The new and future developments on far South Congress Avenue could alter the vision residents planned for the area, neighborhood plan advocates say.
Mario Cantu, chair of the South Congress Combined Neighborhood Plan contact team, designated by the city’s planning and zoning department to act as stewards of the area’s adopted neighborhood plan, said his group is supportive of development when the health and safety of nearby residents is made a top priority.
A minimum of 2,000 new residents, Cantu said, are projected to join the area once all new and planned residential and mixed-use developments are filled.
“As development grows, so do the health and safety needs to mesh with that [development],” he said. “Things like police, fire and [emergency medical services] need to grow as well.”
Austin City Council approved a finalized version of the neighborhood plan in 2005 following two years of city staff-resident coordination to develop a vision for the area. Priorities for the area as outlined in the neighborhood plan include:
• fostering communities that are quiet, safe and pedestrian-friendly;
• creating accessible amenities for nearby residents through the growth of a mixed-use corridor along South Congress; and
• preserving open spaces for wildlife and community use.
ROLE OF THE CONTACT TEAM
The area, which is divided into three parts, encompasses city land between South First Street and I-35. Hwy. 290 marks the area’s northern border, with William Cannon Drive serving as its southern border.
When a new development attempts to break ground in the area, garnering the contact team’s support is not required but carries some weight in whether the plan is approved by the city, Cantu said.
If a developer seeks a zoning change, a contact team must first vote to amend the neighborhood plan; however, its approval is not required.
“That [approval] is [the developer’s] Willy Wonka golden ticket,” Cantu said. “Everything from there goes from a snail’s pace to a turbo charge—it becomes 10 times easier and better. They can still get the zoning change without our approval, but it creates bumps in the road.”
THE AREA’S APPEAL
Three years ago, the owners of Austin Java purchased property at 201 E. St. Elmo Road to house their roasting operation.
Co-owner Tomas Fernandez said he sympathizes with concerns from the community regarding how new development can affect nearby residents. However, the limited space to build in Austin as well as the area’s proximity to downtown makes the South Congress neighborhood south of Hwy. 290 an ideal location for growth, he said.
“I don’t see South Congress staying the way it is; it will be more upscale, more commercial,” Fernandez said. “There are too many opportunities there and people who want to take advantage.”
Some developers, like those behind the Saint Elmo Public Market, slated to open in 2018 at 4223 S. Congress Ave., market themselves as enhancing the lives of nearby residents.
“We want to be immersed in what it means to be a part of this neighborhood,” its developers said.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING NEEDS
The contact team’s decision to support a new residential or mixed-use development is based largely on the offering of affordable units, Cantu said.
“If residents of the area get displaced they should be able to go over here and get a condo,” Cantu said.
To qualify for affordable housing in the city of Austin, an individual’s income must not exceed certain median family income limits set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD. Limits are based on the median family income estimates for the Austin-Round Rock area.
There is very limited affordable housing stock in the far South Congress corridor available to those with an annual income of below 80 percent of the HUD median family income limit, Cantu said, set at $43,600 per year for a one-person household. Affordable one-bedroom rent at 80 percent of median family income is $1,005 per month, according to HUD.
The smallest floor plan offered at nearby residential development Sur512 Apartments is composed of 601 square feet. Rent starts at $1,283 per month.
“When it comes to affordable housing, you need to put an ‘un’ in front of the word—it’s really ‘unaffordable’ housing,” Cantu said.
City Council Member Pio Renteria, whose District 3 includes South Austin, said the city’s hands are tied when it comes to providing more affordable housing.
Absent state funding, the city’s density bonus, which allows a developer to bend the zoning code if community benefits are provided to area residents, is one of the only tools the city has to incentivize developers to provide affordable housing without pursuing a bond, Renteria said.
On May 29, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill into law eliminating linkage fees, or costs tied to new construction to raise money for affordable housing. In the midst of an affordability crisis, the city of Austin was considering adopting a linkage fee policy.
Opponents of the bill said it would supersede local control and harm a municipality’s ability to make decisions about affordable housing.
The contact team has had some success negotiating with developers to reduce the threshold on affordable units to 60 percent of median family income. Still, Cantu said, the current affordable housing stock excludes a large percentage of area’s residents.
“Where is the affordable housing for people making a so-called ‘living wage?,’” he said. “A first-year teacher or police officer makes less than 80 percent of MFI.”
HEALTH, SAFETY CONCERNS
New developments could have an impact on basic infrastructure, Cantu and contact team Vice Chairman George Kraber said.
“Imagine Austin [the city’s municipal master plan] says specifically that health and safety of citizens need to come in before any development,” Cantu said. “A lot of the time, that gets ignored.”
Some property owners are worried about the influx of residents straining the area’s dilapidated drainage system, Kraber said.
“The sewer system pipes are being overloaded,” Kraber said. “The lining is in such bad shape; residents are concerned that in time the pipes will burst and the sewage will go into Williamson Creek.”
Renteria said that all new developments are required to meet area regulations, including wastewater disposal, to acquire a building permit.
“The city keeps reassuring us that there is not a problem,” Kraber said.
Because of the area’s proximity to Williamson Creek, the contact team also calls on stricter requirements to mitigate flood risk, Cantu said.
“Williamson Creek is a major creek that can flood people out, so if we build and don’t have [enough] water retention ponds, we can potentially displace or lose life downstream,” Cantu said.
Kraber and Cantu said increased traffic is also a concern of the contact team. Developers proposing less than 300 units are not required by the city to pursue a traffic impact analysis, they said.
“You could build three independent buildings all at 299 [units] and not have to do a traffic analysis,” Kraber said.
The team has proposed improvements to South Congress to lessen traffic. But because it is a state-maintained road, the city is at the mercy of the Texas Department of Transportation to make the necessary improvements, Renteria said.
“[The city is] starting to invest our own money [to improve the road],” he said. “Our state representative wasn’t too happy and said we shouldn’t use citizen tax dollars when it is the responsibility of the state, but they refuse to do anything about it.”
