Strategic Housing Plan
Council will consider adopting the Strategic Housing Plan into the Imagine Austin 30-year Comprehensive Plan. The Neighborhood Housing and Community Development housing plan, which was two years in the making, was first presented to City Council three weeks ago with recommendations for an additional 135,197 housing units by 2027 to help manage anticipated growth affordably. Since the plan was presented, there has been debate over the number of residential units sought. District 5 Council Member Ann Kitchen questioned the plan’s exclusion of the current 48,000 affordable housing gap in its housing unit equation. During Tuesday’s work session, District 1 Council Member Ora Houston criticized the plan’s recommendation that each council district have at least 10 percent of residential units include affordable rental housing and 25 percent affordable home ownership, explaining that she already 22,000 affordable units in her district that lacks grocery stores and other essential businesses. Others in the community criticized the plan’s 135,197-unit goal for not being ambitious enough and would instead keep the city status quo. While the plan isn’t overly aggressive in fixing the issue, District 4 Council Member Greg Casar said it would be a “tremendous task” if housing issues in Austin didn’t worsen during the next decade. Mayor Steve Adler said the council was “primed” to pass the plan Thursday and even suggested the name be changed from Strategic Housing Plan to Strategic Housing Goal so as not to anchor the council to hard-line objectives. A postponement is possible, however, after District 9 Council Member Kathie Tovo suggested the city take its time in adopting the plan. If adopted Thursday, the plan will likely have more changes than the 35 amendments already introduced since debuting to council in March.Austin Oaks third and final reading
After being skipped over last week, the Austin Oaks redevelopment proposal will have its third and final reading Thursday when, due to a valid petition of opposed property owners, a nine-vote supermajority will be needed in order to approve the project, which only passed second reading by a 7-4 vote. The District 10 planned unit development, or PUD, has been the most controversial and hotly debated zoning case so far this year. The second reading held March 23 featured testy back-and-forth exchanges between council members and emotional testimonies from the public that included a performance/protest from a resident that included death metal, $6,000 cash, cracked eggs and a scalable diorama of the Austin Oaks area complete with 700 model trees.The night ended with a heavily amended plan that called for 425 total residential units, 46 of which will be offered as affordable, an extra 40,000 square feet of office space, the removal of a 90,000 square foot hotel, an additional residential building, with a 19,648 traffic trip cap and tree preservation requirement tacked on. District 10 Council Member Alison Alter questioned her colleague’s decision-making that night, claiming in a Council Message Board post that the decision made by council shorted the city on community benefits. Alter said the item may possibly be postponed Thursday. But if the Austin Oaks PUD is considered, discussion won't start before 2 p.m. A limited public comment portion will accompany Thursday’s discussion.Idee Kwak'a dramatic performance against #austinoaks Pt 3 #atxcouncil https://t.co/a0tia8tbze
— Christopher Neely (@TopherJNeely) March 24, 2017
