Item 12: Draft Recommendation to Council regarding the Montopolis Fairway — original pdf

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. RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL African American Resource Advisory Council Recommendation Number: 20260804-012 Recommendation to Council regarding Montopolis Fairway WHEREAS, African American Resource Advisory Commission advises the Austin City Council on issues relating to the quality of life for the City's African American community; and WHEREAS, the African American Resource Advisory Commission addresses issues related to the health, safety, and welfare of the African American community, with specific attention to areas like affordable housing and economic stability; and WHEREAS, one of those community organizations, People Organized in Defense of Earth and her Resources (PODER), has brought forward a recommendation to city council to purchase the property at Montopolis and Fairway to secure the property for future low-income single-family housing; and WHEREAS, In 2001 the Austin City Council adopted the Montopolis Neighborhood Plan, which called for sustaining its single-family zoning in the heart of Montopolis; and WHEREAS, the 2018 report, “Uprooted: Residential Displacement in Austin’s Gentrifying Neighborhood and What Can be Done About It,” commissioned by the Austin City Council and completed by University of Texas experts recommended that the city make strategic, anti-displacement investments in Montopolis to protect it from further gentrification; and WHEREAS, for years, the Montopolis Neighborhood Plan Contact Team, along with other supporters, have been fighting to sustain its single-family zoning; and WHEREAS, Montopolis already has the highest concentration of multifamily, commercial, and industrial zoning of any planning area in the city; and WHEREAS, The 1.9 acres, known as the Montopolis-Fairway Zoning case, is currently zoned for single- family housing and includes properties at 6202, 6204 Caddie Street; 6205, 6211, 6215 Fairway Street; 1600, 1604, 1606, 1608, 1612, and 1614 Montopolis; and WHEREAS, While the zoning request from the developer to change the zoning from single-family to vertical mixed use was denied, the property remains vulnerable to future gentrifying developments; and . NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the African American Resource Advisory Commission recommends that the city of Austin purchase the property included in the Montopolis-Fairway zoning case to be used to build low-income single-family housing and protect the neighborhood from future gentrification. Date of Approval: Motioned By: Seconded By: Vote: For: Against: Absent: Attest: