VMU Meeting Notes

submitted by Kay Newell

These are some very rough notes from last night's VMU meeting taken by a friend of mine.  She said you are welcome to share them.  The handouts mentioned in the notes will be available on ANC's website http://www.ancweb.org/index.htm

Kay
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Brewster is the only speaker present/  staff sitting in audience,  at least 100 folks showed up ,  went to standing room only... at beginning:  these are very rough notes,  BM =s Brewster McCracken LM='s Laura Morrison   ?'s +  question from unidentified person in
audience ... NA='s Neighborhood Association  NP ='s neighborhood
planning....ah=affordable housing

BM:  we have something we've spent 3 yrs working on... this is something for folks to comment and work on now .  we were trying to get more pedestrian oriented development ..
the discussions around sidewalks fronted bldgs... were contentious .  the heritage neighborhood taking the old rays steakhouse strip area brought this forward as a method of negotiating with development ,  the heritage na came forward and asked why don't u do VMU ? as we looked at it - Envision CTxs plan,  and texas tomorrow plans,  and found that there were two ways this worked potentially = 2 things to do with VMU
1) affects NA's  - to protect NA's
2) we are going to do density on corridors ... to protect the NA's SF areas by analyzing best corridor areas/ approaches to density (what u will hear from other NA's - these VMU overlays help protect NA's )  it has to be high quality and not trump compatibility standards
or NA plans ...  because this is a zoning change u have a opportunity to build more ... when u have a chance to grant a developer some  bonus points - you require a % of affordable housing ( 10%)  somewhere between 60-80% of median income- each NA will get to choose what that
cap is ... an additional 10% must be offered to be set aside as ah- if the COA grants considerations ... they will require or ask for 15 ft sidewalks,  ground floor required , etc

Rachel Proctor May from my office will be keeping track of the questions that arise ... pls send them in as you go through these ideas... we are listening. We've  not sent out these yet,  as we are awaiting to make sure there isn't a loophole as there has been problems with heights already .. might be some more time required by some NA's .... I am here to take questions and learn from you ...

?  at the last mtg it was discussed that this is a bad time with the holdiays etc  - can we delay til the beginning of the year ?

BM  we've already delayed,  and some NA's are under imminent pressure, some of them need protection,  some would like to be heard in february - 130 days out-  so  right now we are looking at MId to Late Spring before these things roll out ...

LM:   on handout on bottom of page 2- could u run through that chart as I am not sure everybody has gotten an overview of this infomation

BM:  these corridors,  see this chart-  everyone will know these big roads with commercial strips and auto lots

?  Have u identified these on a map yet ?  is this somewhere we can see it ?

LM: explains the charts and the 4 pg handout to all ....reiterates NA's choose the option to opt in or opt out ....

?  is it the Neighborhhod or the planning team that decides where this VMU goes  ?

BM: there are 3 or 4 diff scenarios.. do you have a NP team?  if u have a NA without a NP plan,  most have NA associations... if there is not a NP plann team,  jollyville has even gotten organized for those that don't have a NA or Neighborhood plans teams yet...

BM: COA will reach out to help form a NA team- if there is a leadership in a NA ... we will go to them .

?: lets assume there is a NA plan team,  are they able to create a plan and send it up ?

BM: they are the ones that are authorized to do the investigation as they work for that area ...

Martha Ward- I am from the North Loop planning area- we have been at Council for relief- we were granted special conditions for Airport to I35 - and now the STATE of Tex has apparently decieded to go to court about the Airport area,  as it is not designated for mixed use,  what
we see on the COA website for this area,  is big big issue etc  who/how will we be negotiating Mixed Use for this  specific problem area ?

BM:  Martha reps a area that came to us and said we want to be in the VMU during the process,  I think there is a legit issue - whether someone can have a mixed use office or home above say a  courthouse or what use is chosen ...

MW:   we are really looking to see who will we be negotiating with ?

BM:  we have no authority to tell the State what to do - they just kinda ignore us - the City facility,  one of the things the PC has recommended- and it has been noted, it is a need to have COA facilites,  that those things like libraries should be on the ground floor of these VMU's... enormous opportunity for economic expansisons

MW:  how will traffic impact studies be done  ??   we can find none for Mueller or Travis CTy for our area , we can't get TXDOT to locate any traffic studies,  or the COA .. where and when will these studies be done ?

BM:  I know the Mueller site was done = that is why all those roads were built -  we have tried to make it more pedestrain friendly instead of cars over people

MW: my concern is what we are telling our NA , what can we count on ?

BM:   u know this may result ?  u can't walk down S Lamar,  right,  no sidewalks in areas along the S lamar ?  No sidewalks across from Seton at 38th ?  here is the deal,  from now on,  everything newly done under VMU will have - 15 ft  wide sidewalks with street trees on all major
corridors .. with quality requirements,  no more junk anymore ... with affordabitliy etc
with a low scale with all price ranges,  it has never been done before - and we might be a national model - density without changes in ht- these all came from our NA's iron wills negotiating with the task force

? who or what determines what the corridors ARE ?

BM:  we looked at what are the major arterials in the COA that could become more than what they are currently,  within the exisiting transportation plans with imput from Metro and Planning and public works ...

? BM  We had a lot of back an forth on Trees  that is still  evolving - 15 ft shade trees - we nailed AE on that one - they are very good ... Daniel LLanes:  whether ot not to do it ?  the contact team- where there is not that NA situation,  for the 1st time tonight I heard Laura say the planning teams are connected to the NA Plans by ordinance ? during the Austin Tomorrow planningl  the force of law, the indivual NA plan - the sector maps were made out of all of those ... there have
been a lot of ?  I am in govalle johnson terrace- we had a planning team that was concrete= and now,  it is repsonsible for creating a forum for neogtiations to any changes to the NAPlan,  there is as far as I know no NA consisitency with these plans- the ones that are being done now are very different than the ones now,, the bulk of it is NA associations,  I am askikg WHO is going to decide this ?  THE CONTACT TEAM IS THE PLANNNG TEAM ?

Laura:  I just want to make sure we stay focused on this

DL: this is VIP Laura -

L:  argues

DL:: and the planning area map- it

LM: it would have to be a formal amendment o the NP Plan ..

DL:  FOr instance

LM: at first there was talk about there not being even any imput

DL:  it shifts,  it has been shifting over the years

BM: some of the most active NA 's dont even have NHood plans Yet, we are going to have to be Very focused,  there are very small pockets without a NA in place .. if someone finds out they haven't been contacted or incluided,  PLEASE contact me- you have the opportunity to shape what these become... when u make a choice where to live- let us know Daniel what we can to do help with this =

Kathie Tovo:  I want to register some concerns...in Bouldin Creek, with its proximity to several single family residential areas adjacent to the designated corridors roads ... it may not be an appropriate street ( S 5th)

BM:  I think you would want to come back to Council with this,  u all know S 1st... if it is residential zoning it can't be eligible for VMU... we are going to rely on NA's to identify spots... we ended up pulling out E Ceasar Chavez- it is actually not appropriate for that kinda scale of developemnet.. if u find a part  that isnt right,  let us KNOW ....

Katrina:  I am wondering what oppportunity NA Planning teams will have to get education from the City,  for ex my NA  Highland NA - from lamar up to 183- we haved lamar and airport,  we have a lot of industrial areas along with the TOD s coming to our area, and some areas with
complexity -   I don't feel competent to explain it to my NA,  I'd like a team from the COA to come and educate my NA association

BM:  I think this is right Katrina....we will make sure we are available at any community meeting,  (names rattled off)   we probably had about a core group of 20 citizens who were available to us for 3 years

LM:  I was in a talk with some South Austin NA's,  and they asked , where do we put these densitys,  what are these parameteters - some of the folks=- one of the things that came up- on the southern part of Lamar backs right up to barton Creek- and they don't want to develop
right there along that strip because of environmental concerns where
the cliff drops off - I think that is what Katrina was mentioning

BM:  - why don't i go first

Kerry :  I see it means more cars and more parking-  it offers reductions in the amount of parking- the impact of parking is a big issue- this project might be used to help resolve some of these issues

BM:  some of these things changed in the end- along S Congress,  we took the UNO,  etc  and made it part of the OPT IN opt OUT process.. if u do decide to allow reduction of parking- you can get some tradeoffs- the NA parking district which will become a time certain process,  and we tried to build in some protecxtions ...that is an example where- if we find out there is something in there that doesn't have enought protections- if for EX Allendale is fine with VMU if you put in XYZ that would be very helpful ..

danette chemetti:  that kind of developemnt density might drive away exisiting biznesses as in ' iconic biz' and I think there is a push to try to preserve some of these,  but VMU might incentivize them out of Bizness. I wondered if you could talk about how we could make it work ?

BM: if u create certain forces, and don't have any checks n balances, what I recommend is every NA has spots you want to protect,  and the property owner might want to also,  but suddenly the taxes go up,  and maybe we choose to do some VMU and get rid of some used car lots or
underutilized strip malls and improve the NA.

Lorraine Atherton :  MY NA has the opposite problem,  we have underdeveloped properties for instance on S Lamar where there is no possiblity for on space parking bleeding over into our SF NA's , our prob is to preserve our exisiting affordable apt buildings- I am realizing the affordability of the VMU are tied to- eligibility for these parking facilites listed here,  they don't have to provide affordable housing at ALL ,  if they decied,  and a lot of commercial
developers will decide not to  have it ...

BM: the affordabiltiy responsibility is linked to the parking - and linked 0- not as a quid pro quo- If u recieve a development bonus- you are required to do affordable housing as a trade off

Lorraine A: if they don;'t opt for that as developers, we need to sort this out- you ask for NA's to come and say, we are saying 5 things in the Zilker NA for instance, the VMU's should not be allowed and we need some of the iconic preservation required etc there are environmental features that must be examined which is partly where Trees come in, if the lot is small, the compatiblity standards, and the cumulative impact on multiple properties +

BM: I would say the experience around the country is it is not just a tool for BIG devellpers, it makes things redevelopable for the little guy too . U have to go out and figure out what u want for your section of town . for instance, we heard about someone with a program where they gave out cameras and said- go and take pictures of what you LIKE about your NA... what came back was 4 storys mixed use consistently / we are trying to build on our values

Jeff Jacks: one of the ?'s that keeps coming up- time and time again, we hear about we have to put the NA's first, yet what we decide is ' incompatable '?

BM: i sided with u at the last meeting, there was that case at Council..

JJ: the PC is looking at the ways to accomodate around the TOD's, if we look at our population in 20 yrs0- if we said we wanted to double from 6k to 12k as an ex in my area - could we make this plan and show u where we want it ? can we get a 5-2 vote instead of what we get now ?

BM: I think u should Jeff, we should not make it our policy to jam VMU in single family, we don't have any sidewalk on the 5 ft in front of my house... ( explains more details- ) density on corners- like in other cities that have chosen that as a way and stuck to their guns ? there was some talk about remaining autonomous?

BM: yes, no NA will be aggregated unless they want to be.. ? I have not been involved in NP in Awhile? I did a quick study on our NA , there is a billion dollars of housing in my NA of Allendale,  we are looking at a lot of biz like 3 used car lots,  someone is making a living off those- those biznesses will get disolved, your telling NA's that these biznesses are going to have to move out and make room for 4 story bldgs with VMU. We are bldg toll roads, but asking SF NA's to remain solid, and now, sacrifice our NA's to the billions of dollars on toll roads, in order for a developer to come along and build omething 5 stories , and all of our service convieneces are forced out to the edges of town, the simple repair shops and laundomats and things like our neighborhood cleaners, where do these biz go ? ? I live along Mopac too- people are wanting to move into the CIty.. I am starting to loose houses in my NA.. I would rather invite more people into town to my NA than continue to sprawl outside Austin.

BM: I think all the assumptions you'll hear from TxDOT is based on SPrawl ...

Patrickl: I just wanted to add about the gas prices going back down,  there are articles about how people are already starting to make the decisions to live closer to work, prices are going to go to 6 or 7 bucks a gallon, there is going to be a market for folks to live in town. ? could u name some of the Cities where this works ?

BM: Denver, cities around San   Francisco bay - if you look at the Oakland area where the BART went- Oakland is a really good example of where this works.. mainly been driven by surburban communities.. ironically in the Dallas FT Worth area are doing this, like Addison Tx

? do u have names of people we could contact ?

BM: No, we have teams who wrote them and interacted with them during the process who had contact- what we have come up with is this / I would recognize Gerard from our planning team- we had our first run with Mueller= ?

Gerard: we looked at a lot of them, the names of the cities we looked at are on the website- we looked and got a lot of feedback- the comment I wanted to make- from something awhile ago- it is important that everyone understand that VMU does NOT change the underlying zoning, for instance if the property in ? has a 60 ft ht limit, that is the limit... this does not change it . all the ordinances we have in place apply . VMU is not mandatory .. all it does is allow a owner to utilize that VMU if they want to bring the bldgs up to the street etc a GOOD reason for NA's to look at this as a tool .. I do want to say- the overall density- if u hear me in the past say a critisism in the past was implicit in it was that Austin was doubling over the next 20 yrs, and a lot of NA's did not know or were not directed to do so- the point is- u should not have to do more than that- we shoujld take that as a principle for NA's to look at it... look at the density, we accept there is going to be a density in our NA...

BM: I seee Bart Wally here- the Neighbors along Red RIver, they have voluntarily accepted more density than anyone in the CIty, and now there is this proposal for 5 towers etc etc I think NA's should have and will have the control to decide what works and is appropriate for thier area .

Jean Mather : what about in my NA where they want to put 2k more apts along the lake on riverside?

BM: some things are going to be reviewd, there just a mix...anything that is zoned mixed use ( page 2 of the handout under #4 says Laura ) so the Council won't even consider anything about a NA bonus ...

Carol Gibbs: if we opt out - Council will respect the NA's decisions , right ?

Daniel L: there are assumptions about density in Austinthat people are making, and we are making assupmptions about growth , and we should elect a Council who respond to us 

BM: Yes, daniel, i expect you all to stay with this and keep us apprised, talk to us and tell us what you think ...

DL: I disagree about that,  gas prices have nothing to do with us, a lot of descisions are made by people who don't live in our NA's

? if u opt in for your NA, and the height is set at 60 ft, Council can't come in and over-rule it and give them 200ft ht- ? right?

CAROL and Laura: NO , there are several places where that can change

BM: all the folks can tell u there are the dangdest efforts as the folks in Jollyville can tell u , for towers in places you'dnever imagine towers , this is a tool to accomodate density in a way that is NA friendly we are going to face sky scrapers, it can help protect areas ...

?KEVIN LEWIS : a couple concerns are being expressed, like LM who were involved, I was one of the people early on saying lets NOT do the single famliy along corridors.. we need different results, lets create a environment where creative thinking came from..I don't want anyone to think this came from the development community.. there is a key aspect to this to make it work, as we don't have a lot of transit yet,  there are some who will say they can't make it on this model, some NA's will say we can't do this we like the same old same old .. but,  what we built was a process for the way we do development along the core corridors, we got some major concessions to preserve NA's ) lets just require some good faith effort on the behalf of all our NAhoods,,   lets not just go on now ignoring the tools we've created as tools ... I think bad faith is bad faith.. some of this stuff is valid, we owe a debt of gratitude to those folks in Zilker etc who have worked so hard on it ....

? commenting- someone else states back to Kevin that some of us have not participated in this ...

KL: rants some more ...about negotiating and trying it out in good faith as a process to be utilized....

JeffJack: when do u draw the line in the sand ? a lot of this about the corridors, and yet, as u said, we just had a case where the Council voted 5-2 against us.... we are not sure how it will be honored... what kind of assuraty that a year or 3 this is a done deal ..

BM: there are several folks during the MCMANSIONS issue where they came at us HARD, and someone else said we were so far out ahead of most of the Nation, well, we did a good job, and it was a good process.

JJ: we are in our NP process, we've asked NPlanning stafff over and over to provide information and we are basically flying blind on some of this ...

BM: density is bad when u feel crowded ...for instance- Portlandwhere I visited a few weeks ago, has lots of NA dictated VMU and lots of green space, we all know when we feel crowded ...

? on the possiblity that the corridor later identified ....?

MW: what would be the process to identify these corridors ?

BM: come to us

CGibbs: the whole VMU thing doesn't require a % of - whatever- if we are going to use VMU, how can we calculate that or factor that into our expected estimates into our density - say LO u could have one office on ground floor, a cleaner on floor two, and two dwellings on floor three....

BM: first thing I'd tell u is that is a great one for the opt in opt out process... we went around and around, what should be the mix to require residential - Gerard said - we are not changing building hts- the only thing VMU does is it interjects

Cgibbs: all i can really count on is two units per property ?

BM: that would be my understanding, gerald ? ..

CG; my condition, I could put my own numbers to it ...

LM: there is no reason to reject this as workable ++++

CGIBBS: it is not enforcable as we don't have enough folks as it is to enforce current codes on the books, you know ?

Gerard: you mention that VMU, I was worried about the reality that a lot of developers, there are 2 facts here, a lot of the developers that will take advantage of this, will go with this ...they are multi familly developers already.. the other reality is with only 2 residences on top ......time will tell, what proportion will that eventually be ?

LM: the ground floor has to be built so it will accomodate commercial- but it can be residential ...

BM: whatever you hear in this room , the Austin Real Estate Council, a lot of them we had to overcome ..... spent about 2 months negotiating the affordable housing provisions

LM: was brutal, the AFH works out to be 80% fo the MFI - see the chart- the MFI is citywide avg- we had to fight really hard to get this ... what we have in VMU = I hope the next step we take is a lot stronger ..

Kevin L: in just 2 or 3 yrs,

BM: 40 yrs for Multifamily and 99 yrs for single family is the length of time for these provisions

BO: How much traffic modeling has been done on some of these corridor roadways?

BM: we don't have as much as we should..

CGibbs : the COA does not have not even 10 yr old numbers

BM: that is why it is so important to start getting this into place - to go to foot traffic .. if everything is on the ground floor ... it works

 ? what has not been there now may be coming if the staff and transportation specialists need to come and help us in the NA's with this NPlanning ?

BM: u are right, rachel and matt and I, everyone else working at City hall, we are seeing it coming at us fast downtown, and we need your help and points about these tools ....

? how to do transit oriented districts and how to they relate to VMU and overlay ?

BM: they are on a couple occasions, partly .. it just depends wherethe rail stops are ...

LM: 2 yrs agfo, I did not know anything going on with this - and any mixed use vertical , and WHOA , I was on the phone to CouncilMember McCracken ... it has come a long way since then ... until October 1, we only had customization for front yard parking ... i hope this is a good process, and we need to respect everyones individual areas , and we encourge ya'll to keep track of how our Council does.. looking at this chart and other parts of the file will be posted to the ANC site hopefully - so please join ANC talk, so watch for the next meeting announcement. thank You Cm McCracken .. thank you everyone .