What’s happening:
•Residences within 200 feet of Buell Avenue could be adversely affected by the proposed new zoning on Buell Avenue. The city’s proposed new zoning violates the North Shoal Creek Neighborhood Plan and calls for massively dense redevelopment on Buell (MU5B-Q zoning) which is the most intense mixed-use zone and will allow residential, commercial, or mixed-use buildings up to 60 feet/5 stories, with an additional 30 feet/3 stories allowed with multifamily residences up to 5 to 7 or 8 stories tall. This will have a dramatic impact on increasing the property taxes on surrounding area residences. It would also result in an overwhelming amount of car traffic using Stillwood Lane as a path to get to Steck Avenue and Mopac Expressway.
•Businesses on Buell Avenue could be adversely affected by the proposed new zoning on Buell Avenue by having their property taxes skyrocket beyond affordability. This would defeat the purpose of the zoning in the North Shoal Creek Neighborhood Plan that was designed to allow the businesses on Buell to grow and yet not be affected by drastically increasing property taxes.
Why this matters:
•Rezoning violates our North Shoal Creek neighborhood plan, approved by City Council in Aug. 2018, which was designed to maximize density while protecting our core of family homes. Our North Shoal Creek Neighborhood Plan is now an official part of the City of Austin’s Master Plan that guides the land code.
•District 7 Council Member Leslie Poole, our North Shoal Creek City Council representative, attempted to change this MU5B-Q zoning back to the IF zoning that the NSC Neighborhood Plan included, but her proposed amendment to change it back was voted against by the City Council.
• The plan’s intention for Buell Avenue was to protect the existing businesses and allow them to grow and to include a mix of live-work spaces, residents, small scale services, artisanal businesses, offices and tradespeople. The housing considered was to be townhouses, rowhouses or small apartments. It was to serve as a transitional area between Burnet Road and the residential interior
”The scale and height of new buildings along Buell Avenue should be one to three stories”, “heights should step down to be compatible with adjacent residences” (page 48-49) of NSC Neighborhood Plan.
Take action:
•Visit FileYourProtest.com no later than February 29th for details on filing a rezoning protest. If you do file your protest, file no later than February 29th. Texas law gives you the right to protest any zoning changes affecting your property and properties near your residence.
•FileYourProtest.com has more detailed information on MU5B-Q rezoning and an easy way to contact Mayor Adler.
•For more information, email development@nscna.org.
