A.1 - C14H-2020-0069 - Rogers Washington Holy Cross Historic District - Zoning change summary — original pdf

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A.1 - 1 ZONING CHANGE REVIEW SHEET HLC DATE: PC DATE: July 27, 2020 CASE NUMBER: C14H-2020-0069 APPLICANTS: Rogers-Washington-Holy Cross Historic District Application HISTORIC NAME: Rogers Washington Holy Cross Historic District WATERSHED: Boggy Creek ADDRESS OF PROPOSED ZONING CHANGE: Roughly bounded by E. 21st Street on the north, Cedar Avenue on the east, E. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard on the south, and Chestnut Avenue (to 20th Street) on the west. See map for additional details. ZONING: All base zoning within the proposed historic district will have the HD (Historic Area Combining District) overlay added. No changes to base zoning are proposed by this application. SUMMARY STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends the proposed zoning change to create the Rogers Washington Holy Cross Historic District. QUALIFICATIONS FOR HISTORIC DISTRICT DESIGNATION: The application for the Rogers Washington Holy Cross Historic District meets all Code requirements for the formation of a historic district. HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION ACTION: PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: DEPARTMENT COMMENTS: The proposed Rogers Washington Holy Cross Historic District is a largely intact postwar neighborhood that demonstrates the determination and success of the African American community in Austin. The neighborhood was developed by Black professionals for Black professionals. This was a major milestone at a time when many white Austinites with similar socioeconomic and community standing were buying suburban homes and moving out of the city. Racially restrictive covenants, redlining, prejudiced lenders, and other social and governmental barriers prevented African Americans from making the same move. Rogers Washington Holy Cross was a powerful symbolic response, and established a tight-knit neighborhood of movers and shakers in the Black community, Austin, and beyond. Early residents included Huston-Tillotson Chancellor John Q. Taylor King; Carnegie H. Mims, Jr., the first Ombudsman at the University of Texas; T. C. Calhoun, longtime principal of Kealing Junior High School; and numerous other educational leaders, including Willie Mae Kirk, Carnegie Harvard Mims, Sr., and Ira Poole The Kirk family lived on Maple Avenue; Ms. Kirk’s husband Lee Sr. was the first African American postal worker and certified pilot in Austin, and her son Ron served as Dallas’s first African American Mayor and an Obama cabinet member. Jimmy Snell was a City Council member who served as the first Black Mayor Pro Tem. Norman Scales was a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen. Prominent business owners, some of the earliest graduates from UT following desegregation, and even more leaders also called the neighborhood home.  ACTION: PHONE: (512) 974-1446 ORDINANCE NUMBER: A.1 - 2 John Chase, the first African American graduate of UT’s School of Architecture and the first licensed African American architect in Texas, designed several houses in the neighborhood, attesting to residents’ prominent standing and creating a rich architectural legacy. Nash Phillips, a well-known and prolific Austin builder, constructed houses along Maple, Givens, and Werner avenues. The prevailing architectural style within the district is Ranch; other styles include Minimal Traditional, Split Level, and Contemporary/Mid-Century Modern. The City held a community workshop to discuss the draft design standards for the district, and the proposed standards reflect the comments and concerns raised at the workshops and through outreach efforts from the applicant. The applicant conducted additional outreach through door-to-door outreach and neighborhood meetings. CITY COUNCIL DATE: ORDINANCE READINGS: 1ST 2ND 3RD CASE MANAGER: Cara Bertron NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATIONS: Anberly Airport Association Austin Independent School District Austin Lost and Found Pets Austin Neighborhoods Council Bike Austin Del Valle Community Coalition East Austin Conservancy Friends of Austin Neighborhoods Homeless Neighborhood Association BASIS FOR RECOMMENDATION: The Code requires that at least 51% of the structures within a proposed district contribute to its the historic character; and that at least 51% of the property owners or the owners of 51% of the land within the district must support its creation. The proposed historic district contains 57 resources, of which 47 (82%) are contributing. The application to create the historic district has the demonstrated support of the owners of 53% of the land area within the district. The district’s design standards (preservation plan) have been reviewed and approved by the City Law Department and Austin Energy. PARCEL NO.: See attached appendix. LEGAL DESCRIPTION: See attached appendix. ESTIMATED ANNUAL TAX ABATEMENT: N/A. The owners of eligible properties within the district may apply for an abatement of the taxes on the added value of the property after completing qualified preservation projects approved by the Historic Landmark Commission. APPRAISED VALUE: N/A PRESENT USE: The proposed historic district is entirely residential. CONDITION: N/A Neighborhood Empowerment Foundation Neighbors United for Progress Preservation Austin Rogers Washington Holy Cross SELTexas Sierra Club, Austin Regional Group Upper Boggy Creek Neighborhood Planning Team A.1 - 3 PRESENT OWNERS: See attached appendix. DATE BUILT: The period of significance for the proposed Rogers Washington Holy Cross Historic District begins in 1953, with the construction of the earliest homes, and ends in 1970, at the fifty-year threshold typically used to evaluate historic properties. ALTERATIONS/ADDITIONS: See Design Standards, attached. ORIGINAL OWNER(S): Multiple OTHER HISTORICAL DESIGNATIONS: There are no City of Austin historic landmarks in the proposed historic district. LOCATION MAP A.1 - 4