Council agrees to conduct Burnet Road, West Anderson Lane corridor studies

Austin will review the development standards along two high-activity corridors in north Central Austin.

City staff will conduct corridor studies for Burnet Road and West Anderson Lane after Austin City Council unanimously approved a resolution June 12 that came short of also creating or revising neighborhood plans for the surrounding communities.

Councilwoman Laura Morrison, who sponsored the resolution, agreed to withdraw the neighborhood evaluations to allow staff to survey all north central neighborhoods—Allandale, Brentwood, Crestview, Highland, North Shoal Creek, Rosedale and Wooten—to find out which are interested in a city-initiated neighborhood plan. Allandale, for example, is not interested, Morrison said.

"It's important that even if council decides not to go forward with the neighborhood plans that we still do go forward with the corridor plans," said Greg Guernsey, Austin's Planning and Development Review Department director. "Doing nothing, I think, serves the purpose of doing nothing to help with the events that may be occurring."

The area's existing neighborhood plans have run their course, Guernsey said. Staff will approach each neighborhood to gauge interest, and a recommendation will come before council to initiate new neighborhood plans in the north central area sometime after July, he said.

In the meantime, a corridor study along Burnet and West Anderson will review zoning characteristics, craft a capital improvement plan, and create tools and recommendations for achieving any vision created, Guernsey said.