Neighborhood plan's adoption slated for winter

Local residents and property owners will help draft policies this fall that could guide change—from simple aesthetic upgrades to safety improvements—in three South Austin neighborhoods.

The South Austin Combined Neighborhood Plan, a yearlong planning process to identify what residents like about their area and where they want to see development, is entering a new phase. Policy roundtable meetings start Aug. 22 and will culminate in an open house in December, city Planner Francis Reilly said.

The SACNP, which includes the Westgate, South Manchaca and Garrison Park neighborhoods, is part of the Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan, which the city adopted in June 2012 to direct Austin's growth and redevelopment for the next 30 years. South Austin residents have been meeting with Reilly and other city staff for months to share public input on the SACNP that will help guide future policy. At this point, nothing is finalized, Reilly said, but the process is moving forward.

"We'll be going back and refining some of the results over the next few meetings, but we have at least a draft character district map, which is really designed to help determine future land use decisions for the area," he said.

Residents have established character districts, or geographic areas with defining points such as users, building size, street design and landscaping, Reilly said.

Defining districts

The SACNP planning area comprises four key character districts, Reilly said.

"The idea behind the character districts is really to have the community identify what they like about the area," Reilly said.

Participants have said they want the planning area's residential core to remain largely untouched with the exception of adding sidewalks, according to longtime residents Wanda and Jimmy Mills, co-presidents of the Cherry Creek Southwest Neighborhood Association, which is within Garrison Park.

Some residents have expressed concerns with commercial area development.

"We're getting a few more pawn shops, a few more payday loan places, a few more used cars lots, and those are not necessarily [what we want]," Wanda Mills said, noting she wants to see more businesses that encourage a sense of community instead.

Character districts consider building form and the relationship of buildings to the public realm, such as distance between storefronts and streets, which can influence the types of businesses that choose to locate in an area. Land use is a secondary consideration as part of character district development, Reilly said.

Monitoring building height and improving traffic safety are among the neighborhoods' priorities, Jimmy Mills said.

"A big problem is traffic on Manchaca Road and how that's going to shape up," he said, noting at one meeting an architect suggested adding a traffic circle to Manchaca Road near Crockett High School to improve traffic flow.

Brad Wimberly, owner of local business Bikealot in the Westgate neighborhood, said Manchaca Road, West Gate Boulevard and South First Street pose problems for cyclists. He said his best-case safety scenario involves adding separated paths alongside Manchaca Road or using quieter streets for bike routes.

"Overall I think it'll be really good for the area," he said. "I'm definitely happy about [the potential of adding] more bike paths and safer places to ride, just as a cyclist, business owner and human being wanting to get from point A to point B without the fear of injury or death."

The Southwood Neighborhood Association is within South Manchaca. SNA President Joan Owens said she attends SACNP meetings to stay ahead of the curve.

"We know that growth is coming to this area. ... What I hope is that we can have some guidelines about how it will be implemented," she said. "Everybody in the group adamantly says, 'Don't do like South Lamar'—you know, where they're just going in and [building] stuff willy-nilly, it seems like to us, and totally changing the area. We don't want that."

Maintaining elements such as heritage trees and Southwood's "homey feel" matters to SNA members, she said.

Residents have suggested incorporating public art into shared spaces to reinforce a community aesthetic and welcome people to South Austin, Reilly said. Ideas include colored sidewalks and bold sculptures.

Imagine Austin is funded through Austin's Capital Improvements Program. Neighborhood plans are funded in the Planning and Development Review Department using the general fund. Some changes take time and depend on the private sector, Reilly said.

"The idea is to have a community vision in place for when [area properties are redeveloped], but as far as driving that change, the city's not forcing anyone to redevelop," he said.

Attendees at upcoming policy roundtable meetings will discuss goals and draft policies. Participants will identify next steps, new ideas and responsible parties or partners for projects. The public input will be incorporated in the plan, which the neighborhood and city will use as a framework for decision-making, Reilly said.

The plan will go to City Council for adoption in winter 2013–14, Reilly said.

Mark Walters, city of Austin principal planner, added the SACNP is a template for the city to use moving forward.

"The process that we're mapping out for South Austin is what we would offer to other communities as a way to see how they would like to move their community into the future," he said.

Public SACNP meetings are scheduled for Aug. 22 at 6:30 p.m. in the Manchaca Road Public Library at 5500 Manchaca Rd, as well as Sept. 10, Sept. 26 and Oct. 26 at Cunningham Elementary School, 2200 Berkeley Ave.