The big picture
A joint public hearing between City Council and their appointed resident Planning Commission members—billed as the first of its kind—was called by city officials in a stated attempt to expand public input on the matter. Both bodies will review the concept over the coming weeks before council's anticipated final vote.
The main topic at hand Oct. 26 was one half of the Home Options for Middle-income Empowerment, or HOME, initiative drafted by council member Leslie Pool.
The act's first phase now being debated would allow up to three housing units on all single-family property in Austin. Additionally, other city rules related to two-unit projects and regulations governing the number of people allowed to live together could also be changed.
Previous coverage on HOME's initial phase is available available here.
What happened
Nearly 300 people signed up to share their stances as for, against or undecided on the increased unit allowances in Austin's single-family areas.
Of those who ended up speaking over about six hours of public testimony from the afternoon into the evening, HOME supporters outnumbered opponents roughly 2-to-1 with a handful of people sharing a neutral stance.
While both sides were represented by various commenters, those in favor skewed on the younger side and included a large share of college students, renters and newer homeowners. Many of those against were older or longer-tenured Austin residents who've owned their homes for years.
A sampling of commentary on the topic is included below, and the full hearing may be viewed here.
Those in favor
Supporters of the land-use changes HOME would usher in largely pointed to the growing need to address rising housing costs that continue to affect residents, and that have pushed many away from a future in the city.
“Eventually, so many of my friends have realized they will never be able to afford a house in Austin," said Daniel Keshet. "Austin is no longer a part of the American dream, and actions like the legislation you have here will allow opportunities for more people to be part of that."
Tommy Vinyard, a South Austin resident, said he believes HOME is needed to maintain Austin's atmosphere.
“I want to remind everyone that what originally made Austin weird was its ability to allow a diverse population a cheap place to stay and to call home. Our city is changing, and if we do not embrace that change, Austin will continue to become less and less affordable and less and less diverse," he said.
Galen Herz, a resident of Northwest Austin's Angus Valley neighborhood, said he hopes to reverse a trend he's seen as many of his childhood friends ended up leaving the city due to unaffordability.
“It’s not right that Austin has added thousands of new jobs and yet our neighborhood has added almost no new homes," he said. "Even though our neighborhood looks the same physically, it has changed a lot. It used to be affordable to middle-class families like mine, but it isn’t today. Changing zoning is not a silver bullet, but it is a baby step.”
Elle Allen, a real estate professional, said the changes would give developers more options to reach a wider range of buyers.
“We are actually incentivized to create a product that would have more customers," she said. “The price point at which we could build these smaller homes allows homeownership to be achievable for more people, instead of homeownership for just the wealthy or people who were here first.”
“This is what it takes to get just a scrap of the housing market in Central Austin today. This is not acceptable to normal first-time homebuyers; for young people making a normal salary," Sommerfeld said. "Either home prices go down or people move out of Austin in order to become homeowners.”
Jim Hillhouse said he moved into his Tarrytown home years ago to enjoy being near Austin's activity center. Now, he supports HOME given his view that others don't have the same chance.
"It’s sad to see that because of those higher home costs people can’t live next to the city. They can’t even live in the city a lot of times. And that’s not right, I don’t know how else to put it," he said.
Kristina Pollard, a Northeast Austin resident, said she's working long hours in both child care and the restaurant industry to remain in town, and is seeing many other service workers forced to depart.
“When the people who work in Austin can no longer afford to live there, something has gone terribly, terribly wrong in the city," she said.
Those opposed
Opponents leveled several criticisms against council members and the HOME proposal, including views of a lacking public process, an overly sweeping policy concept, and fears over changing neighborhood character and the potential for negative environmental and safety outcomes.
“This rushed, wholesale city redevelopment plan cast aside very real concerns of people whose lives will be upended, and our city forever changed. The prospect of nine next-door units is unsettling," said Mary Fero, a longtime member of Allandale's neighborhood association.
Northwest Austin resident Bruce Greiner said he bought his home years ago—before its annexation into city limits—to enjoy a suburban-style community he believes is now at risk.
"If we wanted to live downtown in a high-rise, we would have purchased there," he said. "We live in a diverse neighborhood of middle-income, dual-working households. Why would any mayor or council member want to destroy the kind of neighborhood we have today?"
Susan Spataro said she stands against policies she believes are designed to benefit only new arrivals in town.
“This plan, to me, looks and values the people that are moving into Austin at the expense of people who live here. In other words, new people want to move in, so if you’ve owned a home for 30 years ... we need to move you out, or we need to change everything because they want to come in," she said. "I object to that.”
Several speakers also commented on the need to examine how the city's infrastructure might handle the additional growth allowed through HOME.
“It’s very upsetting that these things will happen when we have chosen this neighborhood because it is a single-family neighborhood. There are a lot of cars that are already parked on the street. Where are these people going to park?" Autumn Brennon asked.
“I don’t see how this proposal cannot increase property taxes. I don’t think that’s a hate issue or a stoking fear issue," Sanders said. "Our property taxes increased dramatically anyway, and now we’re looking at, really, a developer-driven—I think it has to be—proposal."
Several residents shared their worries that the potential for increased development will simply flood the market with higher-cost rental options, rather than the accessible housing hoped for by HOME supporters.
“This pushes Austin into a totalitarian renter state, increasing home values and property taxes whereby single individuals and dual-income families are unable to finance or afford homeownership of their own, reducing equity, diversity and quality of life for all residents that value community," North Austin's Sean McCarthy said.
Others argued that, while HOME is intended to assist middle-income earners, it will lead to negative effects in lower-income communities already at risk of or experiencing gentrification.
“We know that this is investor-driven redevelopment. The units produced won’t be affordable to middle-class families because investors will sell even smaller units to the wealthiest buyers, and the rich will just keep bring attracted to Austin in a vicious cycle," Southeast Austinite Sol Praxis said.
Joyce Basciano agreed, labeling the proposal as a "gross overreach."
"It will not be gentle density. Rather, it will lead to wholesale displacement in many of our neighborhoods. This isn’t planning; it’s plundering," she said.
What's next
Residents interested in following HOME's progress can also provide feedback during:
- A city-sponsored open house at the Austin Central Library, located at 710 W. Cesar Chavez St., on Nov. 6 at 6 p.m.
- Planning Commission's regular meeting at City Hall, located at 301 W. Second St., on Nov. 14 at 6 p.m.
- City Council's meeting at City Hall on Dec. 7 at 10 a.m.
More information from the city is also available online.
