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THE DOWNTOWN COMMISSION, UM, CALLING
[CALL TO ORDER]
THE MEETING TO ORDER.WE DO HAVE A QUORUM AND, UH, WOULD YOU LIKE TO CALL? ROLL.
AND, OKAY, EVERYBODY HAS THEIR CAMERA ON.
PRESENT VICE CHAIR? ISHMAEL PRESENT.
AND COMMISSIONER SCHIFFER PRESENT.
COMMISSIONER MCKINNEY? PRESENT.
COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER PRESENT.
AND, UM, I KNOW THAT COMMISSIONER, UM, MOCK HAS JOINED US, SO, ALRIGHT.
[1. Approve the minutes of the Downtown Commission July 19, 2023 meeting.]
EVERYONE HAD A CHANCE TO LOOK AT THE MEETING OR THE MINUTES FROM THE LAST MEETING AND IF SO, DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY, UM, CHANGES TO THE MINUTES? IF NOT, UM, I'LL MOVE THE, I'LL MOVE APPROVAL.SO I THINK, UH, THE MOTION PASSES, SO THE MINUTES ARE APPROVED.
DO WE HAVE ANY PUBLIC COMMENT? PEOPLE SIGNED UP FOR A PUBLIC COMMENT? NONE.
UM, THEN I GUESS WE'LL MOVE RIGHT ON INTO THE DISCUSSION.
[2. Briefing on Scooter Incident data and Prevention to be presented by Kevin Parker of the City of Austin Emergency Medical Services.]
FIRST ITEM THAT WE HAVE IS THE PRESENTATION ON SCOOTER INCIDENTS AND PREVENTION.AND I GUESS, UH, KEVIN PARKER IS HERE TO MAKE THAT PRESENTATION.
OFFICER PARKER? YES, I HAVE THE, UH, PRESENTATION, THE SLIDE, IS IT THE FORM? NO, IT'S TITLED, UH, AUSTIN TRAVIS COUNTY E M S E, SCOOTER INJURY DETAILS.
THANKS FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO TALK.
I WILL GIVE THEM JUST A COUPLE OF, UH, SECONDS TO GET THIS, UM, UP AND DISPLAYED IN A, A MODE.
IT'S A LOT OF INFORMATION I RECOGNIZE WE'LL PROBABLY START AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE AND JUST WORK OUR WAY DOWN, UH, FOR THE ABILITY TO ZOOM AND MAKE IT, UH, FUNCTIONALLY READABLE TO YOU IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT AVAILABLE RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU.
I'M A DIVISION CHIEF FOR AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY E M SS.
UM, I OVERSEE OUR SPECIAL OPERATIONS, OUR SPECIAL EVENTS, AND OUR EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SECTIONS.
UH, SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF MY WORK, UH, OBVIOUSLY WITHIN THE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND SPECIAL EVENTS AREAS, UH, FALLS WITHIN THE DOWNTOWN AREA, UH, WHERE A NUMBER OF OUR LARGE VENUES AND OUR LARGE ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICTS ARE.
I ALSO AM, UH, THE, UH, LEAD FOR THE DEPARTMENT ON OUR COUNTER ASSAULT STRIKE TEAM, MEDICAL COMPONENT, OUR CASMED PROGRAM, UH, WHICH IS WORKING EVERY FRIDAY AND SATURDAY EVENING IN CONCERT WITH THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT CAST UNIT IN ORDER TO RESPOND TO, UH, INCIDENTS OF, UH, HIGH LIKELIHOOD OF VIOLENCE, STABBINGS, SHOOTINGS, UH, VEHICULAR ASSAULTS,
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ET CETERA.UM, TODAY Y'ALL HAVE ASKED ME TO TALK ABOUT SCOTER INJURY DATA OR MICRO MOBILITY INJURY INFORMATION.
UH, THIS DATA IS ALL FROM OUR ELECTRONIC PATIENT CARE RECORD, UH, SYSTEMS. IT REPRESENTS 15 MONTHS OF DATA, UM, FROM ESSENTIALLY, UH, THE BEGINNING OF MAY, 2022 TO THE END OF, UH, JULY OF THIS YEAR.
UM, YOU CAN SEE THAT WE'VE HAD APPROXIMATELY 115, UM, PATIENTS THAT ARE INVOLVED IN MICRO MOBILITY, UH, INCIDENTS.
UM, I SHOULD ALSO POINT OUT THAT THE GENERAL, UM, GEOGRAPHIC BOUNDARIES THAT WERE RESTRICTED ON THIS WAS OLTORF TO THE SOUTH.
UM, I BELIEVE WE USED AIRPORT TO THE EAST.
WE USED M L K ON THE NORTH SIDE AND LAMAR ON THE WEST SIDE.
UM, THAT NOT ONLY ALIGNS WITH, UH, THE COMMISSION'S WORK, BUT IT ALSO ALIGNS WITH WHERE THE MAJORITY OF THESE MICRO MOBILITY DEVICES ARE AS WELL.
I RECOGNIZE THERE ARE SOME UP IN THE MUELLER, UH, DISTRICT OR THE MILLER DISTRICT, UM, AND THERE ARE SOME IN THE DOMAIN DISTRICT.
UM, BUT ALSO BECAUSE OF THE WAY THE, UH, E M S INCIDENT REPORTING SYSTEM WORKS FOR THE NATION, UM, THERE IS NO WAY TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN A MICRO MOBILITY, UH, DEVICE THAT YOU COMMONLY WOULD REFER TO AS A LYME OR A BIRD AND A SCOOTER, UH, THAT AN ELDERLY OR A MOBILITY IMPAIRED INDIVIDUAL WOULD USE, UH, SIMILAR TO A HOVER ROUND, UH, COLLOQUIALLY USE.
SO THAT'S WHY WE ALSO INCLU, UH, EXCLUDED THE OTHER AREAS OF THE CITY.
UM, APPROXIMATELY 115 PEOPLE, UM, IN THE 15 MONTH PERIOD.
SO IT'S AROUND EIGHT PER MONTH.
UM, YOU CAN SEE VERY CLEARLY THAT OUR, OUR DEMOGRAPHIC, UH, IS AGES 20 TO 50 ACCOUNT FOR ABOUT 70 SOMETHING PERCENT, 78% OF OUR, UH, INJURIES.
UM, AND IT IS NEARLY EVENLY SPLIT BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE.
THERE'S NOT A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN, UH, THE GENDERS.
UM, YOU CAN SEE ON THE LEFT SIDE A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF THESE PEOPLE.
SO OUT OF THE 115, UM, 89 OF THEM WERE EVENTUALLY TRANSPORTED TO A HOSPITAL.
UM, EIGHT OF THOSE WERE CRITICALLY INJURED, UH, TRANSPORTED LIGHTS AND SIRENS IS A, A PLACE MARKER FOR, UH, SOME FORM OF CRITICAL INJURY.
NOW, THAT MAY NOT MEAN THAT THEY HAD ONGOING DISABILITY, UM, BUT IT DOES MEAN THAT AT THE TIME OF THE INJURY, UH, THEIR ASSESSMENT WAS THAT THE, THE PATIENT WAS SERIOUSLY INJURED.
IF WE SCROLL DOWN A LITTLE BIT FURTHER, UM, YOU CAN SEE VERY, VERY CLEARLY, UM, ON THE, UH, DATE AND TI OR THE DAY AND TIME THAT MOST OF THESE INCIDENTS OCCUR ON OUR WEEKEND EVENINGS.
UH, THERE ARE ALMOST NO INCIDENTS THAT OCCUR EARLY IN THE MORNING WITH THE EXCEPTION OF OUR BRIEF COMMUTING PERIOD.
AND THEN INCIDENTS BEGIN TO PICK UP INTO THE EVENING.
I I THINK THAT SURPRISES NOBODY, UM, REALLY DIDN'T DISPLAY ANY, UH, INTERESTING DATA OTHER THAN WHAT WE ARE.
IT CONFIRMED WHAT WE ALREADY BELIEVED, WHICH WAS YOU'RE MORE LIKELY TO BE INVOLVED IN A SCOOTER ACCIDENT.
UM, I DID NOT SEARCH FOR COMORBIDITIES OF ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE, UH, WITH THESE CASES.
UM, IT'S JUST, IT, AS THE DATA GETS MORE AND MORE SPECIFIC, UM, IT GETS HARDER TO PICK OUT ANY MAJOR TRENDS.
UH, SO IF YOU CONTINUE TO SCROLL DOWN, UM, THE PRIMARY IMPRESSION, UM, VARIES FROM A CHIEF COMPLAINT OR A MECHANISM OF INJURY.
THE CHIEF COMPLAINT OR THE MECHANISM OF INJURY OF THE PATIENT WOULD BE WHAT WE OBSERVE OR WE, UM, THE PATIENT TELLS US WHEN WE FIRST MAKE CONTACT WITH THEM.
THE PRIMARY IMPRESSION IS WHAT IS DEVELOPED AT THE END OF THE FULL ASSESSMENT OF THAT PATIENT OF WHAT WE THINK THE MOST SIGNIFICANT INJURY TO REPORT IS.
SO OBVIOUSLY NOT TOO SURPRISING THAT, UH, JUST UNDER 50% OF THESE PEOPLE ARE REPORTING INJURIES OF THE FACE OR HEAD.
UM, WE DON'T SEE A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF HELMETS WORN WITH THESE.
UM, GIVEN THE SPEED THAT THEY CAN GO, UH, WE EXPECT TO SEE THAT.
AND THEN AS YOU GO THROUGH, YOU'LL SEE MULTIPLE INJURIES, UM, AND CONTINUING ON THROUGH INJURIES OF ARMS, LEGS, ET CETERA.
UM, AND MOST OF THE INJURIES THAT WE SEE, UH, IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU'D EXPECT.
UM, YOU CAN SEE THE HEAT MAP FOR THE INCIDENT LOCATIONS.
UM, OUR DATA TEAM, UH, WAS WORKING, UH, WE DON'T KNOW WHY THE,
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UH, BLUE DOTS AND BLACK DOTS DISPLAYED AS THEY DID.UM, TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION, I, I CANNOT TELL YOU.
UM, THEY, WHEN WE ZOOM IN ON THE DATA, IT DOESN'T APPEAR THAT THERE'S ANY SPECIFIC, UH, CORRELATION TO WHAT THE COLORS MEAN.
UM, SO JUST AS YOU WOULD EXPECT, THERE'S A HIGH CONCENTRATION DOWNTOWN AND NEAR THE RAINY DISTRICT, UH, OUR ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICTS OF RAINY WAREHOUSE, UM, AND SIXTH STREET.
UH, THERE'S ALSO A LARGER CONCENTRATION, UH, TOWARDS THE UNIVERSITY.
UM, YOU SHOULD NOTICE THAT THERE IS A, UH, GAPING HOLE BETWEEN DEAN KEATON AND GUADALUPE AND THE, UH, RED RIVER.
UM, THAT IS BECAUSE THE UNIVERSITY GEO-FENCES, UH, THE SCOOTERS AND THEY ARE NOT ALLOWED ONTO UNIVERSITY PROPERTY.
YOU CAN'T TAKE A, UH, MICRO MOBILITY OR SCOOTER DEVICES INTO, UH, THE CAPITOL GROUNDS.
UM, WITH THAT, I WANT TO MAKE IT AVAILABLE.
IF Y'ALL HAVE QUESTIONS, I'M HAPPY TO ELABORATE ON THE DATA THAT WE HAVE OR, UH, ANSWER ANY OTHER QUESTIONS YOU HAVE SPECIFIC TO SCOTERS.
UH, FIRST OF ALL, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, YOU SAID THAT YOU DID NOT GATHER COMORBIDITY DATA CORRECT.
BUT IS THAT AVAILABLE? UM, YES.
WHEN IT IS REPORTED, UM, IT IS, UH, IMPORTANT TO KNOW THAT THERE ARE GOING TO BE EXCLUSIONS.
UH, FOR EXAMPLE, IF THE PATIENT IS UNCONSCIOUS, UM, AND IS UNABLE TO REPORT IF THEY HAVE BEEN CONSUMING ALCOHOL OR SOME INTOXICATING SUBSTANCE, UM, WE WILL ONLY KNOW THAT THEY ARE UNCONSCIOUS AND WE MUST PRESUME THAT THEY'RE UNCONSCIOUS FROM THE MICRO MOBILITY DEVICE VERSUS SOME OTHER, UH, UH, CONTRIBUTING CAUSE I WOULD SAY.
SO IT IS POSSIBLE, BUT IT WON'T BE A FULL PICTURE OF THE DATA.
THIS MIGHT BE TOO, UM, TOO GRANULAR.
FIRST OF ALL, THANK YOU FOR COMING HERE AND PRESENTING.
YES, YOU'RE CERTAINLY WELCOME.
MY, MY QUESTION IS AROUND THE LOCATIONS THE INJURIES TOOK PLACE, DO YOU HAVE DATA AROUND IF THEY WERE, IF THE ACCIDENTS HAPPENED WHERE THERE WERE THEY WERE DRIVING ON A BIKE LANE VERSUS IN THE STREET OR ON A PEDESTRIAN SIDEWALK? UM, NO.
I WOULD SAY THAT WE DON'T HAVE THAT LEVEL OF GRANULARITY.
UM, THAT TYPE OF INFORMATION WOULD ONLY BE AVAILABLE BASED ON PATIENT REPORTING.
UM, AND IT'S NOT, UH, ROUTINELY DOCUMENTED WHAT LANE THE, UH, PATIENT WAS TRAVELING IN, UH, UPON THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT.
MR. PARKER, THANK YOU FOR THE MR. PARKER, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
BASED ON THE GEOFENCE, UM, KIND OF LIMITATIONS OF THE SCOOTERS, DO YOU HAVE RECOMMENDATIONS ON POTENTIAL OTHER GEOFENCES THAT COULD LIMIT INCIDENT? I DON'T, I, UH, OBVIOUSLY THAT IS NOT A CORE FUNCTION OF THE E M S DEPARTMENT.
UM, I CERTAINLY WOULD, UH, REFER TO MY PD AND TRANSPORTATION COLLEAGUES.
UM, AND, AND REALLY THAT'S A POLICY LED DECISION, UM, AS TO THE OVERALL USEFULNESS OF THE DEVICES.
SO NOT FROM AN E M S PERSPECTIVE, NO.
SO STEPPING OUT OF YOUR LANE AND POTENTIALLY INTO POLICY, UM, WHICH IS NOT YOUR TASK IN THIS PRESENTATION, DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER POTENTIAL REQUESTS FOR POLICY TO LIMIT THE FUNCTION OF SCOOTERS? THINKING IT THROUGH OF, OBVIOUSLY, UM, PRIOR TO BECOMING A DIVISION CHIEF, I WAS THE COMMANDER OF THE SPECIAL EVENTS UNIT.
UH, SO MICRO MOBILITY WAS A LARGE TOPIC OF DISCUSSION FOR US AT, AT ALL OF OUR LARGE EVENTS.
UM, AND, AND REALLY I WOULD SAY I, I'M, I'M AWARE, UM, AND I CAN, I'M AWARE OF THE PROS AND THE CONS OF THEM, BUT, UH, FROM A POLICY LEVEL, I'M NOT ABLE TO CONTRIBUTE MUCH TO THE DEBATE OF WHERE THE NEEDLE OR WHERE THE WEIGHT SHOULD BE PLACED.
UM, JUST BECAUSE I'M NOT AN EXPERT IN ALL OF THE CONSIDERATIONS.
UH, IF I MAY, I WANT TO PIGGYBACK ON COMMISSIONER WEAVER'S QUESTIONS.
ARE YOU AWARE OF ANY, ANY IDEAS OR POLICIES MAY BE IMPLEMENTED IN OTHER JURISDICTIONS? NO, I'M NOT AWARE OF THAT MIGHT BE OF, UM, HOW OTHER JURISDICTIONS ARE UTILIZING THEM, UH, BOTH IN A SPECIAL EVENT OKAY.
ARENA, NOR ON A JUST GENERAL PUBLIC USE, UH, SURE.
I WAS JUST CURIOUS BECAUSE SOMETIMES, UM, YOU GUYS WILL GO TO CONFERENCES AND, AND SORT OF BREAK OUT ABSOLUTELY.
RULES AND DISCUSS THESE THINGS.
I WANT TO TRANSITION TO THE CHART ON THE FIRST PAGE.
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PATIENTS WHO WERE TRANSPORTED WITHOUT LIGHTS AND SIRENS.CAN, CAN YOU JUST GIVE US A COUPLE EXAMPLES OF, OF SORT OF WHAT INJURY WOULD GET YOU TRANSPORTED WITHOUT LIGHTS OR SIRENS? YEAH, SO, SO GENERALLY, UM, WHEN WE GO TRANSPORTING WITHOUT LIGHTS AND SIRENS, THAT INDICATES THAT, UH, THE CLINICIANS DO NOT BELIEVE THERE IS A SHORT OR A LONG-TERM RISK TO THE PATIENT'S LIFE OR LIMB.
UH, SO, UH, GETTING THEM TO A HOSPITAL AND SPECIFICALLY TO A SURGEON, UM, IS NOT AN IMMEDIATE PRIORITY.
UH, THERE'S SOMETHING CALLED THE GOLDEN HOUR WITHIN EMERGENCY MEDICINE WHERE WE WANT FROM THE TIME OF IMPACT TO THE TIME THAT YOU, WE ARE INSIDE YOUR ABDOMEN.
IF IT'S AN ABDOMINAL INJURY FIXING THE PROBLEM IN AN OPERATING SUITE, WE WANT THAT TO BE 60 MINUTES OR LESS.
UM, SO THE SOONER WE ARE OFF OF THE SCENE, THE BETTER.
GENERALLY SPEAKING, UM, LIGHTS AND SIRENS TRANSLATE, UH, TRANSPORTS CORRELATE TO A SICKER PATIENT OR, OR A PATIENT WHO HAS A HIGHER PROPENSITY FOR SIGNIFICANT INJURY, EVEN IF IT HASN'T OCCURRED OR IS NOT EVIDENT YET.
FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU HAVE LACERATED YOUR LIVER, UM, YOU CAN LACERATE YOUR LIVER AND BLEED VERY RAPIDLY INTO, INTO YOUR, UM, ABDOMEN, OR YOU CAN LACERATE YOUR LIVER AND HAVE A VERY SLOW LEAK, THAT WILL BECOME A PROBLEM OVER TIME BASED ON THE MECHANISM AND WHERE YOU WERE STRUCK.
IN SOME OTHER INDICATORS, WE MAY CHOOSE TO TRANSPORT YOU WITH LIGHTS AND SIRENS, EVEN IF YOU'RE NOT APPARENTLY SICK RIGHT NOW, BECAUSE WE ANTICIPATE, UH, THAT THERE'S A LIKELIHOOD OF, FOR EXAMPLE, A LIVER LACERATION, UM, IN REGARDS TO TRANS TRANSPORTING PATIENTS WITHOUT LIGHTS AND SIRENS.
WHO MAKES THAT THE DECISION IS, IS IT A REQUEST BY THE PATIENT? IS IT A PROFESSIONAL DECISION BY, IT'S A PROFESSIONAL DECISION BY THE CLINICIAN.
SO, SO A PARAMEDIC WILL BE MAKING THAT DECISION.
UM, BASED ON THE OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF THE PATIENT AND, UH, THE SCENE.
BECAUSE THE PATIENT MAY HAVE, THERE ARE PATIENTS WHO HAVE ZERO COMPLAINTS, UH, THAT MAY BE BECAUSE, UM, THEY ARE UNCONSCIOUS.
UH, THAT MAY ALSO BE BECAUSE THEY, AGAIN, THEIR INJURIES JUST AREN'T APPARENT YET.
UM, AND SO THE, THAT PARAMEDIC AND, UH, THEIR CLINICAL PARTNERS WILL MAKE THE DECISION ABOUT HOW URGENTLY THE PERSON NEEDS TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL.
JUST A, UH, FEW MORE QUESTIONS, IF YOU DON'T MIND.
SO, ABSOLUTELY, UH, I AM NOT MUCH FOR NIGHTLIFE.
UH, SO I'M VERY UNFAMILIAR WITH SORT OF SIXTH STREET AND DOWNTOWN IN GENERAL, BUT WHEN I SEE 81 I, I PICTURE AN, AN AMBULANCE LIKE LEAVING THE SCENE THAT'S NOW TIED UP THAT CAN'T HELP OTHER PEOPLE WHO MIGHT NEED IT COME, YOU KNOW, 30 MINUTES LATER IF THERE'S A HIDDEN RUN OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
SO, LOGISTICALLY, I GUESS WHAT I'M ASKING IS WHEN, WHEN, WHEN THIS AMBULANCE LEAVES TO TAKE ME WITHOUT LIGHTS AND SIRENS FOR WHATEVER INJURY, DOES ANOTHER AMBULANCE COME TO REPLACE THE CLI CLINICIANS IN THE VEHICLE THAT LEFT, OR, OR HOW DOES THAT WORK LOGISTICALLY? YEAH, SO IT'LL BE, OFTENTIMES WE RESPOND TO THESE INCIDENTS BECAUSE OFTENTIMES THEY DO INVOLVE OTHER VEHICLES.
SO WE'LL OFTENTIMES RESPOND TO THESE INCIDENTS WITH THE AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT MM-HMM.
UM, IF THERE IS ONLY ONE SIGNIFICANTLY INJURED PATIENT, UM, WE WILL TAKE THAT PERSON TO THE HOSPITAL POST HASTE, AND WE WILL, AFTER A BRIEF ASSESSMENT OF CHECKING ON THOSE OTHER PATIENTS TO SEE WHAT OTHER RESOURCES MAY BE NEEDED, UH, FOR TRANSPORT, WE WOULD GO TO THE HOSPITAL AND ALLOW THE FIRE DEPARTMENT TO MANAGE EITHER, UH, THAT PATIENT, IF THE OTHER, ANY OTHER PATIENTS, IF THEY WERE CHOOSING TO REFUSE TRANSPORT OR IF THAT OTHER, IF THERE WERE TWO PATIENTS, ONE STABLE, ONE UNSTABLE, WE WOULD IMMEDIATELY TRANSPORT THE UNSTABLE ONE AND ALLOW THE FIRE DEPARTMENT TO MANAGE THAT STABLE PATIENT WHILE THAT NEXT AMBULANCE COMES AND RESPONDS TO THE SCENE.
AND THEN, UH, PERHAPS MY FINAL QUESTION, UH, DO YOU GUYS HAVE A SORT OF ONGOING PRESENCE JUST LIKE EVERY SATURDAY AND FRIDAY ON SIXTH STREET? OR IS IT JUST YOU JUST RESPOND STRICTLY TO, TO CALLS TO 9 1 1? SO RIGHT NOW, UM, OUR DOWNTOWN PRESENCE THAT IS NOT AMBULANCE BASED MM-HMM.
IT'S LIKE A UTILITY VEHICLE THAT'S FULLY CAPABLE OF ANYTHING A PARAMEDIC WOULD NEED TO DO, CARRIES A STRETCHER, ET CETERA.
WE HAVE ONE OF THOSE STATIONED ON RAINY STREET.
UH, IT'S PREDOMINANTLY, UH, THERE FOR RAINY STREET.
HOWEVER, THE, UH, GROUP SUPERVISOR, THE COMMANDER WHO IS OVERSEEING THAT UNIT AND OUR CAST UNIT, OUR CAST MED UNIT, IS CAPABLE OF MOVING THAT SS R U, UH, WHERE IT COULD RESPOND APPROPRIATELY TO ASSIST MM-HMM.
UM, THE OTHER EIGHT OR THE OTHER, UM, UH, RESOURCES WE HAVE AVAILABLE ARE OUR CAST MED TEAMS. OKAY.
SO WE TYPICALLY, ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHTS,
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WE WILL HAVE TWO, UH, DISTINCT UNITS.UH, THEY ARE OPERATING, UH, TYPICALLY TWO PARAMEDICS AND TWO POLICE OFFICERS TOGETHER TO WHERE WHEN WE ARRIVE AT THE SCENE, WE HAVE A BUILT-IN SECURITY FOOTPRINT AND, UH, WE CAN RAPIDLY BEGIN TO ASSESS THE SITUATION AND STABILIZE IT AND CALL FOR THOSE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES THAT ARE NEEDED.
AND, UM, DO YOU FEEL LIKE, SO I IMAGINE SORT OF, WE HAD A VERY HOT SUMMER MM-HMM.
WOULD WE SEE A SURGE IN RESOURCES WITH THE EXPECTATION THAT MORE PEOPLE MIGHT BE FREQUENTING DOWNTOWN AND AND SO FORTH, OR WE DON'T CURRENTLY HAVE PLANS TO SURGE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES? UM, THE EXCEPTIONS THAT WE MAKE ARE UT HOME FOOTBALL GAMES.
IF WE SEE A SIGNIFICANT SURGE OCCURRING, UM, INTO SIXTH STREET OR RAINY STREET, WE COULD HOLD THOSE UNITS OVER.
UM, BUT THAT IS THAT IT, THAT WOULD BE ATYPICAL.
AND ALSO, UM, OUR PRIOR EXPERIENCE TELLS US THAT, UM, WHILE IT WILL BE BUSY A UT HOME FOOTBALL GAME, UM, THOSE INDIVIDUALS DISPERSE THROUGHOUT AND WHILE EVERYTHING'S BUSIER MM-HMM.
SO IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU'RE, YOU'RE SATISFIED WITH THE RESOURCES CURRENTLY AVAILABLE? YEAH.
I, I THINK, I THINK THAT WE ARE, UM, ADEQUATELY, UM, GIVEN THE RESOURCES THAT WE HAVE, WE'VE ALLOCATED THEM AS BEST WE CAN.
UM, WE ARE COUNCIL HAS IN PREVIOUS BUDGET YEARS PROVIDED US FUNDING TO, UH, ACQUIRE MORE EQUIPMENT.
THAT EQUIPMENT HAS BEEN PURCHASED MM-HMM.
UM, SPECIFICALLY SOME TRAILERS RELATED TO MEDICAL CARE, UM, AND, YOU KNOW, THE VEHICLES TO THESE SRUS ADDITIONAL VEHICLES THAT HELP US MOVE PATIENTS AROUND THAT ARE NOT AMBULANCES, THEY MOVE, UH, MORE EFFICIENTLY IN A, YOU KNOW, A LARGE PEDESTRIAN, UH, VOLUME ENVIRONMENT.
UM, I FEEL LIKE I'VE TAKEN ENOUGH TIME, BUT, UH, I'LL JUST END WITH, UM, I WOULD BE OPEN TO DISCUSSIONS ABOUT A RESOLUTION FOR CITY COUNCIL.
IF, IF, IF YOU GUYS FELT LIKE IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO MAYBE, UM, HELP GET THE RESOURCES HERE.
I KNOW THEY'VE BEEN ORDERED, BUT MONEY'S ALWAYS A, A TIGHT SUBJECT.
AND, AND IF YOU, IF YOU GUYS FEEL LIKE A RESOLUTION FROM US SUPPORTING ADDITIONAL SUPPORT, UH, SURE.
I, I THINK FOR THAT CONVERSATION, MY APOLOGIES.
I DID NOT MEAN TO INTERRUPT YOU.
I, I THINK WE'RE ALWAYS OPEN TO, YOU KNOW, TALKING WITH ALL OF OUR STAKEHOLDERS, WHETHER IT'S, UH, THE VARIOUS COMMISSIONS THAT WE WORK WITH, OR IT IS THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE OR THE FINANCE OFFICE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE TARGETING THE PEOPLE WHO NOT ONLY LIVE IN THE DOWNTOWN CORE, AND AS WE BUILD UP THE URBAN CORE AND HAVE MORE RESIDENCES OVERNIGHT, UM, OCCUPIED THAT WE HAVE THAT PLUS THE PEOPLE WHO ARE GOING TO COME INTO THE URBAN CORE, UH, TO BE ENTERTAINED AND TO SPEND TIME THERE.
I THINK WE'RE ALWAYS OPEN TO HAVING THOSE DISCUSSIONS WITH OUR STAKEHOLDERS.
DO WE HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? OFFICER HARRIS ONLINE? I'M SORRY.
UM, WE GOT TWO ONLINE WITH QUESTIONS BEING ONE OF THEM.
REAL QUICKLY, ONE OF THE, THE QUESTIONS THAT'S COME UP AS WE'VE RECEIVED BRIEFINGS ON THIS BEFORE IT, AND THIS MAY NOT BE WITHIN YOUR BAILIWICK, BUT I DO WANNA MAKE SURE THAT IT'S, IT'S ASKED IS THE ABILITY TO, UH, CONSTRAIN GEOFENCING.
UH, WE WERE LOOKING AT HOW GRANULAR WE COULD MAKE IT, UH, AND WITH THE, THE THOUGHT BEING THAT WE CAN CREATE CORRIDORS THAT MAKE IT MORE SAFER OR IT'S SAFER FOR PEDESTRIANS AND FOR THOSE RIDING, UH, ON THESE VARIOUS MOBILITY DEVICES.
UH, AND THEN THE SECOND IS IT'S PRETTY INDICATIVE OF, UH, ACTIVITY AROUND, UM, LATE NIGHT HOURS.
UH, OBVIOUSLY THE 11 TO TO TWO SEEMS TO BE WHEN MOST OF THE, UH, ACCIDENTS ARE OCCURRING, UH, LOOKING AT WHEN, UH, WHEN THE MOBILITY, UH, OPTIONS ARE PREVAIL.
SO YOU DON'T HAVE FOLKS WHO HAVE HAD A LITTLE TO DRINK RUNNING AROUND ON SCOOTERS ALL OVER DOWNTOWN AND, UH, SOUTH CONGRESS.
UM, TWO THINGS THAT I, I WANT TO EXPLORE FURTHER.
UM, I KNOW ONE OF THE CONCERNS THAT ABOUT WHEN WE LAST HAD THIS DISCUSSION WAS THAT SOME OF OUR WORKFORCE THAT WORK AT THE
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BARS AND RESTAURANTS DOWNTOWN USE THOSE TO EITHER GET HOME OR GET TO THEIR CAR OR PARKED ELSEWHERE.AND WE WANT TO, WE WANT TO ENABLE THEM TO DO THAT WITHOUT, UM, UH, LETTING THOSE WHO'VE HAD A LITTLE TOO MUCH TO DRINK, RUN AROUND ON 'EM.
SO, JUST A COUPLE OF COMMENTS, AND I KNOW THAT YOU'RE NOT IN A POSITION, YOU'RE NOT IN A POSITION TO ANSWER THE QUESTION ABOUT GEO-FENCING.
UM, I WOULD REFER YOU TO, UH, PROBABLY, UM, TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS IS PROBABLY THE BEST DEPARTMENT, UH, REGARDING GEO-FENCING.
UM, CHUMA, IS IT COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER? YES.
I JUST HAVE, UM, TWO QUESTIONS, SEE IF WE CAN, UH, HELP CONTEXTUALIZE IT JUST FOR MYSELF.
SO YOU MAY HAVE SAID THIS, BUT UH, I MAY HAVE MISSED IT.
UM, DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY OF THESE COLLISIONS, OR SORRY, THESE INJURIES ARE CAUSED BY COLLISIONS WITH MOTOR VEHICLES OR ANY OTHER MODE? I, I DON'T BELIEVE THAT WE CAPTURE THAT GRANULAR LEVEL OF DETAIL, UM, BECAUSE IT, IT WOULD DE DEPEND UPON HOW YOU DEFINE CAUSED BY, UH, FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU FELT, IF YOU SWERVED OUT OF YOUR NORMAL OR YOUR PREDICTED TRAVEL PATH TO AVOID WHAT YOU FELT WAS AN IMMINENT COLLISION, UH, WOULD YOU DEFINE THAT AS CAUSED BY? RIGHT.
UM, SO WE, I DON'T BELIEVE WE HAVE THAT GRANULAR LEVEL OF DATA, UH, THAT MAKES SENSE.
AND THEN I WAS ALSO JUST LIKE, THE ONE NICE THING ABOUT SCOOTERS IS WE KNOW EXACTLY HOW MANY ARE BEING RIDDEN IN CITY OF AUSTIN.
SO I WAS DOING SOME, YOU KNOW, BACK NAPKIN MATH RIGHT.
ABOUT A HUNDRED INJURIES THAT INVOLVE E M SS IN A YEAR.
UM, WE USUALLY HAVE ABOUT 150,000 SCOOTER TRIPS A MONTH, ABOUT TWO THIRDS OF WHICH ARE IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA.
SO, UH, A HUNDRED OVER CLOSE TO A MILLION TRIPS.
THAT'S ABOUT, UH, ONE 10000TH OF A PERCENT OF, UH, TRIPS ENDING WITH AN INJURY THAT INVOLVES E M S.
SOUNDS LIKE THAT SOUNDS LOW TO ME, BUT I DON'T REALLY HAVE ANY CONTEXT FOR IT.
DO YOU HAVE ANY CONTEXT AS TO WHETHER, YOU KNOW, THE RATE OF INJURIES PER USE IS HIGHER FOR, UH, SCOOTERS THAN IT IS FOR OTHER MODES LIKE BIKING OR WALKING OR DRIVING? I, I COULD GET YOU THAT IN INFO OR I COULD SEE IF WE COULD GET THAT INFORMATION TO SEE IF OUR, UM, TRANSPORT RATE, UM, BOTH NON LIGHTS AND SIREN AND WITH LIGHTS AND SIREN FOR BICYCLE COLLISIONS, MOTOR VEHICLE COLLISIONS, UM, AND ANY OTHER MODES THAT WE HAVE SHORT OF AIRPLANES, UH, IS APPROACHES THIS LEVEL.
UM, I WILL TELL YOU, UM, IT SEEMS OUT OF 115 PATIENTS, UM, THE FACT THAT 89 OF THEM ARE TRANSPORTED TO A HOSPITAL, UM, SEEMS A LITTLE HIGH TO ME, BUT I, I WOULD NEED TO COME WITH SOME ADDITIONAL DATA IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO, I CAN, UH, SHARE THAT WITH, I CAN PULL THE DATA AND SHARE IT WITH THE COMMISSION EITHER, UM, THROUGH STAFF OR IN A FUTURE MEETING IF YOU'D LIKE TO TALK MORE ABOUT IT, WHICHEVER WORKS BEST FOR Y'ALL.
YEAH, THAT'D CERTAINLY BE INTERESTING.
AND ALSO TO SAY, RIGHT, I'M NEW TO THE COMMISSION FIRST MEETING.
I COME FROM THE U T C, BUT, UH, I KNOW YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THIS FOR A WHILE.
I'LL JUST POINT YOU ALL TO, UH, FIN UH, JAO, WHO'S A PROFESSOR OF AT UT, DID A GREAT STUDY, UH, AUSTIN'S, UH, SCOOTER MOBILITY, HOW MUCH IT'S USED, WHERE IT'S USED, UH, BACK IN FEBRUARY, 2020.
UM, I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND ANYONE TO GO READ THAT TO HELP GET SOME CONTEXT ON HOW SCOOTERS ARE USED IN AUSTIN IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY.
DO WE HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS? DO OFFICER PARKER, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME.
AND UM, AARON, I THINK AS FAR AS ANY KIND OF POSSIBLE FUTURE RESOLUTION THAT WOULD JUST BE FUTURE BUSINESS RIGHT? THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO BRING UP THAT THAT IS CORRECT.
SO BEING THAT THIS IS ON THE AGENDA AS A BRIEFING, NO ACTION OR DISCUSSION CAN OCCUR.
UM, IF YOU WANTED TO PUT IT ON THE AGENDA, A FUTURE AGENDA TO DISCUSS AND POSSIBLE ACTION OF CREATING THAT RESOLUTION, YOU'RE MORE THAN WELCOME TO DO THAT.
[3. Briefing on the Downtown Austin Plan (DAP) to be given by April Geruso of the Planning Department and Matthew Schmidt of the Economic Development Department.]
IS ON THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN PLAN, AND, UM, WE HAVE APRIL CARUSO AND MATTHEW SCHMIDT.MY NAME IS APRIL JSO AND I'M A DIVISION MANAGER WITHIN THE CITY'S
[00:30:01]
PLANNING DEPARTMENT.IT'S MY PLEASURE TO SPEAK WITH YOU TONIGHT ALONGSIDE MY COLLEAGUE FROM THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, MATT SCHMIDT, UM, ABOUT A PROGRESS UPDATE FOR THE DAP OR THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN PLAN.
SO AS A BRIEF OVERVIEW, WE'LL BE GOING OVER SOME KEY IMPLEMENTATION ACTIVITIES THAT YOU SEE UP ON THE SCREEN PERTAINING TO THE DEPTH SINCE, UH, THE 2018.
UM, LAST UPDATE, UH, PROGRESS UPDATE ON, UH, DETAILED, UM, IMPLEMENTATION TRACKING.
UM, AND SOME OF THESE HIGHLIGHTS ARE FROM THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT, THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT, AND THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT.
THESE UPDATES DON'T CONSTITUTE THE TOTAL PROGRESS MADE ON THE DAP IMPLEMENTATION TO DATE, BUT DO REPRESENT HIGHLIGHTS SINCE 2018, THE LAST TIME THE IMPLEMENTATION PROJECT PROGRESS WAS SPECIFICALLY MEASURED.
SO FIRST TO TAKE A STEP BACK AND TO SET SOME CONTEXT FOR THE UPDATE.
THE D WAS INITIALLY PUBLISHED IN DECEMBER OF 2011.
IN THE PLAN, THERE ARE 109 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPLEMENTATION.
AND AS OF THE LAST PROGRESS UPDATE THAT WAS DETAILED IN 20 18, 70 5% OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS WERE PARTIALLY COMPLETE OR UNDERWAY.
19% WERE COMPLETED OR ONGOING, MEANING THEY WOULD CONTINUE IN PERPETUITY, AND THEN 6% WERE NOT YET INITIATED.
ACTIVE TRACKING IN 2018 WAS PAUSE FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS THAT YOU SEE UP ON THE SCREEN IN FRONT OF YOU, BUT DESPITE THE PAUSE IN ACTIVE TRACKING SINCE 2018, THERE HAS BEEN IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS MADE WITHIN THE PLAN, SOME OF WHICH WE'LL GO OVER TONIGHT, UH, INCLUDING WHAT YOU SEE IN FRONT OF YOU HERE.
PROGRESS MADE ON THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM.
THE ORDINANCE CREATED IN THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM WAS INITIALLY PASSED IN 2013, ALLOWING INCREASES IN BASE ENTIT, BASE ENTITLEMENTS, F A R AND OR HEIGHT IN EXCHANGE FOR COMMUNITY BENEFITS, INCLUDING AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND IN LIEU FEES.
SINCE THE LAST DAP PROGRESS REPORT IN 20 18, 31 PROJECTS HAVE BEEN INITIATED USING THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM JUST OVER $6.5 MILLION OF, IN LIE FEES HAVE BEEN PAID AND 81 AFFORDABLE HOUSING UNITS HAVE BEEN CREATED.
ADDITIONALLY, ROUGHLY $23.8 MILLION OF IN LIEU FEES ARE PENDING, AND 111 AFFORDABLE HOUSING UNITS HAVE BEEN PROPOSED.
AND JUST TO NOTE THAT THESE NUMBERS ARE INCLUSIVE OF THE ACTIVITY IN THE RAINY STREET SUBDISTRICT, SO IT'S A LITTLE HARD TO SEE HERE.
BUT THESE ARE ALL THE PROJECTS THAT HAVE BEEN INITIATED USING THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM.
AND AS I MENTIONED, UM, THE PROGRAM ALLOWS FOR INCREASE IN FLORIDA AREA RATIO WHEN OPTED INTO THIS.
GRAPHIC SHOWS THE VARIOUS FAR PER PROJECT WITHIN THE PROGRAM WITH AN AVERAGE OF 19.57 F A R PER PROJECT, UM, WITH A MINIMUM PROJECT HAVING 9.5 F A R AND A MAXIMUM OF 32.
AND THIS ONE'S ALSO A LITTLE BIT TOUGH TO SEE, BUT AS FAR AS BUILDING HEIGHTS ARE CONCERNED WITH THIS PROGRAM, THIS TABLE SHOWS THE AVERAGE HEIGHT WITHIN THE PROJECTS IS ABOUT 507 FEET, WITH THE MAXIMUM HEIGHT IN A PROJECT OF 838 FEET, AND THE MINIMUM HEIGHT OF 142 FEET IN 2021, UH, WHICH IS A SLIGHT CORRECTION OF WHAT YOU SEE IN FRONT OF YOU.
COUNCIL APPROVED THE STAFF RECOMMENDATION, UM, TO UPDATE THE FEE IN LIEU STRUCTURE THROUGH RESEARCH.
STAFF FOUND RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT IN LIE FEES SHOULD BE BE MAINTAINED AT THE RATE ADOPTED IN MAY, 2021 BY CITY COUNCIL.
THE INTERIM IN LIE FEES FOR COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT, HOWEVER, WERE NOT FOUND TO BE SUPPORTED BY CURRENT COMMERCIAL MARKET CONDITIONS, AND WERE THEN REDUCED.
THE MEMO, WE INCLUDED AS BACKUP TO THIS MEETING HAS A LINK TO THE STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS ABOUT THIS TOPIC, IF YOU'D LIKE TO LEARN MORE.
SO THE NEXT PROGRAM I'D LIKE TO GIVE YOU AN UPDATE ON IS ON THE GREAT STREETS PROGRAM ESTABLISHED IN 2000.
THE GREAT STREETS PROGRAM AIMS, AIMS TO REDEFINE THE ROLE OF STREETS IN DOWNTOWN AUSTIN.
SINCE TWENTY EIGHTEEN, A HUNDRED AND THIRTY SIX PROJECTS HAVE PARTICIPATED IN THAT PROGRAM.
THIS EQUATES TO ROUGHLY 51,830 LINEAR FEET OF GREAT STREETS INFRASTRUCTURE DOWNTOWN.
AND CURRENTLY THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT'S URBAN DESIGN TEAM IS WRITING A 25 YEAR UPDATE TO THE GREAT STREETS PLAN WITH AN ANTICIPATED COMPLETION OF SPRING
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2025.THE UPDATED PLANNING PROCESS, UM, WILL INCLUDE A BLOCK BY BLOCK CONDITIONS ASSESSMENT OF IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS MADE TO DATE, WHICH IS IN PROGRESS NOW, A VARIETY OF PUBLIC OUTREACH AND REVAMPING THE PLAN BASED ON PUBLIC OUTREACH AND IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS MADE TO DATE.
THE FINAL PROJECT UPDATE THAT I'LL GIVE YOU IS ON THE PALM DISTRICT PLAN, UH, WHICH HAS DIRECT BOUNDARY OVERLAP AND LINKAGE TO THE DAP IN 2019, CITY COUNCIL DIRECTED STAFF TO CREATE A SMALL AREA PLAN FOR THE EASTERN EDGE OF DOWNTOWN OR THE PALM DISTRICT.
FROM 2020 THROUGH 2022, PRE-PLANNING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, VISIONING SCENARIO PLANNING, AND DRAFT DEVELOPMENT OCCURRED.
ADDITIONALLY, CITY COUNCIL HAD A WORK SESSION ON THE PLAN, AND THEN ON JULY 25TH OF THIS YEAR, THE PLANNING COMMISSION APPROVED THE P PALM DISTRICT PLAN AND COUNCIL HAS SCHEDULED A HEARING ON THE PLAN TOMORROW.
STEVIE GREATHOUSE, MY COUNTERPART, THE OTHER DIVISION MANAGER IN THE LONG RANGE PLANNING DIVISION, WHO OVERSEES THIS PLAN, IS SCHEDULED TO COME GIVE YOU MORE INFORMATION ON THE PALM DISTRICT PLAN ENDED UPCOMING COMMISSION MEETING.
SO I'LL HAND THE MIC OVER TO MATT.
DO, UH, NOW TO, UM, UPDATE ON SOME MORE PROGRESS.
GOOD EVENING CHAIR, UH, VICE CHAIR AND COMMISSIONERS.
I'M A PROGRAM MANAGER THREE WITH THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT.
UH, A COUPLE OF, UH, UPDATES THAT WE HAVE FOR YOU.
UH, ONE IS STARTING OFF WITH THE AUSTIN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, UH, IN RESPONSE TO AFFORDABILITY AND EQUITY NEEDS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS COMMUNITY AND CULTURAL COMMUNITY.
THE CITY INITIATED, UH, OF THE CREATION OF THE AUSTIN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION IN 2020.
AND THROUGH TROUT 2021, UH, THE CITY COUNCIL WENT THROUGH SEVERAL ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS TO, UH, ESTABLISH THE BOARD HIRE STAFF, AND CREATE BUDGET PROCUREMENT FOR THAT CORPORATION FOR ITS CREATION, UH, AND THEN PURSUED AN INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT WITH THAT CORPORATION TO SET INITIAL PROJECTS, UH, SPECIFIC TO THE CULTURAL TRUST FOR CREATIVE SPACES IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SOUTH CENTRAL WATERFRONT PLAN, UH, AS WELL AS EQUITABLE DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT.
UH, ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES HAVE BEEN ADDED ON TO THEIR SCOPE OF WORK O OVER THE PAST YEARS, UM, TO INCLUDE ADDITIONAL REDEVELOPMENT OF EQUITABLE, UH, UH, PROPERTIES ALONG BLOCKS, UH, 16 AND 18 ON THE EAST SIDE OF EAST 11TH STREET.
UH, AND ADDITIONALLY SUPPORTING, UH, SPECIFICALLY THE DOWNTOWN PLAN.
UH, THE A D C PROVIDES, UH, THE CULTURAL REAL ESTATE ASSETS THROUGH ITS CULTURAL TRUST PROGRAM, AND THAT IS FUNDED THROUGH THE 2018 CREATIVE SPACE BOND, UH, TO HELP SUPPORT, UH, THE PRESERVATION OF CULTURAL AND HERITAGE ASSETS THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
THE ECONOMIC AND DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT ALSO, UH, PROVIDES A VARIETY OF BUSINESS INCENTIVES, CULTURAL AND HYSTER HISTORIC GRANTS, UH, AND REVALUE CAPTURE TOOLS THAT IMPACT AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE DOWNTOWN AS ECONOMIC VITALITY.
UH, ONE OF THE PROGRAMS THAT THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT ADMINISTERS IS THE, UH, CHAPTER THREE 80 PROGRAM, UH, THAT IS THE STATE, UH, UH, STATUTE THAT ALLOWS THE CITY TO ENTER INTO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS, UH, WITH BUSINESSES, UH, FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PURPOSES.
UH, THE CHAPTER, CURRENT CHAPTER THREE 80 POLICY WAS PASSED IN 2018, AND ONE OF THOSE PROVISIONS WAS TO REEVALUATE THAT PROGRAM EVERY FIVE YEARS.
UH, IF YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE CHAPTER THREE 80 PROGRAM, YOU MAY NOT BE BECAUSE THE CITY OF AUSTIN HAS NOT BEEN VERY ACTIVELY PURSUING THOSE PROGRAMS. UH, WE DO HAVE A PROJECT COMING TO COUNCIL TOMORROW, UH, RELATED TO CHIPS FUNDING.
HOWEVER, THIS YEAR WE ARE GOING THROUGH OUR FIVE-YEAR REEVALUATION OF THAT PROGRAM, UH, AND WE'LL BE LOOKING AT HOW WE APPROACH OUR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INCENTIVES, INTEGRATING, UH, SEVERAL OTHER, UH, RESPONSES BY, UH, COUNCIL TO INTEGRATE SMALL BUSINESS PRESERVATION, UH, AND CULTURAL, UH, ASSET PRESERVATION AS WELL IN COMMERCIAL AFFORDABILITY.
UH, ADDITIONALLY, THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OFFERS THE CREATIVE SPACE ASSISTANT PROGRAM, UH, WHICH PROVIDES, UH, CREATIVE SPACE, UH, RENTAL ASSISTANCE TO, UH, ARTISTS OR CREATIVE ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE FACING DISPLACEMENT PRESSURES WITH THEIR CURRENT LEASES COMING UP.
UH, OUR MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT DIVISION SUPPORTS OUR LOCAL MUSICIANS AND INDEPENDENT PROMOTERS THROUGH THE LIVE MUSIC EVENT FUND, UH, PROVIDING SMALL GRANTS THAT CAN IMPACT THEIR ABILITY TO PRODUCE A PERFORMANCE OR ADDITIONAL CREATIVE MATERIAL TO SUPPORT THEIR, UH, LIVELIHOOD.
UH, AND THEN ADDITIONALLY, OUR DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT TEAM SUPPORTS OUR, UH, PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS, UH, SPECIFICALLY THE, UH, SUPPORTING THE MANAGEMENT CONTRACT, UH, WITH THE PECAN STREET OWNERS ASSOCIATION, SERVING THE CITY'S, UH, EAST SIXTH STREET PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT UNDER OUR GLOBAL BUSINESS AND EXPANSION
[00:40:01]
DIVISION.UH, WE HAVE A DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT TEAM, UH, AND THROUGH THIS TEAM, WE HAVE BEEN, UH, SUPPORTING THE CREATION OF A POLICY FRAMEWORK SPECIFIC TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL DISTRICTS.
UH, SPECIFICALLY IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA.
WE HAVE SEVERAL OF THOSE ASSETS, UH, SPECIFICALLY THE, UH, RED RIVER CULTURAL DISTRICT, THE FIFTH STREET MEXICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE CORRIDOR, RAINY STREET HISTORIC DISTRICT.
UH, THE GOAL OF THIS POLICY IS TO ORGANIZE AND PROVIDE AND RECOGNIZE THE, UH, THE TOOLS THAT ARE NECESSARY TO SUPPORT THESE SPECIFIC AREAS, UH, AND HOPEFULLY HAVE A POLICY THAT THE CITY COUNCIL WILL APPROVE, UH, THAT WILL CONTINUE TO INVEST IN THE ECONOMIC VITALITY AND THE CULTURAL, UH, RELEVANCE OF THOSE SPECIFIC DISTRICTS.
WE ARE CURRENTLY ALSO WORKING, AND THIS, A LOT OF THIS IS ACTUALLY TIED INTO THE PALM DISTRICT PLAN, SO YOU'LL SEE SOME AMENDMENTS THAT WILL BE RELATED DIRECTLY TO THIS WORK, UH, ENSURING THAT OUR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT ADDRESSES THESE ITEMS. UH, ONE OF THEM IS CREATING SOME LAND USE DEFINITIONS AROUND CREATIVE SPACES AND, UH, REGULATORY INCENTIVES FOR THOSE.
UH, ON SEPTEMBER 14TH, UH, OUR, UH, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, ALONG WITH PLANNING, UH, WAS ABLE TO PASS SOME, UH, EXPANDED USES AROUND CREATIVE SPACE DEFINITIONS, WHICH ALLOWS, UH, THE POTENTIAL OF, UH, OF, UH, BUILDING NEW, UH, PERFORMANCE VENUES OR CREATIVE SPACES OR, UH, UH, UM, ART GALLERIES, THOSE SORT OF ACTIVITIES, UH, BEYOND JUST THE DOWNTOWN AREA INTO THE REST OF, UH, THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UH, AND WITHIN THAT, UH, LAND USE DEFINITION TO CONTINUE TO BUILD UPON THAT WORK, WE ARE SPECIFICALLY WORKING ON CREATING A CULTURAL DISTRICT OVERLAY, WHICH IS INTENDED TO SUPPORT THE PRESERVATION OF THE RED RIVER CULTURAL DISTRICT WHILE BUILDING THAT AS A PILOT TO EXPAND, UH, CITYWIDE TO APPLY TO OUR OTHER CULTURAL DISTRICTS, UH, THAT ARE, UH, IDENTIFIED.
UH, ADDITIONALLY, AS WE MENTIONED, THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT IS SPECIFICALLY SUPPORTING THE DISTRICT MANAGEMENT ENTITIES FOR OUR ECONOMIC, UH, DEVELOPMENT OR, OR ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL DISTRICTS.
UH, THE SOLELY AUSTIN PROGRAM IS THE, UH, PROGRAM RESPONSIBLE FOR HELPING THE RED RIVER CULTURAL DISTRICT ORGANIZE, DEVELOP THEIR MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION, WHICH CURRENTLY LEADS THAT, UH, DISTRICT, UH, AND THROUGH OUR DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM OF SOLELY AUSTIN, WE ARE ALSO UTILIZING THAT SAME MODEL TO SUPPORT THE FIFTH STREET MEXICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE CORRIDOR TO DEVELOP THEIR, UH, DISTRICT MANAGEMENT ENTITY AS WELL.
UH, AND THAT WORK WILL BE, UH, I BELIEVE, INITIATING IN THE NEXT, UH, SIX MONTHS OR SO.
SO, UH, PRETTY MUCH IN F Y 24, ANOTHER TOOL THAT WE HAVE AVAILABLE TO US, AND I WILL GIVE A SHOUT OUT TO OUR HERITAGE TOURISM DIVISION, UH, IS OUR HISTORIC PRESERVATION FUND.
UH, THAT GRANT IS ACTUALLY OPEN RIGHT NOW, BUT IT CLOSES ON FRIDAY.
SO IF THERE'S ANY HERITAGE, UH, PROJECTS THAT Y'ALL ARE INTERESTED IN, GET THOSE APPLICATIONS IN.
UH, BUT IN 2019, THE CITY ESTABLISHED THE HERITAGE TOURISM DIVISION, UH, AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TO ACTIVELY MANAGE THAT HISTORIC PRESERVATION FUND.
UH, THIS FUND, UH, INCLUDES PROACTIVELY RECRUITING, TOURISM MARKETED, UH, HISTORIC DESIGNATED PROJECTS AND APPLYING THOSE FOR, UH, UH, FOR FUNDING, UH, SOME SPECIFIC FUNDED DOWNTOWN PROJECTS.
I BELIEVE THERE WAS A RIBBON CUTTING FOR BRUSH, UH, SQUARE PARK.
UH, SO I KNOW WE SUPPORTED THAT PLAN, BUT I SAW SOME OF THOSE PICTURES ON TWI OR X TWITTER, WHATEVER THAT IS NOW
UH, ADDITIONALLY OTHER PROJECTS, THE AUSTIN HISTORY CENTER RENOVATION, C HILLMAN TAKE BUILDING PHASE ONE, OLD BAKERY AND EMPORIUM, UH, WORK ON THE O HENRY AND SUSANNA DICKINSON MUSEUMS. UH, AND ADDITIONALLY WE HAVE FUNDING SET ASIDE TO SUPPORT WAYFINDING, UH, AND AN INTERPRETIVE SIGNAGE IN THE FIFTH STREET MEXICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE CORRIDOR, AND I SHOULD HAVE ADDED ON THERE AS WELL AS THE RED RIVER CULTURAL DISTRICT.
SO THERE'LL BE, UH, WORK RELATED TO ALL OF THOSE, AND I BELIEVE THAT IS ALL OF MY UPDATES, SO I'LL HAND IT BACK TO APRIL.
SO AS WE ARE, UH, THINKING ABOUT NEXT STEPS, WE AS STAFF HAVE BEEN CONSIDERING HOW TO ADVANCE OUR WORK, UM, AND OUR LIMITED CAPACITY, UH, TO ACCOMPLISH ALL OF THE GREAT THINGS THAT WE WANT TO BE DOING BY CENTERING EQUITY, RESILIENCE, SUSTAINABILITY, AND ACCESS TO OPPORTUNITY.
SO WE RECOMMEND THAT AS A CITY, WE THINK ABOUT IMPLEMENTATION WITH THAT LENS TO ENSURE EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF RESOURCES THROUGHOUT THE CITY, UH, INCLUDING HERE.
AND, UM, OUR TEAM IS ALSO COMMITTED TO RE-INITIATE THE PLAN IMPLEMENTATION TRACKING, UH, PROCESS TO BEST UNDERSTAND AND COMMUNICATE PROGRESS MADE ON IMPLEMENTATION OF SMALL AREA PLANS.
WE HAVE A TEAM OF STAFF WHO ARE, UM, IN PART WORKING ON THIS EFFORT NOW.
AND THEN FINALLY, THERE WERE A NUMBER OF DAP RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE INITIAL PLAN THAT WERE TIED TO THE COMPREHENSIVE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE REWRITE.
UM, SO AS WE'RE THINKING ABOUT PROGRESS TRACKING, WE SHOULD CONSIDER THE UPDATES NEEDED, UH, TO THE DAP, UH, SINCE THE FINAL DETERMINATION OF THE L D C REVISION PROJECT WAS
[00:45:01]
MADE.AND WITH THAT, WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND ARE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU HAVE.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, AS I RECALL, AND YOU MAY HAVE ADDRESSED THIS EARLIER, AS I RECALL, THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN PLAN WAS SCHEDULED TO BE, UM, UPDATED AND, UM, I GUESS PRESENTED AGAIN AT SOME POINT, AND I THINK IT HAD TO DO DURING THE, DURING THE, UM, PANDEMIC.
IS THAT ACTUALLY SOMETHING THAT IS, THAT IS BEING WORKED ON AT THE, AT THE MOMENT OR NOT? YOUR QUESTION IS, IS A A DAP PLAN UPDATE IN PROGRESS NOW? YEAH, I MEAN, AS I UNDERSTOOD IT, AND I COULD BE MISTAKEN, UM, THE DEBT PLAN ONCE IT WAS IMPLEMENTED, ALSO CALLED FOR UPDATES.
NOT, I DON'T MEAN THIS KIND OF PRESENTATION, I MEAN, A LITTLE UPDATE TO THE PLAN.
AND I'M JUST WONDERING IF THOSE ARE BEING WORKED ON AS WE SPEED STAFF IS NOT CURRENTLY WORKING ON AN UPDATE TO THE PLAN.
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF THINGS THAT WOULD IMPACT THE UPDATE TO THE PLAN, INCLUDING THE PASSAGE OF THE PALM DISTRICT PLAN.
AS I MENTIONED, THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, UM, COMPREHENSIVE REWRITE IS MENTIONED IN A LOT OF IMPLEMENTATION ACTIVITIES.
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF OTHER THINGS THAT ARE LIKELY TO INITIATE THE NEED FOR A PLAN UPDATE.
NO STAFF IS WORKING ON THAT CURRENTLY.
UM, BUT WE DO AS A DEPARTMENT HAVE, UM, SOME, UH, PLANNING PRIORITIES THAT WE ARE ESTABLISHING TO IDENTIFY OF THE MYRIAD OF PLANS THAT ARE NEEDED AND EXIST AROUND THE CITY.
UM, WHICH OF THOSE ARE SORT OF RISING TO THE TOP, UM, WITH OUR LIMITED STAFF TIME.
AND SO WE ARE TAKING LOTS OF DIFFERENT THINGS INTO CONSIDERATION, UM, INCLUDING EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF RESOURCES AND, AND IMPLEMENTATION, UM, ACROSS THE CITY FOR, UM, A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT PLACES, INCLUDING THOSE PLACES THAT DON'T HAVE PLANS YET.
AND JUST AS A CURIOSITY, UM, HOW DO WE DEFINE AND ESTABLISH A CULTURAL DISTRICTS? THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION, AND THAT IS WHAT OUR ECONOMIC AND, UH, CULTURAL DISTRICT FRAMEWORK IS SET TO, UH, ACTUALLY SET OUT AND DEFINE DISTRICTS.
UH, THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE'VE HAD A STRUGGLE OF BEING ABLE TO IDENTIFY THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OUR SMALL AREA DISTRICTS AND THE ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL DISTRICTS.
THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SPECIFICALLY SUPPORTS THROUGH OUR PLACE-BASED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS, UH, SO THAT WE ARE INTENDING TO KIND OF DEVELOP THAT.
WE HAVE A WORKING DRAFT THAT WE'D BE HAPPY TO SHARE WITH Y'ALL, UH, TO KIND OF, UH, SPECIFICALLY IT REALLY TALKS ABOUT HOW ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL DISTRICTS ARE REALLY MICRO GEOGRAPHIC AREAS, UH, OF REALLY CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC VITALITY, RETAIL, AND THOSE OTHER CONTRIBUTING FACTORS THAT PROVIDE A REALLY UNIQUE, UH, UH, ENVIRONMENT FOR OUR LOCAL RESIDENTS AS WELL AS OUR VISITORS THAT ARE COMING IN.
UH, JUST TO COMMENT, I'LL SHARE, PLEASE, PLEASE DO CIRCULATE THAT DRAFT.
THANK Y'ALL FOR COMING AND MAKING THIS PRESENTATION.
THIS HAS BEEN ON OUR CALENDAR.
IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE SUPPOSED TO REVIEW ON AN ANNUAL BASIS, AND I'M, UH, I KNOW THAT STAFF HAS BEEN CHALLENGED WITH RESOURCES, AND SO WE DO APPRECIATE YOUR COMING, UH, AND GIVING US AN UPDATE.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I'M CONCERNED ABOUT, AND, UM, I'VE SAID THIS MANY TIMES IN THE CASE OF THE PALM DISTRICT PLAN, IT'S A MICROCOSM OF, UH, ONE OF THE SO SPOTS THAT I HAVE.
WE WERE SUPPOSED TO GET A PRESENTATION OF THE PALM DISTRICT PLAN BEFORE IT WENT TO PLANNING COMMISSION.
IT WENT TO PLANNING COMMISSION, NOW IT'S SEPTEMBER AND IT'S GOING TO COUNCIL, AND WE HAVE YET TO SEE IT.
AND WHAT WE'RE GOING TO GET IS WHAT'S ALREADY BEEN TO COUNCIL WHEN IT SHOULD HAVE COME TO US FOR RECOMMENDATIONS FIRST.
UM, THE, THE OTHER THING THAT I WOULD ASK, UH, NOW THAT WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO SEE THESE UPDATES, AND I KNOW IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME COMING AND I APPRECIATE ALL Y'ALL'S WORK ON THIS, UM, WE DIDN'T GET THE OPPORTUNITY TO TALK ABOUT BUDGET NEEDS TO, UH, CONTINUE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLAN FOR THE 2324 BUDGET, BUT CITY STAFF WILL BEGIN THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING THE 24 25 BUDGET.
AND WITH THIS PRESENTATION TONIGHT, UH, I THINK IT GIVES US THE OPPORTUNITY TO ASK YOU, UH, AS YOU GO THROUGH THIS, WHAT YOU NEED IN TERMS OF BUDGETARY SUPPORT TO CONTINUE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLAN.
AND I REALIZE IT'S, THERE ARE MANY DEPARTMENTS INVOLVED, BUT WE WOULD REALLY LIKE THAT FEEDBACK SO WE CAN HELP YOU TO FULLY IMPLEMENT THE PLAN.
[00:50:02]
THANK YOU.I'LL, I'LL JUST RESPOND BY SAYING, YOU KNOW, OUR STAFF WHO IS RE-ENGAGING IN THIS IMPLEMENTATION TRACKING PROJECT, WE ARE, UM, INTENDING TO START WITH THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN PLAN FIRST TO UNDERSTAND WHERE WE STAND WITH IMPLEMENTATION AND WHAT OUTSTANDING ITEMS, UM, THERE ARE, AND, UH, WHICH ONES WILL JUST SORT OF FOREVER BE IN PERPETUITY AND MAY NEED EITHER CONSTANT CARE AND FEEDING OR, UM, CAN BE CONSIDERED SORT OF FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES COMPLETE.
AND SO AS WE PROGRESS IN THAT PROCESS, WE'LL CERTAINLY, UM, KEEP THIS COMMISSION UP TO DATE WITH HOW THINGS ARE PROGRESSING IN TERMS OF IMPLEMENTATION SO THAT WE CAN, UM, DISCUSS POTENTIAL AVENUES FOR FUTURE BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS.
UH, WHO'S GONNA BE IN CHARGE OF INTEGRATING THE VARIOUS PLANS THAT OVERLAP? LIKE FOR INSTANCE, THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN PLAN, THE, UH, PALM DISTRICT PLAN AND THE RED RIVER CULTURAL PLAN ALL OVERLAPS SUBSTANTIALLY.
HOW ARE YOU GOING TO FIGURE OUT WHO'S IN CHARGE OF IMPLEMENTING THAT OVERLAP? WELL, I'M GLAD TO SAY WE HAVE A GOOD WORKING RELATIONSHIP WITH, UM, E D D, BUT, UM, AS FOR THE PALM DISTRICT PLAN AND THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN PLAN, THOSE ARE BOTH HOUSED WITHIN THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT.
UM, AND, UH, SPECIFICALLY I OVERSEE THE SMALL AREA PLANNING, UM, TEAM.
UM, AND SO I, UH, THINK TO SOME EXTENT THAT INTEGRATION WOULD COME, UH, WITHIN, WITHIN THAT GROUP, UM, BUT WITH MUCH COLLABORATION WITH THE OTHER DEPARTMENTS THAT ARE INTEGRAL, UM, INTO, UM, MAKING SURE THAT AN UPDATED PLAN MAKES SENSE TO US ALL.
UM, AND COLLABORATING WITH PARTNERS ON, UH, THE RED RIVER DISTRICT PLAN AS WELL.
I CAN SPEAK TO THE RED RIVER CULTURAL DISTRICT STRATEGY AND HOW THAT COMES TO BE DEVELOPED IS REALLY FOCUSING WITH THE, UH, BUSINESS COMMUNITY AND, UH, FINDING OUT WHAT NEEDS THERE ARE.
SO THERE AREN'T TYPICALLY ANYTHING THAT OVERLAPS WITH OUR LARGER DISTRICT STRATEGIES.
SO THAT IS WHY RED RIVER CULTURAL DISTRICT HAS BEEN VERY VOCAL ABOUT TRYING TO INTEGRATE A LOT OF THEIR NEEDS IN THE PALM DISTRICT MASTER PLAN SO THAT WE ARE FULLY ALIGNED WITHIN AT LEAST ONE LARGER DOWNTOWN AUSTIN PLAN TO COLLABORATE, UH, CONTINUOUSLY WITH OUR PLANNING DEPARTMENT PARTNERS.
YEAH, I KNOW A LOT OF THE FOLKS IN THE RED RIVER DISTRICT PLAN, THAT'S WHY I ASKED THE QUESTION CHAIR.
COMMISSIONER WEAVER, THANK YOU.
UH, THANK YOU MR. SCHMIDT AND MS. RUSO FOR YOUR PRESENTATION TONIGHT.
THIS IS A LOT OF MATERIAL TO COVER.
I HAVE FOUR COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS, UM, FOR YOU ON THE SUMMARY PAGE.
UM, IT'S NOTED THAT 6% OF RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE DAP HAVE NOT BEEN INITIATED.
DO YOU HAVE KIND OF A, A SUMMARY ON WHICH ONES HAVEN'T BEEN TOUCHED OR WHY THAT MIGHT BE? SO THAT WAS TRUE AS OF 2018.
I'LL JUST SAY, WHICH WAS MANY YEARS AGO.
UM, AND WE DID NOT LOOK INTO THE DATA, UH, TO UNDERSTAND WHICH ONES HAD NOT YET BEEN INITIATED.
UM, STARTING NOW OUR, OUR TEAM WHO IS WORKING ON IMPLEMENTATION TRACKING AND INITIATING THAT PROCESS BACK UP, WE'LL BE TAKING A LOOK AT, AT THAT, BUT I DON'T HAVE THAT DATA FOR YOU, UM, IMMEDIATELY.
SO IT'S KIND OF AN OLD STAT ON MM-HMM.
UH, I JUST CAN'T LET THIS CONVERSATION GO WITHOUT A BRIEF COMMENTARY FROM, UM, WORK THAT WAS DONE BY A I A ADVOCACIES GROUP.
SO IN THE MILLIONS OF SQUARE FEET THAT HAVE BEEN BUILT AS A PART OF THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM, UM, THERE'S BEEN 81 UNITS CREATED THAT ARE AFFORDABLE DOWNTOWN, SIX AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS HAVE BEEN PAID IN FEES COLLECTED.
UM, BUT FOUR OF THOSE 81 UNITS ARE AFFORDABLE UNITS CREATED DOWNTOWN, AND I BELIEVE THE REST ARE ON RAINY STREET.
SO OUT OF ALL OF THE BOOM THAT WE'VE HAD IN THE PAST DECADE OF THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM, WE'VE HAD FOUR UNITS CREATED DOWNTOWN.
UM, SO IF WE LOOK AT THE V M U TWO PROGRAM WHERE WE'RE SEEING UP TO 10% OF AFFORDABLE UNITS ONSITE, AFFORDABLE, UM, THAT'S A MUCH MORE SUCCESSFUL PROGRAM.
UM, ARE THERE ANY, WE'VE HAD SO MANY CONVERSATIONS ABOUT HOW TO IMPROVE THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM.
UM, WHERE, WHERE'S THE CURRENT CONVERSATION WITHIN HOUSING AND PLANNING AND THEN ALSO ED ON, ON HOW TO, HOW TO AMELIORATE THIS
[00:55:01]
SITUATION? WELL, UM, SINCE I WAS FIRST ASKED TO COME SPEAK TO THIS COMMISSION BACK IN APRIL RELATED TO THIS PROJECT, WE WERE THE HOUSING AND PLANNING DEPARTMENT.WE ARE NOW THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT AND THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT, AND I REPRESENT THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT.
UM, THE, UH, THE, UH, DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS STRUCTURE IS HOUSED WITHIN THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT.
AND SO I CAN GO BACK TO MY COLLEAGUES.
I KNOW THEY'VE BEEN THINKING A LOT ABOUT NOT ONLY, UH, THIS DENSITY, UH, BONUS PROGRAM, BUT OTHERS, UM, UH, IN NOT TOO FAR AWAY, INCLUDING IN THE SOUTH CENTRAL WATERFRONT DISTRICT.
UM, AND I KNOW THAT THEY'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT STRATEGIES TO MAKE, UM, THOSE DENSITY BO BONUS PROGRAMS, UM, SUCCESSFUL.
YEAH, I MEAN, I WAS A, I'M ON THE DESIGN COMMISSION AND I WAS A PART OF A GROUP THAT WE CREATED A WORKING GROUP, AND I WAS CHECKING THE PROFORMA THAT CAME OUT OF, UM, ECO NORTHWEST, AND SOME OF THE CELLS DIDN'T CONNECT, LIKE THERE WAS A REALLY FLAWED PROFORMA.
UM, I, I WOULD BE INTERESTED AT AN UPDATE AND THE COMING MONTHS, UM, FOR BOTH DESIGN COMMISSION AND DOWNTOWN COMMISSION.
IF THERE'S A SECOND, UM, I, THIS IS JUST SUCH AN IMPORTANT PROGRAM TO THE, TO DOWNTOWN TO HAVE ALL THE THREADS OF AUSTIN REPRESENTED DOWNTOWN.
AND, UM, I JUST, YOU KNOW, WANNA MAKE SURE WE'RE, WE'RE TRACKING, UM, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
NOT TO THROW A, YOU KNOW, THROW, YOU KNOW, BRICKS INTO THINGS OR ANYTHING, BUT, UM, HAS ANYBODY CONSIDERED NOT ALLOWING FEE IN LIEBE AND JUST REQUIRING THE CREATION? I DON'T HAVE AN ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION, BUT WOULD BE GLAD TO ASK.
UM, YEAH, I'D LIKE TO SEE THAT AT LEAST UNDER CONSIDERATION FOR THE FUTURE.
I MEAN, UH, BECAUSE I LIVE DOWNTOWN, I FORMERLY WAS PRESIDENT OF THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION.
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE'VE BEEN PUSHING ON FOR YEARS AND IT'S NOT HAPPENING, AND IT NEEDS TO GET BETTER.
UH, SO FOR THE PALM DISTRICT PLAN, UM, I'VE STUDIED THIS PLAN.
UM, I'M AN ARCHITECT BY TRAINING, AND THEY'RE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE READING THE PALM DISTRICT PLAN, AND WHEN I THINK ABOUT A DISTRICT, WHEN I'M IN A DISTRICT, IT FEELS LIKE IT HAS A SENSE OF CHARACTER.
AND I UNDERSTAND THAT I AM IN THIS DISTRICT BECAUSE THERE ARE CERTAIN THINGS THAT ARE SIMILAR.
I CAN TELL, LIKE IF I'M JUST LOOKING AT A PICTURE, I CAN TELL THAT I'M IN A DISTRICT BECAUSE THERE ARE THINGS THAT FEEL SIMILAR.
WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE PALM DISTRICT PLAN, THIS IS STRETCHING FROM M L K TO RAINY STREET.
AND WITHIN THAT, WE HAVE SEVERAL DISTRICTS LIKE THE RED RIVER CULTURAL DISTRICT, E SIX, UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE THE MEXICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE CULTURAL DISTRICT, AND THESE THINGS THAT AREN'T REALLY, I'M NOT SURE, I APPRECIATE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT UPDATE THAT WE'RE GONNA DEDICATE FUNDS, BUT THERE HAVEN'T BEEN FUNDS IN THE PAST.
THERE'VE BEEN A LOT OF BUILDINGS THAT ARE UNDER CONSTRUCTION THAT ARE BEING PERMITTED.
IT FEELS LIKE THE TIME HAS PASSED TO KIND OF, UM, CREATE POLICY REQUIREMENTS AROUND DISTRICTS, UM, CHARACTER CREATION.
UM, SO I'M JUST CURIOUS IF THERE'S, YEAH.
UH, HOW ARE WE GOING TO CREATE CULTURE AND DISTRICT FEELING WITHIN THE PALM DISTRICT PLAN? ARE THERE ANY THOUGHTS OR COMMENTS AROUND MM-HMM.
I MEAN, TO YOUR POINT, I THINK WE ARE A LITTLE BIT LATE ON, UH, PURSUING SOME OF THESE MEASURES, BUT WE ARE DOING, UH, WE'RE TRYING TO KIND OF CATCH UP TO THAT NEED AND PRESERVE WHAT WE CAN WITH THE, UH, THE PURSUIT OF THE CULTURAL DISTRICT OVERLAY, UH, AND WITH, UH, COUNCIL DIRECTION TO PURSUE THAT.
IT'S, IT'S TRYING TO ALLEVIATE AS MUCH PRESSURE AS IT IS BEFORE WE COMPLETELY LOSE THAT CULTURE, UH, THAT IS AVAILABLE TO US.
UH, AND THAT THE, OUR COMMUNITY REALLY REQUESTS AND KIND OF INVESTS IN WITHIN OUR, OUR SPECIFIC DISTRICTS WITHIN THE PALM DISTRICT AS A WHOLE.
I DON'T KNOW IF THE PALM DISTRICT PLAN SPECIFICALLY SPOKE TO THE PLACEMAKING EFFORTS AROUND THOSE, EACH SPECIFIC DISTRICTS, UH, BUT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT WORKING THROUGH OUR SOLELY AUSTIN PROGRAM WITH CO RED RIVER CULTURAL DISTRICT, AND WITH THE FIFTH STREET MEXICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE CORRIDOR, AS WELL AS THE PID, UH, PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT.
WE, OF COURSE, UH, ENSURE THAT THAT IS OUR GOAL, IS TO ENHANCE AND PRESERVE THOSE CULTURAL RELEVANCE OF THOSE AREAS, UH, AND TO GIVE THEM THAT DISTINCT FEEL SO THAT THEY ARE STILL INCLUDED IN THE FABRIC OF THE PALM DISTRICT OVERALL, UH, BUT THAT THEY ALSO STILL FEEL VERY DISTINCTLY THEMSELVES.
[01:00:01]
DON'T KNOW IF THAT KIND OF ANSWERS YOUR QUESTION ABOUT HOW WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT.AND, AND I, I THINK IT'S STILL A VERY BIG QUESTION THAT WE'RE TRYING TO DEVELOP, AND THAT'S WHY THIS FRAMEWORK IS STILL NEEDED, UH, BECAUSE CLEARLY THERE'S A DESIRE FOR DISTRICT AND RECOGNITION OF THESE AREAS, UH, AND WE STILL NEED TO AT LEAST HAVE IN POLICY HOW WE'RE SUPPORTING THEM, HOW WE'RE RESOURCING THEM, AND HOW THE CITY WANTS TO BE INVOLVED IN PRESERVING THOSE SPACES.
UM, AND MY LAST QUESTION, I APPRECIATE THE UPDATE ON THE THREE 80 PROGRAM.
SO OUR LAST FIG THREE 80 WAS THE DOMAIN, ESSENTIALLY, RIGHT? AND I GUESS THERE WAS SO MUCH PUBLIC UPROAR THAT WE JUST HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO GET MUCH DONE SINCE THEN.
FORMULA ONE WAS A THREE 80, BUT THERE WASN'T MUCH PUBLIC INPUT ABOUT IT.
UM, WAS THERE NEW FUNDING FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE BUDGET? OR LIKE, WHY ARE WE HAVING INCREASED CONVERSATION AROUND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT? THERE HAS BEEN NO, UH, DEDICATED FUNDING TO THE CHAPTER THREE 80 PROGRAM.
UH, THE CHAPTER THREE 80 POLICY IS A, A PROPERTY TAX REIMBURSEMENT.
UH, SO NO SPECIFIC FUNDING IS EVER JUST DIRECTLY ALLOCATED TO IT.
IT IS A COUNCIL APPROVAL BASED ON RECOMMENDATIONS OF WHAT, UH, CAN BE ACHIEVED BASED ON THAT PROGRAM GUIDELINES.
UH, I BELIEVE THAT OVER, UH, THROUGH OUR EVALUATION OF THE CHAPTER 30 PROGRAM FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS, UH, WE'VE SEEN A LACK OF INTEREST IN IT BECAUSE OF THE, UH, STRINGENT REQUIREMENTS, WHICH I THINK IS, UH, WHAT WE WANTED TO SET FORTH.
WE WANTED TO SET A VERY HIGH BAR IF WE'RE GOING TO INVOLVE OURSELVES, UH, WITH INCENTIVIZING ANY KIND OF COMMUNITIES OR BUSINESSES TO PARTICIPATE IN THAT CHAPTER 30 PROGRAM.
UH, AS YOU'RE SEEING MORE DISCUSSION ABOUT THAT, I BELIEVE THAT THAT IS REALLY FOCUSED ON, UH, FEDERAL, UH, DIRECTION AND, AND FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS OF PROGRAMS THAT ARE COMING OUT.
SPECIFICALLY THE CHAPTER THREE PROJECT THAT IS COMING FOR COUNCIL TOMORROW IS SPECIFICALLY IN RESPONSE TO THE, UH, FOR A COMPANY TO ACCESS FEDERAL FUNDING AROUND CHIPS, THEY MUST HAVE A CITY MATCH.
UH, AND SO THAT IS WHY WE ARE KIND OF PURSUING AND PARTNERING, UH, WITH A LONG TIME, UH, AUSTIN PARTNER OR COMPANY IN NXP, UH, IN PURSUING, UH, THE CHAPTER THREE PROGRAM.
UH, AGAIN, THIS IS OUR FIVE YEAR REEVALUATION PERIOD.
SO IT'S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO REALLY LOOK AT OUR CHAPTER THREE 80 PROGRAMS AND SEE HOW WE CAN SPECIFICALLY, UH, RESPOND TO COUNCIL DIRECTION AND INVESTING IN OUR COMMERCIAL AFFORDABILITY FOR OUR SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED BUSINESSES, AS WELL AS LOOKING AT LOCATION ENHANCEMENT PROGRAMS THAT HAVE BEEN, UH, A MISSING OPPORTUNITY FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TO STEP IN, AGAIN, TO PRESERVE COMMERCIAL AFFORDABILITY THAT, AGAIN, IS TIED DIRECTLY BACK INTO THE PALM DISTRICT PLAN TO FOCUS US, UH, ON THOSE EFFORTS.
UH, AND SO WE'RE ENHANCING, WE'RE MOVING FORWARD TO LOOK AT WHETHER THE CHAPTER THREE PROGRAM IS THE BEST AVENUE, UH, FOR THOSE SPECIFIC PROGRAMS. WE WILL HAVE A ROBUST COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, UH, OPPORTUNITY IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS.
WE'LL PROBABLY START, UH, AT THE BEGINNING OF 2024, WHERE WE'LL DEFINITELY INCLUDE OUR COMMUNITY TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE, UH, ENSURING THAT ALL THE COMMUNITY BENEFITS ARE REQUIRED WITHIN OUR, UH, WITHIN OUR PROGRAMS, AND THAT WE ARE, UH, DOING OUR, THE BEST THAT WE CAN TO PRESERVE OUR BUSINESS COMMUNITY, ENHANCE THEM, UH, AND PROVIDE, UH, GREAT ECO ECONOMIC MOBILITY TO OUR COMMUNITY.
I'M EXCITED TO SEE THIS CONVERSATION ON TWO FRONTS.
FROM A MACROECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE, AUSTIN, I FEEL LIKE IS HAVING TROUBLE COMPETING FOR NEW BUSINESS AND NEW DEVELOPMENTS.
IF WE LOOK AT OTHER CITIES THAT ARE RECEIVING INVESTMENT RIGHT NOW, LIKE THE CITY OF KYLE, THEY'RE HEAVILY, UM, INVESTING IN THREE 80 PROGRAMS. SHERMAN HAS THE LARGEST PRIVATE INVESTMENT IN THE STATE OF TEXAS RIGHT NOW DUE TO HEAVY PARTICIPATION IN CHAPTER THREE 80.
UM, AND I, I'M WORRIED THAT THE CITY OF AUSTIN IS MISSING WHAT COULD BE, UH, MISSING BEING COMPETITIVE, UM, AND GROW SUSTAINING OUR, OUR GROWTH.
UH, BUT FROM A DOWNTOWN PERSPECTIVE, UM, YOU KNOW, WE WE'RE REALLY SUFFERING DOWNTOWN.
UH, WE DON'T HAVE THE OFFICE WORKERS, UH, COMING, GOING OUT TO EAT AFTER WORK.
UM, I'M STILL WORRIED ABOUT, UM, HAVING THRIVING AND VI VI THE FEELING OF VITALITY WHEN WE'RE DOWNTOWN.
UM, SO I'M, I'M HOPEFUL THAT WE CAN FIND WAYS TO SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESS, EVEN WHERE IT LOOKS LIKE THERE MAY NOT HAVE BEEN A REASON TO SUPPORT THEM IN THE PAST, BUT DUE TO MARKET SHIFTS AND MARKET DYNAMICS, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO LISTEN TO BUSINESS RIGHT NOW WHEN THEY'RE, WHEN THEY'RE SEEKING SUPPORT.
AND I WOULD JUST LIKE TO ADD, AS A PART OF ONE OF OUR, UH, CHAPTER THREE 80 REVISIONS, WE ARE WORKING WITH OUR BUSINESS RETENTION AND EXPANSION TEAM, UH, TO CONDUCT AN INDUSTRY ANALYSIS WELL, TO
[01:05:01]
FIND OUT WHERE THOSE GAPS ARE, AND HOPEFULLY TO HAVE SOME OF THOSE MARKET ANALYSIS TRENDS TO ENSURE THAT THE DIRECTION OF OUR INVESTMENT IS IN THE APPROPRIATE AREAS WHERE THEY'RE DESPERATELY NEEDED, OR WHERE WE'RE SEEING THOSE TRENDS SPECIFICALLY NEEDED, AS YOU SAID, IN OUR DOWNTOWN AREA, UH, AS WE JUST SEE SHIFTS IN WORKFORCE NEEDS, UH, AND JUST LABOR PARTICIPATION AS A WHOLE.JUST REAL QUICK, THANKS AGAIN FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
I WOULD LIKE TO REITERATE MY COLLEAGUES' COMMENTS REGARDING WORKFORCE HOUSING AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING DOWNTOWN.
I KNOW THAT THE, THE DENSITY PROGRAM WAS AIMED AT ACHIEVING SOME OF THAT.
I DON'T FEEL LIKE IT'S BEEN A WILD SUCCESS, AND I'D LIKE TO SEE A REGULAR UPDATE, PERHAPS FROM Y'ALL OR WHOEVER HAS THOSE NUMBERS.
YOU KNOW, I KNOW YOU DON'T HAVE 'EM ALL IN FRONT OF YOU NOW, BUT ON LIKE THE TOTAL NUMBER OF WORKFORCE UNITS DOWNTOWN OR THAT COULD BE CONSIDERED WORKFORCE APPROPRIATE OR AFFORDABLE HOUSING UNITS DOWNTOWN.
I DON'T FEEL LIKE RIGHT NOW THAT'S HAPPENING WITH ANY SORT OF URGENCY OR EXPEDIENCY.
UM, AT LEAST NOT IN THE WAY IT'S, IT'S BEING, UM, PUSHED IN THE REST OF THE CITY.
SO I'D LIKE TO SEE THAT DOWNTOWN MORE, ESPECIALLY AS A SMALL BUSINESS OWNER AND SOMEBODY WHO EMPLOYS FOLKS WHO DO LIVE AND WORK AROUND DOWNTOWN.
SO THERE'S JUST NOT A LOT OF OPTIONS.
AND, UH, IF WE'RE GONNA SPEND ALL THIS MONEY AND GIVE THE DEVELOPERS BREAKS, YOU KNOW, LESS NOW IT LOOKS $9 INSTEAD OF 12.
I'D LIKE TO SEE AT LEAST, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING COME OUTTA THAT WE BENEFIT FOR THE FOLKS THAT NEED IT DOWN THERE.
ALSO, I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT WE SHOULD PROBABLY KEEP AN EYE ON JUST IN GENERAL, THE, UM, HOBBY BUILDING.
REDEVELOPMENT IS SUPPOSED TO BE WORKFORCE HOUSING, AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE COME BACK.
I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THAT COME HERE BECAUSE THESE ARE VERY IMPORTANT POTENTIAL WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT HOUSINGS IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA.
AND AS THE DOWNTOWN COMMISSION, WE SHOULD HAVE A SAY IN SOME OF THIS.
SO I'D LIKE TO SEE THAT COME BACK TO US.
COULD WE ADD THAT TO THE AGENDA FOR NEXT TIME? YEAH.
UM, I'M SORRY, UH, COMMISSIONER MARK FIRST.
HI, UH, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, I LEARNED A LOT AND, UM, WELL, I, I AM KIND OF NEW TO, TO UNDERSTAND THIS, UH, DOWNTOWN PLANNING, BUT I THINK IT'S JUST, I, I LIKE TO SHARE SOME OBSERVATION.
I THINK IT'S ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA TO HAVE SOME KIND OF A REVIEW PROCESS, TO REALLY LOOK AT A PLAN, YOU KNOW, IN THE PAST AND HOW WE ARE GOING TO MOVE FORWARD IN THE FUTURE.
BUT AS I AM LISTENING TO ALL THE, TO YOUR PRESENTATION, I GOT SO EXCITED.
YOU KNOW, YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT THE, THE, THE CULTURAL TOURISM, THE CULTURAL DISTRICT.
I, I, BY THE WAY, I AM A LIAISON FROM THE ARTS COMMISSION, SO THERE'S SO MANY, UM, PUBLIC ARTS, YOU KNOW, IN DOWNTOWN AREA, BUT AUSTIN DOWNTOWN IS A VERY BIG PLACE.
YOU KNOW, IT IS VERY HARD TO WALK AROUND DOWNTOWN, ESPECIALLY UNDER THREE DIGITS HEAT.
AND SO WHEN I MOVED DOWN HERE FROM BOSTON IN 1983, I HAD THE PLEASURE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE DILO, THE DILO THAT WAS LIKE GOING AROUND DOWNTOWN, AND I GOT TO REALLY ENJOY THAT.
OLD DOWNTOWN IS CERTAINLY VERY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT WE HAVE NOW AND A LOT LESS THAN WHAT WE HAVE NOW, BUT WE HAVE THE DI TO TAKE ME TO EVEN THOSE FEW PLACES.
I WOULD LIKE TO SUGGEST THAT YOU HAVE TRANSPORTATION AS PART OF YOUR PLANNING.
YOU KNOW, I'M SPEAKING FOR SMALL BUSINESS, THEY NEED TO HAVE TRAFFIC, BUT FOR MYSELF, I AVOID GOING TO DOWNTOWN, YOU KNOW, AT ALL COSTS BECAUSE THE TRAFFIC WAS SO BAD.
SO HOW IS IT GOING TO BENEFIT THOSE SMALL BUSINESS IF I, I'M SURE I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO AVOID THE DOWNTOWN TRAFFIC, YOU KNOW, AND WE HAVE THIS GREAT LIBRARY THERE THAT THE, THE, THE GARAGE IS SO EXPENSIVE TO PARK THERE, AND YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT BRINGING IN AFFORDABLE HOUSING, YOU KNOW, SO WHERE ARE THESE PEOPLE GOING TO GET THEIR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION TO MOVE AROUND DOWNTOWN? YOU KNOW, AND, AND YOU KNOW, WE, WE HAVE ALL THESE, UH, PALM DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT AND ALL THIS GREAT GREAT PLAN, BUT WITHOUT MOVING PEOPLE TO DOWNTOWN AND, YOU KNOW, AND TO AVOID THE PAIN OF DRIVING THROUGH DOWNTOWN, THOSE TRAFFIC IS NOT GOING TO BENEFIT ALL THOSE SMALL BUSINESS DONE IN DOWNTOWN.
SO I, I WOULD LIKE TO IMPRESS UPON YOU TO EITHER BRING BACK THE DI
[01:10:01]
OR TO HAVE IT IN THE PLAN OF THREE 80, THE CHAPTER THREE 80, TO PUT THAT PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP TOGETHER TO HAVE BETTER, UH, YOU KNOW, TRANSPORTATION AROUND DOWNTOWN AREA.I'D LIKE TO SECOND THAT FOR SURE.
UM, I'VE BEEN ARGUING FOR A DOWNTOWN CIRCULATOR AGAIN FOR THE PAST THREE, FOUR YEARS.
SO, YOU KNOW, ANYTHING THAT YOU COULD DO TO MOVE THAT ALONG,
COMMISSIONER, CAN I ASK YOU A QUESTION? IS IT YES, SIR.
MAJOR TAYLOR OR TAYLOR? MAJOR MAJOR'S? MY LAST NAME MAJOR'S LAST.
SO CAN WE CHANGE THAT ON THE AGENDA? ALRIGHT, THANK YOU.
UM, I, I WANT TO PIGGYBACK ON MY, MY, MY COLLEAGUES' DESIRE TO HAVE A SPIRITED CONVERSATION ABOUT, UH, THE COST OF HOUSING DOWNTOWN.
I, I'M, I'M NOT SO SURE ELIMINATING THE, UH, THE IN LIEU FEE IS THE BEST PATH, BUT I THINK WE DO NEED TO HAVE A CONVERSATION ABOUT HOW BEST TO APPROACH THAT.
UM, I THINK THAT, THAT THAT'S VERY VALID, UH, GIVEN COST OF LIVING IN AUSTIN AND, AND ELSEWHERE.
SO I WILL CERTAINLY WELCOME THAT CONVERSATION.
UH, BUT I, I DO WANT YOU GUYS TO HELP ME JUST KIND OF GIVE ME UP THE, UP THE SPEED BECAUSE I AM NOT VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT THE, THE DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM.
AND YOUR PRESENTATION MENTIONED APPROXIMATELY $6.5 MILLION IN FEES THAT HAVE BEEN PAID AND ANOTHER 22 MILLION ROUGHLY.
UH, I, I JUST KIND OF DON'T WANNA KNOW, LIKE THE CITY RECEIVES THOSE FEES.
WHAT IS THAT MONEY SPENT ON? THAT'S INFORMATION I DON'T HAVE IN FRONT OF ME, BUT CERTAINLY WE CAN GET THAT INFORMATION AND GET BACK TO YOU.
BUT IT'S RELATED TO, UM, COMMUNITY BENEFITS OF WHICH, UM, CAN BE DEFINED IN A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT WAYS, INCLUDING AFFORDABLE HOUSING, UM, AND OTHER COMMUNITY BENEFIT.
SO I, I WOULD WELCOME ANY INFORMATION YOU GUYS CAN PROVIDE ABOUT HOW THOSE, THE MONEY IS SPENT IN ADDITION TO THE, THE DRAFT REPORT FOR THE, THE CULTURAL DISTRICTS.
ARE THERE QUESTIONS ONLINE OR IN PERSON? NOTHING MORE.
WE THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
UM, AND, UM, I GUESS WE WILL MOVE ON NOW TO THE NEXT PART OF OUR AGENDA AND CAN WE MAKE A NOTE FOR OUR UPCOMING AGENDA? UM, COMMISSIONER WEAVER BROUGHT UP SUCH A GREAT POINT ABOUT CHECKING IN ON THE, ON THE DENSITY HOUSING PROGRAM.
I WOULD LOVE A CHECK-IN AND, AND MAYBE TO DIVE IN DEEPER ABOUT HOW CAN WE BE SUPPORTIVE, WHAT'S NOT WORKING, WHAT CAN THIS COMMISSION DO? I WAS JUST ABOUT TO SAY, YEAH, I WOULD, WHAT WE NEED TO DO IS TO HAVE THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE OF THAT DEBT SEA BONUS PROGRAM COME IN AND GIVE US ALL IN DEPTH BRIEFING THAT WOULD HELP YOU.
YOU KNOW, AND I MEAN, I, I KNOW A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT IT, BUT I'M NOT ALWAYS A HUNDRED PERCENT SURE WHERE THE MONEY GOES EITHER, SO THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
SO I WOULD, I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE THAT.
SO JUST REMIND ME WHEN WE GET TO FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. OKAY.
AND WE'LL WILL DO, GET THAT ON THE AGENDA.
UH, SO NOW WE GO TO OUR, UM, PRESENTATIONS FROM VARIOUS COMMISSIONS AND, UH, NUMBER ONE
[4. Discussion of recent activities and actions taken by the Arts Commission]
IS THE ARTS COMMISSION COMMISSIONER MOCK.I AM JUST SO HAPPY TO REPORT TO YOU THAT OUR, UM, THE PROCESS OF THE ELEVATE, UH, PROGRAM IS FINISHED.
UH, WE HAVE RECEIVED 448 ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS, AND WE WERE ABLE TO FUND 200 OF THEM.
SO, UH, THIS ROUND OF FUNDING WILL PROVIDE MORE DIVERSITY, UM, IN OUR CREATIVE, UM, COMMUNITY.
SO, UM, SO I'M JUST VERY HAPPY TO REPORT THAT AND I'M SO VERY HAPPY TO BE ABLE TO MENTION THE DLO THIS EVENING.
IT WOULDN'T BE A, WOULDN'T BE A MEETING WITHOUT HEARING ABOUT THE DELLO, SO THANK YOU FOR BRINGING IT UP AGAIN.
SO, UH, HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION.
DO WE HAVE SOMEONE FROM THE HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION? I DON'T BELIEVE SO.
UM, MUSIC COMMISSION? NO, IT'S VACANT, I THINK DOESN'T APPEAR.
SO A PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD, THAT WOULD BE A FIRST.
UM, SO PROBABLY NOT, UH, PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION.
[9. Discussion of recent activities and actions taken by the Urban Design Commission]
URBAN TRANSPORTATION.UH, I AM THE LIAISON FROM THE DESIGN COMMISSION, MARISSA MCKINNEY.
SO WE MET ON AUGUST 28TH, UM, AND THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN ALLIANCE PRESENTED THEIR STRATEGIC PLAN FROM 2023 TO 2028, UH, WHICH WAS VERY ENLIGHTENING.
UM, OUR SECOND AGENDA ITEM WAS A SPIRITED ONE ON THE UPDATE TO THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES.
AND, UM, THERE ARE SOME COMMENTS
[01:15:01]
ON, YOU KNOW, THE, THE PLANS TO KIND OF GET PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND WRAP UP THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES, UM, IS THE DESIRE FOR THE COMMISSION, WHO'S BEEN, AND THE WORKING GROUPS WHO HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THAT FOR A LONG TIME.UM, THERE WAS DISCUSSION ON WHAT THE PUBLIC PROCESS HAS BEEN TO DATE, UM, AND I THINK WE HOPEFULLY HAVE, WE'LL HAVE SOME RESOLUTIONS TO ALL OF THOSE ITEMS IN OUR UPCOMING MEETING.
WHEN OUR DROP DEAD DATE FOR THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINE UPDATES WILL BE.
UM, WE HAD A PROJECT THAT CAME THROUGH AND PRESENTED, UM, BLOCK 23, WHICH WAS RECOMMENDED BY THE COMMISSION FOR APPROVAL.
AND THEN, UM, DISCUSSION ON PARTICIPATION IN FUTURE WORKING GROUPS, AS WELL AS MY APPOINTMENT TO THE DOWNTOWN COMMISSION.
[10. Discussion of recent activities and actions taken by the Urban Transportation Commission]
TRANSPORTATION.ALSO, UM, MY FIRST MEETING WITH YOU GUYS.
UH, HOPE TO BE IN PERSON MORE OFTEN THAN HOW TO DO IT VIRTUALLY TODAY.
UM, SO, UH, I DON'T THINK ANYONE FROM THE U T C HAS BEEN ON HERE FOR LIKE THREE OR FOUR MONTHS.
SO, UH, JUST A, A KIND OF BRIEF OVERVIEW OF WHAT WE'VE DONE THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST TO THE DOWNTOWN COMMISSION.
UH, TRUE TWO BRIEFINGS IN PARTICULAR THAT WOULD PROBABLY BE OF INTEREST.
CONGRESS AVENUE BRIEFING, WHICH I BELIEVE THEY ALREADY CAME TO YOU GUYS.
UH, WE HAD SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT, UH, YOU KNOW, HOW THE BIKE LANES ARE STRUCTURED, SEPARATION THERE AND WHATNOT.
UH, THE OTHER ONE, AND I DON'T KNOW IF YOU GUYS RECEIVED THIS ONE, UH, WAS ABOUT THE SPECIAL EVENTS TEAM.
UH, WE IN PARTICULAR ASKED THEM TO COME BACK AROUND WHEN, UH, THEY ARE LOOKING AT, UH, SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST.
UH, WE WANT TO TALK WITH THEM ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHETHER IT MAKES SENSE TO OPEN SOME STREETS UP, UH, BY BLOCKING OFF, UH, CAR TRAFFIC AND ALLOWING PEDESTRIANS, UH, TO COME THROUGH AND HELP EASE THE TRAFFIC, UH, FOR PEDESTRIANS, BICYCLISTS, AND SCOOTERS.
THAT TENDS TO HAPPEN DURING THEN.
UH, AND THEN THE ONLY ACTION ITEM WE TOOK, UH, THAT'S PROBABLY OF RELEVANCE TO THE DOWNTOWN COMMISSION, UH, WAS OUR ACTION ON BIKE LANE BLOCKAGES.
UH, WE RECOMMENDED A SERIES OF COURSE, OF ACTIONS THAT THE, UH, CITY COUNCIL CAN TAKE, UH, IN ORDER TO, UH, BETTER ENFORCE, UH, BIKE LANE PARKING ENFORCEMENT.
UM, OBVIOUSLY ANYONE WHO HAS TRIED TO BIKE DOWN IN CONGRESS DOWNTOWN KNOWS THAT IT'S IMPOSSIBLE BECAUSE IT'S ALMOST ALWAYS BLOCKED.
SO I'M HAPPY TO SEND THAT RECOMMENDATION AROUND AND MAYBE SOMETHING THAT THE DOWNTOWN COMMISSION IS INTERESTED.
UM, IS THERE ANY PLAN TO BRING BACK THE DILLO THAT NOT YET, BUT I, YOU KNOW, WE CAN, WE CAN WORK ON THAT.
I'M SURE THERE WOULD BE SUPPORT
YEAH, I THINK, I THINK THERE WOULD BE GREAT INTEREST IN THAT.
SO PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE MAKE IT YOUR SPIRE.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ]
UM, ONE IS TO BE, HAVE SOMEBODY COME IN TO GIVE US UPDATES AND CHECK IN ON THE DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM.UM, YEAH, I BELIEVE TAYLOR ALSO WANTED TO PERHAPS ENTERTAIN A RESOLUTION.
UH, SO IT NOT NECESSARILY LOOKING TO ENTERTAIN A RESOLUTION.
I WAS JUST CURIOUS WITH, UM, MR. MR. PORTER.
PORTER PARKER, UH, PARKER, MR. PARKER, SORRY, MR. PARKER.
UM, JUST CURIOUS IF YOU FELT LIKE, UM, THEY WERE GETTING THE RESOURCES.
UH, I WAS JUST SAYING, IF NOT, YOU KNOW, I'M SURE WE CAN GET ENOUGH PEOPLE TO SAY, HEY, CITY COUNCIL, LOOK AT THIS A LITTLE, AN EXTRA SECOND WITH THE RESOLUTION.
UH, BUT I DO HAVE SOMETHING ELSE I WANTED TO MENTION.
UM, I WAS GONNA BRING THIS UP LAST MONTH, BUT I THINK WE WERE COUNSELED TWICE, BUT, UH, SELF-DRIVING CARS ARE, ARE BECOMING A THING HERE IN AUSTIN.
WE NOW HAVE CREWS, UH, WAYMO AND, AND VOLKSWAGEN ANNOUNCED, UH, THAT THEY'RE GONNA BE OPERATING HERE.
BUT MORE RECENTLY, I THINK JUST THIS PAST WEEKEND, THERE'S AN ISSUE WITH CRUISE.
I DUNNO IF YOU GUYS SAW THE VIDEOS.
THERE'S BEEN ANOTHER, WELL, I'VE HAD SEVERAL, BUT THE, THE ONE IN WEST CAMPUS, I THINK LIKE CAUGHT NATIONAL MEDIA ATTENTION.
SO ESSENTIALLY THERE WERE 10 OR 11 CRUISE CARS, SELF-DRIVING THAT JUST CAUSED A HUGE TRAFFIC VAN BECAUSE THEY, I DON'T KNOW IF THEY MALFUNCTIONED, IF THERE'S AN ISSUE WITH THE CODE, BUT THEY JUST, AND THEY WERE ALL ANGLED FUNNY IN THE STREET, AND SOME WERE PARKED AND IT JUST SHUT DOWN IN WEST CAMPUS.
CARS COULDN'T GET AROUND THEM.
UM, AND I, I, I, I THINK WE'RE, WE MIGHT BE INTERESTED BECAUSE WHEN, WHEN THESE COMPANIES ALWAYS ANNOUNCE, THEY ALWAYS WANNA START DOWNTOWN MM-HMM.
AND I THINK THERE ARE CONCERNS ABOUT SAFETY, UH, PEDESTRIANS, BIKERS, OTHER VEHICLES, UH, SCOOTERS.
UH, SO I, I JUST WANTED TO SEE IF THERE MIGHT BE AN INTEREST IN, IN LOOKING INTO IT.
AND I, I THINK, UH, ONE, ONE POTENTIAL PATH MIGHT BE JUST, JUST REALLY JUST, JUST KIND OF SEE WHAT OTHER CITIES DO AND IF WE HAD A RESOLUTION RECOMMENDING TO CITY COUNCIL, LIKE, HEY, WE THINK THESE ARE APPROPRIATE REGULATIONS, REQUIREMENTS, WHATEVER YOU WANNA CALL THEM, TO PROTECT THE GENERAL PUBLIC.
BUT ALSO KEEP AUSTIN A PART OF INNOVATION.
YOU KNOW, I THINK IF I COULD TOUCH ON THAT JUST FROM THE U T C PERSPECTIVE.
UM, SO STATE LAW IS VERY SPECIFIC IN NOT ALLOWING CITIES
[01:20:01]
TO PASS REALLY ANYTHING IN TERMS OF, UH, REGULATING, UM, AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES.UM, SO THE AMOUNT THAT WE CAN GET ANYTHING FROM THEM WOULD BE PURELY VOLUNTARY FROM THOSE COMPANIES.
NOW, I WILL SAY, UM, FROM EXPERIENCE, THOSE COMPANIES ARE VERY RESPONSIVE.
SO, UM, THERE'S PROBABLY NO ONE IN THE CITY THAT, AT LEAST IN OUR EXPERIENCE HAS, UH, REALLY ANY PURVIEW OVER AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES.
BUT THOSE COMPANIES ARE VERY RESPONSIVE AND WOULD BE WILLING TO TALK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, SAFETY MEASURES, THEIR TAKE AND ABSOLUTELY TAKE, UH, SUGGESTIONS ON HOW THEY CAN IMPROVE.
AND I'M HAPPY TO, UH, PUT, PUT THE COMMISSION IN CONTACT WITH SOME OF THOSE FOLKS.
UM, I'D LIKE TO SECOND, IT SOUNDED LIKE WE HAVE A MOTION FOR A BRIEFING FROM THE CRUISE.
WE, THIS IS NOT POSTED FOR ACTION.
NO, BUT WE, IT'S JUST FOR, WE CAN REQUEST, REQUEST IT FOR A FUTURE AGENDA ITEM IS WHAT WE, UM, REQUEST.
I AM, IF IT'S A, I'D LIKE TO REQUEST A BRIEFING ABOUT THE CRUISES.
UM, I HAVE A PROPERTY DOWNTOWN AND I'VE SEEN, I'VE ALMOST BEEN HIT BY A NUMBER OF CRUISE VEHICLES THAT ARE DRIVING THROUGH THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
I SAW AN AC I SAW AN ALMOST ACCIDENT.
I MEAN, THESE, THESE CARS ARE DRIVING AT REALLY UNSAFE SPEEDS THROUGH NEIGHBORHOODS, ESPECIALLY IN THAT KIND OF OONA NEIGHBORHOOD OF DOWNTOWN.
UM, SO THEY'RE, THEY'RE VERY ACTIVE AND THERE'S NO PHONE NUMBER TO CALL LIKE YOU CAN MM-HMM.
IF, IF I WERE, IF THAT WERE A BUS AND IT WOULD SAY REPORT THIS DRIVER.
DO THEY EVEN HAVE DRIVER'S LICENSE SO THEY CAN IDENTIFY THAT CAR AS UNSAFE? I, I DO THINK THIS IS A PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUE AND I, I WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO GET INVOLVED IN THAT.
UM, WHO ARE YOU ASKING A BRIEFING FROM COMMISSIONER? WELL, IT SOUNDS LIKE FROM CREW COMMISSIONER, WE DON'T, WE WOULD HAVE TO FIGURE OUT A WAY TO EVEN GET IN CONTACT WITH PEOPLE FROM CREW.
WELL, COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER I THINK VOLUNTEERED TO HELP MAKE, I HAVE THEIR CONTACT INFORMATION.
I CAN CONNECT, UM, UH, THE LIAISON WITH THEM.
UM, UH, UH, THEY ALSO, THEY CAME TO THE BICYCLE ADVISORY COUNCIL, WHICH I'M ALSO ON A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO.
UM, SO I THINK THEY WOULD BE WILLING TO COME.
I THINK IT'S ALSO PROBABLY LIKELY THAT THE U T C WILL HAVE THEM AS WELL.
I WAS GONNA SAY, SO PERHAPS IT MAY BE BEST IF, IF YOU CAN SHOOT THAT INFORMATION OVER FOR ME, BUT IT WOULD NEED TO BE A REPRESENTATIVE PERHAPS FROM U T C THAT WE'D BE ABLE TO BRING SOMEONE FROM THAT COMPANY AND THEY WOULD DUAL AND PROVIDING THAT BRIEFING.
BECAUSE US AS STEVIE STAFF, I DON'T BELIEVE WE'D BE ABLE TO REACH OUT TO SOMEONE SPECIFICALLY FROM CRUZ.
CRUZ HAS, UH, LOBBYISTS HERE IN TOWN WHO WOULD BE DELIGHTED TO COME SPEAK.
ANY OTHER, UH, FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS, UM, SORT OF CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION ABOUT CRUZ AND AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES.
UH, THE GENTLEMAN FROM U T C, I APOLOGIZE, I I DON'T RECALL YOUR NAME.
UH, YOU SAID SOMETHING I THOUGHT WAS PRETTY CRITICAL IN THAT, UH, THE LEGISLATURE PREVENTS MM-HMM.
SO IN ADDITION TO MAYBE HAVING, UH, A JOINT APPEARANCE FROM U T C AND AND CREWS, IT MIGHT BE ALSO HELPFUL IF WE CAN HAVE SOMEONE, PERHAPS YOURSELF WHO CAN JUST KIND OF EXPLAIN THE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK SO WE KIND OF KNOW WHAT WE'RE DEALING WITH AND, AND CAN MAYBE JUST, JUST BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT ROLE, IF ANY, WE, WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO PLAY, UH, IN TERMS OF, UH, SOLICITING THE CITY OF AUSTIN FOR, FOR, FOR CHANGES.
UM, WHAT I CAN DO IS I'LL GO AHEAD AND PULL THE STATUTE FOR YOU ALL, UH, THE STATE STATUTE, AND I'LL, UM, SEND THAT SO THAT IT CAN BE SENT OUT.
IT'S, IT'S NOT A VERY LONG STATUTE AT ALL.
UM, IT WAS WRITTEN ABOUT SIX YEARS AGO, BUT THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE STATE IS THAT, UH, AS LONG AS THE COMPANY ACCEPTS LIABILITY, ESSENTIALLY UP TO THAT COMPANY, UH, TO MAKE THE DECISIONS ABOUT WHERE THEY OPERATE AND HOW THEY OPERATE, UH, AND IT HAS A, A FAIRLY LARGE PREEMPTION.
SO, YOU KNOW, THERE MAY BE AREAS AROUND THE CORNER, YOU KNOW, IN THE CRACKS THAT THE CITY OF AUSTIN SHOULD ATTEMPT TO DO SOMETHING IN.
BUT, UH, I WOULD THINK IT WOULD PROBABLY COME UNDER CHALLENGE PRETTY IMMEDIATELY.
THANK GREAT, I APPRECIATE THAT.
UM, ANY OTHER FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS? I HAVE ONE.
THIS IS GOING OFF OF, UM, COMMISSIONER LEVINSON, AN UPDATE ON THE HOBBY BUILDING WORKFORCE HOUSING.
I WANTED AN UPDATE ON BOTH THE HOBBY BUILDING AND ON HEALTH STAFF.
SO CAN YOU ADD THAT TO THE THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
WELL, UM, THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE.
[01:25:01]
WE NEED A MOTION NOW TO ADJOURN.UH, SO IF THERE, JUST ANNOUNCE THE TIME THAT YOU ARE ADJOURNING FOR THE RECORD.
SO AT SIX FIFTY SIX, UH, CALL THE MEETING ADJOURNED.
AND FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT SIGNED IN, PLEASE DO SO BEFORE YOU LEAVE SIR, DO YOU HAVE THE, UH, PARKING VALIDATION? THEY SHOULD BE OVER THERE.