Council adopts Equity-Based Preservation Plan

After a public hearing on Thursday, City Council approved the Equity-Based Preservation Plan – a new strategy for preserving historic buildings that prioritizes diversity and cultural heritage. The plan was adopted as an ordinance amending the larger Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan, a 30-year document for the city’s growth.

The Historic Landmark Commission first launched the creation of the Equity-Based Preservation Plan in 2021 with the formation of a 26-member working group. After significant city and stakeholder engagement, the project culminated in a document that includes 14 goals and 107 recommendations.

The approved Equity-Based Preservation Plan provides guidance to protect historic businesses and public artwork, prevent displacement, bolster sustainability, support the caretakers of historic properties, identify and protect additional historic places and streamline review processes for properties being considered for historic preservation. It also includes methods to incorporate community input while undertaking these efforts.

The plan, which accounts for the next 10 years, with an anticipated five-year update, discusses some underlying causes of inequity in Austin’s history. It explores strategies to preserve and stabilize older units of affordable housing, as well as neighborhoods, small businesses and locations for heritage tourism. The plan also provides guidance on related workforce development and job creation.

Meghan King, a policy and outreach planner with Preservation Austin, was one of several advocates who spoke in support of the new equity-based plan during the public hearing: “Since Austin’s current Preservation Plan was adopted over 40 years ago, our city has undergone significant changes,” King said. “We need to be proactive to protect the vulnerable heritage sites we have in East Austin. We need formalized protections for legacy businesses and murals. We need new and creative incentives that make preservation an economically viable option over demolition. We need to maximize preservation contribution to our sustainability goals. We need to halt the displacement of historic communities of color. … We need to protect the people, places, and stories that people, places, and stories that define Austin’s culture and soul. The Equity-Based Preservation Plan gives us a path forward to achieve all of these goals. … Preservation Austin looks forward to continued collaboration with this dais to ensure these historic and cultural spaces have a place in Austin’s future.”

Several members of the dais thanked Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison, who chairs the Housing and Planning Committee and represents East Austin’s District 1, for her leadership in the effort to launch the plan.

“This was a monumental step toward preserving Austin’s cultural heritage in a way that thoughtfully reflects the diversity and history of our communities,” she told the Austin Monitor in a statement. “Adopting the Equity-Based Preservation Plan and other comprehensive, intentional programmatic tools benefits Austin.”

To expand the impact of the Equity-Based Preservation Plan, Council Member Zo Qadri authored a motion initiating reforms to the city’s historic tax exemption program. Incorporating successful strategies from other Texas cities and recommendations from the UT Law Clinic, the amendment directs the city manager to consider decoupling the exemption from zoning, developing exemption program criteria, assessing the need for property owner preservation assistance, limiting exemptions to historical structures rather than complete sites, monitoring for compliance and establishing penalties for noncompliance, and creating a time-limited property tax exemption.

Both the amendment and the plan were adopted by the Council without objection. As outlined in Qadri’s motion, the city manager will return to Council this summer with proposed mid- and long-term changes to make the historic tax exemption program more equitable.

The Planning Department will begin to implement the Equity-Based Preservation Plan immediately. The department will launch a public dashboard to track implementation progress in January.

The Austin Monitor’s work is made possible by donations from the community. Though our reporting covers donors from time to time, we are careful to keep business and editorial efforts separate while maintaining transparency. A complete list of donors is available here, and our code of ethics is explained here.