Tip Sheet: Planning Commission 2-10

The City of Austin Planning Commission meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday. In the interest of saving space, we will not publish the entire agenda here. It is available on the city’s website (this week has an addendum, too.)

With most of the agenda postponed last week, this tip sheet might look a little familiar. However, there are some new things this week that caught our interest:

1. Plan Amendment: NPA-2014-0009.01 – Waller on Swede Hill Location: 908 E. 15th Street, 807 E. 16th Street, & 1506 Waller Street, Waller Creek Watershed, Central East Austin NPA Owner/Applicant: WJP Swede Hill, LLC (Wes Peoples) Agent: Kenneth T. Blaker Request: Multifamily and Single Family to Mixed Use land use

2. Rezoning: C14-2015-0006 – Waller on Swede Hill Location: 908 E. 15th Street, 807 E. 16th Street, & 1506 Waller Street, Waller Creek Watershed, Central East Austin NPA Owner/Applicant: WJP Swede Hill, LLC (Wes Peoples) Agent: Kenneth T. Blaker Request: SF-3-NP to GR-MU-CO-NP

Monitor’s Take: Given the fact that the Historic Landmark Commission is currently looking into historic zoning for the houses on this tract, this item will most-likely be postponed. But if it isn’t, expect a lively discussion!

4. Rezoning: C14-2014-0111 – 4500 Speedway Location: 4500 Speedway, Waller Creek Watershed, North Hyde Park NCCD, Hyde Park NPA Owner/Applicant: Navid Hoomanrad Agent: Husch Blackwell, LLP (Alexandra Jashinsky) Request: SF-3-NCCD-NP to NO-NCCD-NP Staff Rec.: Recommended with Conditions

Monitor’s Take: The case that launched 1,000 acronyms is back, and after a strong suggestion from the previous City Council, developers have modified their request to what staff had recommended previously. It remains to be seen whether that will sit better with neighbors concerned that the original request was attempting an end-run around process safeguards, which we wrote about here.

16. Site Plan Variance: SPC-2014-0175A – Red Bluff Hotel Location: 4701 Red Bluff Road, Lady Bird Lake Watershed, Govalle/Johnston TerraceCombined NPA Owner/Applicant: Red Bluff Partners, LLC (Jordan Ford) Agent: Big Red Dog Engineering (Ricardo de Camps) Request: Approval for a variance from the Waterfront Overlay, Section 25-2-721(B)(1), which prohibits parking areas and structures within the primary setback.

D 1. New Business: Discussion and Possible Action to Rescind and Reconsider Request: Discussion and possible action to rescind and reconsider action taken on January 13, 2015, regarding Case No. SPC-2014-0175A, for the proposed Red Bluff Hotel, located at 4701 Red Bluff Road.

Monitor’s Take: It looks like the Planning Commission will revisit its earlier decision on a proposed East Austin hotel. We wrote about that decision and the fact that the board opted to deny a variance at the developers’ request in order to ensure their right of appealhere.

C 17. Briefing: Update from city legal on their interpretation of the code section regarding the Planning Commission’s scope of responsibility on Section 25-4-151(Connectivity) and 25-4-153 (Block Length).

Monitor’s Take: During the epic battle over Lightsey II, a piece of the code was referenced that many people — including Planning Commissioners — did not know about. Basically, it appeared that commissioners may have more discretion than they previously thought in regards to subdivision approval and connectivity. This item promises to clear it all up, and we look forward to the discussion.

D 2. New Business: Discussion and Possible Action on Residential Over-Occupancy Memo Request: Discussion and possible action to forward residential over-occupancy recommendations to Council.

Monitor’s Take: Stealth Dorms are back. And the Planning Commission has some proposed solutions (detailed in this February memo.)