After a controversial discussion, the Planning Commission recommended a rezoning in Windsor Park that would allow a 34-unit multifamily project to move forward.
The project sits on a 0.86-acre vacant lot at 6305 Berkman Drive. The property owner requests a rezoning from Townhouse and Condominium (SF-6) to Multifamily-High Density (MF-5). No neighbors opposed the rezoning at the meeting, but city staffers objected on the grounds that MF-5 doesn’t fit in with the neighborhood.
“We just don’t feel that MF-5, in the middle of a residential collector (street), surrounded by single-family residential, is a suitable location,” Heather Chaffin with the Housing and Planning Department said. Staffers instead recommend Multifamily-Medium Density (MF-3) zoning.
While MF-5 would allow 34 units, MF-3 would only allow 22 – and the units would likely be bigger (and therefore less affordable). Under the current SF-6 zoning, only 10 units are allowed.
Ron Thrower and Victoria Haase, representatives for the property owner, argued that MF-5 is appropriate because a site one property over is zoned Community Commercial-Mixed-Use (GR-MU), which allows a similar-sized building to the one proposed. They also said that the location is great for housing, with a grocery store, elementary school and high-frequency bus route to UT and downtown nearby.
One neighbor, Mele Juillerat, wrote in opposition, saying that the city should not allow developers to profit from the “destruction of the neighborhood.”
Some commissioners agreed with city staff – at least, initially. “MF-5 doesn’t belong here,” said Commissioner Grayson Cox, who argued that the denser zoning would “set a really bad precedent” in the area.
Others disagreed. “I respect what staff is saying because we’re looking at what is in our existing code, but we’re also trying to plan for the future and make sure that our transit infrastructure is supported by housing around it,” Commissioner Awais Azhar said.
Commissioner Greg Anderson said the project would fit with the neighborhood, especially since there is a much larger mixed-use apartment project in the works down the street at 5811 Berkman Drive. That project’s first phase will bring 398 units – 10 percent of those affordable – to the neighborhood, according to Thrower.
“I just don’t feel that it’s our job as a body to limit housing …. At this point, we have to figure out what we can do to make housing easier to build,” Anderson said.
The commission voted down a series of motions – one by Cox to recommend MF-3, another by Anderson for MF-5, among others – before one finally stuck: a motion by Commissioner James Shieh to recommend MF-5 zoning with building height capped at 45 feet.
Despite the heated discussion, nearly everyone got on board. The vote was 9-1, with Anderson voting against due to concerns about the height limit constraining the site in the future.
The rezoning still needs final approval from City Council. The hearing is scheduled for Feb. 9.
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City of Austin Planning Commission: This commission addresses issues of land use as assigned to it by Austin's City Code. These include the abilities "[t]o make and amend a master plan, recommend approval or disapproval of proposed zoning changes and control land subdivision within neighborhood planning areas and submit, annually, a list of recommended capital improvements." It has sovereign authority, or the right to make final decisions on certain cases.
