Central neighbors want to go to front of line

Members of the North University Neighborhood Association (NUNA), joined by several other neighborhood groups, held a demonstration on the steps of City Hall Monday to call for changes in the Neighborhood Planning process. “We’re asking for a moratorium on high-density zonings for the central city until we can get neighborhood plans quickly in place,” said NUNA President Jerry Roemisch. “That could be done in a year or less if we combine neighborhoods and get to the front of the queue in terms of neighborhood planning.” Members of Eastwoods, Allendale, Hyde Park, Crestview, Dawson, Heritage, Rosedale, Old West Austin, Judges Hill and Shoalcrest Neighborhood Associations were also in attendance.

The call for changing the neighborhood planning rules was prompted, in part, by the impending vote on the Villas on Guadalupe project. Developers are attempting to secure MF-6 zoning for a tract on Guadalupe at 27th in order to build an apartment complex with approximately 150 units. Residents of NUNA have pushed instead for a zoning of MF-4, which would allow about 80 units. Roemisch said they believe allowing the encroachment of dense, multi-family zoning would result in the irreversible negative change in the area. “This tends to be a real gateway to the entire neighborhood,” he said. “We have other developers looking to see if they get this kind of zoning in place, then they can move into neighborhoods with their own MF-6 ordinances.” While developers of the Villas project have said their tenants would likely be UT students, Roemisch predicted the development would actually eliminate some of the affordable housing for students in the North University area. “With this high-density, high-rise kind of development, it’s high bucks,” Roemisch said,” and that causes the property taxes to go up, which in turn makes all the other property owners have to sell out.”

The City Council is posted for a vote on the requested zoning change this week, although that vote could be delayed. (See In Fact Daily, Feb. 25, 2002 .) Roemisch believes representatives of NUNA have secured enough signatures to revalidate their petition against the zoning change, which was ruled invalid after the boundaries of the project were changed. (See In Fact Daily, Jan 14, 2002. ) Neighbors say that is why the vote should be held this week, not postponed. The valid petition means it would take six City Council votes to change the zoning.

Members of other central-city neighborhoods say that the issue goes beyond the vote on any one tract. They want a significant revision of the neighborhood-planning process, which they describe as “developer-driven”. Tish Williams with the Heritage Neighborhood Association, which is just west of Guadalupe in the University area, called on Council members to change the rules. “This is not Smart Growth, this is growth at any cost,” Williams said. “We want you to come with us to create a high-quality Austin.” Among the complaints about the current process: central-city neighborhoods have to wait in line for neighborhood planning, neighborhoods are frequently on the “defensive” and the City Council is not bound by the recommendations of the Zoning and Platting Commission or citizen input.

Council Member Beverly Griffith joined the group during its demonstration in front of City Hall and said she supports the call for changes to the system. “I certainly am planning to work with all of these neighborhood associations to accomplish that goal,” said Griffith. “We need to get with these folks who have the experience . . . we have many neighborhood plans . . . we need to talk to these people who have had the experience, and say, ‘What was good, what was bad and how can we improve it?’ We need to make something that the business owners, landowners, homeowners, residents, rental folks can all feel a part of.”

As for the specific case at the heart of the debate, Griffith said she would not be in favor of granting MF-6 for the Villas on Guadalupe. Instead she plans to support a proposal she described as a compromise, which would allow an MF-4 zoning with additional ground-level retail opportunities. Developers of the project have said previously that they would likely decide not to develop the project if it were only granted an MF-4 zoning.

Griffith, McCracken, Sifuentes talk about issues

Three City Council candidates addressed the Zilker Neighborhood Association last night, which was sponsoring the first such forum this year. Attorney Brewster McCracken said his priorities would be to “fix our transportation crisis,” create equality of opportunity for jobs, especially for those who were left out of the last boom, and generate “respect for Austin.” A light rail supporter, McCracken said neighborhoods should be included in the planning process. He also pledged to support environmental protection.

McCracken, who grew up in Corpus Christi, graduated from Princeton and received degrees from both the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the UT Law School. A corporate litigator, McCracken lives in Northwest Hills. He has lived in Austin for nine years. He said he would favor a mixed system of single-member and at-large Council representation, like the system in Corpus Christi.

In response to a question about why he wants to serve on the Council, McCracken declined to criticize any Council member, but said with the uncertainty created by term limits, willing citizens must step forward to carry on the city’s work. He said Austin’s problems do not stem from “a failure of vision,” but having grown too much too fast.

Retired Police Officer Billy Sifuentes has lived in East Austin all of his life, currently residing in the Dove Springs area. He said he began the DARE program in East Austin in 1980, and complained that the city is being managed by crisis. He said the police department is still in need of funds, but could not answer a question from Mike Blizzard, a consultant to Council Member Beverly Griffith, about what percentage of the city’s budget is currently devoted to public safety. Blizzard said about 50 percent of the budget is devoted to public safety.

Sifuentes said he favors a mixed system of Council representation, either 7-3-1 or 6-4-1, with the City Council appointing the commission that would draw the lines. In response to a question about the gentrification of East Austin, Sifuentes proved he knew about the problem by citing recent examples of $100,000 and $200,000 properties in near Eastside neighborhoods. He said he did not think there was anything the Council could do about the issue, but praised developments such as the recently approved Wild Horse PUD. Sifuentes has said he would run against Griffith.

Griffith focused on the need to keep experienced policymakers in place during these “stressful” times. She also pointed to her business experience, environmental and neighborhood credentials as reasons to keep her in office.

Griffith said she is very concerned about park maintenance, indicating there would be “a very serious conversation” about the matter at this morning’s Audit and Finance Committee meeting. She said the Council is going to have to look at raising property taxes, noting that Austin has the lowest tax rate of the major metropolitan areas in the state. She said she would not immediately favor a hospital taxing district, because that would be another tax on many of the same taxpayers.

Griffith has remained non-committal on single-member districts; although she said she has been hearing from a lot of citizens who do not like the idea of losing the right to vote for all of the Council. Neighborhood members in general, she said, have been telling her office they don’t want single-member districts.

Candidates have until March 20 to get their names on the ballot.

Contact information for the candidates: Beverly Griffith Campaign 691-7961 or fax 691-7964; Brewster McCracken 507-5113 or visit http://www.brewstermccracken.com; Billy Sifuentes 775-0781 or email to billycfuentes@yahoo.com

Friday

Ethics Commission takes position against extra ballot option . . . Last week, a majority of the Ethics Review Commission said that placing an item on the May 4 ballot to simply repeal the current City Charter provision regarding campaign contributions and expenditures would be a bad idea. Commission Chair Ginny Agnew had previously told the Charter Revision Commission that voters should be given the opportunity to repeal a provision—which limits contributors to $100 per candidate—whether or not they wish to enact the public financing proposal presented to the city by petition. That measure will carry a provision repealing the current language. Agnew said she and another commission member still believe that voters should be given that option. However, she said the rest of the commission felt very strongly that such an option might be confusing to voters and might subject the election to a court challenge. The City Council will be making a decision on ballot measures within the next few weeks . . . Praise for Capital Metro . . . It’s not often that members of an Eastside neighborhood come to a Capital Metro meeting to thank the agency. So board members were all smiles Monday afternoon when half a dozen women from the Montopolis area presented them with a plaque in appreciation of Cap Metro’s swift response to their request for a bus shelter at Allison Elementary School. The citizens came to a board meeting last April, they said, to ask for the shelter. To their great surprise, work on the project started in June and the shelter was completed in August . . . But not all the news was good . . . Acting General Manager Fred Gillam reported that for the four month period ending on Jan. 31, sales tax revenues for Cap Metro were down 6.6 percent, passenger fares were down 2.1 percent and investment income was down 41.1 percent. Overall, revenue was down 8 percent, but total expenses were down nearly 14 percent, saving $4.6 million over what had been budgeted, he said . . . Austin web site is top pick . . . The MuniNet Guide & Review has chosen the City of Austin’ s site http://www.ci.austin.tx.us as its Top Pick in the big city category. Mardee Alvaro, editor of the review, pointed to the home page which “highlights city news, timely web site features, and upcoming meetings and events—including links to meeting agendas and other supporting details,” as keys to the site’s success. In Fact Daily would like to add that the site kept us from making a useless trip to a meeting that had been cancelled yesterday, for which we were grateful. The MuniNet Guide & Reivew provides a searchable online database of municipal and related sites with more than 7,000 listings, according to the editor. http://www.muninetguide.com . . . Audit and finance meeting today . . . The City Council audit and finance committee is scheduled to meet at 10am today at City Hall.

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