B-14 (C14-2021-0037 - East 12th Street NCCD Amendment; District 1).pdf — original pdf

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ZONING CHANGE REVIEW SHEET CASE: C14-2021-0037 – East 12th Street Neighborhood Conservation Combining District (NCCD) Amendment (City Council-Initiated) DISTRICT: 1 ZONING FROM: Current East 12h Street NCCD development standards and land uses TO: Revised development regulations and land uses (no base zoning district changes) ADDRESS: North side of East 12th Street between the IH-35 North frontage road and Poquito Street and the south side of East 12th Street between Branch Street and Poquito Street SITE AREA: 22.91 acres PROPERTY OWNER: NA AGENT: City of Austin, Housing and Planning Department CASE MANAGER: Mark Walters (512-974-7695, mark.walters@austintexas.gov) STAFF RECOMMENDATION: The staff recommendation is to support the recommendations made by the Urban Renewal Board For an overview of the recommended changes and specific recommendations see Exhibit C: Proposed Changes to The East 12th Street Neighborhood Conservation Combining District (NCCD) beginning on page 6. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION / RECOMMENDATION: Pending CITY COUNCIL ACTION: May 20, 2021 ORDINANCE NUMBER: NA ISSUES: Due to the pandemic, the public’s participation in the development of these recommendations has been limited. Staff held a virtual public information meeting on April 20, 2021 to provide general information and to answer questions. 23 people attended. Their questions and comments are included in Exhibit D. 1 of 14B-14BASIS OF RECOMMENDATION: • The proposed amendments to the NCCD support the goals of the Urban Renewal Plan for the East 11th and12th Street Urban Renewal Area, “Champion sustainable revitalization reflecting diversity, achieving equity, and preserving East Austin’s cultural history.” • The segment of East 12th Street between IH-35 and Poquito Street is designated as an Imagine Austin Activity Corridor. “Corridors are also characterized by a variety of activities and types of buildings located along the roadway — shopping, restaurants and cafés, parks, schools, single-family houses, apartments, public buildings, houses of worship, mixed-use buildings, and offices.” The proposed changes to the NCCD will support East 12th Street’s evolution into a more complete Activity Corridor. • Allowing denser mixed use development along East 12th Street and denser residential development supports the Austin Strategic Housing Blueprint’s goal of locating 75% of all new housing within ½ mile of an Activity Corridor. WATERSHED: Lady Bird Lake, Waller Creek – Urban SCENIC ROADWAY: No EXISTING ZONING AND LAND USES: Varied NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING AREA: Central East Austin TIA: Is not required Blackshear Elementary School CAPITOL VIEW CORRIDOR: No SCHOOLS: Kealing Middle School COMMUNITY REGISTRY LIST: ID 1092 1528 1550 1363 1228 1595 372 511 1530 966 742 1122 Organization Robertson Hill Neighborhood Association Bike Austin Homeless Neighborhood Association SELTexas Sierra Club, Austin Regional Group Neighbors United for Progress Swede Hill Neighborhood Association Austin Neighborhoods Council Friends of Austin Neighborhoods Organization of Central East Austin Neighborhoods Austin Independent School District Chestnut Neighborhood Revitalization Corporation (CNRC) 2 of 14B-14Neighborhood Empowerment Foundation Austin Lost and Found Pets Chestnut Neighborhood Plan Contact Team Waterloo Greenway Kealing Neighborhood Association Urban Renewal Board of the City of Austin East Austin Conservancy Davis-Thompson Rosewood Neighborhood Plan Contact Team Del Valle Community Coalition Preservation Austin 1616 1774 974 1393 1235 1007 1444 1351 760 1258 1424 CASE HISTORIES: NUMBER Ordinance #20080228-087 Ordinance # 20171109-094 Action Established the East 12th Street NCCD Redrew the NCCD’s boundaries and created a new Subdistrict 2a RELATED CASES: The Central East Austin Neighborhood Plan rezonings were completed under the City of Austin's Neighborhood Planning Program and was adopted as part of the Austin Tomorrow Comprehensive Plan on 12-13-01 (Ordinance #011213-41). INDEX OF EXHIBITS AND ATTACHMENTS Exhibit A: Aerial Map Exhibit B: Zoning Map Exhibit C: Proposed Changes to The East 12th Street Neighborhood Conservation Combining District (NCCD) Exhibit D: Staff Responses to Questions Complied from Public Information Meeting, SpeakUp Austin! Page, and Emails 3 of 14B-14Exhibit A: Aerial Map 4 of 14B-14Exhibit B: Zoning Map 5 of 14B-14Exhibit C PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE EAST 12TH STREET NEIGHBORHOOD CONSERVATION COMBINING DISTRICT (NCCD) BACKGROUND Beginning in late 2018 the Urban Renewal Board of the City of Austin (URB) began work on updating the Urban Renewal Plan for the East 11th and12th Street Urban Renewal Area (URP). The purpose of their efforts was to update and streamline the URP and the associated nearly 200-page East 11th Street Neighborhood Conservation Combining District (NCCD) and to bring the two into alignment. As their work progressed, community members expressed concerns that if the URP amendments being proposed were to be adopted, the plan and the East 12th Street NCCD would be out of alignment. Although under Texas State law the provisions of an urban renewal plan supersedes municipal land use regulations when there are conflicts, the community wanted to ensure that property owners, business owners, and residents could clearly understand what regulations applied within the area covered by the NCCD. CHANGES TO THE EAST 12TH STREET NCCD The URB recommended amendments to the NCCD regarding floor-to-area-ratio (FAR); land uses and land uses only permitted on specific addresses; and compatibility standards. No other changes to development standards are being recommended. Floor-to-Area-Ratio (FAR)—Remove all FAR requirements for properties within the NCCD. Allowable Uses—The proposed changes proscribe a set of uses that are allowed within the NCCD. For one of these uses to be allowed on a site, the use must be allowed in site’s base zoning district. For example, if a site 6 of 14B-14has multi-family zoning (MF-1 through MF-6) then the Multi-Family Residential use would be allowed because it is allowed in that zone; however, a Theater use would not be allowed because it is not available in that zone. Below is a list of the possible uses allowed in the NCCD. • Condominium Residential* • Group Residential • Multi-Family Residential • Townhouse Residential (not allowed facing East • Restaurant (General)** • Special Use Historic (C) • Theater • College & University Facilities only allowed on 12th Street) • Administrative and Business Offices • Art Gallery • Art Workshop • A Cocktail Lounge is a permitted use limited to the ground floor of a building located at 1808- 1812 East 12th Street. A cocktail lounge use is otherwise prohibited except as an accessory use to a hotel/motel use. • Food Sales** • Funeral Service (permitted use at 1300 East12th Street and 1410 East 12th Street) • General Retail Sales (Convenience)** • Hotel/Motel (bedrooms may not be located on the ground floor of a building fronting East 12th Street except at 810 and 900 East 12th Street) Indoor Entertainment • • • Medical Offices—not exceeding 5,000 sq./ft of Liquor Sales gross floor space* • Personal Improvement Services • Personal Services • Professional Offices • Restaurant (Limited)** the second floor of a building • Community Recreation (Private) (C) • Community Recreation (Public) (C) • Congregate Living (C) • Counseling Services not allowed on the ground floor of a building on East 12th Street* • Cultural Services • Day Care Services (General) (C) • Day Care Services (Limited) • Family Home • Group Home Class I (General) • Group Home Class I (Limited) • Group Home Class II • Guidance Services not allowed on the ground floor of a building on East 12th Street* Local Utility Services • • Private Primary Educational Services (C) • Private Secondary Educational (C) • Services • Public Primary Educational Services • Public Secondary Educational Services • Religious Assembly • Safety Services (C) (C) Conditional use requires Planning Commission approval * Not allowed on a ground floor of a building facing East 12th Street **Only allowed on the ground floor of a building facing East 12th Street Uses Only Permitted on Specific Addresses—The URB identified properties that have uses that may not overall support the goals of the URP, but are currently in operation. To accommodate these uses, the recommendations call specific uses and addresses. Here are a few examples: • Funeral Services (1330 & 1410 E. 12th) • Club or Lodge (1704 E. 12th) 7 of 14B-14• Cocktail Lounge (1808-1812 E. 12th) Compatibility—The proposed NCCD amendments would waive compatibility standards that affect height and setbacks; however, general compatibility standards relating to noise, lighting, and placement of parking, trash, and mechanical equipment. 8 of 14B-14Exhibit D: Staff Responses to Questions Complied from Public Information Meeting, SpeakUp Austin! Page, and Emails 1. Were there any uses removed from the permitted list on E. 12th Street? Yes, the current NCCD relies on the base zoning and prohibits additional uses. The proposed uses has a table of permitted uses. 2. On the ft chart: how many stories is 50 ft? 3 to 4 stories depending on floor to ceiling heights. 3. Why is Rosewood allowed to build to 60' when homes on 11th street adjoin to those lots? Current entitlement allow 60’ in height along Rosewood. 4. Residential lots on Angelia are also adjacent to the Rosewood lots allowing 60' Height WHY??? Adjacent to Angelina, the base zoning allows 40 ft of height. 5. For East 12th street, when the FAR restrictions are removed, will the FAR still be set by the base zoning? No, the recommendation is that there will be no FAR limits for properties within the 12th St NCCD. 6. With the growth of Austin, these small-scale solutions seem completely out of date. Why are we not making changes for more density? Why aren’t we building more housing near the core, and fulfilling “compact and connected” Imagine Austin goal? Both segments of East 12th Street and East 11th Street covered by NCCDs are Imagine Austin Activity Corridors. The regulations being proposed are in alignment with that designation. The URP and NCCDs permit and encourage a variety of housing types through the use regulations including townhouse, condominium and multifamily. Development standards are designed to allow new development that is compatible to the context. East 11th Street is intended to be a more robust commercial area; whereas East 12th Street is intended to become a more modestly scaled mixed use district. 7. Doesn't base zoning govern use on both 11th and 12th now? i.e., a use must be allowed by base zoning and also by the URP/NCCD use charts? On both streets? Currently the 12th Street NCCD relies on a property’s base zoning for uses and the 11th Street has a list of permitted/conditional uses by subdistrict. Additionally the URP included use regulations. The proposed NCCDs have a list of permitted, permitted with conditions and conditional uses and in some cases the use must also be allowed by the base zoning. The use table in the proposed URP mirror the regulations in the NCCD. 8. Driving on the side streets between East 11th and East 12th Street is a challenge due to parking on both sides of the street. Does the zoning address the possibility of changing some of the streets into one way streets? This does not fall under zoning regulations. 9. Telephone poles blocking the entrance on 12th Street Properties for construction purposes they have to be lowered. This does not fall under zoning regulations. 10. Does the zoning address Short Term Rental's on East 12th Street? Short Term Rentals are not allowed within the East 12th St NCCD. 11. How could these changes be impacted by a future citywide LDC rewrite? 9 of 14B-14The land use regulations and development standards for the proposed Urban Renewal Plan (URP) amendments are contained in the East 11th Street and East 12th Street NCCDs. Under the recent code revision process, NCCDs were left unchanged. Additionally, because the URP supersedes the Land Development Code and NCCDs, those standards will remain place until the plan is amended or expires. 12. What was the purpose behind the creation of subdistrict 4 within the 11th St NCCD? By reverting to the base zoning it seems that the section bordering Rosewood Ave is effectively being removed from the NCCD for all intents and purposes. The NCCD refers to the properties within Subdistrict 4 to their base zoning standards. There are no additional regulations for subdistrict 4 within the proposed draft. 13. If we want East 12th to be walkable why aren’t more uses being permitted so that people have a diversity of destinations close to where they live? The uses on East 12th Street allow for a variety of shops, restaurants, and services. The use list was designed to create an active pedestrian-oriented street. 14. If there are carve outs to preserve existing businesses that are part of existing culture, should there not be carve outs for changes to zoning to help preserve historic structures to help preserve the character and history of the neighborhood? There are properties in both NCCDs that have historic zoning which is the zoning tool to protect historic structures. There was community concern that allowing too many bars could adversely affect the area. 15. "In Subdistrict 1 and 2, height tailored to be compatible with adjacent properties outside the NCCD." Why not do this with subdistrict 4? 60' is significantly higher than the residential lots that border the adjacent properties on Angelina St. The current proposal is that properties within subdistrict 4 are subject to their base zoning entitlements. Properties fronting Rosewood Avenue currently have a height maximum of 60 feet. 16. Does base zoning standards apply to the properties on Rosewood that allow the 60' height restriction? Along the south side of Rosewood Avenue, base zoning allows 60’ height. Height maximums are lower along the north side. 17. Can you share again please, in layman’s terms, what the goal is of this meeting is and what is being proposed? The public meeting on April 20th was held to give information and answer questions about the proposed changes. The proposed Urban Renewal Plan and NCCDs are being updated to modernize and align the regulations. 18. 12th and Chicon has maintained some long running and unique bars for the neighborhood. Any growth here has been severely restricted, is there a reason for that? (clarified: cocktail bars, or bars in general) Limiting bars/cocktail lounges to existing locations was done to address community concerns that by not limiting them, there could be a surge of new bars locating to the area. 19. Were billboards considered in the land use standards? Billboards are not considered as a part of rezoning. Regulations on billboards can be found in the sign chapter of the Land Development Code. 20. Is there any plan to bury the many unsightly power and telecommunications lines on E12th St? Staff is not aware of any plans to bury utility lines. 21. Why are the heights not all the same? Why is height higher on North side? 10 of 14B-14In the East 12th Street NCCD the heights reflect current entitlements. In the East 11th Street NCCD, heights have been applied based on the allowable heigh on adjacent parcels. 11 of 14B-14 12 of 14B-14 May 20, 2021 City of Austin HPD@austintexas.gov Re: E. 12th Street Urban Renewal Plan and Neighborhood Conservation Combining District To Whom it May Concern We are writing this letter and providing comments as the planning consultants for Eureka Holdings, property owners of several properties along East 12th Street. As presented to the Urban Renewal Board in September of 2019, the vision for Eureka’s property is as follows: “Contributing to a Complete Neighborhood rooted in heritage. A place with exceptional public amenities and a vibrant cultural life, beloved by residents and visitors alike.” This dovetails with the vision set forth in the Urban Renewal Plan: “Champion sustainable revitalization reflecting diversity, achieving equity, and preserving East Austin’s cultural history.” To deliver on this vision, Eureka’s plans include preserving architectural and cultural heritage and building capacity and connections for artists and small businesses. In addition, each intersection is envisioned to have a unique identity, some of which include the historic uses of cocktail lounges, clubs, and lounges. We support the objectives of this rezoning case, which we understand to be streamlining the two policies – the Urban Renewal Plan (URP) and two Neighborhood Conservation Combining Districts (NCCDs). Specifically, we support the following elements of the proposed changes in accomplishing this goal of clarity: • The alignment of the Urban Renewal Plan (URP) and the Neighborhood Conservation Combining Districts (NCCDs) to eliminate all confusion regarding development standards and allowable uses. • The removal of Floor-to-Area-Ratio (FAR) as a development standard and, instead, relying on the existing setback, height, and impervious cover requirements to set the building envelope. We are concerned that through this process uses will be further restricted, particularly those uses that are rooted in the heritage of the area and contribute to exceptional public amenities and a vibrant cultural life. We support the continued operation of entertainment venues and cocktail lounges as an effort to preserve the arts, culture, and history of the area. 13 of 14B-14As stated above our team is in support of changes that can streamline the standards along 12th Street and provide more predictability for development that aligns with the goals of the multiple planning efforts that have been conducted in this community over the years. We hope that the Urban Renewal Board and the City Council will consider the cultural heritage of this neighborhood through this process. Respectfully, Rebecca Leonard, FAICP, PLA, CNU-A Founder and CEO Rebecca@lionheartplaces.com 14 of 14B-14