The Environmental Commission voted to recommend a proposed update to the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport Master Development Plan at its regular meeting July 5.
The original master plan ordinance passed in 1994 was designed as a blueprint for redevelopment of the Bergstrom Air Force Base into the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, including a water quality compliance plan intended to govern drainage infrastructure development. It provides a regulatory framework to guide development within the airport’s boundaries and serves as an omnibus compilation of pre-approved variances to city code.
This is the third round of amendments to the ordinance, which was last updated in 2012 and is subject to review every 10 years. Somer Shindler, the airport’s chief development officer, told the commission that one of the main reasons behind the update this time around is to provide further clarity for city code reviewers.
The update comes as the airport faces unprecedented growth in passenger traffic and is undergoing a massive $164 million expansion project. The facility is designed to accommodate 15 million annual passengers. Last year, the airport served more than 21 million passengers.
“In 2023, we now know more about our growth and actually know what our next 10 years of growth and development could look like,” Shindler said. “Our update will guide the airport’s future expansion while abiding (by) the city’s environmental sustainability principles.”
Shindler said the update will establish consistent permitting requirements for the airport as it proceeds with its long-term development. The update also will provide the pre-approved variances needed for the airport to advance a comprehensive expansion project. Finally, it will ensure the expansion project advances in a timely manner and in a way that aligns with current city code standards.
“And that is clarification that was needed that is not in the current ordinance,” Shindler said.
The first proposed variance will edit the section of the code that refers to site plan exemptions. It will allow the airport to use the master site plan to obtain a building demolition permit for Air Force structures on the property that exceed 10,000 square feet.
The second proposed variance would allow the airport to exempt land within its boundaries from specific urban development code requirements, which would not be applicable to the airport. This already is a city policy, but staff requested this clarification be added to the code.
The third proposed variance would allow for the review of overlapping site plans. “It gives added flexibility for the redevelopment of a large, complicated site that was built with over 100 individual site plans,” Shindler said. “This allows for overlapping site plans under review concurrently.”
A fourth proposed variance would allow for the master plan to become a “living document” instead of expiring every three years.
The fifth proposed variance would allow the airport to avoid having to grant itself an easement, given that the airport is city-owned land.
“(The airport) complies with all floodplain requirements and setbacks required by the Land Development Code and will continue to provide uninterrupted access to the floodplain administrator,” Shindler said.
The sixth variance would change the section of code concerning water quality control requirements. It would allow new or redeveloped taxi lanes to be exempt from water quality control requirements. Shindler said taxi lanes are not high-pollutant areas, because they are not used for vehicle or fuel storage.
The seventh variance would allow the airport to leverage its large existing green spaces to satisfy certain water quality pond requirements. Shindler said this is consistent with Federal Aviation Administration safety requirements.
The eighth proposed variance, also concerning water quality control, would allow the airport to limit capture volume amount for runoff in the Constrained Development Area. That would allow the airport to avoid cost-prohibitive requirements and a significant interruption to operations.
The ninth proposed variance would allow for development in segments of the Critical Water Quality Zone, based on certain conditions. The remaining three variances concern cut and fill requirements, administrative approval criteria, land use commission variance and water conservation requirements.
After the presentation, members of the commission heard District 1 resident and environmental attorney Lauren Ice, who has spent the past 18 months advocating for more public outreach and engagement with the residents near the airport property.
“I’m here tonight to ask you all – and ask the airport – to postpone consideration of this item to adequately allow for the neighborhood to participate,” Ice said. “I can see the need for a new master development ordinance, but I do think there is a real missed opportunity here to probably address some of the shortcomings of the existing ordinance and of the new proposed ordinance and of our existing code.”
In response to questions from several commissioners, Shindler acknowledged that the airport has not conducted public engagement with regard to this ordinance update. She said staff will take the feedback into account and come up with a plan for engaging the public during these discussions going forward.
Commissioners also expressed concern that the update might give the airport inappropriate and “blanket” approval for water quality variances.
The commission passed a resolution recommending the updates with several caveats. Those caveats include improving public input and engagement with the surrounding neighborhoods and asking for input on future development projects; the installation of water quality monitoring stations on natural waterways and sharing that data with the public; and annual reviews of those transparency efforts.
Photo by Joe Mabel, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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Austin-Bergstrom International Airport: Run by the city, the Austin–Bergstrom International Airport is located on the old site of Bergstrom Air Force Base it opened to to the public on May 23, 1999.
City of Austin Environmental Commission: An advisory board to members of the Austin City Council. Its purview includes "all projects and programs which affect the quality of life for the citizens of Austin." In many cases, this includes development projects.
