TipSheet: City Council, 8.23.18

Welcome to this week’s TipSheet. In the interest of space, we’ve decided not to post the entire agenda, but here are the items we have our eye on today. The Office of the City Clerk posts a copy on its website, here.

Item 10: Approve a resolution repealing resolutions related to economic development programs and adopting economic development Guiding Principles and a Chapter 380 Policy.

Item 11: Approve an ordinance establishing a Business Expansion Program pursuant to Texas Local Government Code Chapter 380.

Item 12: Approve an ordinance repealing Part 2 of Ordinance No. 20090312-005 to the extent necessary to authorize the City Manager to develop the Locational Enhancement Program for Economic Development under Chapter 380 of the Texas Local Government Code and to return to council with this program for Council review and possible approval.

Monitor’s Take: Council postponed this item (an overhaul of the city’s economic incentive program) at its last meeting. Heads up, it’s set to be postponed again, due to staff scheduling conflicts.

Item 20: Approve phased recommendations for the improvement of the Seaholm Waterfront, a 3 acre park site, which includes the Seaholm Intake Building.

Monitor’s Take: The Seaholm Intake Building on Lady Bird Lake is set to get a makeover. Here are the details on what is set to be a three-year, phased plan to rehab the building into a public space. The discussion at the work session focused on whether the proposal would be more child-friendly. Expect more reassurances in that direction today.

Item 21: Authorize negotiation and execution of an interlocal agreement with the Austin-Travis County Sobriety Center Local Government Corporation (LGC) and Travis County for operation by the LGC of the Sobering Center in an amount not to exceed $1,123,359 for the 12-month period beginning October 1, 2018, with up to four 12-month extension options not to exceed $1,123,359 per extension option, for a total amount not to exceed $5,616,795.

Monitor’s Take: After years of planning and process, the region’s first sobering center is finally set to really open, on Oct. 1; the ribbon-cutting for the center took place on Wednesday.

Item 47: Approve a resolution directing the City Manager to develop recommendations related to density bonus programs within adopted regulating plans.

Item 77: Approve a resolution directing the City Manager to develop recommendations regarding amendments to City Code and regulating plans necessary to recalibrate density bonus program affordability requirements and fee-in-lieu requirements, and return to council with recommendations by February 15, 2019.

Monitor’s Take: Note that Item 77 replaces 47. Both are a recalibration of the city’s density bonus programs, something done periodically to make sure the money going toward affordable housing is in line with the market. This item would only start the process – proposed fees won’t be ready for a vote until the recommendations return to Council in February.

Item 52: Approve an ordinance amending City Code Chapter 2-1 relating to the Community Development Commission bylaws and Chapter 2-7 regarding financial disclosure requirements.

Item 80: Approve an ordinance amending City Code Chapter 2-1 relating to the Community Development Commission and Chapter 2-7 regarding financial disclosure requirements, and approve amendments to the bylaws of the Community Development Commission relating to an appointment and removal process for commission members.

Monitor’s Take: Item 80 replaces Item 52 in this bit of inside baseball. Currently, the CDC has Council appointments and community elected appointments, and the community elected appointments cannot be vetoed by City Council. That would still be the case if this passes, but fellow commissioners would have a say in who their colleagues are. Does this have anything to do with a recent elected appointee? Reason says maybe.

Item 58: Briefing on the Project Assessment Report for the Circuit of the Americas Planned Unit Development, located at 9201 Circuit of the Americas Boulevard, within the Dry Creek Watershed (CD-2018-0004).

Item 81: Briefing on the Project Assessment Report for the 218 South Lamar Planned Unit Development, located at 218 South Lamar Boulevard, within the Lady Bird Lake Watershed within the Urban Watershed (CD-2018-0003)

Monitor’s Take: Now that soccer is finally settled (?) City Council is free to take up some of the things put off to make that time-consuming decision. That includes these two briefings on potential PUDs. While there will be no decisions made on the developments, this is the presentation where we all get to learn about what makes these plans “superior” – the required threshold for the creation of a PUD.

Item 62: NPA-2017-0016.02 – Flats on Shady – District 3 – Conduct a public hearing and approve an ordinance amending Ordinance No. 20030327-12, the Govalle/Johnston Terrace Combined Neighborhood Plan, an element of the Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan, to change the land use designation on the future land use map (FLUM) on property locally known as 1125 Shady Lane (Boggy Creek Watershed) from Single Family to Multifamily land use.

Item 63: C14-2017-0094 – Flats on Shady – District 3 – Conduct a public hearing and approve an ordinance amending City Code Title 25 by rezoning property locally known as 1125 Shady Lane (Boggy Creek Watershed). Applicant Request: To rezone from family residence-neighborhood plan (SF-3-NP) combining district zoning to multifamily residence moderate-high density-neighborhood plan (MF-4-NP) combining district zoning.

Monitor’s Take: This case might actually be heard today after lingering on the agenda for a while. We expect a fight from the neighborhood, which continues to have concerns about density and traffic.

Item 68: C14-2018-0002 – Delwau Campgrounds – District 1 – Conduct a public hearing and approve an ordinance amending City Code Title 25 by rezoning property locally known as 7715 Delwau Lane (Colorado River Watershed). Applicant’s Request: To rezone from single family residence-standard lot (SF-2) district zoning to general commercial services-mixed use-conditional overlay (CS-MU-CO) combining district zoning and commercial liquor sales-mixed use-conditional overlay (CS-1-MU-CO) combining district zoning.

Monitor’s Take: Here’s another case that has been waiting for its day at Council. The proposal is a fairly modest one: a campground. But neighbors are worried by the inclusion of alcohol sales in the application.

Item 76: Approval a resolution relating to acquiring and preserving multi-family developments and mobile home parks occupied by households who earn less than 60 percent of the median family income (MFI).

Item 78: Approve a resolution directing the City Manager to initiate rezoning and Future Land Use Map (FLUM) amendments for mobile home park properties located at 8105 Research Boulevard; 1430 Frontier Valley Drive; and 7307, 7401 and 7403 East Riverside Drive to the appropriate mobile home residence (MH) district and to identify all remaining properties currently being used as a mobile home residence park or mobile home subdivision, but not zoned mobile home residence (MH) district and submit the properties to Council for initiation of the appropriate zoning cases on September 20, 2018

Monitor’s Take: Two interesting items about mobile homes this week. Both lay a groundwork for their protection. The first, which comes from Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo’s office, looks to preserve the parks as affordable housing. The second item, which comes from Council Member Greg Casar’s office, takes a different approach. The second half of this item looks to change existing zoning for mobile home parks to “mobile home residence,” which would also preserve the parks by necessitating a zoning change to change the use.

Item 82: Conduct a public hearing and consider an ordinance on second and third reading amending the Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan by adopting the North Shoal Creek Neighborhood Plan for the area bounded by Research Boulevard to the north, Burnet Road to the east, Anderson Lane to the south, and Mopac Expressway to the west.

Monitor’s Take: As Jack Craver reported Wednesday, some of the free-floating CodeNEXT angst has found a host in this neighborhood plan where arguments over density and housing capacity live on. Here are the amendments that Council Member Jimmy Flannigan promised, per his work session comments.

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