City needs more planning staff to complete federal transit grant work for light rail

The Planning Department says it needs four new staffers to prepare for the first phase of light rail through downtown.

That was one of the findings in a new memo outlining the department’s work to make equitable transit-oriented developments, or ETODs, a major piece of city planning for the next decade-plus.

The new staffers would prepare planning documents needed by 2025 to submit grant applications for federal funds.

The memo from Planning Department Director Lauren Middleton-Pratt informs City Council and Mayor Kirk Watson that existing staffers are expected to complete planning efforts related to 18 stations servicing light rail, MetroRail and MetroRapid in time for the Federal Transit Administration’s mid-2025 deadline. But the planning needed for all stations along the first phase of light rail likely won’t be completed in time without the additional staff.

The new positions would involve work toward improving transit access, preserving affordable housing near transit stations and closing health and wealth gaps. They also would set population targets around light rail stations, determining which stations should be prioritized for planning and investment.

Also in progress: amendments to the Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan that would include equitable transit-oriented developments as a goal for city development. Language is expected to be provided to Council in September.

The city also is partnering with Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority to develop equitable transit-oriented development vision plans for transit stations on Lamar Boulevard, beginning with a series of community engagement sessions later this year. The resulting draft vision plan documents are expected to have a final community review by early 2024, before possible adoption by the Planning Commission and Council.

Staff also has started work on incorporating equitable transit goals and benchmarks into the transit stations in Northeast Austin, which will be served by the Green Line and MetroRapid. More than a half-dozen planned stations in the area will be transformed by the Colony Park redevelopment, and city staff hopes to have a plan ready for adoption by late 2024 or early 2025.

Work is underway to create amendments to the Land Development Code that would result in the creation of an equitable transit-oriented development overlay, which was described in detail in a March memo from Housing and Planning Department Director Rosie Truelove to Council and the mayor.

Proposed changes to parking requirements near transit stations have been a primary point of discussion. At a March joint meeting of the Mobility Committee and the Housing and Planning Committee, transit advocates stressed the need to eliminate parking minimums near transit stations as a way to discourage the use of single-occupancy vehicles.

Related to the planning process for transit stations in the works, the memo spells out a three-phase process for either creating new vision plans, updating existing transit plans or using a collaborative process that incorporates existing planning documents for areas such as the Northeast District near Colony Park.

The new plans are expected to take 15 months from inception to completion, with Council directing staff to prioritize planning for stations within the first phase of light rail. The updates are expected to take 12 months to complete, while the updates to plans for larger geographic areas are expected to take 18 months or longer to complete.

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