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North Shoal Creek Neighborhood Association
General Membership Meeting @Pillow Elementary School Library September 4, 2018, 6:30 P.M. – 8:15P.M.
AGENDAGuidelines for a successful meeting: We want to keep the meeting moving forward and to keep everyone interested and engaged. 1. Let’s keep our comments shorter when many people want to speak. It’s courteous and you will hold people’s attention better. 2. After you’ve asked a question, give others an opportunity to ask a question before you ask another. 3. Let’s not talk over each other. 4. Let’ keep side conversations to a minimum. 5. If there’s a lot of discussion, we’ll raise hands to be called on to speak. 6. Members will vote by raising their voting card.
Agenda
6:30-6:40p (10) 1. Call to Order/ Welcome/Introductions
6:40-6:45p (05) 2. Approve minutes from May 1st General Membership Meeting
6:45-6:50p (05) 3. Treasurer’s Report
6:50-7:10p (20) 4. NPP, Steck Ave. Bridge Tile Mosaic Art Project—Discuss project as reminder, budget, and vote on approval of expenditure of NSCNA funds.
7:10-7:30p (20) 5. NSC Neighborhood Plan Final Approval-Review/Discussion
7:30-7:35pm (5) 6. NCS Contact Team-Update (Sharon Justice)
7:35-7:55p (20) 7. Committee reports: Beautification (Mary Jane Wier) Bylaws; Nominating (Kenneth Webb) Development (Kevin Wier)
Garden (Sara Brandon) Media (Sharon Justice) Membership (Brian Brandon/Jeri Wines) Safety (Roger Wines) Social (Jon Menegay) Traffic (OPEN)
7:55-8:15p (20) 8. New Business and Announcements (1. Trash truck/dumpster noise-request for help from Tony Kelly; 2. UHaul issue- helping Guy Griffiths)
8:15p 9. Adjourn (Next GMM scheduled for November 6th (U.S. election day))
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At its Thursday, August 23 meeting, the Austin City Council voted 11-0 to pass our neighborhood plan as submitted by staff and approved by NSCNA except for one change recommended by the Planning Commission. This change means that ADUs (accessory dwelling units) now can be built in our neighborhood on lots zoned SF2 as well as SF3. Previously, ADUs could be built only on lots zoned SF3, which accounts for 35% of our residential zoning.
On balance, the Development Committee feels that the unanimous vote by City Council coupled with only one policy related amendment passing is a win for our neighborhood plan. The committee thanks all the neighbors and other stakeholders who worked on this process over the past two years and who participated in the planning process.
Here is a summary of the meeting:
District 7 Council Member Leslie Pool made the motion to approve the staff/neighborhood version of the plan, with recommendations by the Planning Commission to be voted on as separate amendments. These amendments called for
- Adding missing middle housing to Steck Avenue. NSCNA’s position was that this is a safety issue. Steck is a very busy street, and it’s already difficult for its residents back out of their driveways. This recommendation would make it even more difficult. Council agreed – there was no motion to approve when the mayor asked if there were one, so the motion failed.
- Expanding ADUs throughout the residential core. This issue consisted of 2 separate recommendations: the first made the policy statement; the second described ADUs and missing middle housing. Both were merged into one vote. NSCNA’s position was that this should be handled on a citywide basis via the upcoming code rewrite rather than be implemented via a neighborhood plan. Although Mayor Adler indicated he would vote no on this matter because the plan was not the place for such action, the motion passed 6-4-1. The Mayor along with Council Members Pool, Houston, and Kitchen voted no; Mayor ProTem Tovo abstained.
- Increasing roadway connectivity between the interior of the neighborhood and the surrounding corridors. NSCNA’s position was that building roads would not be cost effective. Because our plan focuses on increasing pedestrian and bicyclist connectivity between the interior of the neighborhood and the corridors, this recommendation was unnecessary. Council agreed; there being no motion to approve, it failed.
In addition to the Planning Commission recommendations, Council Member Flannigan of District 6 put forth two amendments. One cleaned up some inconsistent wording in the plan (e.g., changing the word “area” to “core” and consistently using the word “setback”). The other called for changing the residential core from “predominately single-family housing” to “residential house scale housing.” NSCNA objected to CM Flannigan’s “residential house scale housing” amendment, arguing that this sort of change should be made on a citywide basis, not in a neighborhood plan. In addition, if passed, this amendment would fundamentally change the premise of our plan, which is based on leaving the single-family core alone and adding density in the corridors. A majority of the council agreed, and this amendment failed. His amendment cleaning up inconsistent wording was approved without objection.
While the loss on ADUs was disappointing, the Development Committee members at the meeting felt the positive aspects of the plan outweighed the likely impact of additional ADUs on our neighborhood. These were the factors considered in making this decision:
- Some 150 North Shoal Creek lots are within the floodplain and are therefore restricted from expanding. They will not be eligible to add an ADU.
- The shape of the lots and houses in North Shoal Creek means that fewer lots in our neighborhood can meet the code requirements associated with building an ADU compared to some other Austin neighborhoods.
- Deed restrictions for the individual subdivisions that make up our neighborhood in some cases do not permit additional housing units on a single lot. Individuals and groups will have a legal option should they oppose a nearby ADU.
Once again, the Development Committee thanks all the stakeholders who participated in this project and helped make it successful. Great job, everyone!
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BREAKING NEWS: THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL PASSED OUR NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN UNANIMOUSLY AT TODAY’S COUNCIL MEETING (THURSDAY AUGUST 23). MORE INFORMATION WILL BE POSTED THIS WEEKEND.
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Dear North Shoal Creek Resident,
Our neighborhood plan comes before the Austin City Council for a public hearing and vote this THURSDAY AUGUST 23. We need NSC residents to show up and support our plan as it was written and approved by both stakeholders and city staff via our planning process (“our version”). This is the version that will be the subject of Thursday’s public hearing. Council will also debate and vote on adding changes reommended by the Planning Commission. WE WANT THE CITY COUNCIL TO NOT CHANGE OUR PLAN.What you need to do:
1. Attend the meeting. Our neighborhood plan is scheduled for no earlier than 4 PM. Arrive about 3:30 if possible, and please be willing to either speak on behalf of our version of the plan or donate time to someone who will. Please email president@nscna.org ASAP if you’ll be attending, and please say if you’re willing to speak or to donate time.
2. Wear blue. We want council members to be able to recognize us as supporters of “our version” of the plan.
3. If you can be a car pool driver, email development@nscna.org ASAP and say how many passengers you have room for. We’ll be carpooling to City Hall from the Pillow Elementary School parking lot, and carpool drivers are badly needed!
4. If you can’t be at City Hall until later in the evening, plan to come anyway. It’s possible that Council won’t get to us until after their dinner break (i.e., after 7 PM).Please take a couple of minutes to read the section below which lists the three changes the Planning Commission recommended be made to our plan along with NSCNA’s reasons for not supporting them. And remember,
• PLEASE COME TO THE MEETING
• IF YOU CAN ARRIVE BY 3:30 AND EITHER SPEAK OR DONATE TIME TO A SPEAKER, PLEASE DO SO
• IF YOU CAN’T ARRIVE UNTIL LATER, PLEASE COME ANYWAY – WE WANT AS MANY SUPPORTERS THERE AS POSSIBLE
• WEAR BLUE
(Note: City Hall is located at 301 W. Second St. There is free parking in the garage–take your parking ticket to the City Clerk’s office to be authorized for free parking)CHANGES RECOMMENDED BY THE PLANNING COMMISSION:
1. Allow missing middle housing along Steck Avenue (p. 18):
a) Steck is already busy and adding additional density will make it harder for Steck residents to safely pull out of their driveways onto Steck;
b) City staff did not support adding additional density along Steck. The compromise our plan is based on recognizes that there is more potential density available in our corridors than in our residential core.2. Allow ADUs in NSC residential areas zoned SF2 (ADUs are already allowed in areas zoned SF3 citywide) (p. 19):
If this goes through, North Shoal Creek will be the only area in Austin that allows ADUs on property zoned SF2. If this change is made, it should be done as part of an ordinance applicable throughout Austin. NSCNA does not support singling out and imposing this change on North Shoal Creek.3. Increase connectivity (p. 71– “As redevelopment occurs along the major roadways, every effort should be made to improve connectivity between the corridor and the planning area’s interior.”)
This change comes from a discussion regarding demolishing a residential home to permit additional road access between Burnet Road and our residential interior. City staff did not recommend this because it’s not cost effective — residential property values are too high. NSCNA supports improving connectivity between the residential core and our Burnet and Anderson corridors, but we do not support additional road (i.e. car) access. Our plan emphasizes additional access through new pedestrian and bike paths (e.g., Shoal Creek Trail; Ashdale/Anderson path).
