A case at the Planning Commission on March 28 sparked discussion about whether the city should try to preserve remaining industrial areas or encourage their redevelopment.
In question is a 13-acre property at 5010 Burleson Road in Southeast Austin. The property owner requests a change from industrial to commercial use on the site’s Future Land Use Map, or FLUM.
Michael Whellan, representing the owner, argued that the request is reasonable since the FLUM shows other commercial properties nearby along U.S. Highway 290. If City Council approves the FLUM change, the property owner will file a rezoning to allow commercial use, according to a letter from Whellan.
The Southeast Combined Neighborhood Plan Contact Team supports the request.
“We have been working on making our area a go-to area … as opposed to just a pass-through area, which commonly happens in industrialized zoning or land use areas,” said Ana Aguirre, the president of the contact team.
Despite the neighborhood’s support, city staffers opposed the request. The area remains an important hub of industrial uses for the city, said Jesse Gutiérrez with the Planning Department, especially as other industrial areas like St. Elmo or parts of East Austin redevelop.
“This is an (industrial) area that’s still kind of intact in some ways,” Gutiérrez said. He argued that introducing commercial or mixed-use could cause a domino effect, threatening the entire industrial district and the blue-collar jobs it provides.
“When we talk about displacement, we’re talking not only about housing but also jobs and job types,” he said.
The commission sided with the applicant and neighbors, voting 11-2 to recommend the request for commercial future land use. Chair Todd Shaw and Commissioner Grayson Cox voted against.
“There’s more potential community benefit in this site as commercial than as industrial,” said Commissioner Alice Woods, who noted that the site sits along the planned Bergstrom Spur urban trail.
Commissioners expressed interest in studying the preservation of industrial zones and their distribution across the city – issues that Commissioner Awais Azhar said raise equity concerns.
“In the report, out of areas that were considered to be industrial and have had loss, two of them – St. Elmo and North Burnet Gateway – are west of (Interstate 35) …. Most of the areas where we’re still trying to maintain that industrial zoning is east of 35. It’s worthy for us to consider that,” Azhar said.
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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.
