Fwd: Watson Wire: Time to hear from you on housing

[fdew...@gmail.com]

Is anyone from EROC joining this meeting tomorrow and willing to take notes and report back to the group?

- Fred

Begin forwarded message:

From: Kirk Watson via LinkedIn <newslette...@linkedin.com>
Date: October 25, 2023 at 12:22:39 PM CDT
To: Frederick DeWorken <fdew...@gmail.com>
Subject: Watson Wire: Time to hear from you on housing



Wherever I go these days, I get an earful about the proposals to update the…

͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ 

Newsletter on LinkedIn Watson Wire The Watson Wire is back! Subscribe to my weekly newsletter for news, updates, &, of course, Grammy’s cornbread dressing Kirk Watson Mayor of Austin See what others are saying about this topic: Open on Linkedin Watson Wire: Time to hear from you on housing Wherever I go these days, I get an earful about the proposals to update the Land Development Code. At neighborhood association meetings, I hear a lot of legitimate consternation from homeowners about how these changes may affect their property and what their neighbors might be able to do next door. But the worries are very different when I’m talking to a crowd of folks who wonder how – and if – they’ll ever be able to make a home in Austin. There are valid concerns being expressed from more than one point of view that we need to respect and consider as we begin the official code revision process with tomorrow’s joint public hearing involving both the City Council and the Planning Commission. As I’ve said many, many times before, our city is smart enough to wrap its collective head around more than just two sides of an issue. Austin is at a very important point in time. We’re one of the largest cities in America. We’re a focal point worldwide. We’re growing into a 21st Century International City. We need more housing — affordable and otherwise — but our rules and regs for getting housing are pretty much frozen in time and almost 40 years old. I believe that Austinites want to expand the availability of a full range of housing options without damaging the essential character of our existing neighborhoods or putting our environment at risk. And I’m talking about neighborhoods all over Austin, not just in certain parts of the city. Neighborhood character, culture, and community are important everywhere. Now, again, I’m certain that we won’t come up with a perfect policy. Heck, I bet we don’t come up with a policy that even one person considers perfect. But this progressive, smart, creative place ought to be able to have a more up-to-date policy that looks to the future more than it does the past. I know there’s lingering scar tissue from the past several years with the everything-everywhere-all-at-once-without-much-notice approach. I think the approach we’re taking, while not perfect, is better and will get us to a better result. Tomorrow’s meeting is a beginning, not the end. This is a unique meeting. It looks like Austin has never held a joint meeting of the Council and the Planning Commission to, hopefully, better hear from the public. This joint meeting will be followed by another meeting of the Planning Commission. That will be followed by another meeting of the City Council. We will not be voting to adopt anything on Thursday. Instead, we’ll be there to listen to you, and your input is invaluable as we work to craft policy that will address our housing and affordability emergency in this city. I hope we can have a productive discussion as a community, knowing that doing nothing is not an option. What’s in the Ordinance? The proposed ordinance would do the following: Allow up to three housing units, including Tiny Homes and Recreational Vehicles (RVs), on a Single-Family (SF) zoned property; Revise regulations that apply to a property with 2 housing units; and Remove restrictions on the number of unrelated adults living in a housing unit. This proposal enables homeowners to add one or two additional units to their lot without having to come to the City Council for a zoning change. It does not, however, alter other single-family zoning criteria, such as setbacks, impervious cover and height. One of the biggest concerns I’ve heard from the community relates to the idea of recreational vehicles on single-family zoned lots. I agree with this concern. I actually think it's a bad idea. RVs are not permanent dwellings. Not in our city code, not in the state code, and not in federal code.  And to be clear, the current proposed changes released by staff do not include RVs, even though they’re specifically mentioned in the notification and on the city website. If you find that confusing and frustrating, well, you’re in good company (assuming you consider me to be good company). Next year, the City Council is set to take up other revisions to the Land Development Code, including reducing the minimum lot size. That policy change is not part of the ordinance we’re considering now because city staff is taking the time necessary to work through a lot of complicated issues. All of these changes are intended to foster the opportunity for more density to improve housing access and affordability, but they will also create new challenges that we need to anticipate and address with an eye toward the future. For example, how do we systematically upgrade the utility infrastructure needed to serve denser neighborhoods? And how do we reconcile our Climate Equity Plan goals, which call for less impervious cover, with the additional density? No one said this was gonna be easy. There will be an open house on Monday, November 6, so that folks can meet with city staff to ask questions about proposed code amendments.  What is a "Protest"? Only in Austin would we get protests about how to protest. For certain types of Land Development Code changes, a formal protest by enough people will trigger a requirement that a super-majority of the City Council must approve the change for it to be effective. To trigger that additional right, protest petitions must be signed and mailed or hand delivered to the City. Details on how to do that can be found on the Protest Rights tab of the webpage, where you can also find the petition form provided by the City to make sure all of the information is there.  There are some folks that are saying you can protest by sending an email. Yes, if you send an email that says, “I protest what you’re doing,” that is a protest of sorts. But it doesn’t trigger the super-majority requirement. If you have used a different link than the ones included above, please note that those emails will be considered as feedback on your thoughts regarding the ordinance but will not be counted as an official protest. Join the conversation Know someone who might be interested in this newsletter? Share it with them.

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[jorge canizares]

Hi Fred,

I will be in NYC this weekend and won't be able to attend the meeting. 

best

Jorge

--
East Riverside Oltorf Combined Neighborhood Planning Organization
 
Planning Documents:
https://austintexas.gov/page/adopted-neighborhood-planning-areas-0
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[Malcolm Yeatts]

I attended the 10/26/2023 meeting and spoke in opposition to the proposed changes. The next opportunity to speak on these changes will be at the 11/14/2023 Planning Commission meeting. The email that I sent to the Planning Commission members is attached. I voiced the same concerns at the 10/26/2023 meeting. Austin Neighborhood Council will be voting on a resolution with the same concerns. My impression of the 10/26/2023 meeting is that Councilmembers have already decided, and these listening opportunities are to give citizens the illusion that City Council is listening. In the Watson Wire, the Mayor implied that the protests that Community Not Commodity is collecting on their website will not be valid. These protests are covered under state law, not city ordinance. In the state law, there is no prohibition of protests collected electronically, as opposed to paper. It is much easier for citizens to file their protests online rather than through the postal system. This is another example of how the city is trying to discourage opposition.