Latest Springdale Road VMU rezoning looks set for Council approval

In Austin zoning cases, neighbors and developers don’t often agree on the particulars of proposed developments. But in the case of a Vertical-Mixed Use (-V) zoning request for 5800, 5900, 5920, 6000 Springdale Road, the interested parties found common ground. This, plus the Planning Commission’s unanimous recommendation on Oct. 12, means the rezoning is likely to pass at City Council – despite a valid petition from one adjacent property owner. Approximately 23 condominium units are planned for the properties. Negotiations between developer’s representative Alice Glasco, the Knights of Columbus, a neighboring property owner, and Nadia Barbot, representative for the Pecan Springs/Springdale Hills Neighborhood Association, led to several terms for the development: privacy fences along the western edge of the properties, certain green building features, a neighborhood-preferred business such as a grocery store or coffee shop, a reserved place on the building’s HOA for the neighborhood association, and a $45,000 donation from the developer to a nonprofit of the neighborhood’s choosing. If the development takes advantage of VMU zoning’s density bonus, it would have to make 10 percent of units affordable to those making 80 percent median family income or less. The City Council hearing date has not yet been set.