Planning Commission OKs re-rezoning in Montopolis

The Planning Commission voted to recommend a rezoning petition for a long-empty parcel of land in the Montopolis neighborhood during its Jan. 14 meeting. The vote was contrary to the recommendation of Planning Department staff, who cited concerns about road access and a lack of progress on development at the site since a previous rezoning was granted in 2020.

Petitioner Saxon Acres LLC, an imprint of local real estate company Olivos Group, plans to eventually build a housing development at the 2.9-acre lot, located at Saxon Lane and El Mirando Street, and seeks a zoning change from SF-6 to MF-2.

The current zoning district is intended for “moderate density single family, duplex, two-family, townhouse, and condominium use,” while the proposed MF-2 district is intended for “multifamily use with a maximum density of up to 17 units per acre, depending on unit size … located near single family neighborhoods,” according to the city code.

Victoria Haase, speaking as an agent on behalf of Saxon Acres, told the commission that the development would likely include units with income restrictions to improve affordability, but stopped short of promising a specific number or percentage.

Commissioner Grayson Cox pressed Haase on the details of the affordable units and asked for a verbal commitment on their inclusion.

“I think understanding the affordability, the income-restricted units that you’re willing to do, should factor into the Planning Commission’s decision on whether to support this or not,” Cox said.

Haase clarified in response to Cox and other commissioners’ questions that there is currently no detailed site plan, but reiterated that Saxon Acres was committed to providing plans and would have more details by the time the case reaches City Council for approval.

“Whatever agreement we come forward with in terms of income-restricted units, it’s likely to be more,” she said.

No neighborhood residents spoke at the meeting for or against the change. After a little more than a half-hour of deliberating, the commission voted 10-0-2 to recommend the rezoning, with commissioners Nadia Barrera-Ramirez and Adam Haynes abstaining.

“This is an area where we want to put housing if we’re saying no to sprawl in other parts of the city,” Chair Claire Hempel said before joining the “yea” vote.

The Planning Department, which evaluates petitions before they reach the commission, did not recommend the change. The site was last upzoned from SF-3, a stricter code intended to limit development to low-density family housing, in 2020 at the request of Saxon Acres, that time with the support of the Planning Department.

“There has not been any progress to develop the property since the previous rezoning,” said Cynthia Hadri, a senior planner for the city. “As such, there is not a basis for staff to change their previous recommendation.”

Hadri said the department was also concerned about the traffic impacts of a higher-density housing development at the site enabled by MF-2 zoning, referencing a detail in the petition that developers only planned road access on via Saxon Lane, a dead-end residential street.

Haase responded that Saxon Acres didn’t intend to rule out access via El Mirando Street and that the changing market conditions during the past five years are the reason that the 2020 upzoning to SF-6 has not resulted in any development.

“They filed a site plan with the city, but due to the changes in the market, they had to abandon that because it wasn’t going to work,” Haase said.

Ron Thrower, who also spoke on behalf of Saxon Acres at the meeting, said that developers believe the higher density allowed by the proposed rezoning would make a successful project feasible.

Thrower told the Austin Monitor that the main difference between the current and proposed districts is in the units permitted per acre. The current district would allow roughly 12, while the new district would allow roughly 20, an increase of more than 65 percent.

“With stacked units, you get a lot more economies of scale to the units in the building, the plumbing, the electric, everything,” he said. “It certainly helps for projects to pencil a lot better and to be able to provide some level of affordable housing as well.”

Commissioner Greg Anderson questioned the staff recommendation.

“Do we consider housing a community benefit?” Anderson said. “Does staff follow the cost of living in Austin, Texas, between 2020 and 2025, and the changes that we’ve seen in cost of living and housing prices, whatnot?”

Median home prices in the Austin and Round Rock area declined in 2024, the Austin American-Statesman reported, following a period of dramatic hikes between 2020 and 2022.

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Posted In: Planning, District 3