Austin City Council may soon determine the fate of a long-coveted neighborhood park in Crestview.

The Crestview Neighborhood Association has pleaded with city officials to convert a 5.5-acre Austin Energy site at 6909 Ryan Drive into a community park. A council-approved resolution called on city staff to consider all possible uses for the property, including a potential mixed housing development to help satisfy an affordable housing quota near the Crestview train station.

City staff held neighborhood meetings with Crestview residents in November and December to discuss all potential uses. There was overwhelming support for a park during both meetings, Councilwoman Kathie Tovo said, a proposal she said the council would seriously consider—although an exact date for council discussion has not yet been determined.

"That area is in need of a park, and it's a high priority for the city to create parks within walking distance of all our residents," Tovo said, referring to a city initiative to create park space within one-quarter to one-half mile of every Austin residence. "There was always a park contemplated for that site in the resolution—it's just the alternatives were really about what other uses might be there on that site."

The neighborhood has become adamant that a park be built as a result of promises from the city to develop a park in the neighborhood, resident Melissa Zone said.

"The city set a precedent with the residents with an expectation that a park would be built," said Zone, who has leveraged her urban and regional planning experience to assist CNA in its efforts to bring a park to Crestview.

Zone points to city documents such as the 2004 Crestview/Wooten Combined Neighborhood Plan and the 2010 Lamar Boulevard/Justin Lane transit-oriented development district (TOD) Regulating Plan as evidence the city recommended the Austin Energy location for park use. However, the actively used salvage yard was kept in Austin's possession because of its potential as a neighborhood housing site, said Sonny Poole, Austin Energy manager of public involvement and real estate.

The property was originally slated to become a substation site, Poole said. But when the substation was instead built at Lamar Boulevard and Morrow Street, the city kept the property rather than agree on a land swap with a developer.

"The city said it wanted to hold onto that property rather than swap," Poole said. "So we're waiting on council direction on what to do with that tract."

Neighborhood housing has first priority for the location, he said, but failed affordable housing bond initiatives prevented the city from receiving funding to secure the location. In the past year, Crestview residents began more aggressively courting the city for the Austin Energy site, Poole said.

"We have no problem leaving, but we need to be funded to move somewhere," he said, estimating the property is worth more than $5 million. "We can't just give the property away."

If the property does become a park, council will also be needed to appropriate money for the project, said Ricardo Soliz, Austin Parks and Recreation Department division manager. There is not a lot of nearby greenspace for any alternative park site, he said.

"I don't think a lot of thought was given to the greenspace [in Crestview], and now everyone is saying, 'Wait, where is a public park, and this is the only opportunity we have to create a park,'" Soliz said. "We have looked at that area a lot because it is deficient in parkland; really there is no other feasible alternative other than purchasing homes and converting that into some pocket parks because it is a built-out neighborhood."

The neighborhood wants the entire location converted into parkland, Zone said, although city staffers have also been tasked with researching whether the site could support some mixed-residential development and a pocket park. City staff's preference would be to have a park west of Lamar Boulevard, Soliz said, although some private park space—most notably, the site of the University Hills Optimist baseball fields and land near Highland Mall—could also serve as backup park space.

But Crestview residents would rather not rely on alternatives, Zone said.

"Residents know and are OK with growth and development, but it can't all be concrete," Zone said. "[The city] put the expectation to the residents it's going to be a park. It's time to deliver."

Additional reporting by Peter McCrady