In a case almost eerily similar to one we covered in our August 26 newsletter, the owner of a property inside Northwest Austin subdivision The Forest is seeking to rezone. As one might expect if you’ve been reading these articles, the neighborhood is not happy.
The Zoning and Platting Commission heard the case, which would rezone 11700 Flower Scent Court from single-family residential (SF-1) to small-lot single-family residential (SF-2), during their August 19 meeting. City staff supported the proposal, reasoning that it was appropriate based on similar zoning nearby.
Sherri Sirwaitis, who handles most cases in the city’s developing northwest for the Planning Department, said that the owner had reached out to the city for the rezoning as an alternative to developing under the HOME initiative, which granted Austinites greater flexibility to build additional dwelling units on their properties. According to Sirwaitis, the owner wanted to build two similarly-sized homes on lots around 8,000 square feet, rather than the three smaller units allowed with the current zoning under HOME.
That owner, identified as Peijie Li in a report on the case compiled by city staff, didn’t show up at the meeting to plead their case. Several neighbors did.
Satwinder Kahlon, who said he owned the house immediately behind the one up for rezoning, described the request as “ridiculous” and said that he was worried about the project’s environmental impact, as well as its impact on traffic.
“I’m a marathon runner, Austin Marathon, 20 of them. I’ve trained on that street. I don’t want additional cars coming in front of me or behind me,” Kahlon said. “That’s gonna be a mess.”
Carl Swanson, the president of The Forest’s homeowner’s association said, in a letter to the city opposing the rezoning, that the construction of any separated housing on the property would violate a deed restriction on the property tied to the HOA, and that they would attempt to enforce those terms if the owner were to build.
Deed restrictions are legally binding in Austin, provided they exist, they apply to the property in question and they haven’t been dissolved by the relevant parties or voided by a court. However, the city isn’t responsible for enforcing them, and they aren’t supposed to have any bearing on the city’s land-use decisions, a fact Swanson noted in his letter to city staff. However, the city’s land-use decisions also don’t override them, creating the possibility for a property owner to have land development rights that they can’t act on without risking a civil suit.
Altogether, a little over half-a-dozen neighbors submitted letters and comments to the city in opposition to the rezoning, with most raising similar fears to those expressed by Kahlon. Neighbors claimed that development of an additional unit would strain stormwater infrastructure and create deadly traffic, while also damaging property values.
Commissioner Christian Tschoepe motioned to recommend the change to council, seconded by commissioner Lonny Stern. That motion passed 7-1, with vice chair Betsy Greenberg against.
“Really, I don’t think the things that (the neighbors) are worried about are plausibly going to happen with the addition of one or even two units,” commissioner David Fouts said. “It would just be another home similar in size to the one that’s already there.”
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