[00:00:04]
THIS MEETING TO ORDER.[CALL TO ORDER]
IT IS 5:05.I AM VICE CHAIR SPENCER SCHUMACHER FILLING IN FOR OUR CHAIR, SUSAN SUMMERS, WHO IS HERE, BUT BATTLING, UH, ILLNESS AND WE APPRECIATE HER BEING HERE.
UM, WE ARE AT THE PERMANENTE DEVELOP- DEVELOPMENT CENTER, ROOM 1405 AT 6310 WILLAMINA DELCO DRIVE HERE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS.
UM, I'M GOING TO AHEAD AND CALL ROLL.
UH, I AM VICE CHAIR SPENCER SCHUMACHER, OUR PARLIAMENTARIAN, DANIEL CAVALMAN.
UH, COMMISSIONER BUFFO? HERE AND SOON TO BE THERE.
AND, UH, COMMISSIONER CHEN? HERE.
UH, COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ IS ABSENT.
COMMISSIONER JACOBSON, NOT HERE.
I ASSUME, HEATHER, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO POP OFF AT SOME POINT, UH, SO THAT YOU CAN RUN IN HERE AND BE WITH US IN PERSON.
SO, UH, YOU CAN ALSO TURN YOUR CAMERA OFF AT LEAST FOR THIS POINT SO YOU CAN, UH, ARRIVE HERE SAFELY.
THANK YOU FOR EVERYONE FOR MAKING THIS QUORUM HAPPEN.
I KNOW WE, I THINK WE HAVE A QUORUM OF THE COMMISSION THAT IS CURRENTLY SICK, SO, UH, I APPRECIATE EVERYONE MAKING THE EFFORT TO BE HERE OR, UH, BE HERE ONLINE.
UH, WITH THAT, WE CAN START WITH, UH, GENERAL COMMUNICATION.
IS THERE ANY GENERAL COMMUNICATION? I DID NOT HAVE ANYONE SIGN UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
ONE FINAL CALL IN CASE ANYONE WANTS PUBLIC COMMUNICATION.
WITH THAT, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND MOVE TO, UH,
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES ]
THE APPROVAL OF OUR MINUTES FROM OCTOBER 6TH.THAT SHOULD BE IN EVERYONE'S PACKET.
I WILL GIVE EVERYONE A SECOND TO REVIEW.
I WILL, UH, ENTERTAIN A MOTION.
UH, WE HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM COMMISSIONER CHEN.
I WILL SECOND, UH, AND I WILL CALL FOR A VOTE UNLESS THERE'S ANY DISCUSSION.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE MEETING MINUTES, PLEASE SAY AYE.
AND COMMISSIONER BROWN, THAT WAS YOU VERBALLY SAYING AYE? YES, CORRECT.
THE MO - MEETING MINUTES PASS.
[2. Update on the East Riverside Corridor Regulating Plan Initiative. Presentation by Ana Villareal, Principal Planner, Austin Planning. ]
ON TO OUR, UH, DISCUSSION ITEMS. AND, UH, WE ARE GONNA TURN IT OVER TO ANNA VILLARREAL, WHO'S GONNA UPDATE US ON THE EAST RIVERSIDE CORRIDOR REGULATING PLAN INITIATIVE.CAN Y'ALL HEAR ME? HOW ABOUT NOW? OKAY.
SO THANK YOU ALL FOR, UH, CARVING SOME TIME OUT OF YOUR AGENDA TO ALLOW US TO SPEAK ON BEHALF OF THE EAST RIVERSIDE CORRIDOR PLANNING INITIATIVE.
UM, WE'VE MADE GREAT PROGRESS ON THIS PLAN AND WE'RE HERE TO SHARE SOME UPDATES, UM, JUST TO ENSURE THAT WE STAY ON TIME.
WE'LL MOVE QUICKLY THROUGH THE SLIDES, BUT I'LL MAKE SURE TO LEAVE SOME TIME AT THE END SO WE CAN ENTERTAIN SOME QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION.
UM, SO MY NAME IS ANA VILLARREAL, AND I'M PRINCIPAL PLANNER WITH AUSTIN PLANNING'S EQUITABLE TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT DIVISION.
AND ALSO HERE TONIGHT, UM, IN THE CROWD, WE HAVE, UH, TIM MCCARTHY AND LILA BAHARI, WHICH ARE PART OF THE PROJECT TEAM.
SO, UM, THIS PLANNING INITIATIVE IS CLOSELY TIED TO OUR LARGER CITYWIDE ETOD EFFORTS.
THIS EFFORT KICKED OFF IN 2024 WHEN AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL PASSED A RESOLUTION DIRECTING STAFF TO ALIGN THE EAST RIVERSIDE CORRIDOR MASTER PLAN AND REGULATING PLAN WITH THE CITY'S EQUITABLE TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT GOALS TO ENSURE THAT IT SUPPORTS THE NEW TRANSIT LINE THAT IS COMING, THAT IT ADVANCES EQUITY AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, THAT WE UPDATE THE EAST RIVERSIDE CORRIDOR DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM THAT IS CURRENTLY UNDERPERFORMING, AND THAT WE PROVIDE AN UPDATE TO THE FUTURE LAND USE MAP THAT WILL GUIDE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE AREA.
UM, SO PLANNING TOOK ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EAST RIVERSIDE CORRIDOR PLANNING INITIATIVE, UH, WHICH HAS, UH, TWO PARTS TO IT.
IT HAS AN UPDATE TO THE CURRENT MASTER PLAN, WHICH WAS ADOPTED IN 2010.
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UM, AND THIS WILL BE AN ATTACHMENT TO THE IMAGINE AUSTIN COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, WHICH IS ALSO GOING THROUGH A, AN UPDATE AS WELL.AND THE SECOND PART TO IT IS THE CURRENT REGULATING PLAN UPDATE.
THE EXISTING PLAN WAS ADOPTED IN 2013 AND IT REGULATES LAND USE IN THE AREA AND WILL REPLACE THE EXISTING EAST RIVERSIDE REGULATING PLAN AS AN ATTACHMENT TO THE CITY'S LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE.
UM, AS FAR AS THE STUDY AREA, IT IS A 3.4 MILE CORRIDOR THAT EXTENDS FROM I-35 ON THE WESTERNMOST EDGE ALL THE WAY TO STATE HIGHWAY 71 AS THE EASTERNMOST EDGE.
UH, WHAT YOU SEE ON THE SCREEN IS A MAP WITH A BLACK OUTLINE THAT INDICATES THE BOUNDARY OF THE EXISTING EAST RIVERSIDE CORRIDOR REGULATING PLAN.
UM, AND THE AREAS THAT YOU SEE SHADED IN GREEN REPRESENT OUR PROPOSED BOUNDARY EXTENSION, AT LEAST FOR THE STUDY AREA.
UM, BUT, UM, THIS EXPANSION, UM, IS BEYOND THE CURRENT REGULATING PLAN TO ENSURE THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT HALF A MILE RADIUS AROUND THE PROJECT CONNECT STATIONS.
UM, AND AGAIN, THE BOUNDARIES ARE CURRENTLY BEING REFINED WITH THE HELP OF THE COMMUNITY DURING THE PLANNING PROCESS.
UM, SO THERE MIGHT BE SLIGHT CHANGES TO THAT AT THE END.
SO, UM, AS YOU MAY KNOW, THE EAST RIVERSIDE CORRIDOR IS ONE OF AUSTIN'S MOST DIVERSE AND CULTURALLY RICH COMMUNITIES.
IT HAS A LOT OF HOMES AND BUSINESSES, UM, CURRENTLY, AND A HIGH DEMAND FOR PUBLIC TRANSIT, WHICH MADE THIS A GREAT CANDIDATE FOR THE PHASE ONE OF THE AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL.
UM, THE POPULATION IS RELATIVELY YOUNG.
IT HAS A MEDIUM AGE OF 29 YEARS AND IS ABOUT HALF HISPANIC, UH, WITH A MEDIUM HOUSEHOLD INCOME OF ABOUT $75,000 A YEAR.
UM, THERE ARE OVER 18,000 HOUSING UNITS OF WHICH THE GREAT MAJORITY ARE MULTIFAMILY AND MOST PEOPLE WHO LIVE WITHIN THE STUDY AREA RENT RATHER THAN OWN THEIR HOMES.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, THIS AREA, AS WE'VE BEEN TOLD, HAS THE HIGHEST CONCENTRATION OF RENTERS OF ALL COUNCIL DISTRICTS.
UM, ALSO IN TERMS OF JOBS AND EMPLOYMENT, EMPLOYMENT HAS DOUBLED BETWEEN 2010 AND 2022.
UM, AND WITH SO MANY RESIDENTS AND JOBS, THE AREA IS VERY WELL SERVED BY PUBLIC TRANSIT, UM, INCLUDING THE NEW METRO RAPID ROUTE 800 ALONG PLEASANT VALLEY ROAD.
UM, WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL, THE EAST RIVERSIDE CORRIDOR STUDY AREA IS EXPECTED, UM, TO SEE STEADY GROWTH FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DECADES.
WITH PLANNING, THIS GROWTH CAN BE SHAPED IN DIFFERENT WAYS USING POLICIES LIKE ZONING AND DEVELOPMENT INCENTIVES.
THE EAST RIVERSIDE CORRIDOR IS ANTICIPATED TO HAVE AND ACTUALLY IS ZONED FOR AN INCREASE IN DENSITY IN THE YEARS TO COME.
SO, UH, WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT GROWTH IN THE AREA BASED ON THE CITY'S DEMOCRAPHER'S PROJECTIONS IS THAT JOBS AND POPULATION ARE EXPECTED TO NEARLY DOUBLE THROUGHOUT AUSTIN, AND THAT INCLUDES, UM, A SIGNIFICANT GROWTH ALONG THE EAST RIVERSIDE CORRIDOR THAT IS EXPECTED TO GROW BETWEEN 30 AND 60%.
SO THIS CAN POTENTIALLY ADD, UM, UP TO 25,000 ADDITIONAL RESIDENTS AND UP TO 4,000 NEW JOBS AROUND THE EAST RIVERSIDE CORRIDOR BY 2060.
SO THAT'S WHY, UH, THE NEED FOR, UH, UPDATING THESE PLANS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE BUILD CAPACITY FOR THE GROWING NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY.
UM, AS WE PLAN FOR THE FUTURE OF THE EAST RIVERSIDE CORRIDOR, THE CITY OF AUSTIN IS PARTNERING WITH THE COMMUNITY TO MAKE SURE THAT GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT CAN BE CENTERED NOT ONLY ON BUILDING CAPACITY, BUT ALSO WE'RE TRYING TO, UH, BUILD ON EQUITY, OPPORTUNITY, AND STABILITY.
UH, SO WE HAVE SEVERAL GUIDING PRINCIPLES, UM, THAT ARE GUIDING OUR PROJECT, UM, AND THOSE ARE CENTERED AROUND EQUITY, CONNECTIVITY, HOUSING CHOICE, SUSTAINABILITY, AND VIBRANCY.
ESSENTIALLY, WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO WITH THIS ETOD APPROACH IS TO MOVE FROM JUST ENCOURAGING ALL TYPES OF DEVELOPMENT ALONG THE CORRIDOR TO MAKE SURE THAT, UH, WE DO A MINIMUM HARM, LIKE TRYING TO AVOID HARM, MITIGATING DISPLACEMENT AND NEGATIVE IMPACTS ON NEW DEVELOPMENT, AND ULTIMATELY TO REACH EQUITABLE OUTCOMES BY CREATING NEW ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESIDENTS OF ALL INCOME LEVELS.
SO WE ARE WORKING CLOSELY WITH PARTNER DEPARTMENTS TO ENSURE THAT WE HAVE A DISPLACEMENT MITIGATION STRATEGY
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FOR THE CORRIDOR AS PART OF THE IMPLEMENTATION PHASE OF THE VISION PLAN AND THE REGULATING PLAN.SO JUST TO, UM, LET YOU ALL KNOW, UH, BECAUSE THIS IS NOT PART OF THE ERC, BUT IT'S VERY IMPORTANT AND IT'S RELATED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR PROJECT.
UM, THIS IS HAPPENING CONCURRENTLY WITH VARIOUS RELATED INITIATIVES UNDERWAY, UM, THAT INCLUDES THE AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL PHASE ONE ALONG THE EAST RIVERSIDE DRIVE, UM, THAT HAS ITS OWN ANTI-DISPLACEMENT EFFORTS.
WE ALSO HAVE THE REDEVELOPMENT OF THE GROVE RIVERSIDE SITE.
UM, THERE'S A VISION ZERO STREET INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENT, UM, ALONG SEVERAL PARTS OF THE CORRIDOR, AND ALSO THE DEVELOPMENT OF MIXED USE AND MISSING MIDDLE ZONING DISTRICTS, UH, UNDERWAY.
SO WE ARE CURRENTLY CO- COORDINATING WITH DIFFERENT TEAMS TO ENSURE PROJECT ALIGNMENT AND COORDINATED PUBLIC COMMUNICATION WHERE POSSIBLE FOR ALL OF THESE.
SO THIS PLANNING INITIATIVE, UH, INCLUDES THREE ROUNDS OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT WITH THE AIM OF ADOPTION, UM, IN THE SPRING OF 2027.
LAST FALL, WE FOCUSED ON COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT BY ATTENDING, UH, DIFFERENT COMMUNITY EVENTS, AND WE ONBOARDED A GROUP OF AMBASSADORS TO AUGMENT, UH, THE OUTREACH WITHIN THE AREA.
UM, AND ALSO IN JANUARY OF THIS YEAR, WE KICKED OFF OUR FIRST ROUND OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.
UM, AND THIS FIRST ROUND WAS A VISIONING STAGE WHERE WE GATHERED INPUT ON COMMUNITY PRIORITIES, DESIRED BENEFITS, AND DEVELOPMENT INTENSITY NEEDS.
UM, WE SUCCESSFULLY ENGAGED OVER 200 COMMUNITY MEMBERS BETWEEN THE THREE GROUP SESSIONS.
WE ALSO HAD ONE IN-PERSON OPEN HOUSE, ONE VIRTUAL COMMUNITY MEETING, AND MULTIPLE TABLING EVENTS, UM, AND WE ALSO RECEIVED OVER 100 SURVEY RESPONSES ON OUR SPEAKUP PROJECT PAGE.
UM, ALSO IMPORTANT TO MENTION IS THAT WE PARTNER WITH AUSTIN FINANCIAL SERVICES, WHICH IS, UH, THE TEAM LEADING THE GROVE RIVERSIDE SITE PRE-DEVELOPMENT PROJECT AND MULTIPLE PARTNERS TO HOLD A JOINT EVENT FOR THE COMMUNITY.
UM, THIS OPEN HOUSE WAS ATTENDED BY PARTNERS WORKING ON IMPROVING THE CORRIDOR, UM, EACH FOCUSED ON DIFFERENT INITIATIVES, BUT ALL RELATED TO HOUSING, MOBILITY, AND PUBLIC SPACES ALONG THE CORRIDOR.
SO THIS WAS VERY WELL RECEIVED BY THE COMMUNITY, UM, AND IT WAS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ALL THESE DIFFERENT PROJECTS.
UM, THEY ASKED QUESTIONS, TALKED TO PROJECT MANAGERS AND TEAMS, UM, AND SHARED FEEDBACK ABOUT ALL THESE DIFFERENT PROJECTS GUIDING, UM, DEVELOPMENT ALONG THE CORRIDOR.
UM, AMONG SOME OF THOSE PARTNERS INCLUDED AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP.
WE ALSO HAD CAP METRO, AUSTIN HOUSING, IMAGINE AUSTIN, AND MOVABILITY.
UM, AND AS I MENTIONED, WE AWARDED A GROUP OF EIGHT COMMUNITY AMBASSADORS.
UM, THE KEY FOCUS OF THIS PLANNING INITIATIVE HAS BEEN ENSURING THAT WE REACH OUT AND ENGAGE GROUPS THAT HAVE NOT TRADITIONALLY PARTICIPATED IN PUBLIC PROCESSES.
SO WE ARE AUGMENTING OUR OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT EFFORTS WITH A GROUP OF AMBASSADORS THAT ARE BEING COMPENSATED TO HELP US EXTEND OUR REACH.
RECRUITMENT EFFORTS CENTERED AROUND THE NEED TO HAVE AN ACCURATE REPRESENTATION OF THE COMMUNITY, UM, AND WE TOOK THE TIME TO RECRUIT, UH, THE FOLKS THAT YOU SEE ON THE SCREEN.
IT'S A VERY DIVERSE, UH, GROUP OF COMMUNITY MEMBERS THAT ARE ALREADY TRUSTED LEADERS, UH, AND VERY WELL-CONNECTED, UH, COMMUNITY MEMBERS.
UM, EACH HAS VERY UNIQUE BACKGROUNDS AND EXPERIENCES, AND, UH, THEY COLLECTIVELY REALLY ENHANCE THE DIVERSITY OF PERSPECTIVES WITHIN THE ERC, UH, AND THEY ARE CURRENTLY HELPING US DISTRIBUTE INFORMATION, BRING PEOPLE TO OUR MEETINGS, UM, AND GATHER FEEDBACK.
SO HERE ON THE SCREEN, YOU SEE, UM, SOME OF THOSE COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS, FEEDBACK, UM, AND COMMENTS THAT WE'VE RECEIVED ON THAT FIRST ROUND OF ENGAGEMENT, THAT INCLUDES COMMENTS ON THE FOCUS GROUPS, LIKE NOTES, UM, STICKIES THAT WERE PLACED ON DIFFERENT MATERIALS ON OUR OPEN HOUSES, AND ALSO COMMENTS ON OUR VIRTUAL, UM, COMMUNITY MEETING OVER MENTEE.
UM, SO THROUGHOUT ALL THOSE DIFFERENT CONVERSATIONS OF VARIOUS SIZES, WE HEARD NUMEROUS THINGS, UM, AND SOME OF THE MAIN CONCERNS WERE RELATED TO, UH, MOSTLY A LOT OF DISPLACEMENT FEARS, UH, PARTICULARLY DRIVEN BY RISING PROPERTY VALUES FOLLOWING LIGHT RAIL CONSTRUCTION.
UM, ALSO, THE COMMUNITY EXPRESSED A DESIRE
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FOR GREATER COMMUNITY STABILITY AND INCREASED HOME OWNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES IN THE CORRIDOR.UM, WE ALSO HEARD ABOUT SOCIAL EQUITY ISSUES, UM, THE COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTING THAT THERE ARE INSUFFICIENT RESOURCES AND MAINTENANCE COMPARED TO OTHER AREAS IN THE CITY.
UM, WE ALSO HEARD ABOUT SAFETY CONCERNS, BOTH IN TERMS OF ADDRESSING CRIME, UM, AND ALSO THE NEED FOR, UH, ENHANCING PEDESTRIAN AND CYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE ALONG THE CORRIDOR.
UH, WE ALSO HEARD ABOUT BIG GAPS IN ESSENTIAL SERVICES, PARKS AND COMMUNITY GATHERING SPACES, AS WELL AS A STRONG DESIRE FOR CULTURAL PRESERVATION THAT INCLUDES MAKING SURE WE ARE, UM, HAVING DEDICATED SPACES, UH, AND, AND RECORD KEEPING FOR THE HISTORY OF THE CORRIDOR AND ITS RESIDENTS.
UM, WE ALSO HEARD ON THE NEED FOR BALANCING GROWTH WITH PRESERVATION.
THIS HAS BEEN, UM, A MAIN, UM, RECURRING, UH, COMMENT THAT WE'VE RECEIVED AND THAT WE'VE KEPT IN MIND AS WE CONTINUE WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROJECT.
SO MAKING SURE THAT, UM, WHILE THE COMMUNITY DOES SUPPORT HIGH DENSITY DEVELOPMENT ALONG THE CORRIDOR, MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE ALSO, UH, KEEPING THE STABILITY ON, UM, THE CURRENT ESTABLISHED NEIGHBORHOODS, UM, AND THAT AS WE PLAN FOR THE FUTURE LAND USE MAP, THAT WE BALANCE THE NEED FOR MORE GROWTH WITH, UM, JUST SENSITIVE, UM, SENSITIVE DENSITY THAT, UM, PROTECTS THE ADJACENT AREAS.
UM, BASED ON THE FEEDBACK THAT WE RECEIVED ON THAT, UM, FIRST ROUND OF ENGAGEMENT, WE REFINED THE MATERIALS FOR THE SECOND ROUND, UM, AND THE SECOND ROUND WAS FOCUSED ON, UM, THE PREFERRED GROWTH SCENARIO.
UH, THE COMMUNITY LOOKED AT THREE DIFFERENT GROWTH SCENARIOS, UM, AND WE TALKED ABOUT COMMUNITY BENEFITS AND, AND WHAT THAT MEANT, UM, THE INTERPLAY OF THE DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM.
AND SO WE RECEIVED A LOT OF FEEDBACK, UM, AND BASED ON THAT FEEDBACK, WE PRODUCED THE PREFERRED GROWTH SCENARIO.
UM, WE ALSO LOOKED AT THE PROPOSED CONNECTIVITY MAP, AND WE PRESENTED TO THE COMMUNITY, UM, A MORE DETAILED EXPLORATION OF PROJECT CONNECT STATION AREAS.
UM, SO THAT SECOND ROUND OF ENGAGEMENT CONCLUDED IN SEPTEMBER, AND IT INCLUDED ALL THE ACTIVITIES THAT YOU SEE ON THE SCREEN, UM, S- SAME, UH, TYPE OF ACTIVITIES THAT WE, UM, PUT TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST ROUND.
UM, AND IN ADDITION TO, YOU KNOW, EVERYTHING THAT YOU SEE ON THE, THE SCREEN, WHICH WAS A LOT OF ACTIVITIES, IN-PERSON MEETINGS, VIRTUAL SESSIONS, FOCUS GROUPS, A SURVEY, A LOT OF COMMUNITY OUTREACH, UH, WE ADDED A COMPONENT, UH, OF ENGAGING AND CONNECTING WITH RESIDENCES AND SMALL BUSINESSES IN THE AREA.
UM, SO WE HEARD THE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE BRINGING TO THE TABLE THOSE PEOPLE THAT, UM, NEED TO BE PARTICIPATING.
SO IN COLLABORATION WITH AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP, OUR PROJECT TEAM VISITED BUSINESSES ALONG THE PROJECT CONNECT ALIGNMENT, UM, ALL ALONG EAST RIVERSIDE DRIVE, UM, AND WE SHARED INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROJECT, UM, AND WE ALSO, UM, VISITED ALL OF THE DIFFERENT APARTMENT COMPLEXES IN THE STUDY AREA, WHICH WERE, I THINK, 87.
UH, WE SHARED PRINTED MATERIALS AND VIRTUAL MATERIALS WITH APARTMENT MANAGERS, UM, WHICH THEY HELPED US FURTHER DISTRIBUTE INFORMATION TO, UM, THEIR RESIDENTS THROUGH THEIR OWN NEWSLETTERS, UM, AND, UM, THAT'S IN ADDITION TO PO- POSTCARDS THAT WERE MAILED IN THE FIRST ROUND AS PART OF OUR COMMUNICATION PROCESS.
SO AS I MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY, UM, THE COMMUNITY GOT TO REVIEW A LOT OF MATERIALS, UM, AND THAT INCLUDED THE VISION STATEMENT, UM, AND THIS IS THE VISION STATEMENT THAT WAS PRESENTED TO THE COMMUNITY.
IT HAS, OR IT WILL BE FURTHER REFINED BASED ON SOME COMMENTS THAT WE RECEIVED, BUT, UM, THIS IS WHAT THE COMMUNITY GOT TO SEE AT THE OPEN HOUSE.
UM, IT INCLUDES INF - UM, THE COMMUNITY'S VISION FOR AN AREA THAT IS WALKABLE AND TRANSIT CONNECTED, UM, AN AREA THAT SUPPORTS RESIDENTS OF ALL INCOMES, AN AREA THAT PROVIDES DIVERSE HOUSING OPTIONS AND ESSENTIAL SERVICES, AN AREA THAT SUPPORTS
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JOB OPPORTUNITIES AND PROVIDES NATURAL SPACES THAT PROMOTE HEALTH AND WELLBEING.UM, ALSO, WE TALK ABOUT SUPPORTING BIPOC AND LEGACY BUSINESSES ALONG THE CORRIDOR, UM, AND ALSO THE COMMUNITY WANTS FOR THIS AREA TO MAKE SURE THAT IT CELEBRATES HERITAGE, IDENTITY, AND INCLUSION.
SO, UM, WE HAVE ALL OF OUR MATERIALS, NOT ONLY THIS VISION STATEMENT, BUT EVERYTHING THAT WAS, UM, PRESENTED AT THE OPEN HOUSE, UM, AVAILABLE ON OUR SPEAK OF BOSTON WEBSITE, SO FEEL FREE TO VISIT THAT AND I'LL GIVE YOU, UM, THE DIRECT LINK TO THAT AT THE END.
BUT, UH, WE HAVE ALL OF THAT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC REVIEW.
UM, IT INCLUDES MUCH MORE THAN WHAT I COULD SHARE WITH YOU ALL IN THIS MEETING, BUT I JUST WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT THIS PREFERRED GROWTH SCENARIO MAP, UM, ON THIS SCREEN AS THIS WAS A REFINEMENT FROM THE DIFFERENT GROWTH SCENARIOS EXPLORED WITH THE COMMUNITY DURING THE FIRST ROUND OF ENGAGEMENT.
AND THIS IS NOT THE FUTURE LAND USE MAP, BUT THIS IS WHAT WILL BE INFORMING THE FUTURE LAND USE MAP, UM, THAT WILL BE ADOPTED IN THE VISION PLAN.
UM, THIS MAP ILLUSTRATES A TIERED FRAMEWORK OF CHARACTER DISTRICTS WITH DIFFERENT BUILDING HEIGHTS BASED ON THEIR PROXIMITY TO TRANSIT.
UM, SO THIS IS PROPOSING, UM, A HIGHER DENSITY ALONG THE TRANSIT CORRIDOR, WHICH IS REPRESENTED BY THE DARK BLUE COLORS, AND IT'S ALSO SHOWING MODERATE DENSITIES IN NEIGHBORING RESIDENTIAL AREAS SHOWN, UM, WHICH ARE SHOWN IN THE LIGHTER BLUE, UM, AS WELL AS WHAT THE COMMUNITY, UM, REQUESTED, WHICH IS RETENTION OF EXISTING SINGLE FAMILY ZONING, UM, SHOWN IN J - IN THE YELLOW AREAS.
SO THIS WAS THE SCENARIO THAT RECEIVED, UM, OVERWHELMING SUPPORT THROUGHOUT THE DIFFERENT CONVERSATIONS, UM, FOR INCREASING ACCESS TO TRANSIT CONNECTIONS AND ITS TRANSITION BETWEEN HIGHER TO LOWER DENSITIES, UM, AND MAKING SURE THAT WE ARE ACCOMMODATING THE PROJECTED POPULATION AND JOB GROWTH.
UM - SORRY, I WAS JUST WONDERING IF WE COULD JUMP IN WITH QUESTIONS AT THE END OF THIS SLIDE.
UM, SO I, I WAS WONDERING IF YOU COULD BREAK DOWN FOR ME EMPLOYMENT-FOCUSED ZONING, NOT SOMETHING WE'VE SEEN WITH THE REST OF THE ETODS, SO COULD YOU GIVE US AN IDEA OF, OF WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE IN TERMS OF, LIKE, ARE WE TALKING ABOUT INDUSTRIAL? ARE WE THINKING THIS IS OFFICE SPACE? WHAT, WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? YEAH, THIS IS A COMBINATION OF, LIKE, LIGHT INDUSTRIAL AND, LIKE, OFFICE SPACES, TOO.
SO, LIKE, CAMPUS RELATED, UM, SPACES, BUT NOT HEAVY MANUFACTURING.
AND THEN ONE OTHER THING THAT I THINK DIFFERS A LITTLE BIT FROM, FROM ETOD ZONING WE'VE SEEN IN THE PAST IS...
I GUESS THIS ISN'T ETOD ZONING, I SHOULD BE CLEAR, RIGHT? IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE, UM, AFTER THAT.
SO THE, THE LOW DENSITY MIXED USE, IT LOOKS LIKE THAT HAS A BASE ZONING OF UP TO 60, BUT DOES NOT HAVE A BONUS ATTACHED TO IT.
SO IS THERE, IS THERE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR COMMUNITY, UH, BENEFITS AND, YOU KNOW, BUILT-IN AFFORDABLE HOUSING GUARANTEES IF WE DON'T HAVE THE DENSITY BONUS? NOT ON THOSE, NOT ON THAT SPECIFIC, UM, CHARACTER DISTRICT, ALTHOUGH, AGAIN, LIKE, THIS MAP WAS, UM, PRESENTED TO THE COMMUNITY TO START CONVERSATIONS ABOUT JUST DENSITIES, INTENSITIES, AND DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM, BUT TH- THIS IS NOT THE FUTURE LAND USE MAP, SO WE'RE CONTINUING THAT CONVERSATION TO SEE, LIKE, WHERE WE SHOULD INCENTIVIZE, UM, THOSE COMMUNITY BENEFITS.
BUT IT IS MOSTLY, LIKE, A TRANSITIONAL ZONING, UM, BETWEEN JUST, LIKE, RESIDENTIAL AREAS AND HIGHER DENSITIES THAT ARE MIXED USE.
THANK YOU FOR, FOR CLARIFYING THAT.
IF ANYONE ELSE HAS A QUESTION ON THIS SLIDE, WE CAN DO IT.
OTHERWISE, WE CAN LET HER FINISH HER PRESENTATION.
YEAH, SO, UM, JUST TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAIL SINCE THERE'S SOME QUESTIONS ON, ON THE DIFFERENT CHARACTER DISTRICTS, UM, THIS IS INCLUDING, UM, YOU KNOW, NEIGHBORHOOD FOCUS AND EMPLOYMENT FOCUS, WHICH ARE RESTRICTED TO TWO TO FIVE STORIES WITH NO DENSITY BONUS OPTIONS.
UM, WE HAVE THE LOW, MODERATE, AND HIGH DENSITY MIXED USES, UM, ONLY IN THE MODERATE AND HIGH DENSITY WE ARE, UH, PROPOSING TO HAVE, UM, DENSITY BONUS, ALTHOUGH, LIKE I MENTIONED, THE FUTURE LAND USE MAP, UM, WILL INCLUDE SOME MORE OF THE NUANCE OF AS FAR AS, LIKE, WHERE, LIKE, BECAUSE THE INTENT IS THAT THE AREAS CLOSEST, CLOSER TO THE LIGHT RAIL ARE THE AREAS WHERE WE ARE BRINGING IN THOSE COMMUNITY BENEFITS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE SUPPORTING, UM, THE PUBLIC TRANSIT, BUT WE ARE STILL, UM, REVISING THE PLAN.
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FUTURE LAND USE MAP IS IN THE WORKS, AND THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE'LL BE PRESENTING TO THE COMMUNITY AT THE NEXT OPEN HOUSE AND HAVING CONVERSATIONS WITH THE COMMUNITY TO, UM, MAKE ANY REVISIONS, UM, TO THE PALETTE.SO THIS IS NOT THE FINAL PALETTE, THIS IS NOT THE FINAL PLAN, BUT IT IS, UM, WHAT WILL BE INFORMING, UH, THE CREATION OF THE FUTURE LAND USE MAP.
SO - UM, SORRY, I DO ACTUALLY HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION.
UM, I UNDERSTAND YOU SAID THIS IS A DRAFT AND NOT FINALLY THERE, BUT IN, JUST IN THIS CURRENT DRAFT, UH, CAN YOU ESTIMATE ROUGHLY, LIKE, HOW, FOR THE ZONING THAT YOU'VE ILLUSTRATED HERE, HOW MUCH OF THIS IS A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE FROM WHAT IT'S CURRENTLY ZONED FOR VERSUS, LIKE, UH, JUST SLIGHTLY EXTENDING BOUNDARIES OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT? YEAH, WHAT WE PRESENTED AT THE FIRST, UM, OPEN HOUSE, IT WAS, LIKE, DIFFERENT ITERATIONS.
WE HAD, LIKE, BUSINESS AS USUAL, SO THIS WILL BE THE CHANGE IF WE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO ZONING, AND THEN WE PRESENTED, UM, SOMETHING THAT WAS, LIKE, LOW DENSITY, LOW COMMUNITY BENEFITS, MEDIUM DENSITY, MEDI- MEDIUM COMMUNITY BENEFITS.
AND THIS WAS WHAT THE PUBLIC SUPPORTED, UM, WHICH IS THE HIGHEST, UM, DENSITY ALONG THE CORRIDOR.
UM, AND IT HAS, UM, FOR THE MOST PART, CHANGES IN TERMS OF THE APPLICATION OF THE DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM.
LIKE, IT, IT IS, UM, EXTENDING A LITTLE BIT FARTHER OUT FROM WHAT IT CURRENTLY ALLOWS.
SO IT'S IN, LIKE, THE MAJOR CHANGES IN THE APPLICATION OF THE DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM.
AND I THINK THIS IS ANOTHER, UH, MAP THAT WE DISCUSSED WITH THE COMMUNITY, WHICH, UM, I THINK WILL BE VERY RELEVANT FOR TODAY'S DISCUSSION.
UH, THIS MAP IS ILLUSTRATING THE MOBILITY IMPROVEMENTS THAT, UH, WOULD LEAD THE STATION AREA TO JUST BE MORE, LIKE, WALKABLE AND JUST BETTER CONNECTED WITH, UH, THE STATION AREAS.
UM, WE ARE MAKING SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS IS COMFORTABLE AND SAFE FOR THE COMMUNITY TO TRAVEL THROUGH ALL MODES OF TRANSPORTATION THAT IS WALKING, ROLLING, BIKING, UM, AND JUST GENERALLY ACCESSING PUBLIC TRANSIT.
UM, AND THIS MAP, UM, IS THE RESULT OF A LOT OF CONVERSATIONS WITH TPW ON, UM, WHAT TO PROPOSE TO ENSURE THAT WE ARE CONNECTING TO THE LIGHT RAIL, UM, AND THAT WE'RE CONNECTING, UH, RESIDENTS TO THE SURROUNDING NEIGHBORHOODS AND KEY DESTINATIONS ALONG THE AREA.
UM, WHAT YOU SEE ON THE MAP, UM, IS DRAWING FROM THE AUSTIN STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN AND ALSO THE LOCAL MOBILITY ANNUAL PLAN, UM, WHICH AS YOU KNOW, THE ASMP IS WHAT IS PROVIDING THE LONG-TERM VISION, AND THE LMAP IS WHAT'S IDENTIFYING PRIORITIES, UM, FOR JUST MOBILITY PROJECTS AND ENHANCEMENTS.
UM, SO WE SHARE WITH THE COMMUNITY THESE PROPOSED CONNECTIVITY, UH, SNIPPETS.
WE HAVE, LIKE, A LARGER MAP THAT COVERS THE ENTIRE STUDY AREA, BUT WE ZOOMED IN IN EVERY STATION AREA SO THE COMMUNITY COULD LOOK AT, UM, THE HALF A MILE BOUNDARY AROUND THE LIGHT RAIL STATIONS.
UM, WE ARE STILL GOING THROUGH THE FEEDBACK.
I DON'T THINK WE'VE RECEIVED ANYTHING OUTSIDE OF, UM, WHAT WE'RE PROPOSING HERE, BUT WE ARE DEFINITELY INTERESTED IN HEARING YOUR OPINIONS, AND WE CAN S- SHARE WITH YOU THE HIGH RESOLUTION MAP, BECAUSE I KNOW THIS IS PROBABLY TOO SMALL TO SEE ON THE SCREEN, SO WE CAN SEND YOU THE LARGER MAP SO THAT YOU CAN ZOOM IN, SEE STREET, UM, STREET LABELS, AND LET US KNOW IF, UM, THERE'S ANY ADDITIONAL, UM, CONNECTIONS THAT WE SHOULD BE INCLUDING.
WE ARE CURRENTLY REVISING THIS MAP, GETTING IT READY FOR THE NEXT OPEN HOUSE, SO IT IS VER- VERY TIMELY, UM, TO RECEIVE ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS FROM Y'ALL.
BUT WHAT THIS MAP BASICALLY IS ILLUSTRATING, UM, IT IS SHOWING, UH, CROSSWALK ENHANCEMENTS AND FUTURE CROSSWALKS, AND THOSE, UM, WERE IDENTIFIED BY ATP.
THEY'RE CURRENTLY BEING DESIGNED BY ATP, AND THEY'RE LIGHT RAIL CONTRACTORS.
UM, WE ARE ALSO SHOWING PROPOSED NEW STREETS, UM, IN NAVY BLUE LINES WITH ARROWS.
UM, THESE STREETS, YOU KNOW, COULD BE BUILT TO CONNECT DEAD ENDS, UM, AND THOSE INCLUDE, FOR THE MOST PART, EAST-WEST CONNECTIONS, MOSTLY FOUND AROUND THE LAKE SHORE AND THE PLEASANT VALLEY STATION AREAS.
UH, WE HAVE ALSO SOME IMPORTANT CONNECTIONS,
[00:30:01]
UM, ADJACENT TO THE GROVE RIVERSIDE PROPERTY THAT THE CITY OWNS.SO, UM, WHICH IS ALSO BEHIND BEATY ELEMENTARY.
SO, UM, THE, THE COMMUNITY IN AUSTIN FINANCIAL SERVICES IS VERY INTERESTED IN MAKING SURE THAT THE PROPERTY IS WELL CONNECTED.
UM, THERE ARE SOME PROPOSED, UM, SIDEWALKS, UH, SHOWN IN GRAY.
SO AGAIN, MAYBE THE SCALE OF THIS WON'T FULLY SHOW WHERE THEY'RE AT, BUT YOU CAN SEE SOME OF THOSE ALONG THE LAKE SHORE AREA, UM, LIKE SOUTH OF EAST RIVERSIDE DRIVE.
UH, AND WE HAVE SOME OF THOSE ALSO AROUND THE GROVE MONTOPOLIS STATION AREA, NORTH OF EAST RIVERSIDE DRIVE.
UM, WE'RE ALSO SHOWING SOME VISION ZERO ENHANCEMENTS IN YELLOW.
UM, AND THOSE ARE SAFETY FOCUSED IMPROVEMENTS, UM, MOSTLY ALONG MONTOPOLIS DRIVE, GROVE BOULEVARD.
WE HAVE SOME EAST WEST WOODLAND AVENUE IMPROVEMENTS, AND THEN PARKER LANE, UM, BOTH ON THE LAKE SHORE STATION AREA.
UM, WE ALSO ARE SHOWING, UM, PROPOSED NEW OR IMPROVED BIKE LANES IN PURPLE.
UM, AND THESE ARE BIKE FACILITIES THAT ARE PLANNED ALONG THE COLLECTOR, UM, ALL THROUGHOUT THE ERC, BUT WE SEE SOME PARTICULARLY CONCENTRATED, UM, ON STREETS THAT INTERSECT, UH, THE LIGHT RAIL STATION.
AND IN GREEN, WE ARE SHOWING THE PROPOSED, UM, OR IMPROVED TRAILS.
AND THESE ARE OFF-STREET BIKE PED FACILITIES.
UM, THESE, MANY OF THESE ARE LOCATED ALONG THE PLEASANT VALLEY STATION AREA.
UM, AND LASTLY, THE LIGHT BLUE REPRESENTS THE PROPOSED NEIGHBORHOOD BIKEWAY, UM, OR BIKEWAYS.
UM, AND THESE ARE PLANNED ON STREETS THAT ARE CONNECTED TO EAST RIVERSIDE DRIVE.
SO, UM, IF YOU ALL HAVE ANYTHING THAT COMES TO YOUR MIND RIGHT NOW, LET ME KNOW.
BUT AGAIN, WE CAN DEFINITELY CIRCLE BACK.
WE CAN SEND YOU THE BIGGER FILE AND HAVE FURTHER CONVERSATIONS.
UM, UH, IT, I AM VERY FAMILIAR, I LIVE IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD, UM, UH, WITH THE BUSINESSES THAT ARE, UH, ABUTTING, UM, UH, EAST RIVERSIDE, UH, HERE.
AND, UM, MY EXPERIENCE OF THEM AS SOMEONE WHO TRIES TO WALK A LOT HERE, UM, IS THAT ON THE PERIPHERY, UM, KIND OF THE, THE, THE PART THAT TOUCHES EAST RIVERSIDE FOR A LOT OF THESE BUSINESSES IS LIKE A, A, A PARKING LOT.
UM, AND IF I'M TRYING TO WALK AS A PEDESTRIAN INTO THESE BUSINESSES, UM, UH, I'M, I'M NAVIGATING THROUGH, THROUGH CARS.
AND I THINK THAT'S THE EXPERIENCE THAT PEOPLE WILL HAVE, UM, AS LIGHT RAIL PASSENGERS, UH, DEBARKING, LIKE, AT THE SOUTH PLEASANT VALLEY, UM, STATION.
UM, LIKE, IF I'M GOING TO HEB, I'M GONNA HAVE TO CUT THROUGH A LOT OF PARKING LOT AND A GAS STATION, UM, TO GET INTO THE ACTUAL HEB.
GRANTED, THERE'S LIKE A STREET THAT, LIKE, RUNS ALONGSIDE IT, BUT I'M STILL HAVING TO, LIKE, CUT IN, UM, A LITTLE WAYS.
LIKE, ARE THERE INCENTIVES FOR BUSINESSES TO, I DON'T KNOW, MAKE MORE PEDESTRIAN ACCOMMODATIONS IN THEIR LAYOUTS, UH, GIVEN THAT, LIKE, UM, WHAT THEY'RE, THE IMMEDIATE SURFACE THAT, LIKE, A, A PEDESTRIAN MIGHT BE TOUCHING IS, UM, GONNA BE, UH, HARD, UM, ASPHALT THAT IS INTENDED FOR CARS.
UM, BUT YEAH, JUST WANTED TO ASK YOUR THOUGHT ON THAT.
UM, IN CON - IN CONCERT TO THIS VISION PLAN, WE'RE ALSO UPDATING THE REGULATING PLAN, UM, AND THE REGULATING PLAN INCLUDES REQUIREMENTS FOR, UM, MAKING SURE THAT STREET DESIGN IS SUPPORTIVE OF PEDESTRIANS.
SO WE ARE LOOKING RIGHT NOW AT UPDATING THOSE REGULATIONS TO MAKE SURE THAT, UH, FUTURE DEVELOPMENT REALLY, UM, FOCUSES ON SAFETY AND COMFORT OF PEDESTRIANS ALONG THE CORRIDOR.
BUT, BUT NOTHING TO INC - OH, SORRY.
ACTUALLY, BUT NOTHING TO IN - TO INCENTIVIZE CURRENT BUSINESS OWNERS TO MAYBE WANT TO PLUG INTO THIS NETWORK PROACTIVELY.
UM, THAT, THAT'LL JUST HAVE TO BE ON THEIR END.
WELL, AS PART OF THE EAST RIVERSIDE CORRIDOR, UM, YOU KNOW, UPDATE TO THIS REGULATING PLAN, WE HAVE, LIKE, THE DENSITY BONUS, UH, PROGRAM.
SO WE'RE LOOKING RIGHT NOW AT THE MENU OF, UM, LIKE, WHAT WOULD THE MENU OF INCENTIVES AND, UM, IMPROVEMENTS BE? UM, I THINK SO FAR WHAT OUR CONSULTANTS HAVE, UH, SHARED WITH US IS THAT AFFORDABLE HOUSING IS PROBABLY THE BIGGEST INCENTIVE THAT WE CAN GET FROM DEVELOPERS, BUT WE'RE LOOKING AT ADDITIONAL
[00:35:01]
THINGS THAT THE DEVELOPERS COULD GIVE TO ENHANCE THE PEDESTRIAN, UM, ENVIRONMENT.UM, IT, WE'RE STILL LOOKING AT, AT THOSE, UH, SPECIFICS, BUT IF THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES FOR DEVELOPERS TO JUST MAKE IMPROVEMENTS ON, UM, JUST THE STREETS AND THE COMFORT AND SAFETY OF PEDESTRIANS, WE'RE DEFINITELY, UH, OPEN TO INCLUDING ANYTHING THAT THE COMMUNITY COULD BENEFIT FROM.
I, I'M GONNA JUMP IN HERE REAL QUICK.
UM, I THINK YOU ONLY HAVE ONE SLIDE LEFT, SO I THINK IF WE WANNA LET YOU FINISH YOUR SLIDES, AND THEN I'M SURE WE ALL HAVE A BUNCH OF QUESTIONS ON THE PROPOSED CONNECTIVITY, SO THEN WE CAN GO BACK TO THAT SLIDE AND KIND OF WORK OFF OF THAT.
UM, THIS IS THE END OF THE PRESENTATION.
SO, UM, AS JUST THE LAST SLIDE I WANTED TO SHARE WITH Y'ALL THAT WE ARE, UH, GOING THROUGH ALL THE FEEDBACK THAT WE'VE RECEIVED SO FAR.
UH, WE RECEIVED A LOT OF COMMENTS.
UM, A LOT OF PEOPLE SUBMITTED, UH, COMMENTS THROUGH IN THE PROJECT PAGE, THE SURVEY, AND ALL THE DIFFERENT EVENTS THAT WE HELD DURING THE SECOND ROUND.
UM, WE ARE INCORPORATING THAT FEEDBACK, UM, RIGHT NOW INTO THE DRAFT VISION PLAN AND REGULATING PLAN.
BUT IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS, WE'LL BE RELEASING AN ENGAGEMENT SUMMARY REPORT, UM, FOR THE SECOND ROUND OF ENGAGEMENT THAT WILL BE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE ON OUR PROJECT PAGE, UM, WHICH IS WHAT YOU SEE ON THE SCREEN.
YOU CAN EITHER GO TO SPEAKOFBOSTON.ORG/ERCPLANNING OR SCAN THE QR CODE, UM, AND YOU WILL BE ABLE TO FIND THOSE DOCUMENTS AND ALL OTHER MATERIALS ON OUR DOCUMENT SECTIONS, WHICH IS AT THE RIGHT-HAND SIDE OF THE PAGE.
UM, SO BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THAT.
THIS IS REALLY THE BEST RESOURCE WE HAVE FOR, UH, SHARING MATERIALS, UM, GETTING FEEDBACK FROM THE COMMUNITY, AND REALLY, UM, SPREADING THE WORD OUT ON UPCOMING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES.
UM, WE ARE PLANNING ANOTHER ROUND OF ENGAGEMENT AT THE END OF JANUARY, UM, TO DISCUSS THE FUTURE LAND USE MAP, UM, THAT I MENTIONED EARLIER WITH THE COMMUNITY TO S - TO PRESENT ANY CHANGES TO THE CONNECTIVITY MAP, IF THERE ARE ANY, UM, AND TO FURTHER THE CONVERSATION ABOUT REGULATIONS, UM, THAT WILL BE, AGAIN, ADOPTED IN CONCERT WITH THE VISION PLAN.
SO, UM, STILL HAVE A LOT OF DIFFERENT COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS THAT WILL BE HAPPENING EARLY 2027, UM, BUT YOU CAN FIND THAT INFORMATION AND EVERYTHING THAT WE SHARE WITH THE COMMUNITY IF YOU SUBSCRIBE FOR UPDATES IN OUR PROJECT PAGE.
SO IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE SO, PLEASE, UM, GO THERE, FIND ALL THE DIFFERENT INFORMATION THAT WE HAVE MADE AVAILABLE TO THE COMMUNITY, AND, AND SEND US YOUR FEEDBACK EITHER THROUGH THE PAGE OR MY EMAIL ADDRESS, WHICH IS AT THE VERY END.
AND OKAY, THE LAST SLIDE HAS MY EMAIL ADDRESS.
SO FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT AT ANY POINT.
I'M SURE WE HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS BECAUSE WE HAVE A LOT OF PEOPLE HERE ARE VERY EXCITED ABOUT GRID CONNECTIVITY.
UM, I SAW COMMISSIONER CHEN WITH A QUESTION FIRST.
THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UH, GOING BACK TO THE PROPOSED CONNECTIVITY SLIDE, UM, AS I'M LOOKING THROUGH THIS, YOU'VE GOT A MAP OF THE NEW AND IMPRO - THE NEW PROPOSED BIKE LANES, TRAILS, AND SO ON.
I DON'T HAVE A GREAT GRASP OF THE EXISTING BIKE AND TRAIL CONNECTIVITY IN THE AREA.
SO IS THERE ANY WAY YOU COULD ADD THAT AS A LAYER SO THAT WE CAN SEE HOW THE NEW IMPROVEMENTS CONNECT EVERYTHING TOGETHER RATHER THAN JUST SHOWING US THESE LITTLE DISJOINTED PIECES FOR PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION? YEAH, YEAH.
WE DO HAVE THAT INFORMATION, UH, THAT WE WILL BE INCLUDING IN THE VISION PLAN.
WE JUST DID NOT INCLUDE IT AS PART OF THE MATERIALS FOR THE COMMUNITY TO REVIEW, BECAUSE IT WAS A LOT OF INFORMATION.
WE WRESTLED A LOT WITH, LIKE, HOW TO SHOW A MAP, BECAUSE AS IS, IT'S JUST A LOT, A LOT OF COLORS, A LOT OF INFORMATION, UM, AND WE COULDN'T FIGURE A WAY TO SHOW EXISTING WITHOUT JUST OVERWHELMING THE READER.
BUT WE DO HAVE THAT INFORMATION, AND I CAN PROVIDE THAT MAP TO YOU AS YOU REVIEW THE PROPOSED CONNECTIVITY MAP.
WHILE WE'RE STILL ON THAT SLIDE, I'LL WAIT TO SEE IF ANY OTHER COMMISSIONERS HAVE QUESTIONS ON THAT ONE.
I DO HAVE ONE OTHER GO BACK BEFORE WE WRAP UP THIS ITEM.
ANYONE ELSE HAVE A QUESTION? COMMISSIONER
[00:40:01]
BUFFO? YES.THIS, THIS IS ON.UM, UH, I WAS ALSO LOOKING AT THE PROPOSED NEW STREETS.
ARE THERE, GIVEN, LIKE, THAT A LOT OF THESE, UM, UH, SORT OF WHAT THE COMMISSIONER JUST POINTED OUT ABOUT, LIKE, BIKE LANES AND TRAILS AND THINGS LIKE THAT, FOR THE PROPOSED NEW STREETS, ARE, I GUESS, ARE WE YET AT A LEVEL OF SPECIFICITY OF WHAT THOSE STREETS WILL LOOK LIKE? WILL, LIKE, WILL THEY AUTOMATICALLY HAVE BIKE LANES OR, YOU KNOW, TREE LINING OR SOMETHING? OR IS IT JUST TWO LANE OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT? YOU KNOW, THERE IS A DEGREE OF FLEXIBILITY, UM, GIVEN TO DETERMINE, LIKE, EXACT ALIGNMENT AND EXACT, UM, DESIGN, UH, OF THOSE PROPOSED CONNECTIONS.
WE DON'T HAVE THE CAPACITY TO PROVIDE THAT INFORMATION.
THAT IS SOMETHING THAT TPW TAKES ON.
UM, WE JUST WORK WITH THEM TO MAKE SURE THAT THIS, WHAT WE'RE PROPOSING IS SOMETHING THAT THEY ALSO FEEL LIKE IT'S NEEDED AND COMFORTABLE WITH RECOMMENDING.
BUT TH- THAT LEVEL OF SPECIFICITY IS SOMETHING THAT WE DON'T DEAL WITH IN THIS PLAN.
I'D LIKE TO JUMP IN ON THE NEW STREETS, UH, REALLY QUICK OFF OF THAT.
SO, UM, THESE NEW STREETS THAT WE'RE PROPOSING ARE NOT CURRENTLY IN THE ASMP, RIGHT? THEY, THEY ARE.
ALL OF THEM ARE CURRENTLY IN THE ASMP? YEAH.
UM - BUT, BUT AGAIN, LIKE, THE, THE, THE IDEA BEHIND, LIKE, SHOWING EVERYTHING TO THE COMMUNITIES TO SEE, ARE THERE OPPORTUNITIES FOR ADDITIONAL CONNECTIONS TO BE RECOMMENDED? SURE.
SO WE ARE DEFINITELY INTERESTED IN SEEING IF WE ALL HAVE ANY FEEDBACK ON ADDITIONAL THINGS THAT HAVEN'T MADE IT TO THE PLAN OR THE SMP, ASMP TO RECOMMEND IN THIS UPDATE.
WELL, THAT ANSWERS THE QUESTION I WAS GONNA HAVE AFTER THAT.
I THINK I SAW COMMISSIONER KAVALMAN HAD A QUESTION.
UM, ON THE NEW STREETS, IS THIS RIGHT OF WAY THAT THE CITY ALREADY OWNS, OR IS IT A RIGHT OF WAY THAT THE CITY'S GONNA HAVE TO PURCHASE FROM A PRIVATE INTEREST? OR ARE WE HOPING THAT A DEVELOPER WILL INCLUDE A NEW STREET IN A LARGER DEVELOPMENT? LIKE, HOW ARE WE MAKING SURE THAT THESE, UH, HAPPEN? WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THE MAP INCLUDES, LIKE, DIFFERENT, UM, LIKE, THE OWNERSHIP IS DIFFERENT.
SOME ARE CITY OWNED, SOME ARE PRIVATELY OWNED, SOME ARE EASTMAN.
SO, UM, WE'RE NOT, LIKE, THIS IS JUST ASPIRATIONAL AND, AND TPW WILL BE THE ONE IN CHARGE OF ENSURING THAT WE ACQUIRE THE, THE PROPERTY AND THAT IT GETS BUILT.
UM, SO IT IS MIXED OWNERSHIP THROUGHOUT THE STUDY AREA ON THE PROPOSED STREETS, IF THAT MAKES SENSE.
UM, I HAVE, UH, ANOTHER QUESTION, UM, ON SOMETHING THAT WE'VE FOCUSED ON, UM, WITH THESE LARGER PLANS IN THE PAST HAS BEEN ON, UM, MAKING SURE THAT THERE'S NOT ANY STRANGE MOVEMENTS THAT YOU HAVE TO MAKE THROUGHOUT THE AREA AND KEEPING AREAS LIKE THIS FAIRLY POROUS FOR PEOPLE ON, ON THEIR FEET OR ON THEIR BIKES.
AND SO, UM, I'M HOPING THAT WE SEE AS WE DEVELOP A LITTLE BIT FURTHER THAT WE'RE ENCOURAGING SOME PUBLIC ACCESS EASEMENTS THROUGHOUT THESE, LIKE, NEW DEVELOPMENTS AROUND HERE TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE'S NOT JUST FENCES OR LOCKED GATES OR ANYTHING, LIKE, PREVENTING PEOPLE AROUND.
I'M HOPING, LIKE, AS WE GET MORE DETAILS, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE ENCOURAGING AS WELL.
I WANTED TO ADD TO THAT, JUST, LIKE, DEFAULT SIDEWALKS, JUST SO I THINK ALL THE STREETS SHOULD HAVE SIDEWALKS.
AND WE DID LOOK AT SIDEWALK GAPS, AND THOSE ARE INCLUDED THERE.
AND LET ME ALSO FOLLOW UP ON WHAT COMMISSIONER KAPPELMAN SAID.
SO, UH, PUBLIC ACCESS, PUBLIC...
PUBLIC ACCESS EASEMENTS, UH, YOU TALKED ABOUT A LITTLE BIT WITH COMMISSIONER PRASAD, BUT ARE THOSE THINGS THAT ARE REQUIRED FOR DEVELOPMENTS OF A CERTAIN SIZE REQUIRED ONCE THEY HIT THE DENSITY BONUS? OR IS IT SOMETHING THAT'S ONE OF THOSE MENU OF OPTIONS YOU CAN DO TO HIT YOUR DENSITY BONUS? UM, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT RIGHT NOW.
UM, BUT IF YOU HAVE SPECIFIC GUIDANCE THAT WE SHOULD BE, UM, INCLUDING, PLEASE DO LET US KNOW.
Y'ALL ARE, ARE SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS IN TRANSPORTATION.
UM, SO WE DO, ARE HOPING TO GET SOME FEEDBACK F- FROM YOU.
WE DEFINITELY APPRECIATE THAT.
UM, COMMISSIONER CHEN, I THINK YOU HAD ANOTHER QUESTION, RIGHT? I DID, YES.
UH, IF WE CAN GO BACK TO SLIDE 15 ON THE KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THAT FIRST STUDY.
UH, YOU LIST SEVERAL MAIN THEMES HERE, AND JUST AT A CURSORY GLANCE, IT SEEMS LIKE SOME OF THESE CAN FALL INTO CONFLICT.
UH, JUST AS AN EXAMPLE, RIGHT, AS WE TALK ABOUT CULTURAL PRESERVATION, THIS OFTENTIMES ALSO COMES WITH NOT CHANGING THE NEIGHBORHOOD AT ALL COSTS, RIGHT, AND PREVENTS CONSTRUCTION OF NEW HOUSING, WHICH THEN, YOU KNOW, PROMOTES THE DISPLACEMENT FEARS OR,
[00:45:01]
FOR EXAMPLE, BUILDING NEW GATHERING SPACES OFTEN MEANS YOU HAVE TO TAKE LAND FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE, RIGHT? MM-HMM.AND THEN IT INCREASES PROPERTY VALUES AND CAUSES DISPLACEMENT.
SO HOW ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT BALANCING THOSE DIFFERENT INCENTIVES? YEAH.
WELL, AS PART OF THE CONVERSATION, LIKE, INTERNALLY WITH OUR AUSTIN HOUSING PARTNERS, BUT ALSO THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPERS, UM, I THINK, YOU KNOW, WE'VE S - WE'VE TRIED TO STRIKE A BALANCE IN THE PREFERRED ROAD SCENARIO, WHICH, UM, AGAIN, WILL BE, BE INFORMING THE FUTURE LAND USE MAP, AND THAT WILL BE TO, UH, TRY TO CONCENTRATE AS MUCH OF THE CAPACITY THAT WILL BE NEEDED ALONG THE PROPERTIES FRONTING EAST RIVERSIDE, UM, S - PARTICULARLY ADJACENT TO THE FUTURE AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL STATIONS.
SO MAKING SURE THAT THOSE PROPERTIES, UM, DO HAVE THE FLEXIBILITY TO ADD THE DENSITY AND HEIGHT, UH, TO INCORPORATE THAT.
AND LOOKING AT THE CURRENT SINGLE FAMILY AREAS AS AREAS THAT COULD, YOU KNOW, INCORPORATE OR INTRODUCE A LITTLE BIT OF THE MISSING MIDDLE, UH, DENSITY, BUT US NOT UP-ZONING IT SO WE ARE NOT DISPLACING THE CURRENT, UM, RESIDENTS.
SO KIND OF, LIKE, ALLOWING THE NEW TOOLS THAT WILL BE INTRODUCED BY COUNCIL, HOPEFULLY, IN THE SPRING OF 2027, TO BE A PART OF THAT, LIKE, MORE, UH, SENSITIVE INCREASE IN DENSITY, UH, THAT IS NOT DISTURBING TO THE CURRENT NEIGHBORHOOD.
SO KIND OF, LIKE, MAKING SURE THE TRANSITIONS ARE MINDFUL, UM, AND, YOU KNOW, WE CONCENTRATE MOST OF THE ACTIVITY AND DENSITY AND, AND, AND, UM, HEIGHT CLOSER TO, TO THE STATIONS.
AND, UH, BUT AGAIN, LIKE, WE'RE, UH, IN THE PROCESS OF LOOKING AT PARCEL BY PARCEL TO MAKE SURE THAT IT'S, IT'S SOMETHING THAT THE COMMUNITY FEELS COMFORTABLE WITH.
SO HEIGHTS ARE STILL IN DRAFT FORMAT, UH, SPECIFIC, UM, UM, CHARACTER DISTRICT DESIGNATIONS, UM, ARE STILL IN DRAFT FORMAT.
SO WE'RE, LIKE, REVISING THOSE AS WE GO THROUGH THE FEEDBACK THAT WE RECEIVED, UH, AT THE LAST OPEN HOUSE.
SO IT SOUNDS LIKE THE IDEA IS BASICALLY TO KIND OF INITIALLY GO WITH HIGHER DENSITY CLOSER TO THE LINE, TAPERING OFF AS YOU GET FARTHER AWAY, AND JUST DOING THAT SORT OF PRE-PLANNING, PRE-ZONING, SETTING UP THE RULES THAT ANYBODY WHO WANTS TO OR IS INCENTIVIZED TO, WOULD BE ABLE TO CHANGE WHATEVER STRUCTURE THEY HAVE THERE TO BUILD WHATEVER NEEDS TO GO THERE AND MAKE IT MORE DENSE.
IS THAT CORRECT? THAT IS CORRECT, YES.
SO FOLLOW ON QUESTION TO THAT.
ONE THING I'VE SEEN IN A LOT OF AUSTIN IS WHENEVER WE BUILD, NOT SORT OF MISSING MIDDLE, BUT THE HIGHER DENSITY SIDE OF THINGS, WE OFTEN WIND UP IN A SITUATION WHERE WE WIND UP WITH APARTMENT UNITS THAT ARE BUILT TO BE RENTED BUT NOT TO BE PURCHASED.
I SEE ONE OF THE STATED GOALS IS HOME OWNERSHIP.
HOME OWNERSHIPS DON'T ALWAYS HAVE TO BE SINGLE FAMILY HOMES.
SO WHAT ARE WE DOING AS A CITY TO INCENTIVIZE DEVELOPERS TO NOT JUST BUILD AN APARTMENT COMPLEX THEY INTEND TO RENT EVERY UNIT, BUT TO ACTUALLY SELL THOSE TO PEOPLE? YEAH.
WELL, PART OF THE INCENTIVES THAT WE ARE TRYING OR THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT CURRENTLY ARE INCLUDED IN THE DEVELOPMENT BONUS PROGRAM THAT IT'S BEING RECALIBRATED.
SO WE'RE LOOKING AT WHAT THAT REQUIREMENT WILL BE FOR OWNERSHIP.
UH, CURRENTLY WE HAVE 80% MFI FOR, UM, RENTAL FOR OWNERSHIP PROPERTIES AND 60% OF MFI FOR RENTAL UNITS.
WE'RE RECALIBRATING THOSE NUMBERS TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE'S ENOUGH INCENTIVE FOR DEVELOPERS TO BUILD MORE.
UM, AND THE, THE PERCENTAGE OF, UM, UH, INCOME LEVELS AND SPECIFICS OF THAT ARE STILL BEING FLUSHED OUT.
UM, BUT WE'RE HOPING THAT A LOT OF THAT COMES FROM, UM, THE DENSITY DEV- DEVELOPMENT BONUS PROGRAM AS WELL AS, YOU KNOW, OTHER TOOLS THAT THE CITY HAS.
LIKE THEY, THEY ARE TRYING TO LEVERAGE, UM, DEVELOPMENT ON CITY-OWNED LAND.
SO THE GROVE RIVERSIDE SITES THAT THE CITY PURCHASED, WHICH IS INSIDE OF THE STUDY AREA, IS ONE IMPORTANT PROJECT THAT IS CURRENTLY GOING THROUGH ITS OWN VISIONING PROCESS.
AND, UM, THEY HAVE ALSO HEARD THIS NEED FOR HOME OWNERSHIP.
SO THEY'RE LOOKING AT WHAT THE POSSIBILITY, LIKE HOW VIABLE IS IT THAT THEY PROVIDE THOSE OWNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES ON THE SITE.
SO DEFINITELY LOOKING AT THE SITES THAT THE CITY OWN IS, UH, ONE OF THE STRATEGIES THAT WE HAVE.
SO BASICALLY, IT SOUNDS LIKE IT'S ALREADY IN PROGRESS DISCUSSING BETWEEN DENSITY BONUSES, INCENTIVES, UM, AND JUST KIND OF DEFINING WHAT IT MEANS TO BUILD MORE AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR AUSTIN AND HOW WE USE THE CITY'S LAND.
YOU'RE ALREADY INCORPORATING THAT INTO THE PLAN.
WE'RE TRYING TO LOOK AT ALL THE TOOLS
[00:50:01]
AVAILABLE.I'VE GOT A, A, A FEW MORE QUESTIONS.
UM, SO IF WE CAN GO BACK TO, TO SLIDE 20, THE DEVELOPMENT CHARACTERISTICS DISTRICTS.
NOW, I UNDERSTAND IT'S NOT THE, UH, FUTURE LAND USE AREA MAP, RIGHT? SO THE, THE YELLOW IS THE NEIGHBORHOOD FOCUS, AND THAT INCLUDES...
A- AM I TO UNDERSTAND THAT IN CERTAIN PARTS THAT WILL MEAN KEEPING EXISTING SINGLE FAMILY ZONING AND IN CERTAIN PARTS A NEW ZONING CATEGORY THAT WOULD ALLOW UP TO 40 FOOT MULTIFAMILY? WE ARE REFINING, BECAUSE THIS IS VERY HIGH LEVEL.
SO HERE WE SET NEIGHBORHOOD FOCUS THAT INCLUDES FROM LOW TO HIGH, UM, INTENSITY, BUT THE FUTURE LAND USE MAP WILL HAVE MORE OF A BREAKDOWN OF THE DENSITIES.
SO YEAH, WE'RE THINKING THERE WILL PROBABLY BE, YOU KNOW, UH, THERE WILL PROBABLY BE A PLACE TYPE THAT WILL BE JUST SINGLE FAMILY AS IS, AND THEN MAYBE, UH, CERTAIN PROPERTIES, UM, THAT, UH, CAN INCORPORATE SOME OF THE MISSING MIDDLE AND JUST MEDIUM DENSITY.
NOW, HA- HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT HOW THAT WOULD INTERACT WITH SB 840? 'CAUSE MY UNDERSTANDING WITH THE CURRENT LAW IS AS SOON AS WE ZONE THAT SAYING YOU CAN BUILD MULTIFAMILY, IT'S 45 BY RIGHT, RIGHT? YEAH.
THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT, AND WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT, LIKE, WHAT LEGISLATIVE CHANGES WILL COME NEXT, BECAUSE EVERY, EVERY LEGISLATIVE SESSION, THERE'S CHANGES.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, WE ARE, UM, TRYING TO WORK WITH WHAT WE HAVE AND ALSO ANTICIPATE WHAT MIGHT CHANGE AND - NO, AND, AND I THINK THERE HAVE BEEN A LOT OF DISCUSSIONS ABOUT AMENDING SBA 40 TO HAVE SOMETHING ABOUT MISSING MIDDLE IN THERE.
I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE, LIKE, THAT'S, THAT'S IN Y'ALL'S MIND ABOUT - DEFINITELY, YES.
UM, IN THE REGULATING PLAN FOR ETOD, THERE ARE PROHIBITED USES AND CONDITIONAL USES, THINGS THAT ARE NOT, YOU KNOW, UM, TRANSIT-ORIENTED, LIKE AUTO BODY SHOPS.
ARE YOU GUYS GONNA HAVE THE SAME THING IN THIS REGULATING PLAN? YEAH, THE PLAN IS TO ALIGN, UM, THE ETOD, UH, USES TO THE ERC PERMITTED USES.
AND THEN, UM, IS FEE IN LIEU CONTEMPLATED AS PART OF THE DENSITY BONUS HERE? YES.
WE ARE LOOKING AT THE FEE IN LIEU.
AGAIN, WE DON'T HAVE, UH, A SPECIFIC PROPOSAL YET.
BUT IF YOU HAVE STRONG, UM, THOUGHTS AND PREFERENCES AND IDEAS OF WHAT WOULD WORK SPECIFICALLY FOR THE ERC, WE WANNA HEAR THOSE.
UM, WE'RE TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR DENSITY BONUS PROGRAMS CITYWIDE ALIGN - YEAH.
BUT WE UNDERSTAND THIS AREA'S DIFFERENT, SO WE NEED TO DIVERT IN ANY REGULATIONS OR REQUIREMENTS.
WE ARE WILLING TO DO THAT IF, IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WILL MAKE OUR DENSITY BONUS PROGRAMS, UM, PERFORM BETTER.
AND THEN CAN YOU WALK US THROUGH, BECAUSE I'M SURE AT SOME POINT, WE MIGHT WANNA GIVE COMMENT AS, AS A BODY TO Y'ALL.
WH- WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO DO THAT AND WHAT YOUR TIMELINE IS FOR EVENTUAL COUNCIL ADOPTION AND PLANNING COMMISSION, ALL THAT STUFF? YEAH.
WE ARE, AGAIN, IN THE PROCESS OF REFINING THIS MAP, THE PROPOSED CONNECTIVITY MAP, THE VISION.
UM, WE ARE WORKING ON A DRAFT VISION PLAN TO SHARE WITH THE COMMUNITY IN JANUARY.
UM, AND THEN BASED ON THOSE CHANGES, WE HAVE TO MAKE CHANGES TO THE REGULATING PLAN.
SO, UM, DEPENDING ON WHAT WE LAND ON THE FUTURE LAND USE MAP, THOSE CHANGES WILL CARRY OVER TO THE REGULATING PLAN.
SO THE COMMUNITY WILL GET TO REVIEW THE REGULATING PLAN SLIGHTLY AFTER THAT.
UM, AND THEN ADOPTION WILL FOLLOW THE SAME FORMAT.
COUNCIL WILL VOTE ON THE VISION PLAN, AND DEPENDING ON THE CHANGES THAT THEY MAKE ON THE DAIS, UH, WE'LL HAVE TO UPDATE THE REGULATING PLAN OR NOT.
AND THEY'LL GET TO ALSO CONSIDER AND ADOPT THE REGULATING PLAN SLIGHTLY AFTER THAT.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? UH, FOLKS ONLINE, SHOUT OUT.
UM, SO THE ASMP, LIKE, OUR PRIMARY GUIDE, UM, HERE, AND, UM, OUR FORMER COMMISSIONER, RUBEN, BROUGHT THIS UP WHEN WE WERE TALKING ABOUT ETOD IS THAT, UH, BY 2039, WE'D LIKE TO SEE, YOU KNOW, FOUR TIMES AS MANY PEOPLE TAKING TRANSIT AS DO NOW, GOING FROM 4% TO 16%.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WE CAN, IN THIS FORMAL COMMENT, BUT I JUST WANNA MAKE A COMMENT HERE THAT IT, IT DOES MAKE ME NERVOUS THAT ON OUR PREMIER, UH, TRANSIT INVESTMENT IN THE CITY, WE'RE STILL HAVING THINGS WITHIN THAT ONE, THAT POINT FIVE MILE RADIUS OF A LIGHT RAIL STATION, UM, IN THAT YELLOW CATEGORY.
AND SO, AND ESPECIALLY THE THINGS THAT ARE TOUCHING THE ACTUAL CORRIDOR.
SO I, YOU KNOW, AS WE'RE TRYING TO, UH, MOVE FORWARD WITH THIS PLAN, THERE'S ONLY SO MANY GOALS
[00:55:01]
THAT WE CAN ACCOMPLISH AT THE SAME TIME, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, FOR, FOR US, OR FOR ME AT LEAST, I REALLY THINK THAT A VERY HIGH RIDERSHIP IS PROBABLY MY PRIORITY.SO, UM, YOU KNOW, IF, IF WE CAN'T GET TO 16% OR YOU SOMEHOW FIND THAT WAY TO, FROM THAT 4% TO 16% USING THIS CORRIDOR, THEN, UH, WE'RE VERY UNLIKELY TO HIT THAT AND BY 2039, WHICH IS THE AS&P GOALS.
SO, UM, I'M HOPING, UH, AS OUR COMMENTS AND AS THIS PLAN MOVES FORWARD, WE, WE FIND A WAY THAT WE ARE, UM, SENSITIVE, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, REALISTIC ABOUT WHAT IT'S GONNA TAKE TO GET US TO THAT GOAL.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM COMMISSIONERS? I DO HAVE ONE COMMENT.
UM, LOOKING AT THE STATED OBJECTIVES OF BASICALLY REDUCING DISPLACEMENT AND INCREASING HOME OWNERSHIP, I DO THINK IT WOULD BE GOOD FOR US TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY, IF YOU DO INSTITUTE A FEE IN LIEU STRUCTURE FOR THE DENSITY BONUS, TO TRY TO IMPLEMENT SOME SORT OF A TIME HORIZON FOR SPENDING THE MONEY THAT IS CAPTURED IN FEE IN LIEU.
AS I CURRENTLY UNDERSTAND IT, THE EXISTING DENSITY BONUS, WHEN PEOPLE PAY FEE IN LIEU, IT GOES INTO AN AFFORDABLE HOUSING TRUST FUND AND THEN DOES NOT GET SPENT ON BUILDING ACTUAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
AND SO SINCE WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY HERE TO ACTUALLY LOOK AT ZONING DIFFERENTLY IN THIS AREA, I THINK IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO GO AHEAD AND USE THAT LEVERAGE AND BASICALLY MAKE SURE THAT THE MONEY CAPTURED IS ACTUALLY USED TO BUILD THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING WE'RE TRYING TO PUT IN THE AREA.
ANY OTHER COMMISSIONERS? ALL RIGHT.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE, ANNA.
[3. Update on Traffic Enforcement Efforts. Presentation by William White, Lieutenant, Austin Police. ]
TO OUR SECOND DISCUSSION ITEM AND THIRD AGENDA ITEM, AN UPDATE ON TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS.AND WE HAVE WITH US LIEUTENANT WILLIAM WHITE FROM, UH, CITY OF AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT.
WE, UH, REALLY APPRECIATE YOU COMING OUT AND, UH...
AND, UH, IF, IF YOU GUYS WANNA JUMP IN AT ANY POINT WITH QUESTIONS ALONG THE WAY, FEEL FREE.
IF YOU NEED CLARIFICATION ON ANYTHING, I'M FINE WITH THAT.
SO, LIKE I SAID, I'M LIEUTENANT WILLIAM WHITE.
I'M WITH THE, UH, AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT.
I SUPERVISE THE HIGHWAY ENFORCEMENT DIVISION OF THE, UH, POLICE DEPARTMENT.
AND SO I'M GONNA KINDA TALK ABOUT THE TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT, UH, KINDA SOME, SOME OF THE HISTORY IN CASE YOU'RE NOT FAMILIAR WITH IT, BEGINNING FROM 2019 TO THE CURRENT PERIOD.
AND, UH, WE'LL START FROM THERE.
SO WE'RE GONNA START WITH DOING SOME ANNUAL STATISTICS, FOCUSING PRIMARILY ON DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED, AS WELL AS THE CITATIONS THAT WE'VE BEEN GIVING, UH, INCLUDING HAZARDOUS, NON-HAZARDOUS.
AND THEN I, I KNOW THERE WAS SOME INTEREST IN DISTRACTED DRIVING.
UM, THE, THERE'S NO SPECIFIC LAW ON DISTRACTED DRIVING, BUT THE ONE WE GENERALLY FOCUS ON INVOLVES THE ELECTRONIC HANDHELD DEVICES, CELL PHONES, ESSENTIALLY.
AND THEN WE'LL TALK ABOUT THE WARNINGS AS WELL.
SO GOING FROM DWI ARREST BEGINNING IN JANUARY 2019 THROUGH PRESENT, UH, THE END OF OCTOBER.
SO YOU CAN SEE THE, UH, 38% DECLINE BETWEEN THOSE TIMES BEGINNING IN 2019.
WE HAD THE AVERAGE, UH, THE 4200 NUMBER.
UH, AS YOU SEE THAT DIP FROM WHAT WE'RE SEEING, UH, IN 2020, THAT'S WHEN WE SAW COVID HAPPEN, AS WELL AS THE PROTESTS.
AND THEN FOLLOWING THAT, WE HAD A MASS EXODUS OF OFFICERS FROM THERE, AND SO STAFFING LEVELS DROPPED TO A LEVEL THAT WAS, UH, KIND OF CRITICAL STAFFING LEVELS.
SO ONE OF THE SOLUTIONS THAT THEY CAME UP WITH AT THE TIME WAS TO REDUCE OUR TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT UNITS, WHICH IS THE UNITS THAT I CURRENTLY SUPERVISE.
SO THEY SUSPENDED LIKE OUR DWI PROGRAM, FOR EXAMPLE, OUR MOTORS OFFICERS, AND THAT WAS WHERE A LOT OF OUR TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT INITIATIVES CAME FROM, WERE THOSE PARTICULAR UNITS.
SO THOSE REDUCTIONS ALSO IMPACTED THE AMOUNT OF TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT THAT YOU SAW.
AS YOU SEE, IT, IT STARTS TO PICK UP IN 2025, WE BELIEVE S - FROM SOME OF THE INITIATIVES WE DID, UH, THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING.
AND SO WE'RE HOPING TO KIND OF SEE THAT TREND CONTINUE AS WELL AS, AS WE START TO INC- INCREASE STAFFING THROUGH THE DEPARTMENT.
SO, UH, THESE ARE THE DISTRICTS THAT WE SEE THE, OR THAT WE'VE BROKEN DOWN INTO THE NUMBERS OF DWIS WE'VE SEEN IN, JUST IN 2026.
UH, NOT SURPRISING, THE, THE BIGGEST CONCENTRATION YOU'RE GONNA SEE IS IN THE, UH, THE DOWNTOWN AREA WITH, UH, UH,
[01:00:01]
SHORTLY AFTER THAT, THE DI - COUNCIL, THAT'S COUNCIL DISTRICT NINE, AND THEN COUNCIL DISTRICT THREE FOLLOWS THAT, UH, WITH, UH, THAT'S, IT'S, IT'S KIND OF ALMOST AN EXPANDED ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT.IT'S JUST TO THE EAST OF THE DOWNTOWN CORRIDOR.
AND THEN WITH OUR CITATIONS, AGAIN, YOU SEE THE SAME TREND AND YOU'LL SEE THESE, UH, THIS PATTERN.
UH, YOU HAD, UH, 35,000, UH, IN 2019, UM, HAZARDOUS AND 32,000 NON-HAZARDOUS ALL THE WAY DROPPING DOWN TO, YOU KNOW, SOME HISTORIC LOWS AND THEN WE'RE SEEING IT, IT TREND BACK UP AGAIN.
AND IF YOU'RE NOT CLEAR, A HAZARDOUS VERSUS A NON-HAZARDOUS CITATION, HAZARDOUS MEANS IT'S A MOVING VIOLATION.
THEY'VE DONE SOMETHING MOVING DANGEROUS, WHEREAS A NON-HAZARDOUS IS LIKE YOUR REGISTRATION IS OUT, SOMETHING ALONG THOSE LINES.
AND THEN THESE ARE THE, UH, CITATIONS FOR HANDHELD DEVICE.
AGAIN, YOU SEE THE SIMILAR TREND OF THE DIP IN, STARTING IN 2020, AND THEN IT, IT'S STARTING TO PICK UP AGAIN.
UH, WE HAD, YOU KNOW, AN INCREASE UP TO 391 IN 2025.
AND THEN WARNINGS - SO I, I HAVE A QUESTION REGARDING THE HANDHELD DEVICE.
UH, WAS, WAS THAT DIP ATTRIBUTED TO JUST THE STAFFING? YEAH.
OR IS THAT A TRUE REDUCTION? YEAH.
SO BECAUSE IF YOU FOLLOW THE PATTERNS OF THE CITATIONS AND EVEN THE WARNINGS LIKE YOU SEE HERE, THERE WERE LESS TRAFFIC STOPS OVERALL.
SO IT'S, IT JUST TRENDS ALONG WITH WHAT WE WERE SEEING BOTH, YOU KNOW, DWIS, UH, CITATIONS, WARNINGS.
OFFICERS JUST, THERE WEREN'T, THERE WASN'T ENOUGH STAFFING TO DEPLOY ENOUGH OFFICERS TO FOCUS ON ANY OF THESE ISSUES, TRAFFIC IN GENERAL.
SO THAT'S WHY, UH, YOU'RE GONNA SEE JUST A DIP ACROSS THE BOARD WITH ANY TYPE OF CITATION.
SO, AND AGAIN, LIKE I SAID, WARNINGS, UH, YOU, YOU SEE THE SAME SIMILAR TREND.
AND THE REASON WE PUT WARNINGS UP HERE IS IT GOES ALONG WITH TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT.
UH, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T ALWAYS BELIEVE THAT, UH, A CITATION IS NECESSARY, BUT WARNINGS CAN SERVE AND, AND NOT ONLY, UH, ADDRESS THE BEHAVIOR, BUT ALSO IT SHOWS US OUT THERE IN THE, IN THE PUBLIC MAKING CONTACTS, HOPEFULLY GETTING PEOPLE TO SLOW DOWN BECAUSE THEY SEE AN OFFICER'S PULLED SOMEONE OVER.
AND SO THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS WE ALSO SHOW THAT THE, THE WARNINGS ARE IMPORTANT BECAUSE THOSE ARE THE NUMBER OF TIMES OFFICERS ARE JUST STOPPING VEHICLES FOR SOME KIND OF VIOLATION.
SO MOVING ON TO OUR IMPAIRED DRIVING INVESTIGATIONS UNIT, THAT'S BASICALLY WHAT HAP - OH, I APOLOGIZE.
SO ABOUT THIS UNIT, ITS PRIMARY MISSION IS TO SUPPORT, UH, AND PROMOTE DWIS AND DRUG RECOGNITION EXPERT RELATED ACTIVITY WITHIN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.
IF YOU'RE NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE DRUG RECOGNITION EXPERT PROGRAM, THESE ARE OFFICERS THAT ARE SPECIALLY TRAINED TO RECOGNIZE SOMEONE BEING INTOXICATED ON SOMETHING OTHER THAN ALCOHOL.
SO, YOU KNOW, IT COULD BE PRESCRIPTION DRUGS, UH, NARCOTICS OF SOME KIND.
AND SO, UH, WE HAD, UH, THOSE WERE, WERE CONCENTRATED IN OUR DWI UNIT.
SO ONCE THE UNIT GOT DISBANDED, ONE OF THE THINGS WE DID WAS TO TRY TO FOCUS ON KEEPING THOSE DRES CERTIFIED, EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE BEING SENT BACK TO PATROL.
SO WE'VE CONTINUED THAT PROGRAM FOR OFFICERS THAT ARE NOW ON PATROL, AND THEY'VE KIND OF BECOME THE DEFACTO DWI, DWI EXPERTS WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT.
AND THEY'RE, THEY'RE KIND OF OUR GO-TO FOR, UH, ANY TYPE OF, UH, YOU KNOW, HIGH PROFILE ARREST OR THERE, IF THERE'S A, AN INCIDENT WITH A FATALITY WHERE THEY SUSPECT SOMEONE'S BEEN, UH, USING DRUGS OR ALCOHOL, THEY WILL GO OUT THERE AND ASSIST THE INVESTIGATORS TO TRY TO DETERMINE IF ALCOHOL OR DRUGS PLAYED A FACTOR IN THOSE SORTS OF SITUATIONS.
UM, SO THESE, UH, IMPAIRED DRIVING INVESTIGATORS, IT'S ONLY A FOUR-MAN UNIT, UH, SERGEANT AND THREE INVESTIGATORS, BUT ESSENTIALLY THEY PROVIDE SUPPORT TO OFFICERS FOR THE DWI PROGRAM.
UH, SO NOW WHEN OFFICERS, UH, ARREST PEOPLE ON THE STREET AND, AND BRING THEM IN FOR DWIS, THESE ARE THE ONES THAT DO ALL THE FOLLOW-UP ON THE CASE.
THEY'LL OBTAIN SEARCH WARRANTS, THEY'LL HELP DRAW THEIR BLOOD, UH, AND DO ANY ADDITIONAL FOLLOW-UP THAT MAY BE NEEDED, LIKE GETTING BLOOD, UH, FROM A HOSPITAL THROUGH A SUBPOENA OR GETTING VIDEOS, THOSE SORTS OF THINGS.
SO THEY, THEY DO ALL THE FOLLOW-UP INVESTIGATIONS.
THEY ALSO DO A LOT OF PUBLIC OUTREACH.
UH, I, I HELP THEM WITH THAT TOO.
WE GO TO EVENTS WITH TXDOT ABOUT DRIVER, UH, DRIVER SAFETY AS WELL AS INTOXICATION.
UM, WE GO TO SCHOOLS AND THOSE SORTS OF THINGS.
AND SOME SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS THAT OUR IMPAIRED DRIVING UNIT HAS DONE.
UH, SO WE PARTNERED WITH VISION ZERO, UH, TO IMPLEMENT WHAT WE REFER TO AS NO REFUSAL 365.
SO ESSENTIALLY THE NO REFUSAL PROGRAM THAT WE ALREADY HAD IN PLACE WITH VISION ZERO, UH, WHICH WAS MAINLY ON HOLIDAYS AND WEEKENDS.
UH, AND THEN ALSO WE DEVELOPED THE, UH, APD QUALIFIED TECHNICIAN PROGRAM AND WE'RE ALSO, WE'LL ALSO DISCUSS THE, UH, RECOGNITION THAT APD RECEIVED, UH, THROUGH THE MOTHERS AGAINST DRUNK
[01:05:01]
DRIVING PROGRAM.SO NO, NO REFUSAL 365 OVERVIEW.
LIKE I SAID, IT USED TO BE ONLY HOLIDAYS AND WEEKENDS.
UH, AND BEGINNING IN 2024, WE WORKED WITH VISION ZERO TO EXPAND THE PROGRAM TO, UH, 365.
SO EVERY, EVERY DAY, UH, BASICALLY BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 9:00 PM AND 5:00 AM, THERE ARE, UH, EXPANDED OFFICERS, UH, THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO ASSIST WITH THE DWIS AT THE JAIL, SO PROCESSING THOSE.
AND BY DOING THAT, WE'VE SEEN A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF SAMPLES OF, OF BREATH WE'RE GETTING.
UH, AND IF YOU'RE NOT FAMILIAR WITH NO REFUSAL, I APOLOGIZE.
UH, WHAT IT MEANS IS IF YOU'RE ARRESTED FOR DWI AND YOU REFUSE TO PROVIDE A SPECIMEN WHEN THE OFFICER REQUESTS ONE, THEN THE OFFICER WILL EITHER, UH, WILL GET A SEARCH WARRANT AT THAT POINT FOR EITHER, FOR YOUR BLOOD.
AND THEN FROM THERE, UH, THAT'S WHY WE CALL IT NO REFUSAL BECAUSE IF YOU REFUSE, THEN WE'LL, WE'LL GET A SEARCH WARRANT AT THAT POINT.
AND IT USED TO ONLY BE ON CERTAIN TIME, CERTAIN DAYS THAT WE WERE ABLE TO DO THAT.
AND SO YOU'VE SEEN SINCE WE'VE IMPLEMENTED IN THE P - THE PROGRAM, WE'RE, WE'VE SEEN A, AN INCREASE, 70% OF BREATH SPECIMENS.
WE'RE GETTING, UH, AN INCREASE OF CONSENT BLOOD, AND THAT'S WHERE, UH, THE SUBJECT AGREES TO PROVIDE A SAMPLE.
AND THEN A BLOOD SEARCH WARRANT, THAT'S WHERE WE SEE THE BIGGEST INCREASE IS 38% INCREASE IN, IN OBTAINING A WARRANT FOR THE BLOOD SPECIMEN, AND A SIGNIFICANT DROP IN THE NUMBER OF REFUSALS WE'RE GETTING FROM PEOPLE, UH, WILLING TO PROVIDE SPECIMENS.
CAN I ASK A QUESTION ABOUT THAT? SURE.
WHAT WAS THE IMPETUS FOR THAT CHANGE FROM WEEKENDS AND HOLIDAYS TO 365? UH, I THINK - OR, OR LIKE WHAT ALLOWED YOU TO MAKE THAT CHANGE? YEAH, JOEL'S HERE.
HE'S WITH, UH, VISION ZERO, AND HE, HE, YOU KNOW, AS FAR AS I KNEW, THEY HAD THE FUNDING TO, UH, OFFER US TO - OH, OKAY.
STAFF THE, UH, STAFF THE, THE SUFFICIENT NUMBER OF OFFICERS TO BE ABLE TO COVER IT - COOL.
AND WHAT'S INVOLVED IN GETTING A BLOOD SEARCH WARRANT? LIKE, CAN YOU DO THAT ON THE SPOT OR DOES IT TAKE AN HOUR OR LIKE - YES.
SO THE, THE, THE ARREST HAS TO FIRST BE MADE BECAUSE THEY SEE THE CLUES - YEAH.
AND THEN IF THEY FEEL THEY HAVE THE PROBABLE CAUSE BASED ON WHAT THEY SAW, THEN THEY, UH, ESSENTIALLY PRI - WRITE IT DOWN IN A, AN AFFIDAVIT, GIVE IT TO A JUDGE AT THE JAIL.
IF THE JUDGE AGREES WITH IT, HE'LL SIGN IT.
AND THEN FROM THERE, THE BLOOD IS DRAWN.
SO IT CAN BE IMPLEMENTED WITHIN, LIKE, THE TIME NEEDED FOR IT TO BE MEANINGFUL EVIDENCE? YEAH, YEAH.
AS FAR AS, LIKE, THE METABOLIZATION OF THE BLOOD IS, IS PROBABLY WHAT YOU'RE REFERRING TO.
SO YEAH, WE TR - WE TRY TO GET IT DONE ASQUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
YEAH, LIKE, IT WOULDN'T BE, LIKE THREE DAYS LATER, BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE - NO, NO, NO, NO.
IT, IT, IT'S WITHIN A REASONABLE TIMEFRAME.
AND SO OUR QUALIFIED TECHNICIAN PROGRAM, UH, SO THE HISTO - THE HISTORICAL, UH, OR THE HISTORY, AS I SHOULD SAY, OF THIS PROGRAM WAS DEVELOPED, UH, FOLLOWING, UH, COVID AND ALL THAT.
WE ALSO SAW A DR - DIP IN STAFFING FOR EMS WHO HAD ALSO, UH, BEEN THE ONES THAT WERE TRADITIONALLY DRAWING OUR BLOOD FOR US ON OVERTIME.
SO BECAUSE THEY WERE HAVING STAFFING SHORTAGES, THEY TOLD US THEY'RE GONNA ESSENTIALLY HAVE TO PULL OUT OF THE PROGRAM OF DRAWING BLOOD.
TEXAS LAW DOESN'T SPECIFY THAT IT HAS TO BE A MEDICAL TECHNICIAN THAT DRAWS THE BLOOD.
IT JUST SAYS A QUALIFIED TECHNICIAN.
SO ONE OF THE SOLUTIONS WE CAME UP WITH CITY MANAGEMENT AT THE TIME WAS TO BEGIN TO TRAIN OFFICERS TO BECOME QUALIFIED TECHNICIANS TO DRAW THE BLOOD.
AND SO NOW, AS YOU SEE, WE HAVE 18 OFFICERS THAT DO IT.
IT'S BEEN A VERY SUCCESSFUL PROGRAM.
THE DISTRICT ATTORNEYS AND, AND COUNTY ATTORNEYS HAVE BEEN VERY HAPPY WITH THE RESULTS OF THAT.
AND SO AT THIS POINT, YOU SEE THAT WE'VE DONE OVER 3,300 BLOOD DRAWS SINCE FEBRUARY, SINCE THE PRO- PROGRAM BEGAN IN FEBRUARY 2024.
AND THE SUCCESS RATES ALSO SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.
WE HAVE A 98% SUCCESS RATE, AND, UH, THESE ARE IN LINE WITH THE EMS RATES AT THE TIME, UH, THE EMS WAS STILL DOING IT WITH US.
ANOTHER IMPORTANT THING THAT WE FEEL OF HAVING THE OFFICERS DO IT IS IT KIND OF FOCUSES THESE PUBLIC SAFETY, UH, THINGS WE SEE INTO THEIR, UH, SPECIFIC PURVIEWS.
UH, DRAWING BLOOD ISN'T REALLY A MEDICAL PROCEDURE.
FOR OUR PURPOSES, IT'S AN EVIDENTIARY REASON WE'RE GATHERING IT.
WE'RE NOT TRYING TO DO A MEDICAL PROCEDURE.
SO IT ALLOWS OFFICERS TO BE DOING THIS THAT THEY'RE GATHERING EVIDENCE.
WE CAN LET MORE EMS PERSONNEL BE AVAILABLE TO, TO ATTEND TO MEDICAL ISSUES, AS WELL AS WE DON'T HAVE TO THEN TAKE, UH, UH, THESE SUBJECTS TO THE HOSPITAL TO HAVE THEIR BLOOD DRAWN.
AND AGAIN, DOESN'T TIE UP DOCTORS AND NURSES ASSISTING US WITH BLO - DRAWING BLOOD EITHER.
AND THIS IS JUST TO RECOGNIZE SOME OF THE APD FOLKS.
UH, SO THE VAST MAJORITY OF ALL THESE OFFICERS LISTED ARE DRES, LIKE I MENTIONED, AND, UH, SEVERAL OF THEM ARE ALSO IN THE IMPAIRED DRIVING INVESTIGATIONS UNIT.
AND THEN, UH, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE TWO, UH, ROOKIE AWARDS.
UH, BUT YOU CAN SEE THE EFFORTS THAT, UH, THESE OFFICERS AT APD HAVE STILL PUT INTO, UH, FOCUSING ON DWI, UH, ENFORCEMENT.
AND SO WE'RE STILL GETTING A LOT OF RECOGNITION FROM THE MOTHERS AGAINST DRUNK DRIVING CAMPAIGN DESPITE NO LONGER HAVING THAT FULL-TIME UNIT.
[01:10:04]
AND THE NEXT SUBJECT I WAS GONNA TALK ABOUT IS OUR COMMERCIAL VEHICLE ENFORCEMENT UNIT.SO THESE GUYS ARE THE ONES THAT ARE FRI - PRIMARILY FOCUSED ON, UH, INSPECTING AND ENFORCING LAWS PERTAINING TO THE COM - OPERATION OF COMMERCIAL VEHICLES.
AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE, NOT, NOT LIKE THE ONES, UH, THE VANS FOR A, A PLUMBING COMPANY OR A, A BOX TRUCK MOVING COMPANY WITH THE LARGER 18-WHEELERS, UH, THE ONES THAT ARE OVER EXCEED 26,000 POUNDS.
AND SO THOSE ARE THE ONES THEY'RE FOCUSING ON.
UH, THEY ALSO DO A LOT OF OUTREACH AND SAFETY WITH THESE COMPANIES TO ENSURE THESE COMPANIES, IF THEY'RE HAVING ANY ISSUES, THEY CAN UNDERSTAND WHAT THE LAWS ARE.
AND SO THAT WAY, BECAUSE THERE'S, SOMETIMES WE'LL FIND THAT THERE'S ONE COMPANY THAT'S, WE KEEP SEEING THEM OUT THERE AND THEY KEEP HAVING THE SAME ISSUES.
SO WE'RE HAPPY TO GO OUT THERE AND TALK TO THEM AND HELP THEM UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS THEY NEED TO DO TO COME UP TO COMPLIANCE.
SO THIS YEAR ALONE, THEY'VE DONE 1,853 INSPECTIONS, AND AS YOU CAN SEE, 41% OF THOSE VEHICLES WERE PLACED OUT OF SERVICE.
AND SO IT CAN RANGE FROM PRETTY SIGNIFICANT ISSUES TO WHERE, LIKE WHAT YOU SEE HERE, THESE ARE HAZARDOUS MATERIALS, UH, THAT AREN'T BEING STORED PROPERLY.
UH, YOU SEE THIS, UH, UH, TRAILER HERE THAT THE FRAME COLLAPSED ON IT, AND THEN THIS IS A DRIVER THAT HAD LEFT HIS BED UP AND HIT A BRIDGE, HAD A BRIDGE STRIKED, AND THIS WAS PRETTY RECENTLY, IF YOU DIDN'T HEAR ABOUT THAT ONE.
AND SO THESE ARE JUST SOME OF THE THINGS THEY SEE IN THIS UNIT AND SOME OF THE THINGS THEY ENFORCE.
UH, IN ADDITION TO 41% OF THE VEHICLES BEING PLACED OUT OF SERVICE, 8% OF THE DRIVERS ARE PLACED OUT OF SERVICE.
AND THOSE COULD BE FROM A RANGE OF NOT HAVING THE PROPER LICENSE TO, UH, HAVING WORKED TOO MANY HOURS AND NOT LOGGING IT PROPERLY, THOSE SORTS OF THINGS.
AND SO, UH, THERE'S 123 CITATIONS ISSUED.
UH, THEY DON'T ISSUE A WHOLE LOT OF CITATIONS.
THEY PRIMARILY FOCUS ON IF IT, THEY DON'T HAVE INSURANCE, THEY'LL GIVE CITATIONS FOR THAT.
UH, ONE OF THE REASONS BEING IS, IS THESE TRUCKERS, THEY DON'T, UH, NECESSARILY HAVE A LOT OF MONEY, SO PART OF IT IS EDUCATION AND WARNINGS.
AND SO THEY DON'T WANNA, LIKE, HAMMER THEM WITH A BUNCH OF...
THEY'RE, THEY ALREADY ARE GONNA BE FINANCIALLY, UH, DEALING WITH THE ISSUES WITH THEIR TRUCK THAT THEY'RE, THEY'RE FINDING, AND SOMETIMES THOSE CAN BE PRETTY EXPENSIVE.
SO THEY TRY TO AVOID HAMMERING THEM, SO TO SPEAK, WITH ADDITIONAL CITATIONS FOR, UH, UNLESS THEY SEE JUST SOMETHING THAT'S PRETTY EGREGIOUS THAT THEY NEED TO DEAL WITH.
CAN, CAN YOU BREAK DOWN FOR ME, BECAUSE THAT 41% SEEMS QUITE ALARMING, ACTUALLY.
SO, SO WHAT, UH, WHAT IS THE IMPETUS FOR A COMMERCIAL VEHICLE INSPECTION? LIKE WHEN, WHEN YOU GO IN AND MAKE THAT INSPECTION? SO WHEN, WHEN THEY DO THE INSPECTION, THEY FOCUS ON, THEY, THEY BASICALLY WALK THE ENTIRE PERIMETER OF THE TRUCK.
THEY GET UNDERNEATH IT, THEY INSPECT THE ENGINE, THEY EXPECT THE BRAKES, SO ALL THOSE THINGS.
SO EVEN THOSE 41%, SOMETIMES IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT'S SUPER, LIKE, THAT IT'S A, IT'S ABOUT TO JUST BREAK DOWN OR, OR CAUSE SOME KIND OF, UH, MASS CASUALTY INCIDENT.
BUT SOMETIMES THE, UH, THE T - ONE TIRE OF THE 18 TIRES ISN'T FILLED TO THE RIGHT CAPACITY, AND SO THE TRUCK JUST NEEDS TO PUT SOME AIR IN ONE TIRE.
AND SO THERE'S LITTLE THRESHOLDS LIKE THAT THAT MAKE IT NOT AS DANGEROUS.
BUT I WILL TELL YOU FROM HAVING GONE ON PLENTY OF INSPECTIONS WITH THEM, THERE ARE STILL A LOT OF VEHICLES THAT YOU WOULD BE SURPRISED AND, AND, AND VERY CONCERNED ON THE ROAD THAT, THAT ARE, UH, NOT MEETING THEIR SAFETY REQUIREMENTS.
AND I'M SURE COMMISSIONER BROWN IS, IS SCREAMING BECAUSE HE KNOWS THE ANSWER TO THIS, BUT IS, IS THIS LIKE AN ANNUAL INSPECTION OR YOU INSPECT WHEN YOU THINK THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE TRUCK? NO.
SO WHAT THEY DO IS ESSENTIALLY THEY PARK, UH, JUST AROUND THE CITY AND THEY'LL, THEY'LL, THEY'LL GENERALLY STICK TO THE HIGH SPEED ROADWAYS BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE YOU'RE GONNA SEE MOST OF YOUR COMMERCIAL VEHICLES TRANSPORTING TO AND FROM.
AND THEN THEY'LL JUST LOOK FOR A TRUCK AND THEY CAN DO IT RANDOMLY BECAUSE THEY CAN JUST PULL OVER ANY TRUCK THAT THEY HAVE, UH, BASED ON THE FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER ACT - UH-HUH.
AND STATE LAW WITH, UH, DPS WORKING WITH THEM.
THEY CAN JUST PULL A C - A TRUCK OVER JUST TO INSPECT IT SOLELY.
AND SO THAT'S HOW THEY DO MOST OF IT.
AND SOMETIMES THEY CAN CLEARLY SEE VIOLATIONS - SURE.
BASED ON THE TRUCK DRIVING BY.
OTHER TIMES, THEY'RE JUST, YOU KNOW, HERE, HERE COMES A SEMI, SO I'M JUST GONNA CHECK IT OUT.
SO THEY DON'T HAVE TO BE, LIKE, DOING ANYTHING WRONG.
BUT I, I CAN TELL YOU FROM RIDING WITH THEM, A LOT OF TIMES THEY JUST, THEY SEE IT.
THEY'RE LIKE, "OH, I'M GONNA GET THIS ONE.
UH, ONE OF THESE LIGHTS IS OUT AND IT'S GOTTA HAVE THOSE LIGHTS." SO SOMETIMES IT'S JUST A CERTAIN NUMBER OF LIGHTS OUT AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO, UH, THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS THAT GO INTO THESE INSPECTIONS.
UM, SO DO YOU HAVE ANY STATS ON THE WARNINGS THAT YOU GUYS ISSUED VERSUS CITATIONS? BECAUSE IT, AS YOU KNOW, WARNINGS ARE JUST LIKE CITATIONS, RIGHT? 'CAUSE IT DOES AFFECT NOT ONLY THE DRIVER, IT AFFECTS THAT COMPANY FOR THREE YEARS, UH, FOR TWO YEARS AND THE DRIVER FOR THREE YEARS.
SO I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THE, THE STATS ON HOW MANY WARNINGS YOU GUYS ARE ISSUING VERSUS THE CITATIONS.
BECAUSE WITH WARNINGS, THE DRIVER OF THE COMPANY CAN'T FIGHT THE WARNINGS,
[01:15:01]
YOU KNOW? YEAH.SO I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THOSE NUMBERS.
I CAN CERTAINLY SEE ABOUT GETTING THE TOTAL NUMBERS.
SO WHEN THEY DO THE INSPECTION REPORT, UM, THAT'S WHERE THEY SHOW ALL THE VIOLATIONS.
AND, AND I'M, I'M ASSUMING THAT'S WHAT YOU MEAN BY THE WARNINGS, AND THAT'S WHAT THEY SEND BACK TO DPS, WHICH SHOWS ALL THE VIOLATIONS.
AND THEN FROM THERE, UH, IF YOU'RE...
SO YOU'RE BASICALLY ASKING ABOUT THE TOTAL NUMBER OF VIOLATIONS, IF I'M UNDERSTANDING YOU CORRECT? I'M, I'M ASKING MAINLY THE WARNINGS, BECAUSE A LOT OF, YOU KNOW, UM, INSPECTORS MIGHT JUST GIVE THE DRIVERS THE WARNINGS FOR THE VIOLATIONS INSTEAD OF THE CITATION ITSELF.
AND, AND SO WHAT I WAS SAYING, THEY DON'T, WE DON'T NECESSARILY GIVE THEM, LIKE, THE, THE STANDARD WARNING WE DO WITH APD.
WHAT, WHAT THEY DO IS ON THOSE INSPECTION REPORTS, WHEN THEY CHECK OFF THE, THE VIOLATIONS THAT THEY FOUND, THAT'S KIND OF WHAT, LIKE, SERVES AS THE WARNING.
THEY, THEY HAVE THE INSPECTION WAR - AND IT SHOWS ALL THE VIOLATIONS AND WHAT THEY HAVE TO FIX.
AND THAT, THAT WILL KIND OF SHOW...
I GUESS, I GUESS THAT'S WHAT WE WOULD KIND OF REFER TO AS A WARNING IN THOSE.
THOSE ARE ALL THE THINGS THEY HAVE TO FIX, BUT THEY DIDN'T NECESSARILY GET A CITATION FOR IT.
SO YEAH, IF, IF YOU WANT, I CAN FOLLOW UP AND, AND GIVE YOU THE TOTAL NUMBER OF VIOLATIONS WE'VE SEEN THIS YEAR.
AND SO TALKING ABOUT OUR, UH, TRAFFIC OPERATION, EVEN THOUGH WE DON'T HAVE, LIKE I SAID, FOR THE MOST PART, ANY TYPE OF, UH, PROACTIVE TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT UNITS ANY LONGER, UH, WE STILL TRY TO DO WHAT WE CAN.
UM, SOME, SOME OF THE OPERATIONS, THEY ASK US TO BE INVOLVED IN AND, AND WE'LL ASSIST.
SO SPECIFICALLY WITH LIKE DWI, SO THE, ONE OF THE FIRST ONES WE DID, UM, S - BEGINNING LAST YEAR AND INTO THIS YEAR AS WELL WAS ONE CALLED TWIN TURBO THAT WE FOCUSED ON THE DOWNTOWN AREA, UH, FOCUSING ON TRYING TO TARGET INTOXICATED DRIVERS IN THAT PARTICULAR AREA.
AND SO IT WAS A COLLABORATION BETWEEN OUR DOWNTOWN AREA COMMAND PATROL, AS WELL AS OUR, UH, DWI AUXILIARY TEAM, UH, OR OUR DRES THAT WE SPOKE ABOUT EARLIER.
AND IT FOCUSES ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHTS, AND YOU CAN SEE THAT JUST FROM APRIL TO, UH, OCTOBER OF THIS YEAR, THEY'VE, UH, ISSUED, OR ARRESTED QUITE A FEW DRIVERS FOR DWI, 80 TOTAL ARRESTS, AND THEN, UH, TOTAL NUMBER OF 211 DRIVERS STOPPED WITH NO TESTING, 61 TESTED, AND THEN, UH, 49 CITATION, 49 CITATIONS ISSUED THUS FAR.
SO THIS WAS AN OPERATION THAT WAS, UH, DONE IN OUR BAKER SECTOR, UM, OVER IN, UH, RM222.
UH, THERE WAS A LOT OF COMPLAINTS FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD ABOUT MOTORCY - CYCLE ACTIVITY, AND THAT THEY FELT THERE WAS A LOT OF MOTORCYCLES SPEEDING THROUGH THE AREA.
SO THAT PARTICULAR PATROL SECTOR, UH, FOCUSED ON TRYING TO SEE IF THEY COULD, UH, IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM AS WELL AS COME UP WITH A SOLUTION.
UM, SO THEY, THEY RE - GATHERED ALL THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE NOISE AND THE COMPLAINTS ABOUT RECKLESS DRIVING AND THE IMPACTS, UH, ON THE NEIGHBORHOOD REGARDING THE QUALITY OF LIFE.
SOME OF THE KEY FINDINGS THEY FOUND IN DOING THEIR, UH, STUDY WAS THERE WAS, UH, LOUD ENGINE NOISE AND RIDERS TRAVELING IN GROUPS.
UM, THOSE WERE THE NOISE CONCERNS FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD, I SHOULD SAY.
BUT THERE'S ALSO A CANYON-LIKE TERRAIN THAT CAN AMPLIFY THE SOUND IF YOU'RE, IF YOU'RE IN THAT SORT OF, UH, UH, TERRAIN WITH THE ROCKS AND STUFF THAT CAN MAKE THINGS SOUND LOUDER.
SO THERE WAS NO, BASED ON THE STUDY, NO SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN SPEEDING OR COLLISIONS ATTRIBUTED TO MOTORCYCLES, WHICH WAS THE GENERAL COMPLAINT THEY GOT FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD VERSUS THE GENERAL TRAFFIC THAT THEY SAW GOING THROUGH THERE.
UM, PART OF THE STUDY, THEY WITNESSED, UH, MINIMAL HAZARDOUS VIOLATIONS BY THE MOTORCYCLES.
AND WHEN THEY DID GO OUT TO ENFORCE TRAFFIC FOR SPEEDING VIOLATIONS, MOST OF THE SPEEDING WAS FOUND TO HAVE BEEN DONE BY MOTOR VEHICLES, AND SO THEY WERE ISSUING PRIMARILY TO CARS AND NOT MOTORCYCLES.
SO THE OBJECTIVE DATA DIDN'T, OBJECTIVE DATA DIDN'T SUPPORT, YOU KNOW, THAT THE, THERE WAS A DISPROPORT- DISPROPORTIONATE AMOUNT, UH, OF SAFETY RISK FROM THE MOTORCYCLES THEMSELVES.
SO SOME OF THE THINGS THEY DID WAS, LIKE I SAID, THEY DID THE
[01:20:01]
INITIAL ASSESSMENT, THEY HELD PUBLIC MEETINGS TO, UH, PRESENT THEIR FINDINGS AND DISCUSS SOLUTIONS.AND, UM, THEY DID DISCUSS POSSIBLE ROADWAY MODIFICATIONS, BUT BECAUSE IT IS A STATE ROAD, THERE'S LIMITATIONS AS TO WHAT THE, UH, THE CITY CAN DO IN, AS FAR AS, UH, ENGINEERING TO HELP REDUCE SPEEDING.
AND THEN, OF COURSE, THEY DID THE TRAFFIC OPERATIONS, AS I MENTIONED, AND AGAIN, THEY SHOWED LIMITED RESULTS FROM, UH, ENFORCING OR TARGETING THE MOTORCYCLE ISSUE.
SO ONE OF THE THINGS THEY DID WAS THEY HAD A ROUND TABLE AND, UH, MET WITH STAKEHOLDERS, THE, THE CITY, THE REGIONAL PARTNERS AND COMMUNITY.
AND HERE'S JUST SOME OF THE NUMBERS THEY GOT OFF OF IT, UH, 317 TICK, UH, CITATIONS, HAZARDOUS CITATIONS, THEN 155 NON-HAZARDOUS AND 893 WARNINGS.
AND THEN YOU SEE THAT ONLY, OF ALL THOSE, THE, ONLY 19 WERE INVOLVED MOTORCYCLES.
AND SO THAT'S ONLY 1.39% WHERE THEY FOUND THAT THE MOTORCYCLES WERE, UH, YOU KNOW, SPEEDING OR, OR, OR HAD SOME KIND OF HAZARDOUS VIOLATION.
SO AS AN OUTCOME, THE CITY ORDINANCE, UH, WAS MADE ADDRESSING THE VEHICLE ENGINE NOISE AND, UH, THE TRAFFIC STUDY WAS CONDUCTED.
RUMBLE STRIPS WERE INSTALLED TO HELP MITIGATE THE SPEEDING IN THE AREA.
UH, AT THIS TIME, THERE'S NO CURRENT, UH, ENFORCEMENT OPERATIONS, AND, UH, THE MEETINGS HAVE BEEN PAUSED, THOUGH THE RESIDENTS REMAIN CONCERNED ABOUT THE EXCESSIVE NOISE, OF COURSE, IN THE, IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
SO THAT PARTICULAR AREA OF APD, IT'S, IT'S KNOWN AS OUR BAKER SECTOR, UH, THAT COMMAND IS GOING TO BE FOCUSING ON, UH, THE COMMUNITY PERCEPTION VERS - AND QUALITY OF LIFE VERSUS WHAT THE DATA ACTUALLY IS SHOWING THERE.
AND THEN, UH, THEY'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO TRY TO COMM - COLLA - EXCUSE ME, COLLABORATE WITH THE COMMUNITY AND THE LOCAL A- AGENCIES TO SEE IF THEY CAN HELP MITIGATE THOSE CONCERNS.
UH, OBVIOUSLY, PART OF THE, UH, ISSUE IS THAT WITHOUT THE DATA TO SUPPORT THAT THERE'S M- MOTORCYCLES SPEEDING THROUGH THERE, IT MAKES IT DIFFICULT FOR US TO JUSTIFY HAVING TRAFFIC OPERATIONS OUT THERE.
SO THEY'RE TRYING TO FIND ALTERNATIVES TO SEE IF THERE'S A WAY TO MITIGATE, UH, THE ISSUES THAT THEY'RE SEEING WITH THE NOISE OUT THERE.
AND SO, AGAIN, GOING BACK TO S - OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH VISION ZERO, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S BEEN MORE NEWLY IMPLEMENTED.
UH, VISION ZERO BEGAN PROVIDING, UH, APD SECTORS WITH CRASH DATA INFORMATION, UH, KIND OF REAL TIME ALMOST, TO HELP US FOCUS AND CONCENTRATE EFFORTS ON TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT.
SO IT'S A DATA-DRIVEN APPROACH TO, UH, U- UTILIZING OUR RESOURCES MOST EFFICIENTLY.
IT'LL TELL US, UH, LOCATIONS AND TIMES THAT WE'RE SEEING THE MOST CRASHES, YOU KNOW, SERIOUS BODILY INJURY CRASHES, FATALITIES, AND THESE, EACH COMMAND AND PATROL CAN USE THIS DATA TO CONCENTRATE THEIR RESOURCES DURING THOSE TIMES AND LOCATIONS, YOU KNOW, WHEN THEY HAVE OFFICERS AVAILABLE.
SO THEY SHARE, UH, LIKE I SAID, TEXAS, UH, TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS AND VISION ZERO SHARES THIS INFORMATION WITH US.
AND, UH, THE, THUS FAR, THIS IS, WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT THIS MAP OVER HERE'S LIKE AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT THEY SEND.
IT WAS, UH, FRANK SECTOR, WHICH IS SOUTHEAST AUSTIN, AND IT SHOWS SOME OF THE STUFF THAT THEY CAN LOOK AT, AND OBVIOUSLY THE RED AREAS OR TARGET AREAS THAT, UH, THE PATROL SECTOR WOULD BE LOOKING AT.
SO FRANK SECTOR DID UTILIZE THIS DATA TO BEGIN OPERATIONS, PRIMARILY CONCENTRATING ON DAY SHIFT AND NIGHT SHIFT.
UH, P - EVENING SHIFT IS MORE DIFFICULT FOR THEM TO, TO, UH, DEDICATE RESOURCES BECAUSE THOSE ARE USUALLY THE BUSIEST TIMES OF JUST, UH, NORMAL 911 CALLS AND ACTIVITY, BUT NIGHT SHIFT AND DAY SHIFT ALLOWS THEM A LITTLE BIT MORE FLEXIBILITY.
SO SINCE JULY, THEY'VE ISSUED 492 CITATIONS, UH, CONDUCTING THIS OPERATION.
UH, HENRY SECTOR, WHICH IS SOUTH CENTRAL AUSTIN, LIKE THE RIVERSIDE AREA, UH, JUST BEGAN THEIR OWN PROGRAM AT THE BEGINNING OF OCTOBER.
AND SO THEY'VE DONE NINE ENFORCEMENT OFF - UH, INITIATIVES WITH 15 CITATION AND SIX WARNINGS ISSUED.
UH, CHARLIE SECTOR, WHICH, UH, BORDERS THE HENRY SECTOR ON THE EAST SIDE OF TOWN, SAME THING, THEY JUST BEGAN IT AT THE BEGINNING OF OCTOBER WITH 14 INITIATIVES AND NINE CITATIONS AND 13 WARNINGS ISSUED.
ARE THESE SECTORS LIKE PATROL TERRITORIES FOR...
LIKE WHAT IS THE SECTOR? YEAH, YEAH.
SECTOR'S ESSENTIALLY HOW IT'S BROKEN UP.
UH, SO LIKE IF I SAY FRANK'S SECTOR, IT'S GONNA BE SOUTHEAST AUSTIN.
SOUTHEAST AUSTIN, UH, KINDA - SO IT'S LIKE THE POLICE STATIONS THAT ARE ASSIGNED TO THAT NA - AREA? UH, YEAH, BUT USUALLY ONE POLICE STATION HAS MULTIPLE SECTORS.
SO I TALK WITH MY HANDS TOO MUCH.
UH, THEY HAVE USUALLY MULTIPLE SECTORS IN IT.
SO LIKE THE, THE SOUTH POLICE STATION HAS DAVID'S SECTOR, WHICH IS SOUTHWEST AUSTIN - UH-HUH.
AND THEN THERE'S AN EAST SUBSTATION THAT HAS CHARLIE AND, AND, UH, UH, HENRY SECTORS.
AND SO THOSE WOULD BE THE SECTORS ON THE EAST SIDE
[01:25:01]
OF TOWN.SO YEAH, IF YOU'RE, IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN LIKE, UH, WHAT THAT MAP LOOKS LIKE, I CAN SEND IT TO YOU SO THAT YOU KNOW WHAT THE VARIOUS SECTORS ARE.
I'M JUST CURIOUS, LIKE, IT, IT, DOES IT DESIGNATE A CERTAIN NUMBER OF OFFICERS OR A, LIKE, SPECIFIC GEOGRAPHY? I THINK - YEAH, THEY USUALLY USE, YEAH, THEY USUALLY USE BORDERS OF THE, UH, LIKE, SO I-35 MIGHT BE A BORDER - YEAH.
OF ONE OF THE SECTORS UP TO, YOU KNOW, BEN WHITE, AND THEN OVER TO, UH, THE CITY LIMIT IN THAT AREA - YEAH.
AND THEN AROUND - SO, LIKE, ENFORCEMENT IS ASSIGNED BY SECTOR.
BUT OFFICERS COULD THEORETICALLY BE - DO MORE THAN ONE.
BE ASKED TO GO ELSEWHERE DEPENDING ON THE NEEDS OF THE CITY TOO.
AND THAT CONCLUDES THE PRESENTATION, AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR - YEAH.
UM, I'D LOVE TO START US OFF, UM, TALKING ABOUT THE, UM, HANDHELD DEVICE CITATIONS - UH-HUH.
UH, WHICH OBVIOUSLY SAW REALLY STEEP DROP-OFF AFTER THE, UH, END OF THE, THE TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT DIVISION.
UM, AND MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT'S BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY VERY HARD TO TICKET HANDHELD DEVICES, RIGHT? AND, UH, MY UNDERSTANDING, TOO, IS BACK WHEN WE WERE TALKING CLOSE TO 4,000 CITATIONS A YEAR, A LOT OF THAT WAS TARGETED, UH, ENFORCEMENT OF, OF, UH, OF HANDHELD DEVICES.
SO COULD YOU WALK US THROUGH, UM, WHAT THAT DIVISION WAS ABLE TO DO BACK THEN, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, WHAT THOSE TARGETED ENFORCEMENT WAS, AND THEN KIND OF WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO GET YOU THE RESOURCES TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT AGAIN? YEAH.
IT'S, IT CAN BE MORE DIFFICULT TO ENFORCE BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO SEE CERTAIN THINGS IN ORDER TO PULL THEM OVER FOR THAT.
AND IF, SOMETIMES IF IT'S, IF THEY DON'T ADMIT TO IT OR YOU, YOU DID QUITE, LIKE, MAYBE THEY HAD IT, BUT YOU DIDN'T SEE THEM ACTUALLY USE IT, THERE'S A LOT THAT GOES INTO IT.
THEY DID, AND THIS WAS BEFORE MY TIME IN THE UNIT, BUT I KNOW THEY DID CONDUCT SPECIFIC OPERATIONS TARGETING THAT, LIKE, THEY USED CAPITOL METRO BUSES WITH OFFICERS WATCHING BECAUSE THEY COULD SEE DOWN INTO TRAFFIC.
AND, UM, MOTORCYCLE OFFICERS ARE ABLE TO SEE THAT BETTER TOO AS WELL BECAUSE THEY'RE SMALLER AND PEOPLE DON'T NOTICE THEM AS MUCH, BUT WE DON'T HAVE A MOTORS UNIT ANYMORE.
AND THE MOTORS OFFICERS, I KNOW, UH, WERE A BIG PART OF THAT CONTRIBUTION TO, UH, TICKETING THEM FOR THOSE ELECTRONIC HANDHELD DEVICES.
UM, AND SO, CURRENTLY, LIKE YOU SAID, THERE'S NO SPECIFIC OPERATIONS THAT I'VE HEARD OF WHERE, UH...
AND AGAIN, THE P - UH, I'M OVER THIS DIVISION, BUT THE PATROL SECTORS HAVE THEIR OWN COMMANDER THAT CAN DESIGNATE, LIKE, IF THEY'RE GONNA DO A, A SPECIFIC OPERATION ON, ON THINGS.
AND NONE OF THEM HAVE ADVISED ME RECENTLY OF ANY PARTICULAR OPERATIONS TARGETING THE USE OF THE HANDHELD DEVICES.
BUT LIKE YOU SAW, IT IS INCREASING THOUGH, TOO.
SO HOPEFULLY AS, AS STAFFING PERMITS AND, AND SOME OF THESE UNITS COME BACK, WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO SEE THAT INCREASE IN, IN, UH, CITATIONS FOR THAT.
ALSO, YOU GOTTA BEAR IN MIND, A LOT OF THE WARNINGS, I KNOW, ARE ALSO FOR THE SAME THING WHERE OFFICERS PULL THEM OVER AND THEN, AND THEN GIVE THEM A WARNING FOR IT.
WELL, I GUESS, LET ME JUST PUSH YOU A LITTLE MORE ON...
I KNOW THERE ARE RESOURCES GETTING YOUR WAY.
WE ARE SEEING AN INCREASE IN TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT.
FOR HANDHELD DEVICES SPECIFICALLY, THOUGH, I MEAN, I'M SURE YOU GUYS COULD ALWAYS USE MORE RESOURCES, BUT, LIKE, YOU KNOW, IF, IF, WHEN WE'RE TALKING BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS, WHAT N- NEXT YEAR, WHAT, WHAT ARE THE TOOLS YOU GUYS NEED, E- E- EVEN IF IT'S JUST MORE STAFFING, TO BE ABLE TO GET TO CLOSE BACK TO WHERE WE WERE IN 2019? YEAH, I WOULD SAY IT WOULD FIRST BEGIN WITH STAFFING.
YOU KNOW, I'VE, I'VE HAD THESE CONVERSATIONS WITH, UH, MY CHAIN OF COMMAND, AND SO BEFORE WE CAN EVEN ALLOCATE THE RESOURCES BACK TO, UH, A HIGHWAY ENFORCEMENT DIVISION TO HAVE THOSE PROACTIVE UNITS, LIKE I MENTIONED, THE MOTORS UNIT, UH, OUR STAFFING LEVELS NEED TO BE AT A CERTAIN THING BEFORE THEY'LL LET THEM COME BACK FROM PATROL ONTO THESE ENFORCEMENT UNITS.
WE HAVE AN AUXILIARY MOTORS UNIT TOO, MUCH LIKE OUR DRE PROGRAM.
THEY'RE PATROL OFFICERS THAT HAVE MOTORCYCLES AND, BUT BECAUSE THEY'RE FOCUSING MOSTLY ON PATROL, THEY MOSTLY ARE RELEGATED TO DOING, UH, MAYBE ESCORT DUTIES, UH, AND SOMETIMES THE PATROL SECTORS WILL LET THEM BE ON THEIR MOTORCYCLES TO GO OUT AND DO TARGETED TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT.
SO, BUT IT'S NOT LIKE WHEN WE HAD A DEDICATED UNIT WHERE THEY COULD WOLF PACK OR DECIDE ON AN, UH, SPECIFIC OPERATION, LIKE YOU MENTIONED, "HEY, WE'RE GONNA GO OUT AND FOCUS SOLELY ON, UH, PEOPLE, DISTRACTED DRIVERS, AND USING THOSE HANDHELD DEVICES." YEAH.
SO THAT'S WHERE IT WOULD BEGIN FOR SURE WITH THE STAFFING INCREASES.
AND THEN FROM THERE, WE'VE GOT THE MOTORCYCLES, WE JUST DON'T HAVE - RIGHT.
DON'T HAVE THE DEDICATED UNIT.
NO, THAT'S REALLY HELPFUL TO HEAR.
UM, DID I SEE COMMISSIONER CHEN HAD A QUESTION? I DO HAVE A QUESTION.
I'M CURIOUS WHAT DATA YOU HAVE ON THE NUMBER OF ACTUAL INCIDENTS INVOLVING DISTRACTED OR INTOXICATED DRIVERS, BECAUSE WE HAVE A LOT OF DATA HERE ABOUT THINGS THAT WE'VE OBSERVED BEFORE ANYTHING HAS HAPPENED, AND THERE'S KIND OF TWO POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS, RIGHT? ONE IS THAT WE'RE JUST NO LONGER ABLE TO OBSERVE...
[01:30:01]
SHUT DOWN AND SO WE'RE NOT ISSUING AS MANY CITATIONS.ANOTHER ONE IS CONSIDERING THE FACT THAT IN THE SAME TIME WINDOW, WE'VE HAD AN INCREASE IN GROCERY DELIVERY, FOOD DELIVERY, UBERS, WAYMOS, AND SO ON.
IT'S POSSIBLE THAT THERE ARE JUST FEWER PEOPLE WHO ARE USING THE ROADS WHILE INTOXICATED.
AND SO I'D LOVE TO SEE THE DATA ON JUST INCIDENT REPORTS, UM, INVOLVING INTOXICATED OR DISTRACTED DRIVERS, JUST TO COMPARE THE STORIES.
WELL, IT, WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UH, DWIS, I- IF IT'S A TRUE LEGITIMATE DWI, IT'S GONNA HAVE AN OFFENSE REPORT, UH, BECAUSE THE PERSON'S GONNA BE ARRESTED FOR IT.
AS FAR AS DATA WHERE WE, WE DON'T KNOW IF THEY WERE, UH, DRUNK OR NOT, I, I WOULDN'T HAVE ANY WAY TO, UH, TO HAVE THAT DATA.
I, I KNOW I HEARD RECENTLY A, A REPORT ABOUT THE, YOU KNOW, WITH LESS DWI ARRESTS, YOU KNOW, SOME PEOPLE THOUGH THAT WAS A GOOD SIGN AND, AND, YOU KNOW, I THINK JOEL CAN
AND IF WE HAD THE FULL-TIME DWI UNITS, I CAN PROMISE YOU THAT WE COULD ARREST JUST AS MANY PEOPLE TODAY AS WE DID BACK IN 2019 BECAUSE, UH, YOU KNOW, IT'S STILL A, A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM, UH, YOU KNOW, ACROSS THE COUN - ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
BUT, UH, AND THEN AS FAR AS THE DISTRACTED DRIVING, SO, UH, WITH DISTRACTED DRIVING, IT'S A LITTLE MORE PROBLEMATIC.
IF, IF YOU'RE STRICTLY TALKING ABOUT USING A HANDHELD DEVICE, THEN THE DATA'S STRICTLY FOCUSING ON, UH, THE CITATIONS OR THE WARNINGS WE MIGHT GIVE FOR THOSE INCIDENTS.
BUT BECAUSE THERE, THAT'S THE ONLY LAW THAT'S SPECIFIC OR, OR I SHOULDN'T SAY SPECIFIC TO DISTRACTED DRIVING.
THERE'S NO SPECIFIC DISTRACTED DRIVING LAW.
THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS THAT CAN DISTRACT DRIVERS, UH, THAT, THAT WE SEE, YOU KNOW, ALL THE TIME, WHETHER THEY'RE PUTTING ON MAKEUP OR, OR, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, EATING WHILE THEY'RE DRIVING, THOSE SORTS OF THINGS.
UM, IT'S CONSIDERED TR - DISTRACTED DRIVING, BUT IT'S NOT SPECIFIC TO A LAW UNLESS WE SEE THEM VIOLATE A LAW AS A RESULT OF WHAT THEY WERE DOING.
LIKE IF, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE PUTTING ON MAKEUP AND THEY VEER INTO THE NEXT LANE, THEN WE CAN PULL THEM OVER FOR DOING THAT.
UH, WE CAN'T NECESSARILY PULL THEM OVER FOR JUST PUTTING ON THE MAKEUP UNLESS THEY DO SOMETHING THAT, UH, AS A RESULT OF THAT BEHAVIOR.
UM, SO REALLY THE ONLY LAW WE HAVE ON THAT, ON THE BOOK SPECIFIC TO IT WOULD BE THE, THE ELECTRONIC DEVICES.
UM, DOES THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION OR? I THINK SO.
SO I, I THINK ONE THING THAT I GAINED FROM THAT IS EFFECTIVELY, IT SOUNDS LIKE IN THE EVENT THAT AN ACTUAL ACCIDENT HAS OCCURRED, WHETHER IT'S CAR ON CAR COLLISION, CAR ON PEDESTRIAN OR OTHERWISE, THAT WAS ALREADY CAPTURED IN THE CHARTS THAT YOU PRESENTED.
IS THAT CORRECT? UM, NO, NOT NECESSARILY.
SO THAT WOULD BE CRASH DATA, WHICH, UH, IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN KNOWING MORE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT LIKE THE DISTRACTED, THE, LIKE THE CAUSES OF THE CRASHES, WE DO, WHEN WE DO A CRASH REPORT, THERE ARE BOXES THAT THE OFFICERS CAN CHECK, CAN CHECK WHERE IF THEY FEEL THERE WAS SOME KIND OF DISTRACTION, THEY CAN DO THAT.
AND THAT DATA CAN BE PULLED WHERE YOU CAN MAYBE SEE WHERE THE OFFICER FELT THAT THAT CONTRIBUTED TO THE CRASH.
UM, AND SO YEAH, IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN THAT KIND OF DATA, DEPENDING ON HOW LONG YOU WANT IT FOR, WE CAN, UH, UH, ALSO PULL THAT JUST TO SHOW YOU HOW MANY, UH, OF THE CRASHES WE BELIEVE INVOLVED, UH, SOMEONE THAT WAS DISTRACTED.
YEAH, I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THAT DATA.
LARGELY JUST BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, IF WE LOOK AT THE SAME TIME WINDOW, BOTH FOR DISTRACTED AND INTOXICATED DRIVING INVOLVED IN A CRASH, RIGHT, THERE'S, I THINK, I WOULD EXPECT IT, AS YOU SAID, TO KIND OF STILL LOOK FAIRLY EVEN FROM 2019 UNTIL NOW, LARGELY DUE TO THE FACT THAT PROBABLY WE'RE JUST NOT OBSERVING PEOPLE WHO AREN'T GETTING INTO CRASHES, RIGHT? BUT JUST FOR MY OWN SANITY, LOOKING AT THE DATA, IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO SEE IF THERE WAS A SIMILAR DIP IN CRASHES THAT OCCURRED, BECAUSE IF SO, THEN IT MIGHT ACTUALLY JUST BE RELATED TO PEOPLE NOT DRIVING AS MUCH, WHICH I FIND UNLIKELY, BUT - YEAH.
I MEAN, ANECDOTALLY, I'M TRYING, YOU KNOW, I'VE, I'VE LOOKED AT CRASH DATA OVER THE YEARS AND I WOULD SAY YOU, YOU'RE PROBABLY GONNA SEE MORE OF AN INCREASE IN THOSE SORTS OF THINGS.
UM, I KNOW, LIKE, FOR EXAMPLE, FATALITIES AND SERIOUS INJURY COL- COLLISIONS, WE SAW, LIKE, AN INVERSE RELATIONSHIP AND, UH, JOEL AND HIS TEAM ACTUALLY PUT TOGETHER A GRAPH AT ONE POINT SHOWING, LIKE, AS TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT WENT DOWN, WE SAW THE SERIOUS INJURY AND FATALITY COLLISIONS GOING UP.
SO MY GUESS WOULD BE THE DATA'S GONNA SHOW THAT A LOT OF THOSE THINGS ACTUALLY WERE GOING UP DURING THAT SAME TIMEFRAME.
UH, ALSO FLAG, TXDOT HAS A, A PORTAL BY WHICH YOU CAN LOOK AT THE CRASH INJURY REPORTING SYSTEM STATEWIDE.
IT'S ACTUALLY VERY USER-FRIENDLY.
IT'S FAIRLY EASY TO PULL THE DATA.
UH, I DO KNOW THAT STATEWIDE, THE NUMBER OF DISTRACTED DRIVING INCIDENTS THAT HAVE CAUSED COLLISIONS AND SERIOUS INJURIES AND DEATHS HAS SKYROCKETED IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS.
I'M NOT AS FAMILIAR WITH DRUNK DRIVING, BUT I WOULD IMAGINE IT'S PROBABLY ALSO - YEAH.
UM, I DID WANNA FOLLOW UP ON SOMETHING YOU,
[01:35:01]
YOU, YOU GUYS WERE KINDA TALKING ABOUT, WHICH IS THE, THE LEGAL BOUNDARIES OF WHAT WE CAN DO HERE.SO, UH, CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, BUT MY UNDERSTANDING IS STATE LAW ONLY COVERS TEXTING WHILE DRIVING.
THERE'S NO HANDHELD DEVICE LAW AT THE STATE.
AND THEN THE CITY HAS A HANDS-FREE DEVICE LAW THAT YOU GUYS CAN CITE UNDER.
IS THAT CORRECT? WELL, THE STATE LAW NOW, OR THE CITY LAW NOW MIRRORS THE STATE LAW.
THEY'RE ESSENTIALLY BASICALLY THE SAME LAW NOW.
SO AS FAR AS THESE CITATIONS, I CAN'T SAY WHETHER, WHETHER THEY CITED THEM UNDER THE CITY CODE VERSUS THE, UH, THE STATE LAW, BUT THEY'RE, THEY'RE ALMOST IDENTICAL AT THIS POINT IS, UH - GOTCHA.
BECAUSE YEAH, THE STATE, WHEN THE, UH, THE CITY HAD IT INITIALLY, AND THEN, UH, WHEN THE STATE CAME IN, THEY FINALLY CREATED ONE, AND THEN NOW THE CITY CHANGED THE, THE ORDINANCE TO KIND OF MIRROR UP WITH THE STATE LAW.
UM, OTHER QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONER BUFFO? I HAVE THREE QUESTIONS AND THEY'RE UNRELATED, SO I CAN STAGGER THEM IF THERE ARE OTHER QUESTIONS.
UH, THE FIRST ONE IS ABOUT STAFFING.
SO AFTER THOSE MAJOR BUDGET CUTS, WHAT, WHAT PERCENTAGE...
WHAT IS THE STAFFING LEVEL AT NOW AND HAS THERE BEEN ANY REBOUND SINCE THEN? THAT'S A LITTLE OUT OF MY WHEELHOUSE.
UM, YOU KNOW, I ONLY KNOW THAT IN SPEAKING THAT, THAT TO MY CHAIN OF COMMAND, UH, RECENTLY THEY TOLD ME IT'S KIND OF LEVELED OFF, WHEREAS WE WERE LOSING MORE THAN WE WERE GAINING.
UH, WE'RE AT THE POINT OF LEVELING OFF.
AS FAR AS HOW SHORT WE ARE, I, I DON'T KNOW THE EXACT NUMBERS.
I WAS JUST CURIOUS IF, UH, LIKE, LET'S JUST SAY THE BUDGET APPEARED AND WE COULD GET ALL THOSE OFFICERS BACK.
COULD WE GET THEM BACK AND HOW MANY WOULD THAT BE?
UH, I DON'T THINK THE BUDGET'S BEEN AN ISSUE SO MUCH.
IT'S JUST GETTING, UH, BACK TO WHERE WE WERE WITH HIRING AND THE ATTRITION OF, OF LOSING OFFICERS AND, AND FINALLY GETTING US TO GROW VERSUS, UH, LOSING OFFICERS - OKAY.
I COULD ASK YOU A LOT MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT, BUT I WON'T.
SO, UM, DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE A QUESTION BEFORE I ASK ONE ABOUT MICRO MOBILITY? I HAVE A, I HAVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS, HEATHER, BUT, UM, I'LL, I'LL...
WHY, WHY DON'T YOU GO FIRST? OKAY.
UM, ARE DWIS ENFORCEABLE FOR PEOPLE USING MICRO MOBILITY LIKE SCOOTERS OR BICYCLES? AND DO YOU HAVE ANY DATA ON THAT? SO I DON'T HAVE ANY DATA, BUT THEORETICALLY, YES, UH, BECAUSE UNDER THE TRANSPORTATION CODE, THEY ARE, THEY CAN BE CONSIDERED VEHICLES.
SO IF SOMEONE WAS INTOXICATED WHILE OPERATING ONE ON A PUBLIC ROAD, THEY COULD BE ARRESTED FOR IT.
NOW, WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH OUR COUNTY PROSECUTORS AND OUR, OUR, UH, DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE.
SO THEY MAY OR MAY NOT ACCEPT IT AS A DWI.
THEY MAY CHANGE IT TO SOMETHING.
BUT I'VE SPOKEN DIRECTLY WITH OUR, UH, ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY WHO WE NORMALLY WORK WITH, AND HE SAID, YOU KNOW, IT, A LOT OF IT'S GONNA DEPEND ON WHAT THEY DO.
ON A SCOOTER AND THEY HIT SOMEBODY AND MAYBE HURT THEM OR CRASH INTO SOMEONE, HE SAID, YOU KNOW, WE'LL PROBABLY LOOK AT IT MORE AS A, UH, AND TAKE IT AS A DWI VERSUS A, A PUBLIC INTOXICATION.
SO A LOT OF IT'S GONNA BE MORE CASE SPECIFIC, BUT YES, THEORETICALLY, A PERSON COULD BE CHARGED WITH IT.
I, I FEEL LIKE A LOT OF, A LOT OF THOSE INSTANCES ARE SORT OF SELF, UH, SELF-CITATIONS WITH INJURIES, BUT I WAS JUST CURIOUS IF THERE WAS ANY - MO- MOST OF THE TIME, YEAH.
AND THEY'RE USUALLY HURTING THEMSELVES - YEAH.
UM, COMMISSIONER PRASAD, WHY DON'T YOU GO NEXT? I'LL STATE MY LAST ONE.
UM, UH, GOOD EVENING, LIEUTENANT.
UH, MY FIRST QUESTION IS, IS THERE A SECTOR, UM, I THINK THAT'S THE TERM YOU USED, UM, THAT PERTAINS TO THE AREA KIND OF, YOU KNOW, WHERE MOST OF THE, YOU KNOW, NIGHTTIME ACTION HAPPENS, LIKE, UH, SIXTH STREET OR, LIKE, CONGRESS.
UM, I- IS THERE A SECTOR FOR THAT? YEAH.
SO, UH, THE DOWNTOWN AREA COMMAND IS - YEAH.
IT'S, IT'S CALLED GEORGE SECTOR, AND THAT'S MAINLY THE, THE DOWNTOWN AREA RIGHT THERE.
UM, AND, UH, THE, THE DATA THAT YOU PRESENTED, UM, I, I PRESUME THAT YOU HAVE VISIBILITY INTO THE TIME DIMENSION OF IT, UH, DURING THE YEAR.
SO, LIKE, WHEN SPECIFICALLY SPIKES OF, LIKE, DWI INCIDENCES HAPPEN.
UM, I'M, I'M CURIOUS IF, UH, YOU SEE, UH, OR IF THERE IS INCREASED ENFORCEMENT AROUND PERIODS WHEN, YOU KNOW, UH, LIKE, WE HAVE BIG FESTIVALS, UM, ACLS AND SOUTH BYS AND, AND, AND WHAT HAVE YOU.
SO I'M UNAWARE OF, LIKE I SAID, THE, THE PATROL COMMANDS MIGHT BE DOING MORE DURING, LIKE, HOLIDAYS, FOR EXAMPLE, OR DURING THE BIGGER FESTIVALS TO FOCUS THOSE EFFORTS.
BUT I HAVEN'T BEEN MADE AWARE OF ANY OPERATIONS THAT WERE DIRECTED SPECIFICALLY ON THE MA - AROUND THE MAJOR EVENTS FOCUSING ON DWIS.
[01:40:01]
YOU KNOW, JUST ANECDOTALLY THAT A LOT OF, UH, COMMANDS WILL TEND TO REMIND FOLKS THAT IT'S THE HOLIDAYS, SO, YOU KNOW, UH, LET'S, LET'S WORK ON OUR TRAFFIC AND, AND FOCUS ON THE POTENTIALLY INTOXICATED DRIVERS AROUND THE HOLIDAYS.UM, WELL, UH, UH, THIS IS GONNA SOUND UNUSUAL, UH, LIEUTENANT, BUT, UM, I, I HAVE YOUR EAR, UM, AND SO I'M, I'M GOING TO BEND IT.
UM, I, I WAS THE VICTIM OF A, UM, A, A DRUNK DRIVER, UM, HITTING ME ON, ON CONGRESS.
I PRESUME THEY WERE, THEY WERE DRUNK, UM, BUT THEY WERE NOT, UH, FOUND.
UM, AND SO I, I FIND MYSELF HERE, UM, WITH, WITH YOU AND MY AUDIENCE, AND I WANNA ADVOCATE FOR, UH, INCREASED ENFORCEMENT IN, IN THE GEORGE SECTOR.
I WAS HIT THE EVENING OF, UH, A SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST FESTIVAL.
I WAS JUST WALKING HOME - UH-HUH.
UH, AND SO, YEAH, UH, AS A CITIZEN SPEAKING TO THEIR LAW ENFORCEMENT, I JUST WANNA SAY, UM, I WISH WE HAD DONE BETTER.
I, AND, AND THAT IS, LIKE I SAID, THE, THE OPERATIONS THAT WE, WE'VE ASSISTED WITH HAVE BEEN FOCUSED ON THE, THE DOWNTOWN AREA, BUT AS YOU SAW, UNFORTUNATELY, IT'S JUST, UH, TWO OFFICERS MAYBE A NIGHT FOCUSING ON FRIDAYS AND SATURDAY NIGHTS.
SO WE'RE TRYING TO DO WHAT WE CAN WITH WHAT WE HAVE, BUT I AGREE, UH, YOU KNOW, WE WOULD CERTAINLY LIKE TO SEE AS MUCH ENFORCEMENT AS POSSIBLE, ESPECIALLY IN THOSE, THOSE HIGHER AREAS WHERE WE'RE SEEING THAT KIND OF, UH, THOSE DRIVING BEHAVIORS.
TWO OFFICERS A NIGHT FOR THE WHOLE DOWNTOWN? UH, FO -
DANG, THAT IS NOT A LOT OF POLICE.
SORRY, I DIDN'T MEAN TO INTERRUPT.
WERE YOU FINISHED, COMMISSIONER?
UM, MY LAST QUESTION IS ABOUT ROBO-TAXIS AND SELF-DRIVING CARS.
I FEEL LIKE WE'VE SEEN A BIG INCREASE IN THE NUMBER ON THE STREETS IN THE LAST Y - LIKE, SIX MONTHS TO A YEAR.
HAVE YOU SEEN ANY, UM, UH, MAJOR INCREASE IN INCIDENTS INVOLVING THOSE VEHICLES, E- EITHER WITH OTHER DRIVERS OR PEDESTRIANS OR CYCLISTS OR ANYTHING? SO, UM, I'M PART OF THE CITY'S, UH, WORKING GROUP, UH, FOR THE, UH, AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES.
UM, AS, AS THE, WE'VE SEEN THE GROWTH OF THE, YOU KNOW, WAYMOS AND, UH, NOW THE CYBER CABS FROM TESLA, WE, WE DO SEE MORE INCIDENTS BECAUSE WE EXPECTED BECAUSE THERE'S MORE OF THEM.
I WOULDN'T SAY WE'RE SEEING, UH, A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF DANGEROUS BEHAVIORS, SO MUCH LIKE MOVING VIOLATIONS WHERE THEY'RE, YOU KNOW, GONNA RUN INTO CARS OR HURT PEOPLE OR THOSE SORTS OF THINGS.
THEY'RE MORE, UH, NUISANCE TYPE OF BEHAVIORS - YEAH.
WHERE THEY'RE BLOCKING TRAFFIC OR IMPEDING TRAFFIC LIKE YOU SAW DURING THE MASS SHOOTING WHERE THE WAYMO WAS BLOCKING THE AMBULANCE.
WE SEE THAT PRETTY REGULARLY, AND THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS WE'RE TRYING TO FOCUS ON, IS GETTING THEM TO RESPOND TO OFFICERS THAT ARE GIVING THEM DIRECTIONS TO GET OUT OF THE WAY OR- OR TURN OR WHATEVER THOSE THINGS MIGHT BE, OR TO BE ABLE TO TAKE IT OVER QUICKLY IF THEY NEED TO, TO GET IT OUT OF THE WAY.
UM, BUT FOR THE MOST PART, FROM WHAT WE'VE SEEN, UM, IS THAT THEY GENERALLY B - DRIVE BETTER THAN YOUR AVERAGE HUMAN.
THEY'RE NOT DISTRACTED, THEY'RE NOT DRUNK, BUT THEY LACK THE SOCIAL AWARENESS SOMETIMES - YEAH.
OF, YOU KNOW, "HEY, WE NEED YOU TO MOVE OUT OF THE WAY BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THERE'S CONSTRUCTION HERE OR AN OFFICER'S BLOCKING TRAFFIC TRYING TO GET YOU TO TURN." YEAH.
AND SO THAT'S THE BIGGEST THING WE'RE SEEING.
I WAS JUST CURIOUS, BECAUSE THE COMPANIES ALWAYS SAY, LIKE, YOU KNOW, AS A PROPORTION OF TOTAL VEHICLES ON THE ROAD, YOU KNOW - YEAH.
INCIDENTS OR, OR - I WOULD SAY WHAT WE'RE SEEING DOES SUPPORT THAT AT THIS POINT, YOU KNOW? UH, YEAH, AND IT'S JUST MORE THE, THOSE NUISANCE TYPES OF BEHAVIORS, WHICH I, I ARGUE IS ALSO A C- CONCERN FOR PUBLIC SAFETY TOO THOUGH, RIGHT? YEAH.
IF YOU'RE BLOCKING TRAFFIC AND AMBULANCES CAN'T GET THROUGH, POLICE CAN'T GET THROUGH, THAT'S A POTENTIAL PUBLIC SAFETY CONCERN AS WELL.
IS, IS THERE A WAY THAT PEOPLE CAN REPORT THAT IN, LIKE - YES.
CAN YOU, CAN YOU ACTUALLY INFLUENCE THOSE CARS?
BUT, LIKE, I DON'T KNOW IF THE POLICE COULD HAVE HELPED IN THAT INSTANCE.
UH, LIKE, CERTAINLY IN THAT INSTANCE, IF THERE'S AN OFFICER AROUND OR CAN GO QUICKLY OVER THERE TO ASSIST, UM, BUT YOU CAN ALSO, IF YOU SEE IT, YOU CAN REPORT IT, UH, DIRECTLY TO THE P - UH, WE HAVE, UH, 311 THAT YOU CAN REPORT IT TO, OR THERE'S A SITE, UH, THAT OUR WORKING GROUP HAS THROUGH VISION ZER - UH, NOT VISION ZERO, SORRY, THROUGH, UH, TRANSPORTATION - OKAY.
DIVISION WHERE YOU CAN REPORT.
YOU, IF YOU JUST LOOK UP AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES, THEY'LL TELL YOU WHERE, HOW YOU CAN REPORT - OKAY.
WHAT YOU'VE SEEN, ESPECIALLY IF YOU, LIKE, YOU KNOW, IT'S A WAYMO AND YOU GET A LICENSE PLATE, WE CAN, UH, ACTUALLY GET WITH THE
[01:45:01]
COMPANY THEMSELVES AND THEY'LL, THEY'LL LOOK AT IT AND SEE IF THERE'S SOMETHING THAT THEY CAN ADDRESS.ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FROM COMMISSIONERS? ALL RIGHT.
I JUST WANTED TO GIVE A COMMENT.
I'VE BEEN, UH, HOPING TO HAVE THIS PRESENTATION FOR A WHILE, SO I'M REALLY GLAD TO HAVE YOU COME IN.
IT LOOKS LIKE WE'RE DOING SOME REALLY COOL THINGS, AND I'M REALLY EXCITED TO SEE YOU WORKING SO CLOSELY WITH THE VISION ZERO TEAM TO HAVE SOME, THE DATA-DRIVEN, UM, APPROACH.
AND, UH, I KNOW TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT IS PART OF OUR GOAL TO REDUCE SERIOUS INJURIES IN DEATH CENTER ROADS, SO I HOPE THAT, UM, YOU CAN INTEGRATE EVEN MORE MOVING FORWARD AND THAT WE CONTINUE TO HAVE SUCCESS LOWERING, UH, THOSE, UM, INJURIES AND DEATH CENTER ROADS.
SO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMING IN.
AND I'LL SAY, UH, JOEL AND HIS TEAM HAVE BEEN PHENOMENAL, UH, ALWAYS PROVIDING US DATA OR IF WE'RE CONCERNED ABOUT A PARTICULAR ISSUE, WE GET WITH THEM AND THEY, YOU KNOW, HELP US OUT.
UH, BEEN A GREAT RELATIONSHIP WITH THEM.
ALL RIGHT, LAST CALL FROM COMMISSIONERS.
ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR COMING OUT, LIEUTENANT.
WE REALLY APPRECIATE YOU AND, UH, THE JOB YOU'RE DOING.
AND I'LL FOLLOW UP ON THOSE THINGS YOU GUYS ASKED ABOUT.
[4. Discussion and approval of a Right-of-Way Vacation of a partial alley abutting 2300 E 2ND Street. Presentation by Joseph Fotinos, Project Manager, Austin Transportation and Public Works. ]
ON TO OUR ACTION ITEMS. UH, SO WE'VE GOT AGENDA ITEM NUMBER FOUR, DISCUSSION AND APPROVAL OF A RIGHT OF WAY VACATION OF A PARTIAL ALLEY ABUTTING 2300 EAST 2ND STREET.AND WE HAVE JOSEPH WITH ATPW HERE WITH US.
I'M THE PROJECT MANAGER OF THE LAND MANAGEMENT GROUP UNDER TRANSPORTATION PUBLIC WORKS AND LAND DEVELOPMENT ENGINEERING.
AND, UH, TODAY WE'RE GONNA BE TALKING ABOUT A PARTIAL ALLEY RIGHT OF WAY VACATION, UH, ABUTTING 2300 EAST 2ND STREET.
IS THIS MY CLICKER? THIS IS MY CLICKER.
SO THE, UM, THE, UH, ALLEY VACATION, AS I SAID, IS A PARTIAL, UM, SHOWING THERE IT'S DISTRICT THREE.
UM, YEAH, THAT'S TODAY, NOVEMBER 10TH.
NOW, HERE'S WHERE THE MEDIA STARTS.
SO, UM, THE ABUTTING PROPERTY OWNER OF THIS ALLEY IS THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN, TEXAS MUNICIPAL PUBLIC HOUSING AUTHORITY.
YOU'LL SEE THE MAP SHOWING THERE.
THE YELLOW STRIP IS THE ALLEY IN QUESTION, AND YOU'LL SEE THAT THE WHOLE AREA THERE IS THE SANTA RITA COURTS, AND THAT'S THE ALLEY VACATION TRACK.
NOW, UM, WELL, YOU CAN TELL FROM THIS ONE, BUT THIS NEXT ONE'S GONNA BE INTERESTING BECAUSE WE'RE GONNA SHOW YOU, UH, IT'S UNPAVED, UNDEVELOPED ALLEY RIGHT OF WAY.
UM, THE GREEN IS THE ALLEY IN QUESTION.
IN THE, UM, THE PERDENALIS STREET FRONTAGE, IT LITERALLY RUNS THROUGH AN EXISTING BUILDING, UM, THAT'S THERE.
THIS IS, UH, INTERESTING BECAUSE IN THIS NEXT PICTURE, YOU'LL SEE THIS IS THE BEST WE COULD DO.
WE, UH, THAT'S THE BUILDING, UM, AND THE LITTLE RED, UH, SQUARE ESSENTIALLY GOES THROUGH THE BUILDING AND THEN ON THE NEXT PICTURE CONTINUES ON THIS WAY.
UH, SO THAT'S, WE'RE SHOWING, UM, WEST TO EAST ON ONE AND, UM, YOU KNOW, COMING THIS WAY.
BUT THAT'S, THIS IS THE BUILDING AND THE ALLEY IS WHERE THAT KIND OF SIDEWALK THING IS.
THAT'S, THAT'S IT, GOING THAT WAY.
THE VACATION, UH, TRACT IS APPROXIMATELY 4,772 SQUARE FEET.
ALL THE PROPERTY OWNERS WITHIN 300 FEET OF THE VACATED AREA, UH, WERE SENT PUBLIC NOTIFICATION ON AUGUST 19TH, 2026.
AND AS OF THIS DAY, NO OBJECTIONS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED.
THE, ALL, ALL THE AFFECTED, UH, CITY DEPARTMENTS AND EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS HAVE REVIEWED AND RECOMMENDED APPROVAL OF THIS RIGHT OF WAY APPLICATION, OF COURSE, SUBJECT TO THE CONDITIONS ON THE MASTER COMMENT REPORT THAT WAS SUBMITTED WITH THIS PRESENTATION.
WHEN ASKED HOW THE AREA TO BE VACATED WAS TO BE DEVELOPED, UH, THE APPLICANT RESPONDED THAT THE AREA PROPOSED TO BE VACATED WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO THE ADJACENT PROPERTY AT 2300 EAST SECOND STREET AND DEVELOPED CONSISTENT WITH THE ZONING DISTRICT.
THE SITE PLAN IS SHOWING HERE SP20250224CSH.
IT'S APPROVED, AND THIS IS AN AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECT.
AND I AM ALWAYS HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS ON THE PROCESS OF THE RIGHT OF WAY VACATION.
IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS REGARDING THE ACTUAL, UH, DEVELOPMENT, WE HAVE REPRESENTATION HERE FROM THE APPLICANT THAT CAN ANSWER THOSE FOR YOU.
UM, I HAVE A PROCESS QUESTION FOR YOU.
OBVIOUSLY THIS IS A, A PRETTY...
WELL, I GUESS IT'S NOT SIMPLE, BUT, UH, UH, EASY RIGHT OF WAY VACATION THAT GETS UNDEVELOPED AND ALL THAT.
UH, I'M CURIOUS BECAUSE MY UNDERSTANDING OF HOW
[01:50:01]
THIS PROCESS USUALLY WORKS IS YOU GO, YOU GUYS WILL GET AN APPRAISAL FOR WHAT THAT, UM, RIGHT OF WAY IS WORTH - UH-HUH.AND THEN CHARGE THAT TO THE APPLICANT, GIVEN THAT HACA IS NOT A PART OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN PER SE, BUT IS A PUBLIC CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
ARE WE CHARGING HACA FOR THIS? WE ARE GOING THROUGH THE MOTION OF SENDING AN INVOICE.
IN FACT, WE JUST GOT THE APPRAISAL BACK, UH, LATE THIS AFTERNOON.
SO WE ARE GOING TO FOLLOW THE PROCEDURE UNTIL WE'RE TO - UNTIL WE'RE TOLD NOT TO.
IN OTHER WORDS, UM, THERE HAVE BEEN, UH, THERE'S, THERE'S AREAS IN THE AREA, THERE'S OTHER, UH, VACATIONS THAT HAPPENED, I BELIEVE, IN THE AREA IN THE PAST THAT WERE EITHER, UM, WAIVED OR REIMBURSED.
I DON'T KNOW, THAT'S OUTSIDE OF MY PURVIEW, UNFORTUNATELY.
WE ARE FOLLOWING PROCEDURE PER CODE 1411, WHICH TELLS US WE MUST IN FACT SEND AN INVOICE FOR THE FAIR MARKET VALUE AFTER THE APPRAISAL HAPPENS.
AND IS THAT THE CITY COUNCIL OR THE DIRECTOR OF ATPW TO MAKE THE DECISION TO WAIVE THE INVOICE? UH, IT IS MY KNOWLEDGE IT IS CITY COUNCIL WHO WILL BE ABLE TO DO THAT.
AND SO WHEN IT GOES TO COUNCIL ON JANUARY 28TH, UM, IT MAY COME UP THAT IT'S EITHER WAIVED OR REIMBURSED, BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO PAY THE FAIR MARKET VALUE PRIOR TO GOING TO COUNCIL.
WE CAN'T EVEN SEND A REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION UNTIL THE, UH, FAIR MARKET VALUE IS PAID.
UM, SO I MAY, UH, MAKE A RECOMMENDATION THAT WE RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL THAT WE WAIVE THAT JUST BECAUSE IT'S, UH, YOU KNOW, AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECT AND, UH, OBVIOUSLY HACA IS A PART OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN FAMILY, YOU KNOW, AS MUCH AS I'D LOVE ATPW TO HAVE ALL THE MONEY THEY NEED, I ALSO WANT MONEY FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
UM, DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR THE APPLICANT OR FOR JOSEPH BEFORE WE MOVE TO A MOTION? I DO.
IF, UM, THE, I, I THINK THIS DEVELOPMENT IS BEING REBUILT.
IS THAT THE PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT? I'M GOING TO TURN TO THE REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE, UH, APPLICANT TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION.
OH, YOU NEED A MICROPHONE FOR THE FOLKS NOT MINE.
YEAH, THERE'S NOT A MICROPHONE UP THERE, SO YOU MIGHT WANNA HOP OVER HERE.
I'M WITH DUNAWAY ASSOCIATES, THE CIVIL ENGINEER REPRESENTING...
THE AUSTIN HOUSING AUTHORITY, UH, AND YOU'RE CORRECT.
UH, THIS IS THE NEXT IN THE SERIES OF, UH, REDEVELOPMENTS THAT HACA, AUSTIN HOU- HOUSING AUTHORITY, HAS BEEN DOING FOLLOWING CHALMERS AND ROSEWOOD, WHICH IS JUST ABOUT COMPLETED.
UH, IN THIS AREA, THE, UH, HISTORIC BUILDINGS AROUND THIS ALLEY VACATION ARE GOING TO BE RESTORED, UM, MUCH LIKE ON ROSEWOOD.
IF YOU HAPPEN TO BE OVER THERE, THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT THEY'LL DO.
UM - I LIVE RIGHT BY THERE, YEAH.
SO, SO YES, THEY'RE, THEY'RE BEING REDONE.
I'M JUST CONFUSED ABOUT THE GOING THROUGH THE CURRENT BUILDINGS.
I'M ASSUMING THAT'S BECAUSE THOSE BUILDINGS ARE GONNA BE DEMOLISHED RATHER THAN RESTORED? NO.
UH - SO WHAT'S UP WITH THAT? SO THE, THE ALLEY, QUOTE UNQUOTE ALLEY, WAS DEDICATED WITH THE INDUSTRIAL ADDITION SUBDIVISION AROUND 1920 SOMETHING.
UH, SANTA RITA WAS BUILT IN LIKE 1940 SOMETHING.
UH, AND APPARENTLY IN THOSE DAYS, NO ONE REALLY CARED.
IT'S NEVER FUNCTIONED AS AN ALLEY, UH, AND THAT'S THE WAY IT'S BEEN FOR 80, 80 SOMETHING YEARS.
SO WAIT, SO WHY ARE WE VACATING IT? 'CAUSE IT'S, IT, IT'S AN ALLEY THAT HAS A BUILDING ON IT RATHER THAN THERE'S A BUILDING THAT WE'RE TRYING TO PUT AN ALLEY THROUGH? I'M CONFUSED ABOUT THE - RIGHT.
IT, IT IS, IT IS POSSIBLY AN ALLEY.
AND SO THAT'S WHY WE'RE GOING THROUGH THIS PROCESS TO, TO, EVEN IF IT IS AN ALLEY, IT HAS BEEN VACATED, UH, TO GIVE, UH, AHA JUST A CLEAR TITLE.
IT SHOWS IT AS AN ENCUMBRANCE, EVEN THOUGH THERE'S A BUILDING SITTING THERE.
UH, AND THIS HAPPENS THROUGHOUT AUSTIN IN VARIOUS PLACES.
WE FIND A BIT OF THE WILD WEST BACK IN THE DAY.
WE WERE LIKE, WO, WHY PUT THIS BUILDING HERE? THERE'S A, THERE'S A RIGHT OF WAY HERE AND NOBODY BOTHERED TO VACATE BEFORE THEY BUILT.
SO IT'S, IT'S TECHNICALLY AN EXISTING ALLEY OWNED BY THE CITY.
IT, IT IS, IT IS, UH, DEDICATED TO THE PUBLIC INTEREST.
SO IT IS AN ALLEY, OFFICIALLY PLATTED AS AN ALLEY.
FOR THE PUBLIC, THAT'S CORRECT.
BUT IT HAS A HOUSING AUTHORITY BUILDING ON IT CURRENTLY.
[01:55:01]
WE'RE, WE'RE FINISHING THE HOMEWORK JUST, YOU KNOW, 100 YEARS TOO LATE, RIGHT?SO THE IDEA IS BASICALLY JUST TO MAKE IT EXPLICITLY CLEAR THAT THE ALLEY'S NO LONGER AN ALLEY AND THAT WE ARE JUST GONNA HAVE A BUILDING ON IT.
EVEN THOUGH THAT'S PHYSICALLY WHAT ARDI IS TRUE.
YEAH, BUT TITLE, TITLE COMPANIES DO NOT CARE.
I'VE HEARD THAT TITLE LIKE THAT.
ANY OTHER COMMISSIONERS BEFORE WE MOVE TO A MOTION? OKAY.
SO IF YOU WILL ENTERTAIN, UH, I'LL, I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO, AND I CAN, I, I'LL GET THIS TO YOU AFTERWARDS TOO.
I'M JUST, I'M JUST WAITING SO SHE CAN WRITE IT DOWN.
UM, AND WAIVE ALL FEES AND COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE RIGHT OF WAY VACATION.
A POINT OF, UH, CLARIFICATION, UM, WOULD THAT BE JUST THE FAIR MARKET VALUE? 'CAUSE THEY'VE ALREADY PAID THE APPRAISAL FEE TO HIRE THE APPRAISAL TO GET THE FAIR MARKET VALUE THAT'S ALREADY BEEN PAID.
AND THEY'VE ALREADY PAID THE COST TO INFORM THE PUBLIC 300 FEET.
ALL OWNERS WITHIN 300 FEET HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED THROUGH CERTIFIED MAIL.
AND THEN THE ONLY THING REMAINING WOULD BE THE RE- RECORDATION OF THE VACATION THROUGH THE COUNTY, WHICH AGAIN IS INVOICED TO THE APPLICANT.
SO WHEN YOU SAY ALL FEES, UH, AND OF COURSE THE APPLICATION FEE ITSELF.
SO I'M GONNA GUESS IT WOULD PROBABLY BE A FISCAL IMPOSITION ON THE CITY TO REIMBURSE THE COST FOR NOTIFICATION AND STUFF LIKE THAT.
SO, AND I'M HAPPY TO HAVE STAFF INPUT HERE.
I WOULD ASSUME WHAT, UH, WHEN YOU GUYS HAVE DONE THIS IN THE PAST, WHAT YOU HAVE REIMBURSED IS THE APPLICATION OR WHAT YOU HAVE WAIVED IS THE APPLICATION FEE AND THE FAIR MARKET VALUE.
IS THAT TRADITIONALLY HOW THIS HAS BEEN DONE? WE HAVE WAIVED THE FAIR MARKET VALUE.
THE APPLICATION FEE, OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, PAYS FOR STAFF, ET CETERA.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S LESS POPULAR.
LET'S, LET ME, YOU KNOW WHAT? S- SUBSTITUTE MOTION.
NOBODY SECONDED IT, RIGHT? I DID NOT SECOND IT.
DON'T WE JUST NEED TO DO, TO PA - DO THE VACATION AND THE, AND THE NEW RECOMMENDATION? WELL, THIS IS THE REC - WE, OFFICIALLY, WHAT WE DO HERE IS WE RECOMMEND ACTION TO CITY COUNCIL ON THE RIGHT OF WAY VACATION.
THE CITY COUNCIL MAKES THE FINAL DETERMINATION ON THE RIGHT OF WAY.
BUT THE ACTUAL VACATION DOES NOT GO BEFORE COUNCIL UNTIL JANUARY, CORRECT? CORRECT.
SO WE STILL HAVE DECEMBER TO MAKE A ADD-ON RECOMMENDATION FOR THE FEES, SO - THAT'S TRUE.
WE, WE'VE DONE THIS BEFORE THOUGH WHERE WE'VE ADDED A LITTLE BIT ON.
THE, THE, THE FEES THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN PAID, THE APPLICATION FEE, THE COST FOR THE APPRAISER, WHICH IS A THIRD PARTY APPRAISER.
YOU GUYS REMEMBER MY PRESENTATION ABOUT THE WHOLE PROCESS? YES.
WE HIRED THE THIRD PARTY APPRAISER THROUGH THE OFFICE OF REAL ESTATE.
THEY HIRE, WE PAY, WE GET REIMBURSED FROM THE APPLICANT THROUGH OUR BUCKET.
SO THOSE FEES THAT HAVE BEEN PAID ALREADY, UM, YOU KNOW, ARE, ARE HOW THIS MOVES ALONG.
SO THE POINT WE ARE RIGHT NOW IS THE, UH, FAIR MARKET VALUE THAT THE APPRAISER CAME BACK WITH.
SO THEY HAVEN'T PAID THAT YET.
WE JUST GOT THAT LATE, LIKE I SAID, LATE THIS AFTERNOON.
BUT PER CODE, WE HAVE TO GET THEM TO PAY IT TO GO TO COUNCIL, WHICH IS FINE.
COUNCIL CAN RECOMMEND REIMBURSING IT.
I THINK THAT'S HAPPENED BEFORE.
UM - AND, AND SO I GUESS REALLY WHAT WE SHOULD BE RECOMMENDING IS REIMBURSEMENT, NOT WAIVING.
RECOMMEND THE CITY COUNCIL APPROVE THE RIGHT OF WAY VACATION AND REIMBURSE THE APPLICANT FOR THE FAIR MARKET VALUE OF THE RIGHT OF WAY.
I, I, I, I FEEL THAT THAT SOUNDS GOOD.
UH, I CAN'T SAY ONE WAY OR THE OTHER, BUT YES.
THAT WILL MAKE SENSE TO CITY COUNCIL WHAT WE'RE COMMENDING.
DOES STAFF NEED ME TO REPEAT THAT? MAYBE.
SO RECOMMEND THE CITY COUNCIL APPROVE THE RIGHT OF WAY, VACATION AND REIMBURSE THE APPLICANT FOR THE FAIR MARKET VALUE OF THE RIGHT OF WAY.
WE HAVE A MOTION FROM ME, A SECOND FROM COMMISSIONER BUFFO.
ANY QUESTIONS, COMMENTS ON THAT MOTION? EVERYONE CLEAR ABOUT WHAT THAT MOTION SAYS? OKAY.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE MOTION, PLEASE SAY AYE OR RAISE YOUR HAND.
AND NOW WE'LL HAVE OUR FINAL ACTION
[5. Discussion and approval of a recommendation regarding the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) Parmer Lane (FM 734) Corridor Study. ]
ITEM, UH, OF THE NIGHT.UH, WE HAVE A RECOMMENDATION FROM COMMISSIONER CHEN.
FIRST RECOMMENDATION ON THE UTC, I BELIEVE.
[02:00:01]
UM, IT IS REGARDING, UH, THE CAPITAL AREA METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION PARMER LANE FM 734 CORRIDOR STUDY.AND I WILL TURN IT OVER TO COMMISSIONER CHEN TO WALK US THROUGH THE RECOMMENDATION WHICH SHOULD BE IN YOUR BACKUP AND POSTED ONLINE.
SO EFFECTIVELY CAMPO AND TXDOT ARE WORKING TOGETHER TO ASSESS A PARMER LANE CORRIDOR STUDY FOR BOTH SHORT AND LONG-TERM IMPROVEMENTS TO IT.
COUNCIL ACTUALLY PASSED A RESOLUTION AT THEIR MOST RECENT SESSION, BASICALLY ASKING THEM TO REVISIT IT AS A COMPLETE STREET PLAN, NOT JUST THEIR EXISTING PLANS.
SO THE RECOMMENDATION, BASICALLY A LOT OF THE WHEREAS CLAUSES ARE BASICALLY DESCRIBING THE PLAN AND BASICALLY EXPRESSING THAT THE NORTHWEST SECTION OF AUSTIN IS ALREADY COVERED BY 183.
WE'VE JUST OPENED UP NEW TOLL LANES THERE.
WE HAVEN'T DONE ANY TRAFFIC STUDIES ON HOW THAT HAS CHANGED THE TRAFFIC PATTERNS IN NORTHWEST AUSTIN.
CAMPO HAS A LOT OF LANGUAGE ABOUT WANTING TO REDUCE ACCIDENTS, REDUCE VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED.
LIKEWISE, TXDOT IS TRYING TO IMPROVE SAFETY AND, UH, REDUCE VEHICLE INCIDENTS IN THE AREA OR THROUGHOUT TEXAS GENERALLY.
AND BASICALLY BOTH INSTITUTIONS HAVE STATED THAT THEY WANT US TO FOCUS ON NOT JUST ADDING LANES, BUT ALSO OTHER CONGESTION MITIGATION EFFORTS WHEN EVER DESIGNING IMPROVEMENTS.
ADDITIONALLY, IT'S AN AREA THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE FREQUENT AND THE COMMUNITY RESPONSE HAS LARGELY BEEN THAT THE AREA SHOULD FOCUS ON PRIMARILY SAFETY AND THEN CONNECTIVITY FOR MULTIMODAL TRANSPORTATION.
UM, THE STUDIES ALSO SHOWED THAT BASICALLY THE AREA DID NOT SEEM PARTICULARLY CONCERNED ABOUT TRAFFIC CONGESTION AND THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN THE AREA WANTED TO SEE IT GENERALLY MORE DEVELOPED TO BE A DESTINATION RATHER THAN A PASS THROUGH.
SO THE RECOMMENDATION IS EFFECTIVELY TO CAMPO AND TXDOT TO BASICALLY STATE OUR SUPPORT FOR THE RESOLUTION THAT COUNCIL HAS PASSED.
AND THEN A COUPLE ADDITIONAL THINGS SUCH AS ADDING IN IMMEDIATELY SAFETY FEATURES THAT ARE QUICK BUILD AND DO NOT SIGNIFICANTLY CHANGE THE NATURE OF THE STREET.
BASICALLY DEFERRING ANY FURTHER DESIGNS UNTIL AFTER WE'VE CONDUCTED A SUBSEQUENT TRAFFIC STUDY BASED ON HOW THE NEW DEVELOPMENTS UP IN NORTHWEST AUSTIN HAVE CHANGED TRAFFIC FLOW AND BASICALLY INCLUDING, UM, COMPLETE STREET A- ANALYSIS IN ALL OF THE OPTIONS THAT THEY HAVE AND TO BASICALLY USE NOT VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED OR VEHICLE CONGESTION, BUT RATHER TOTAL NUMBER OF PERSONS MOVED AS THROUGHPUT IN THEIR METRICS FOR HOW THEY ASSESS THE DESIGN PLANS OR HOW TO REDESIGN THE PARMER LANE STUDY.
SO THAT'S A VERY BRIEF OVERVIEW OF ALL OF THE CONTENTS.
IF EVERYBODY WANTS TO TAKE A MINUTE TO READ THROUGH IT.
AND I REALIZED I FORGOT A STEP HERE.
WE, UH, DON'T HAVE A MOTION YET - OH.
BEFORE WE MOVE ON TO DISCUSSION.
SO IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION.
I WOULD LOVE TO MOTION TO ADOPT THE RECOMMENDATION.
I'LL PAUSE THERE FOR PEOPLE TO HAVE A CHANCE TO READ.
WELL, FOLKS ARE STILL READING.
I'LL HIGHLIGHT SOME THINGS I REALLY LIKE THAT YOU DID HERE.
ONE, THE DATA'S GREAT, BUT TWO, I REALLY LIKE THAT WE'RE HIGHLIGHTING, UH, EVENTUAL PROJECT CONNECTED RAPID SERVICE ON PARMER LANE.
WE'VE HEARD FROM CAP METRO THAT THEY THINK THAT'S AN AREA, UH, OF, THAT COULD BE POTENTIALLY VERY HIGH RIDERSHIP.
UH, IT ALSO ALLOWS US TO CONNECT INTO THE RED LINE AT MULTIPLE POINTS, UH, GET MORE PEOPLE INTO THE RED LINE AT LAKELINE, AND I THINK IT CONNECTS TO ONE OTHER PLACE TOO.
UM, SO I, I, I THINK THAT WAS MISSING FROM THE CITY COUNCIL'S RECOMMENDATION.
SO I THINK, UH, REALLY GLAD THAT YOU HIGHLIGHTED IT THIS YEAR AND VERY HAPPY TO VOTE FOR THIS.
I'M GONNA CALL, IS EVERYONE READY TO MOVE ON TO A VOTE OR DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS, CONCERNS THEY'D LIKE TO MAKE? I HAVE A QUESTION.
BUT, UM, I GUESS I HAVE KIND OF HAVE TWO QUESTIONS ON THIS ONE.
SO NUMBER ONE WAS, IT SEEMS LIKE THE PROPOSAL, IF I'M UNDERSTANDING CORRECTLY, IS, IS
[02:05:01]
BASICALLY TO TURN PARMER INTO SOMEWHAT OF A LIMITED ACCESS FREEWAY.IS THAT ACTUALLY WHAT THEY'RE STUDYING? IT'S TWO PHASES.
THERE'S A SHORT-TERM PHASE THAT'S BASICALLY SEEKING TO IMMEDIATELY REMEDY SOME SAFETY ISSUES.
PARMER LANE IN THAT SECTION IS JUST ONE MASSIVE STROAD WITH NOT A LOT OF STOPLIGHTED INTERSECTIONS AND GENERALLY RELATIVELY HIGH SPEEDS.
AND SO THE SHORT-TERM STUDY THAT THEY'VE CONDUCTED IS BASICALLY TO ADD PROTECTED INTERSECTIONS, UM, PROTECTED CROSSWALKS AND SO ON, BASICALLY TO ADDRESS SOME OF THE IMMEDIATE SAFETY ISSUES.
AND SO THE RECOMMENDATION, ESPECIALLY IN, UH, PART TWO OF THE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, BASICALLY RECOMMENDS FOR THEM TO STILL PROCEED WITH THOSE IMPROVEMENTS.
THEY ALSO HAVE A LONG-TERM STUDY IN WHAT THEY WANT TO DO WITH IT.
AND WHAT THEY PROPOSED AT THE MOST RECENT OPEN HOUSE FOR COMMUNITY FEEDBACK WAS BASICALLY A GRADE SEPARATED CONTROL, ACCESS CONTROLLED, HIGH SPEED ROADWAY RUNNING ALONG PARMER.
SO BASICALLY EFFECTIVELY TURNING IT INTO A FREEWAY.
AND THIS IS A QUESTION MAYBE THAT MAYBE OUR STAFF LIAISON CAN HELP WITH.
WE DID CONTACT THEM FOR A PRESENTATION.
WE DID REACH OUT AND I JUST HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO SECURE SOMEBODY TO COME HERE IN A TIMELY MANNER.
I'M, I'M READY TO TAKE A VOTE.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE CURRENT SPEED LIMIT IS ON PARMER? OH, MAN.
I THINK IT'S AROUND, IT'S PROBABLY 55 OR 60.
I DON'T KNOW THE EXACT NUMBER.
I'VE RECENTLY DRIVEN ON PARMER AND IT RANGES FROM 65 TO 55.
IS THERE ANYTHING IN HERE ABOUT REDUCING THE SPEED LIMIT
I THINK IT WAS IN THE CITY COUNCIL'S RECOMMENDATION, WHICH I, I THINK THIS IS BASICALLY A - YES.
YES AND DO WHAT THE CITY COUNCIL SAID AGAIN THIS.
THIS RECOMMENDATION IS TO DO EVERYTHING THAT CITY COUNCIL SAID IN THEIR RESOLUTION AND THEN ALSO A COUPLE THINGS THAT THEY DIDN'T MENTION.
I JUST NOTICED NUMBER SEVEN SAYS THAT TXDOT AND CAMPO ADD A CONTINUOUS SHARED USE PATH ALONG PARMER, AND I WOULD BE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THAT WITHOUT A SPEED REDUCTION.
BUT GIVEN THERE, THERE IS A WHEREAS IN HERE EARLIER THAT SAYS, YOU KNOW, UH, SOMETHING ABOUT SEVERITY OF CRASHES INCREASES WHEN SPEED IS HIGHER.
SO IF THAT'S ALREADY COVERED, THEN I'M, I'M GOOD.
IT'S IN, UM, ONE OF THE, UH, RESOLVED CLAUSES OF THE CITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION - OKAY.
TO PURSUE REDUCTION AND POSTED SPEED LIMITS.
ANY OTHER DISCUSSION BEFORE WE MOVE TO A VOTE? YES, ONE THING.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING THIS COMMISSIONER CHEN, THIS IS GREAT.
UH, THIS IS SOMETHING WE SHOULD DISCUSS.
DO WE WANT TO UPLOAD THIS AS COMMENT TO THE STUDY? CAN WE DO THAT? WE HAVE DONE THAT IN THE PAST.
HOW DO FOLKS FEEL ABOUT THIS? GENERALLY, YAY, YAY.
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THAT AND JUST PASSING THIS? UH, GENERALLY, THIS WOULD ONLY GO TO COUNCIL STAFF, BASICALLY, RIGHT? OH.
SO IF WE WANT TXDOT OR CAMPO TO ACTUALLY TAKE A LOOK AT IT, USUALLY WE WILL UPLOAD IT.
UM, WHICH I THINK I'M COMFORTABLE DOING THAT SINCE WE'RE YES ANDING CITY COUNCIL.
I WOULDN'T WANT TO DO ANYTHING COMPETING WITH CITY COUNCIL, BUT SINCE WE'RE SAYING YES TO CITY COUNCIL AND THIS, I THINK THAT'S FINE.
AND A, A REMINDER, YOU KNOW, OUR CHARTER IS THAT WE ADVISE CITY COUNCIL, BUT WE, WE ARE NOT REALLY...
WE'RE LIKE KIND OF A SOVEREIGN BOARD, SO WE'RE NOT REALLY LIMITED IN WHAT WE CAN ADOPT.
AND SO WHAT WE'VE DONE IN THE PAST, LIKE WITH OUR, FOR EXAMPLE, WITH OUR I-35 RECOMMENDATIONS, WE WOULD JUST UPLOAD THEM OR EMAIL THEM INTO THE OFFICIAL INPUT EMAIL SO THEY WERE RECORDED AS OFFICIAL COMMUNITY INPUT THROUGH THOSE PROCESSES.
SO WE COULD EASILY DO THAT IF IT'S THE WILL OF THE COMMISSION.
AND I, I THINK THE WAY WE'VE DONE THAT IN THE PAST IS WE TAKE A MOTION TO ADOPT THE RECOMMENDATION AND THEN WE NEED A SEPARATE MOTION TO DESIGNATE SOMEONE TO UPLOAD THAT AS OUR OFFICIAL COMMENT.
UM, SINCE CHAIR SUMMERS IS SICK, MAYBE, UH, UH, COMMISSIONER CHEN, IF YOU WANNA TAKE THAT ON TO TAKE ONE THING OFF OF CHAIR SUMMER'S PLATE.
IF WE'RE ALL GOOD WITH THAT, LET'S PROCEED TO THE FIRST VOTE, WHICH WILL BE TO APPROVE THE RECOMMENDATION.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND OR SAY AYE.
AND NOW WE'LL MAKE A SEPARATE MOTION TO HAVE COMMISSIONER CHEN UPLOAD THIS RECOMMENDATION TO THE PUBLIC COMMENT FOR THE PARMER-LEAN STUDY.
SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER BUFFO.
UH, ANY DISCUSSION, COMMENTS, OR QUESTIONS
[02:10:01]
ABOUT THAT? OKAY.ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND AND SAY AYE.
CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR FIRST ADOPTED UTC RECOMMENDATION.
AS A PROCEDURAL QUESTION, UH, DO I WAIT FOR THIS TO BE PUBLISHED, THE OFFICIAL VERSION TO BE PUBLISHED BEFORE I SEND IT IN OR DOES THIS - YES.
AND I'LL, I'LL GET THIS UPLOADED EITHER...
WELL, I'LL GET IT UPLOADED EITHER TONIGHT OR FIRST THING TOMORROW MORNING, SO YOU SHOULD SEE IT POST BY 1:00 AM TOMORROW.
DOES COUNCIL HAVE TO, LIKE, DO ANYTHING WITH IT FIRST BEFORE IT'S POSTED? NO.
[6. Update from Commissioner Chen from the Downtown Commission regarding actions taken at the October 21, 2026, meeting. ]
COMMITTEE UPDATE.SO WE'LL MOVE TO AGENDA ITEM NUMBER SIX, AND WE'LL GO BACK TO COMMISSIONER CHAN FOR AN UPDATE FROM THE DOWNTOWN COMMISSION REGARDING ACTIONS TAKEN ON THE OCTOBER 21ST, 2026 MEETING.
NO ACTIONS WERE TAKEN AT THAT MEETING.
[7. Update from Commissioner Prasad from the Joint Sustainability Committee regarding actions taken at the October 28, 2026, meeting. ]
WE'LL GO TO AN UPDATE FROM COMMISSIONER PRASAD FROM THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE REGARDING ACTIONS TAKEN ON THE OCTOBER 28TH, 2026 MEETING.UH, NOTHING PERTINENT TO THIS BODY.
[8. Update from Commissioner Schumacher from the Bicycle Advisory Council regarding actions taken at the October 20, 2026, meeting. ]
FROM ME, COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER FROM THE BICYCLE ADVISORY COUNCIL REGARDING ACTIONS TAKEN AT THE OCTOBER 20TH, 2026 MEETING.THERE'S ONE THING I WANNA HIGHLIGHT.
UM, THE BICYCLE ADVISORY COUNCIL ADOPTED A RECOMMENDATION, WHICH I DON'T HAVE THE TEXT YET, BUT I WILL MAKE SURE IT'S DISTRIBUTED ONCE I HAVE THE TEXT, UM, THAT'S DEALING WITH THE DISMOUNT POLICY AT UT.
UH, THEY'VE BEEN ENCOURAGING, UM, ORIGINALLY WAS A POLICY AND NOW THEY'VE CHANGED IT TO ENCOURAGING, UH, UH, ELECTRIC VEHICLES, SPECIFICALLY E-BIKES AND E-SCOOTERS, TO DISMOUNT FROM A GOOD CHUNK OF THE CAMPUS, ALL OF SPEEDWAY AND I BELIEVE MOST OF 24TH STREET.
UM, THAT'S CREATED SOME CONNECTIVITY ISSUES, RIGHT, AS THOSE ARE KIND OF THE MAIN ARTERIES THAT STUDENTS USED TO GET THROUGH CAMPUS.
SO THEY HAD A RES - RE- RECOMMENDATION FOCUSED ON TALKING TO THE CITY OF AUSTIN ABOUT HOW WE CAN CREATE BETTER CONNECTIVITY AROUND, UH, WEST CAMPUS FOR VEHICLES TO BE ABLE TO ACCESS CAMPUS.
AND WHEN I SAY VEHICLES, I MEAN, UH, E-BIKES, E-SCOOTERS, AND BICYCLE LISTS IN GENERAL.
UM, I THINK AS WE START LOOKING AT THINGS LIKE THE CENTRAL CITY DISTRICT PLAN, THERE ARE A LOT OF RECOMMENDATIONS IN THERE THAT WOULD BE PERTINENT TO US.
UH, THAT'S ALL FROM THAT MEETING.
UH, NOW, NUMBER NINE, UPDATE FROM
[9. Update from Commissioner Kavelman from the Pedestrian Advisory Council regarding actions taken at the November 2, 2026, meeting. ]
COMMISSIONER CAVALMAN FROM THE PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY COUNCIL REGARDING ACTIONS TAKEN AT THE NOVEMBER 2ND, 2026 MEETING.UH, OFFICER ELECTIONS, AND THAT'S IT.
[10. Update from Chair Somers from the Community Advisory Committee of the Austin Transit Partnership Board regarding actions taken at the October 8, 2026, meeting. ]
BUT NOT LEAST, AN, UH, UH, AN UPDATE FROM CHAIR SUMMERS FROM THE COMMUNITY ADVISOR COMMITTEE OF THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP REGARDING ACTIONS TAKEN AT THE OCTOBER 8TH, 2026 MEETING.WE CAN ALSO POSTPONE THIS NEXT MONTH IF YOU WANNA REST YOUR VOICE.
WE JUST MAINLY HAD HOUSEKEEPING, SOME VACANCIES ON THE BOARD AND WORKING GROUPS.
THERE WAS A ET- ETOD PRESENTATION WHICH PEOPLE MIGHT WANNA REVIEW.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ]
US TO FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. I'LL TURN IT OVER TO NATALIE IF THERE'S ANYTHING YOU WANNA FLAG FOR US COMING UP.SO, UM, CURRENTLY WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR, UM, WHAT WE'RE EXPECTING TO SEE IN DECEMBER FOR Y'ALL IS A VISION ZERO UPDATE, THOSE MOBILITY HUBS, AND A PRESENTATION ON CTX GO.
UM, I WILL FLAG TWO THINGS I'D LIKE TO ADD, UM, AS WE START CHARTING.
UM, COMMISSIONER FERNANDEZ AND I WERE TALKING ABOUT A POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION ABOUT CREATING A STANDARD ON WHEN WE SHOULD RECOMMEND BUS LANES ON, ON OUR, OUR ARTERIALS, UM, THAT MIGHT BE READY IN DECEMBER FOR A RECOMMENDATION.
I, I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO MAYBE DO SOME ACTION ON THE EAST RIVERSIDE CORRIDOR REGULATING PLAN, MAYBE THE VISION PLAN IN JANUARY.
SOUNDS LIKE THAT WOULD BE THE BEST TIME FOR US TO COMMENT.
SO MAYBE JUST FLAGGING THAT FOR A POSSIBLE JANUARY AGENDA ITEM.
UM, DO ANY OTHER COMMISSIONERS HAVE AGENDA ITEMS THEY WANNA FLAG? WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME WE GOT AN UPDATE ON CAT METRO BIKES? DO WE...
UH, UH, UH, BIKE SHARE UPDATE WOULD BE INTERESTING JUST GIVEN THE FIRE SITUATION AND THEM SLOWLY GETTING BACK ONLINE.
I, I, I TH - I, I'M CURIOUS WHAT YOU WANNA HEAR OUT OF THAT.
I JUST, UH, I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT FIRES.
I JUST FEEL LIKE THEY'RE, THEY'VE GROWN A LOT AND I, I'VE VISUALLY SEEN IT AND I THINK THAT THEY HAD TOLD US ABOUT IT LAST TIME AND IT JUST FEELS LIKE IT WAS A WHILE AGO, SO I'M JUST CURIOUS HOW IT'S GOING AND IF RIDERSHIP IS UP.
I CAN, UM, I'VE ALREADY KIND, WE'VE ALREADY BEEN KIND OF IN CONTACT WITH THEM, UH, FOR MOBILITY COMMITTEE, SO I CAN SEE IF WE CAN - SURE, YEAH.
REPURPOSE A PRESENTATION FOR UTC AFTERWARDS.
AND, AND I WOULD BE CURIOUS TO HEAR, FOR THOSE WHO DON'T KNOW, THEY HAD A FIRE
[02:15:01]
AT THEIR FACILITY THAT KNOCKED THEM OFFLINE FOR A GOOD BIT AND THEY'RE KIND OF SLOWLY GETTING BACK.I THINK THEY'RE MOSTLY BACK TO 100%.
THREE OR FOUR MONTHS AGO, I THINK? A COUPLE MONTHS AGO.
I'D BE CURIOUS TO HEAR HOW THAT HAS IMPACTED THEIR OPERATIONS AND THEN AS THEY'VE GOTTEN BACK TO 100%, HOW THAT'S IMPACTING THEIR FUTURE EXPANSION PLANS, BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY I'M SURE THEY HAD TO EXPEND A GOOD AMOUNT OF RESOURCES TO GET BACK UP TO WHERE THEY WERE.
I THINK IT HAS, BUT I JUST DON'T REMEMBER.
THAT IS, UH, A SHARED CITY OF AUSTIN CAT METRO THING, SO YEAH, THAT'D BE GOOD TO HEAR.
ANYTHING ELSE FROM, UH, COMMISSIONERS? OKAY.
WELL, THANK, THANK YOU FOR EVERYONE FOR - SORRY ONE - OH, GO AHEAD.
UH, I TOTALLY FORGOT TO, UH, PUT THIS ON, UM, MY UPDATE, UM, NOTES, BUT, UH, I, I DID REMEMBER THAT, UH, IN THE LAST JOINT SUSTAINABILITY, UM, COMMISSION, UH, MEETING, THEY DID, UM, SHARE, UH, THE CITY SHARED AN UPDATE ON THEIR FLEET ELECTRIFICATION.
UM, IF FOLKS ARE INTERESTED IN THAT, UM, I CAN SHARE A LINK TO NATALIE AND THEN SHE CAN DISTRIBUTE IT, BUT, UM, IT'S ALSO IN THE, THE MEETINGS NOTES.
I, I FIGURE FOLKS IN THIS AUDIENCE MIGHT BE CURIOUS TO HEAR HOW THE CITY IS MOVING, UM, UH, TO ELECTRIFY, UM, AND THE LESSONS THEY'VE LEARNED, UH, B- B- BROAD STROKES.
UM, UH, THEY ARE INCREASING THEIR, UH, USE OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES, BUT, UH, THEY'VE HAD TO PIVOT BECAUSE SOME MANUFACTURERS ARE COMPLETELY GOING OFF ELECTRIC ENTIRELY AND THEY HAVE TO FIGURE OUT NEW VENDORS AND STUFF.
SO YEAH, KIND OF WHAT YOU WERE LOOKING AT IN THE MARKET WHEN TRYING TO BUY AN EV YOURSELF.
ANYWAY, UM, SORRY, UH, FORGOT TO MENTION THAT.
YEAH, NO, APPRECIATE THAT UPDATE.
WELL, I'LL SAY, UH, THANK YOU FOR EVERYONE WHO SHOWED UP WHILE THEY WERE SICK AND THEN BRAVE THE RAIN TO GET HERE.
I WILL ADJOURN, UH, WITHOUT OBJECTION AT 7:22.