Sunset Valley leaders endorsed an Austin ISD plan to build a multipurpose sports field in the Toney Burger Center parking lot.

Sunset Valley City Council on Oct. 22 approved a preliminary site plan and variances, allowing the district to move forward with planning.

Mayor Rose Cardona said no residents or local businesses had contacted Council to oppose the project, and former Planning and Environmental Committee members Helen Besse and Mitch Chazan supported it.

The council will revisit the project when AISD submits its final site plan for approval.

The district plans to relocate 60 buses from the Saegert Bus Facility to the new Southeast Bus Terminal, AISD Construction Management Director Jeff Kauffmann said.

In its place, AISD is proposing an artificial turf field, bleacher seating for 800 spectators, a press box, landscaping, trees, stone fencing, restrooms and a concession stand.

Voters had approved building the field as part of the 2004 bond election, Kauffmann said. Building it at the Burger Center gives AISD a chance to renovate the aging property and a good reason to move the buses, he added.

"This allows a lot of the south schools, especially the feeder schools to Crockett High School, to be able to use this field, and parents are able to show up to games and not have to travel across the city," AISD Senior Project Manager Scott Rouse said.

The project would replace 40,000 square feet of pavement with artificial turf; the rock and sand layers under the turf retain water and would reduce stormwater runoff, Rouse said.

He said that advancements in lighting technology allow for less light pollution for the surrounding neighborhoods. Cardona said there will be time for residents and staff to weigh in on the lighting plans before the lights are turned on for the first time.

Billed as a soccer field, the district estimates that the field may draw 800 people for high school football games, 500 people for middle school junior varsity football games, 300 people for middle and high school lacrosse games and 250 for middle and high school soccer games, as well as possible soccer tournaments.

Rouse said the district is in talks with the new owners of the Cannoli Joe's restaurant site to connect the properties.

Sunset Valley staff recommended approval of the preliminary site plan.

Katy Phillips, the city's director of Public Works and Environmental Services, said the project would reduce the site's impervious cover—the amount of land where rain cannot reenter the soil—by 2 percent.

Cardona praised AISD for being responsive to the city. She noted that the city has previously asked AISD to move some of the buses to a different site.

"My personal perspective is that we should be happy about this," she said. "Once they remove the buses and build a soccer field, they cannot bring the buses back."