City Council puts South Central Waterfront Plan on ice

Following the lead of Mayor Kirk Watson, City Council unanimously approved an indefinite postponement of the South Central Waterfront Combining District and Density Bonus Program at its most recent meeting.

“The South Central Waterfront area is very crucial. We all know how crucial it is to our downtown development. And the development regulations in this area need to have the support of the city, the community and the property owners,” Watson said. “Postponing the item today provides additional time for Council and the community to align the visions and ensure we get the most out of this plan.”

Watson said that postponing the plan to Sept. 26 wouldn’t “get us where we need to get,” and instead suggested the plan be indefinitely postponed, a state that is usually a polite way of abandoning an item entirely. Knowing that, Watson clarified that his motion to indefinitely postpone “doesn’t mean that we’re never going to bring it up.”

“What it does mean is that we will take the time we need to take before it comes back,” he said. “Let’s get the work done before we bring it back.”

Council Member Ryan Alter said that he appreciated the extra time and hoped to see the plan return the first quarter of next year, with time for newly elected Council members to “digest whatever comes forward.” 

The plan – which would guide development on the south shore of Lady Bird Lake across from downtown with an aim to increase density, height and affordable housing – has been in the works since the South Central Waterfront Vision Framework Plan was adopted in 2016. Though the lack of a plan has not stopped large developments from moving through the development process, while it remains in draft form, these developments are approved on an ad hoc basis and without participation in the proposed density bonus program, which has yet to be established.

In April of this year, the Planning Commission approved a radically different take on the plan after five and a half hours of discussion and, in March, the Environmental Commission gave a presentation on the plan a tepid reception. Since then, the plan has been on the City Council agenda but repeatedly postponed. 

“I really do appreciate staff’s work on all of this, and their commitment on trying to get this right,” said Council Member Zo Qadri, whose district makes up the area covered by the plan. “I do believe we are going to get this right, with the new dais, nobody would be happier than me.”

Assistant City Manager Veronica Briseño told Council that city staff had no concerns with the postponement, and they would continue to work with the community.

As for a public process to help refine the plan, a spokesperson for the city’s Planning Department told the Austin Monitor, “Based on Council discussion last week, we are pausing and, at this time, do not have any engagement planned.”

Photo by Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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Posted In: Planning, District 9