Environmental Commission ponders HOME initiative

Dave Sullivan, a longtime advocate for environmental causes and a member of the city’s Environmental Commission, offered his colleagues a motion supporting City Council’s proposed HOME initiative at this week’s meeting. According to Sullivan’s motion, last month the commission heard that in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support Project Connect, Austin needs to increase its population density.

The HOME proposal would allow up to three homes on properties zoned Single Family (SF-1 and SF-2) and Family Residence (SF-3); remove regulations about accessory apartments and guesthouses; and limit applicability of McMansion standards to lots with just one home. The proposal would also allow tiny homes – generally up to 400 square feet – on those lots.

Sullivan’s resolution notes that as the population density increases, there will be more shared walls, which helps to conserve heating and cooling. That means less energy consumption. He noted that higher population density attracts closer business and services, which reduces travel distances and allows for more trips on foot or by bicycle.

In addition, he noted that reducing sprawl can help protect the city’s water quality lands to the west and farmland to the east. Sullivan said he was interested in helping Austin demonstrate the kind of population density that the city would need to promote its application for federal money to help finance Project Connect’s light rail system and expanded bus service. Several members of the committee noted their agreement with Sullivan’s proposal and some wanted to add more to the resolution, but not everyone supported it without modification.

Ana Aguirre, president of the Austin Neighborhoods Council, is a former member of the Environmental Commission. She told commissioners that ANC was opposed to the HOME initiative, citing concerns about presumed increased land values in East Austin and displacement of minority populations. She noted that the plan does not address affordability. “This plan is about the value of dirt,” she said.

In the end, commission Chair Kevin Ramberg told Sullivan that he should meet with a working group to come up with the commission’s recommendation to Council. The working group will include Aguirre or someone she designates, as well as other members of the commission and members of the public, Sullivan said. The group must return to the commission with a finished product for its next meeting on Dec. 6 so that it will be ready for Council at its final hearing on the HOME initiative on Dec. 7.

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