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Date: Saturday, May 8
Time: 11 am – 6 pm
Location: Brentwood Park, 6710 Arroyo Seco (map)Looking for a fun, family-friendly event not far from our neighborhood this weekend? The Violet Crown Festival showcases the best of local music, food, and arts; neighborhood history; community resources; and family activities. This year’s festival will also include a focus on wellness and health.
Proceeds will help support Friends of Brentwood Park, Brentwood and Crestview neighborhood volunteers dedicated to maintaining the park and helping continue to develop it as a community resource.
For more information, visit: violetcrowncommunity.org
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Date: Tuesday, May 4
Time: 6:30 – 8 pm
Location: Pillow Elementary, 3025 Crosscreek Dr.There will be a general membership meeting of our association on Tuesday, May 4.
A social “meet and greet” will start at 6:30 pm, featuring food and a Media Swap. Food will be provided by Zen restaurant on Anderson Lane.
During the Media Swap, you’ll be able to exchange books, CDs or DVDs with your neighbors. To participate, bring any gently used media items that a neighbor might want. You can bring more than one item. You’ll be able to take as many items as you bring. Any leftover items will be donated to Recycled Reads, which profits Austin libraries.
The business meeting will begin at approximately 7 pm. Our business this month will include approving minutes from the March general meeting, a Treasurer’s report, and updates on upcoming neighborhood events and committee activities. The neighborhood is planning a number of events over the next couple of months, including our annual Independence Day parade. Please join us to see what is in the plans and how you can help.
NOTE – A draft of the March meeting minutes are posted here. Please take a moment to review them prior to the meeting.
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The property crime situation in our neighborhood took an uptick in February, but has been slowly improving through the year. The first quarter statistics reported by the Austin Police Department have a few glitches, but otherwise show improvement.
Here are the raw numbers for some key crime types for the first three months:
Jan Feb Mar Burglary of Residence 2 5 3 Theft 7 5 8 Burglary of Vehicle 1 7 8 There are some issues with the statistics that cause the March numbers to look higher than they are. Some crimes end up being recorded multiple times, or in multiple categories. Also, some of these statistics include property crime at commercial locations, as well as residential crime. As a result, these numbers sometimes make the crime situation appear worse than it really is.
For instance, although there were eight theft incidents recorded in March, three of those were at commercial addresses. Three of the residential incidents occurred on the same block on Penny Lane on the same day.
So although the “Burglary of Residence” and “Theft” columns add up to 11 for the month of March, there were actually just five residential locations at which these crimes occurred: 26xx Clarkdale, 88xx McCann, 32xx Mossrock, 27xx Penny, 85xx Rockwood.
For the eight “burglary of vehicle” incidents in March, after eliminating duplicate addresses and commercial locations, only two residential locations are identified: 27xx Thrushwood and 88xx Dawnridge.
At this time, the preliminary April statistics show continued improvement on residential theft and burglary. Burglary of vehicle statistics, on the other hand, appear to be increasing, although most of the problems appear to be at non-residential locations.
Please continue to keep a watch out for your neighbors, and call 911 to report suspicious behavior. Also, please take extra steps to ensure you don’t fall victim to automotive burglary. Here is a web page by TxDOT with helpful information: Auto Burglary and Theft Prevention
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The April edition of the NSCNA Neighborhood News has rolled off the printers and should hit your doorstep shortly. The newsletter is being delivered to the doors of all houses and duplexes in the neighborhood, and will be sent via postal mail to NSCNA members who live in apartments and condominiums.If you do not receive your newsletter by Friday, April 30, please contact newsletter@nscna.org.
The current issue of the newsletter is also posted to the website, and you can find a link in the right-hand sidebar where you can download a PDF.
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Several neighbors have reported parking issues during events at the Playland Skate Center (8822 McCann). The issues occur when rollerderby matches are held, one Sunday a month. Two matches have been held so far this year, and another match will be held this Sunday, April 25, at 6:30 pm.
Although the Texas Rollergirls have held their matches at the rink for several years, the parking situation has been particularly bad this year. Last week, Traffic Committee Chair Dallas Maham and I met with Playland owner Pete Morin to discuss the neighborhood concerns. I’ve also been corresponding with a representative from Texas Rollergirls about our concerns.
We identified several possible causes of the increased parking problems. One is that event attendance is up slightly over recent years. Another is that Republic Print & Mail used to offer free overflow parking, but is now charging a fee, so people are less likely to use it. Finally, in years past a volunteer was posted on McCann to direct people out of the neighborhood to the overflow parking, which did not happen this year.
Mr. Morin said he would work with the rollerderby organizers to post a volunteer who will help direct traffic out of the neighborhood.
I am hopeful that the parking issues can be resolved. I believe both Playland and the Texas Rollergirls try to be good neighbors. We’ve had no recent reports of noise, litter or vandalism from skating-related event crowds. I hope our recent discussions will lead to the necessary actions to reduce neighborhood parking problems.
A cooperative solution is best for all of us. The public does have the right to use on-street parking, which sometimes can be an inconvenience to us. For instance, I see very heavy parking on Stanwood during activities at Pillow such as soccer matches. That’s one of the trade-offs for living in a neighborhood with exciting things going on.
Nonetheless, that doesn’t mean cars will be allowed to park illegally, create a safety hazard or impede emergency vehicle routes. Your association will work to prevent that.
I suggest that neighbors near McCann keep a watch on the derby schedule, and be prepared for heaver traffic one Sunday a month. It’s always going to be busy on rollerderby night. I hope we can maintain safe access and passage on the streets during those times.
I’d be interested in hearing about your experience this Sunday evening, and whether we see fewer parking problems. Please share your observations and suggestions on our Yahoo Group, or contact me directly at president@nscna.org, 512-573-5174.
Chip Rosenthal
NSCNA President
