENTED THIS PREVIEW, THIS WORKING GROUP PREVIEW, WE GOT SO MANY, UH, UH, LETTERS OF APPRECIATION FROM THE APPLICANTS BECAUSE, BECAUSE IT WAS A PREDICT, IT WAS MORE PREDICTABLE.

AND IT'S LIKE WHEN I WAS ON THE CODE NEXT TEAM, YOU KNOW, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE SHOOTING FOR.

SO THE, SO WHOEVER WOULD KIND OF KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT, RIGHT? BUT IF YOU DON'T GIVE 'EM SOME KIND OF A WORD UPFRONT, WHETHER THEY COULD SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLY OR NOT, AND IT'S PURELY BASED ON THIS, ON THIS KIND OF THIS, UH, THE, THE NUMBERS, RIGHT? IT'S, IT'S LOOKING AT THIS LITTLE CHART THAT WE'VE BEEN USING, AND THAT'S KIND OF HOW WE ASSESS IT.

AND THEN, UH, DAVID AND I HAVE ALWAYS SAID, WELL, WHERE DOES SUBSTANTIAL FALL INTO THAT? IS IT 50%, 60%, 75%? AND YOU HAVE TO KIND OF LIKE, MAKE A DECISION SOMEPLACE, BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T LET THE APPLICANT KNOW THAT THEY COMPLY OR NOT, THEN I'M, I MEAN, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE GONNA H HOW THEY'RE GONNA APPROACH THE, THE REAL MEETING, THE FULL MEETING.

COMMISSIONER CAROL, THANK YOU.

UH, AND I'LL, UH, TWO, UH, VICE CHAIR MINOR'S COMMENTS THERE.

THERE'S PROBABLY EXAMPLE, UH, THERE ARE EXAMPLES THAT YOU COULD FIND OF, UH, UM, WHEN I WAS LEADING THE WORKING GROUP, I WOULD, I, I WOULD SPEND A LOT OF TIME ON THOSE LETTERS, ON THOSE MEMOS, AND I WOULD ACTUALLY LIST EVERY SINGLE GUIDELINE AND SAY WHETHER IT COMPLIES OR NOT.

AND IF IT DID NOT COMPLY A RECOMMENDATION OF WHAT THEY COULD ADJUST TO MAKE IT COMPLY.

UM, AND THEN EVEN, EVEN IF OUR WORKING GROUP FOUND THAT THE PROJECT DID COMPLY WITH DESIGN GUIDELINES, I WOULD STILL DO ALL THAT.

AND AT THE, AT THE BOTTOM, I WOULD SAY, YOU KNOW, WHILE WE CAN WE FIND THIS IN COMPLIANCE, I WOULD STILL RECOMMEND THAT YOU ADDRESS SOME OF THESE ISSUES TO ENSURE THAT THE FULL DESIGN COMMISSION ALSO FEELS LIKE YOU'RE IN COMPLIANCE.

UH, BECAUSE WE WERE JUST FOUR OR FIVE PEOPLE, UH, AND NOT THE FULL COMMISSION.

OF TIME AND IF WE KNEW WE WERE GONNA BE SHORT, WE WOULD INVITE OTHER COMMISSIONERS WHO WEREN'T ON THE WORKING GROUP TO COME TO THE MEETING AND SEE THE, THEY GET TO EXPERIENCE THE GROUP, SEE THE PROJECT, UH, AND IT WOULD BOOST OUR ATTENDANCE AT THAT WORKING GROUP.

I, I THINK IT'S BEEN HARD ON THE WORKING GROUPS LATELY BECAUSE WE'VE NOT HAD FOUR OR FIVE PEOPLE THERE.

IT'S BEEN TWO OR THREE MM-HMM.

UM, AND SO IT'S JUST, UM, THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR SERVICE, .

I APPRECIATE IT.

BUT, UM, I DON'T THINK IT'S BEEN AS MUCH ATTENTION.

AND SO IT'S JUST, I THINK THE, THE OUTCOME HAS JUST BEEN PEOPLE COMING IN, THEY THINK THEY'VE GOT IT, AND THEN THEY'RE SURPRISED BY OUR, OUR COMMISSION FINDINGS.

AND SO THE OTHER THING, UM, THAT THE STAFF USED TO HELP WITH THIS DIFFERENT STAFF , UH, BUT WE WOULD TAKE ATTENDANCE AHEAD

[02:20:01]

SO I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S STILL BEING DONE, BUT IT, IT DEFINITELY HELPED MORE WORK FOR SOPHIA .

TECHNICALLY STAFF DOES NOT SUPPORT WORKING GROUP.

SO, SO THE, THE CHAIR OF THE WORKING GROUP CAN REACH OUT TO NOT YOU, RIGHT? OH, WHO'S THE CHAIR OF THE WORKING GROUP THAT HASN'T BEEN DECIDED AFTER.

COMMISSIONER TANA GUCCI'S LEAVING.

AFTER DAVID LEFT.

WE HAVEN'T HAD A CHAIR OF THE WORKING GROUP.

THAT'S WHY I'LL, I'LL OPEN OUT THE CHAIR AND I JUST VOLUNTEERED TO WRITE THESE MEMOS, BUT YEAH, WE NEED TO HAVE A CHAIR OF THE WORKING GROUP FOR SURE.

SO OBVIOUSLY YOU'LL HAVE TO, WELL, I DON'T WANNA, I DON'T WANNA DO IT ANYWAY.

ALRIGHT.

UH, SO WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT.

I GUESS OUR NEXT IS OKAY, MEETING ON WHO'S GONNA TAKE YOUR PLACE.

BUT THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR LEADING IN THE INTERIM.

UM, I REALLY APPRECIATE IT.

AND I'M SURE WE'LL FOLLOW UP ON EMAIL ABOUT THE MEMO THAT WE'VE BEEN EMAILING ABOUT.