Commissions study SOS ordinance proposal

The proposal would curtail new development in the city’s Barton Springs Zone, bar the city from entering into economic development agreements with any business or employer that builds in the zone, and stipulates that a majority of the City Council must affirm in open session that a "grandfathering" development claim is valid.

The proposal is not the Proposition 2 Charter Amendment on Saturday’s ballot, but a proposed amendment to the city’s SOS Ordinance being floated by Council Member Lee Leffingwell, with support from Jennifer Kim and Raul Alvarez.

Any resemblance between the two measures is purely intentional.

The proposed ordinance amendment, which has been heard by the city’s Environmental Board and Planning Commission, was likely born of several days of negotiations between the city—led by Leffingwell—and the SOS Alliance as a compromise to keep what city officials considered a poorly constructed charter amendment off the ballot.

Those negotiations failed, and a series of political squabbles and legal battles have ensued over what effect the ordinance will have on the city’s ability to perform its duties in the Barton Springs Zone should the proposition become part of the City Charter.

Some backers of Proposition 2 have charged that the ordinance was introduced as a ruse to allow Council members to campaign against the charter amendment and avoid charges of abandoning the city’s commitment to protect Barton Springs.

City Environmental Officer Pat Murphy presented the amendment to both city boards, noting that measure would force city staff to perform a cost/ benefit and environmental analysis before the city approves a significant ($5 million) expenditure for major development infrastructure within the zone.

It would also force any business that enters into an economic development agreement for a development outside the zone to repay the full value of the package if at a future date, that business builds a facility in the zone that is subject to a grandfather claim allowing it to avoid SOS water quality standards. That clause also applies to businesses locating a major employment center in the zone.

SOS’s Brad Rockwell said the ordinance encompasses many of the protections that his groups seeks for the aquifer and its contributing zone, but falls short in some areas.

"We need to counteract the trend of a high level of development occurring in the Barton Springs zone," Rockwell told the Planning Commission this week. "You can count the number of developments in the zone that adhere to the SOS water quality standards on one hand because of grandfathering."

Rockwell pointed out several of what he considers loopholes in the proposed ordinance. He recommended that the measure require a supermajority of the Council affirm that a grandfathering claim is valid; reduce the size of developments in the zone that the Council must review; and remove a clause that would allow an exception to projects which contain a SMART housing component.

He also called for closing what he called the "AMD loophole," which he said would allow subsidiaries and close affiliates of corporations to enter into economic development agreements with the city after parent companies build in the zone.

The Environmental Board appointed a subcommittee to study the proposed ordinance, and the Planning Commission has postponed action on the item until its next meeting on May 23. The ordinance could go to Council as early as June.

However, if the voters approve Proposition 2 on Saturday, the ordinance would apparently become moot.

Domain seeks variance for signs

The developers of The Domain are seeking approval for a variance to the city’s sign ordinance for their mixed-use project in Northwest Austin. While the 234-acre project has frontage on several major roadways, the MI-PDA (Major Industry – Planned Development Area) zoning means it is classified as one single tract. That means it is allowed a much smaller number of signs than would normally be permitted if the project were subdivided.

Agent Melissa Hawthorne told the Sign Review Board this week that the developers would like a variance on both the number of signs and the height of some of the signs. Because of the terrain and the configuration of the MoPac access road, she said, getting onto the site could be problematic without proper signage giving drivers advance notice.

"The idea on the signs is to hit the access points to get you in, to get you on the private roadway," she said. "We are trying to do some really tasteful, artistic signs that allow you to have identification to get everyone in for what is planned to be 9,000,000 square feet and 3,500 living units."

The signage on the site is also constrained by the city’s rules governing scenic roadways. Although the parts of the tract fronting Braker and Burnet would not normally face those restrictions, the MI-PDA zoning effectively extends the regulations for those parts of the tract on MoPac to the rest of the site.

"As a unified development tied to a common plan…then the regulations go on top…for a scenic roadway even though they’re not scenic in these areas," explained Hawthorne.

Board members seemed ready to accept Hawthorne’s arguments to increase the number of signs on the property, especially along the parts facing Burnet and Braker. "I was OK with the number of signs being that this is a huge area, but I have issues with some of the other variances," said Chairman Frank Fuentes, citing the height of the proposed signs along Braker and Burnet. In some cases, the developers are requesting variances of 50 percent or more to the height that would be allowed under the scenic roadway regulations.

Hawthorne countered that the signs would be consistent with those allowed on commercial roadways. While board members seemed sympathetic to that argument, Fuentes said that Hawthorne’s findings of fact as presented in the application were insufficient. She agreed to request a postponement of the case and return with more information.

©2006 In Fact News, Inc. All rights reserved.

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