SRCC GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES
Tuesday, August 15, 2023, 7:00 PM
Zoom Meeting
SRCC: See the future. Shape the future.
MINUTES
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1. 7:00 Welcome Members and Guests
Verification of quorum. Reminder: state your name when presenting or seconding a motion. Try the PayPal subscription option for automatic annual renewals: https://www.srccatx.org/membership-dues
Presenter throughout unless otherwise noted: Noah Balch, SRCC President (5 min)
Meeting began at 7:03pm
Quorum verified by Mary Friedman
2. 7:05 Membership Report
Please send us information, stories, and photos for social media!
Membership fees: single: 1/2/3-year: $20/$35/$50; family: $35/$65/$95
Presenter: Mary Janecek-Friedman, SRCC Membership Secretary (5 min)
The PayPal link seems to be working for Individual and Family one-time-payment dues. We are working on getting the link for subscriptions fixed. For questions about membership status, please contact: membership@srccatx.org
Please remember that there is a 28 day waiting period for voting!
https://www.srccatx.org/membership-dues/
3. 7:10 Treasurer’s Report
All reports available upon request: treasurer@srccatx.org
Presenter: Will Andrews, SRCC Treasurer (5 min)
Will Andrews updates us through July 31st, 2023. We are trending ahead of expenses YTD. We are carrying about $4,400 in the Austin Parks Fund Balance, it’s being held by them because it can only be used for infrastructure projects and is a result of an agreement set up years ago from Home Depot.
We will see how the Parking Funds impact that down the line.
4. 7:15 Reports from Standing Committee Chairs (10 min)
1) Planning and Zoning
2105 SoCo has some pending issues with the City and they have until Spring 2024 to address those issues so we may want to delay the vote until we can look at the 10 pages of zoning they are working on.
2) Historic Preservation
Susan Armstrong Fisher reports that it’s been pretty quiet this Summer, fortunately. There’ll be some discussion on the Norwood house upcoming, otherwise ramping up for more proactive interactions in the future.
3) Finance
none
4) Mobility
Yorgos will discuss this tonight later
5) Public Safety
Tom Groce – Noah asked about finding a website that allows you to see an aggregate of crime by type and area, and that we should be using those metrics to help monitor. www.Krimelab.com has this info by ZIP Code and date.
6) Parks and Environment
David Todd updates us on a meeting with several individuals, including someone from the city, who wants to work on the “South Austin Triangle” at the corner of SoCo and Live Oak, which the new development will also dedicate funds to.
David also met with some individuals today about some mitigation for fire-prevention and maintenance. There are some budget proposals to have APR start to address the urban factors that combine with drought and weather to create dangerous fire situations.
7) Schools
School is back in session, so please be aware of School Zones and Crosswalks. Wendy Todd shared that at this time we are anticipating an early September start for construction near Travis Heights. This work will include the installation of:
- A pedestrian crossing island and improved curb ramps at Alameda/Woodland
- A raised crosswalk and improved curb ramps at Alameda/Mariposa
- Curb ramps at Mariposa/Rosewood Terrace
8) Communications
Betty Weed informs that Monthly Updates are being distributed and the issues seem to be corrected. Betty is working on some informational emails to be sent out in the next few months. Parking would be a great topic to cover for the neighborhood; perhaps on Parks, or any other pertinent topics.
Ruth sent an email out requesting for any articles for the upcoming Newsletter – next deadline is the end of August.
Newsletter is coming up and Tom will be putting an article about Safety into the newsletter.
5. 7:25 Reports from Area Coordinators and Representatives (10 min)
9) GSRC NPCT
none
10) EROC NPCT
none
11) ANC
Betty talked about the changes to the Land Development Code.There’s also an East Austin Borden Plan that’s adjacent to a few wildlife areas and protected spaces that’s facing a huge amount of development, so the rezoning will make this much easier for them to proceed with the tallest and densest development in East Austin
12) SCC
none
13) South Central Waterfront
Wendy updates that as part of the TXDOT plan, they will continue the boardwalk from South Congress to South First, updates will come later in the year. SRCC is still looking for a volunteer to Represent for us on the Advisory Board.
14) St. Edward’s
none
15) S. Central Affordable CDC
none
6. 7:35 Approve Minutes
Presenter: Chris Phillips-Frishman, SRCC Secretary (5 min)
The minutes taken for the previous SRCC General Meeting, May 16th, 2023, received edits, corrections and clarifications and were posted on June 4, 2023 by the Secretary. Meeting minutes are available at: www.srccatx.org
The Minutes are approved unanimously
Upcoming Meetings:
GENERAL MEETINGS: September 19, October 17, November 21
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETINGS: September 5, October 3, December 5
Looking forward to getting some Hybrid Meetings together in the near future and seeing each other in person.
GENERAL BUSINESS ITEMS
7. 7:40 Citywide Changes to Land Development Code
Presenter: Barbara McArthur, Executive Committee member, Austin Neighborhoods Council (20 min)
Presentation on recent changes to the Land Development Code currently before City Council.
Betty Weed introduces Barbara McArthur, who will be updating us on the recent changes to the Land Development Code. Barbara’s goal is to present factual data; yet unfortunately the data she brought was aggregated and several Committee Members saw immediate issues with her process and presentation.
In July the CC introduced a resolution to review the LDC. Leslie Pool, who is an advocate for this change, is in favor of subdividing lots in order to develop more density on said lots. This would change setbacks, heights, impervious cover and building coverage. It’s difficult now to see who would be impacted by this proposal, so we will see how this rolls out.
The CIty Manager would be encouraged to be informed by the Mueller Plan, however the Mueller home value is far above the low-income housing numbers. More of the proposal can be contrasted with the Houston Small Lot Initiative, which doesn’t trend well in terms of displacement and population density/change. The Resolution passed with only 2 Nos, and in the future will be presented as an Ordinance.
Betty Weed clarified that the link to this Presentation is available. She also sees that this is likely to happen in many places in Austin, perhaps not to the degree that has been presented.
Dan Fredine clarified that it seems like a radical change for Leslie Pool to now be so supportive of these changes. Barbara believes that the proposal was funded by pro-development and de-regulation forces. The timeline for the City Manager to bring back Ordinance changes will be in the latter part of this year.
Discussion regarding sending a formal response from SRCC, tabled until the next meeting.
8. 8:00 Planning and Zoning
Presenters: Anita Tschurr, SRCC Planning and Zoning Chair; Amanda Swor (15 min)
● City Council Meeting Update.
Anita updated us on some of the issues she’s been hearing from the CIty about, there’s a lot happening right now. Betty Weed is trying to help with an updated list of notices and actions we’ve taken and the results but it’s a tedious process. This is the biggest priority now so we can share that and garner more support and volunteers. Zilker Park was a great illustration of how people speaking out and disagreeing with the plan got it reconsidered.
● Discuss and VOTE on draft motion for site plan at 2105 S. Congress Avenue
Tabled since there are amendments.
● Zilker Zoning discussion.
City Council has taken the plan off of the Agenda and has no plans to reconsider it in the near future. Let’s see how we can support the Zilker neighborhood and the ‘rewilding Zilker’ efforts.
A reminder that it’s not over, it’s just been tabled, so if we can fill in the meantime with good efforts and plans that would serve us. Lisa Audiffred is part of Zilker Rewilding so contact her if you’d like to support their efforts, they are still very much involved and active.
Betty’s former statement that the Zilker Train had been reassigned to be ignored by a private company (which she believes will be a pattern) is actually incorrect and the new, improved, and much more safe Zilker Train will be reappearing this fall thanks to APR and others.
9. 8:15 Mobility
Presenter: Yorgos Economos; Mark Thompson, SRCC Mobility Chair (15 min)
Discuss vision for I-35’s crossings at Woodland and Oltorf; please review Cherrywood NA’s efforts here.
Yorgos hopes his take on this can help develop some energy around this as it’s almost too late to make a change. Correction, it is too late, and Yorgos has no contacts, so essentially this presentation was redundant and non-germane.
We have seen some progress on how TexDOT has approached this, but there are still many concerns. We are on the verge of moving from Draft to Final Environmental Statements. We still see most of what has been presented, expansion is to 20 lanes at some points, but removes the Woodland Car Crossing.
Health impacts from this expansion could be notable, from a variety of factors.
Noah asks what can we practically and pragmatically do at this point and at this level? Yorgos admits that we are so late in the game that any request (aside from a lawsuit) is just a ‘hail Mary’ move. Noah suggests we put together a communication to be discussed and voted on at the next meeting.
The Secretary called for more appropriate vetting of topics in order to not waste time or discredit our efforts.
10. 8:30 GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
We want to recognize Donny Williamson, the Lifeguard who was integral in helping reopening Little Stacy Pool, by writing a letter appreciating him. This motion was passed unanimously.
The Meeting adjourned at 8:45pm
Community, Volunteering, and Social Activities
NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH: contact Tom Groce, SRCC Public Safety Chair at: tgroce71@gmail.com
If you have questions about using the Neighborhood ListServ: https://groups.io/g/SouthRiverAustin
The next Executive Committee meeting is September 5, 2023.
The next General Membership meeting is September 19, 2023.
Frequently used acronyms:
ACF: Austin Community Fund
ANC: Austin Neighborhood Council
BoA: Board of Adjustment
CDC: Community Development Corporation
EROC: East Riverside/Oltorf Combined Contact Team
FLUM: Future Land Use Map
GSRC NPCT: Greater South River City Neighborhood Planning Contact Team
NCCD: Neighborhood Conservation Combining District
NHPA: National Historic Preservation Act
NPCT: Neighborhood Planning Contact Team
PC: Planning Commission
PUD: Planned Unit Development
SCC: South Central Coalition of neighborhood associations
SF: Single Family zoning category
ZAP: Zoning and Platting
Agenda Prepared by Noah Balch, president@srccatx.org Agenda subject to change. Please check
www.srccatx.org for most recent version.
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