Station Area Planning Community Kick-Off for Transit Oriented Development (TOD)

There was a crowd of over 50 listening to many presentations made by

1. Group Solutions RJW –Why are we here?
2. Capital Metro – What is the latest on commuter rail line and stations?
3. City of Austin – How the city of Austin can make TOD "legal" and to what extent can it go?
4. Parsons Brinkerhoff – What is TOD and what will it look like? What are the arguments for TOD and good examples of TOD?
5. Diana McIver and Associates – How to bring affordable housing and who will live in affordable housing.

The Station Area Planning Community meetings will be focusing on 3 TODs.

1. MLK, Jr. Blvd. TOD
2. Plaza Saltillo TOD
3. Lamar/Justin Lane TOD

In these meetings, participants will help recommend design standards and development goals for the TOD in Station Area Planning (SAP) meetings. These plans as stated in the Transit-Oriented Development Guidebook published November 2006:

1. Will establish permitted and conditional uses.
2. Will prescribe site development regulations.
3. Will stipulate requirements for street, street scape and other public area improvements.
4. May amend the location of a gateway. midway, or transition zone.
5. Will include a housing affordability analysis and feasibility review that describes potential strategies for achieving housing affordability goals (refer to TOD Ordinance for specifics pertaining to the individual TOD districts).
6. Will include an analysis of the need for public parking.
7. May include consideration of public and civic art in or near transit stations.
8. Must be included (via the adopted neighborhood plan amendment process) in an adopted neighborhood plan, if any.

The Crestview neighborhood is directly affected by the Lamar/Justin Lane TOD. In the map shown below, Crestview’s border is colored red and the Lamar/Justin Lane TOD is colored blue.




What are some of the concerns for Crestview?

1. How will the Crestview neighborhood plan be changed?
2. How will TOD affect Pedestrian, Bicycle, and Auto traffic in the neighborhood?
3. How will current Crestview residents access the TOD and the rail station?
4. What will the TOD development look like?
5. Who will live in the TOD?
6. Who can afford to live or continue to afford living in the Crestview neighborhood as the neighborhood increases in density?

During the meeting the following interesting points were made

1. The TOD standards will supersede the VMU (Vertical Mixed Use) standards.
2. The TOD will use incentives and zoning to mitigate how the TOD area is developed. TOD is intended to make development of the land easier.
3. The TOD process is a 9 month process.
4. Parsons Brinkerhoff will be leading the Station Area Planning (SAP) meetings. There will be 3 SAP meetings.
5. According to Parsons Brinkerhoff, good examples of TOD are
   a) Eastside Village in Plano, TX.
   b) Center Commons in Portland, OR.
   c) Courthouse Hill in Arlington, VA.
   d) DelMar Transit Village in Old Town Pasadena.
6. Parsons Brinkerhoff contends that there has been up to a 45% reduction in traffic near a completed TOD site.
7. According to Diana McIver & Associates, good examples of Affordable housing are
   a) Lyons Gardens, 53 unit affordable senior community in East Austin.
   b) Southwest Trails, 160 units located west of MOPAC.
8. Diana McIver & Associates wanted to point out that affordable house is more than just a roof over an individual or Family’s head in that it attracts and promotes responsible individuals and Families.
9. Because of state law, the city of Austin cannot require inclusive zoning. In other words, the city cannot force developers to build affordable housing units. Thus these goals will be met with incentives.

The NEXT MEETING will be the
Station Area Planning Group 1 Charrette 1 for Lamar/Justin Lane TOD.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
6:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Old Koenig Lane Christian
908 Old Koenig Lane
Ample parking is available in front of the Church. A light meal will be provided

Contacts
The City of Austin Station Area Planning project manager is
Sonya Lopez
512-762-6617
Sonya.lopez@ci.austin.tx.us

OR

The Neighborhood Planning and Zoning Department
512-974-7694

Disclaimer -- These are my notes and could contain errors or misunderstandings. I will do my best to clarify if needed.