The outlined portion of East Austin could come under new parking regulations, depending on City Council's decision during its upcoming Feb. 12 meeting.[/caption]UPDATED 8:26 p.m. 2/12/15
City council voted to approve a measure to implement new parking regulations in East Austin and Mueller Feb. 12.
The measure for East Austin creates a parking and transportation management district from 11th Street down to Cesar Chavez with monitored parking with devices such as meters. The item received 10 "yes" votes while District 6 Councilman Don Zimmerman abstained from the vote.
The measure that would implement the same district for Mueller was pulled off the consent agenda and was unanimously approved by council later in the Feb. 12 meeting.
Proposed parking regulations in East Austin and the Mueller neighborhood could result in metered parking spaces.
The Austin Parking and Transportation Department teamed up with the surrounding neighborhoods to create the parking districts, which create boundaries for where to place parking meters. The initiative stemmed from action taken last year by Austin City Council. The new 11-member council will consider implementing the regulations during its Feb. 12 meeting.
By setting regulations now to these fast-developing areas, the neighborhoods can proactively begin balancing residential parking needs with the needs of nearby businesses, said Steve Grassfield, Austin's parking enterprise manager.
The developers of Mueller, a 700-acre high-density, mixed-use neighborhood approximately 3 miles from downtown, are creating a major commercial project complete with shops, restaurants and other entertainment options. Now is the ideal time to address those future parking needs rather than later, said Deanne Desjardin, vice president of Mueller Marketing and Communications for Catellus Development Corp., the neighborhood's master developer hired to redevelop the city-owned property.
The neighborhoods within the proposed parking districts will benefit financially from the new meters, Grassfield said. Roughly half of the made from the parking meters will go into a city-operated fund, which, in n turn, will use be reinvested into community-friendly projects proposed by city staff and neighborhood groups.
Should Austin City Council pass the proposed measure at its Feb. 12 meeting, the law is flexible enough to be changed should the parking needs of the areas change, said Jill Fagan, project manager for Austin's Economic Development Department.
