The Allandale Reporter

Minutes from January 24th Allandale Executive Committee Meeting

submitted by Katie Hansen

Meeting Minutes of the January 24th, 2006 Executive Committee Meeting of the Allandale Neighborhood Association

Seven board members were present: Gretchen Vaden-Nagy, Paul Nagy, Tom Linehan, Linnea Anderson, Allan McMurtry, Katie Hansen and Joe Reynolds.

Linnea motioned for Tom Linehan and Katie Hansen to assume the duties of Vice President and secretary, respectively.  This motion was passed.

Paul Nagy presented the ANA Treasury Report.  The net available, minus the payables, was 24,706.23 at the beginning of the meeting. 

Fundraising Preparations Underway

On January 13, 2007, a cold, wet Saturday afternoon, approximately 200 Allandale residents came to a meeting at Covenant Presbyterian Church. Neighbor after neighbor expressed just how passionate they are against their beloved neighborhood being ruined by Lincoln Property Company's and Wal-Mart's Northcross site plan. During the discussion, Allandale resident Jim Bryce dramatically demonstrated that it takes a show of power in the form of money to get corporations to sit down and talk. He suggested we raise a sizeable pot of money for a lawsuit to get their attention.

Gretchen and Paul Announce Their Resignations

submitted by Tom Linehan

At the January 24^th Executive Committee meeting, Gretchen and Paul Nagy announced they would be resigning as President and Treasurer of the Allandale Neighborhood Association. Both have put in a number of years of service to the neighborhood and are commended for their ongoing commitment to keeping the association running smoothly. It's a bigger job than most people realize. Their resignations will take effect following the next Executive Committee meeting in February. Both are committed to ensuring a smooth transition and will be working closely with the other Executive Committee members on the knowledge transfer.

Allandale Resident in the News

Allandale resident, Sharon Radovich's "cottage" is in today's home tour in the Austin American-Statesman, "Home Tour: Love at first site, Austin designer keeps cottage for the love of the land. " Many of you go by her house daily and will recognize it because of the art piece hanging from a tree in her front yard. For those of you wondering what the inside is like, take a look at the accompanying photo gallery.

List of Issues Submitted to the City

On Thursday last week, the Allandale Neighborhood Association submitted this list of issues to the City regarding the planned Northcross redevelopment. The list, requested by the City from the neighborhoods affected by the Northcross redevelopment and Responsible Growth for Northcross (RG4N) is the outcome of a 2-week effort by a team of neighborhood residents coordinated by Linnea Anderson. I think you'll agree it's quite thorough.

TERRA TOYS: ...nurturing the spirit of children

submitted by C Yang

As you walk into Terra Toys, the smiles on children's faces and sounds of laughter say it all. Charles Edwards and Romalda Allsup, partners in life and business, have just celebrated their second Christmas season on Anderson Lane, after their move here in 2004 from South   Congress Avenue.

Austin may be famous for businesses started in garages, but not all products are high tech. Twenty seven years ago, Austin's northernmost suburban mall, Northcross, was only four years old, when this young couple started out. Charles and Romalda met down on the "Forty Acres" (aka UT) and finished school. They started to make toys in their garage apartment - wooden pull toys, push toys, spinners and rain sticks. They soon rented an old mechanic's garage at 1st Street

RG4N Sends Press Release re: Polling Calls

What follows is a press release sent out today by Responsible Growt for Northcross:

[01-20-07]
RESIDENTS SURROUNDING NORTHCROSS RECEIVE MISLEADING PUSH POLL PHONE CALLS IN FAVOR OF WAL-MART SUPERCENTER

A comparison of Responsible Growth for Northcross recent survey with the push poll phone calls reveals intent to deceive by Wal-Mart Supercenter backers.

AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 20, 2007. A biased survey is being conducted by proponents of the controversial Northcross Mall redevelopment plan, according to many residents of neighborhoods surrounding the mall.

Allandale is Emphatic - No Wal-Mart

submitted by Tom Linehan

Over 160 Allandale residents showed up on a cold, rainy Saturday afternoon and endured a 3 hour meeting to let it be known: WE DON'T WANT WAL-MART IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

It was standing room only at Covenant Presbyterian Church. The meeting started out awkwardly as the Allandale Board worked through whether or not this was the appropriate meeting to approve minutes from the previous general meeting. ANA President, Gretchen Vaden decided it wasn't and moved on to the meeting agenda starting with comments from members of the audience.

Request Submitted to the City of Austin for a New Northcross Traffic Impact Analysis

submitted by Paul Nagy and Gretchen Vaden

A formal request for a new Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) was sent to the City of Austin today by Bruce Bigelow, an attorney with the law firm of Blazier, Christensen, Bigelow & Virr, on behalf of the Allandale Neighborhood Association. The letter is focused on traffic because traffic may be the overriding issue to be resolved in the current plan for the redevelopment of Northcross Mall by Lincoln Properties. Any additional ideas or comments should be sent to George Zapalac, Director of the Land Use Review Department at george.zapalac@ci.austin.tx.us with a reference to this letter.

Crime Incidents - Wal-Mart vs. Target

submitted by Brent Sjolseth

 Click here to view crime incident report numbers requested from the Austin Police Dept. These numbers are based on the address of the retail establishment and not the shopping center itself.

The Allandale Neighbor - Special Issue

Click here to view this Special Issue of The Allandale Neighbor devoted to the Northcross Redevelopment.

Special Meeting of the General Membership of the Allandale Neighborhood Association

Date: Saturday, January 13th

Time: 3 p.m.

Place: Covenant Presbyterian Church, 3003 Northland, in Eaton Hall

A Special General Membership Meeting has been petitioned for by a group of residents as allowed in the bylaws. The petition reads as follows:

We, the undersigned members of Allandale Neighborhood Association, do hereby call for a special meeting of the General Membership, under the provisions of the ANA Bylaws Article VI, paragraph 5. Issues to be discussed relate to Northcross redevelopment and include but are not be limited to:

1. A period in which the membership is invited to ask questions and make comments.

2. Treasurer’s report stating all bank balances and money owed by ANA.

3. Discussion and action regarding a financial contribution from ANA to “Responsible Growth for Northcross”, an organization opposing the present redevelopment plan.

4.  An executive committee meeting to act on any expenditures approved by the membership.

5.  Appointment of a delegation of ANA members to meet with City Council to express ANA’s position on Lincoln’s current redevelopment plan.

We also request that this meeting be held in a venue which imposes no restriction on its length, and that it be scheduled as soon as possible, but no later than the 30 days required in the ANA Bylaws.

The meeting is open to all Allandale residents. Any voting that may occur, however, will be limited to residents who have paid dues on or after September 1, 2006. Any resident who submits a membership form and dues at the meeting will be eligible to participate.

Northcross Redevelopment Top Local Story

The Austin Chronicle chose Wal-Mart's plans to locate in our neighborhood as one of their top 10 Local Stories for 2006. See for yourself: "Top 10 Local Stories: From Bonds to Boobs."

Rise in Crime in 2006

Crime was up in Allandale in 2006. Pulling from the City's online crime database, the number of incidents police reported on totaled 1,258 compared to 887 in 2005.  That's an increase of 42% or371 incidents.

The biggest rise in incidents was "Leaving the scene/crash accident." There were a total of 78 such reported incidents compared to 15 in 2005.  The bulk of these took place on Burnet, Anderson and Mopac.  DWI had the second largest increase in number of incidents recorded. In 2006 there were 49 DWIs in Allandale vs. 14 the year before.

Criminal Mischief, Burglary of Vehicle, and Theft, the three crimes with the highest number of incidents, were down in 2006. There were a total of 83 criminal mischief incidents last year compared to 117 in 2005 and 137 Thefts in 2006 vs. 150 in 2005. Click here for the detail.