08 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2.pdf — original pdf

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Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN AMENDMENT REVIEW SHEET NEIGHORHOOD PLAN: Southeast Combined (Southeast) CASE#: NPA-2023-0014.03 DATE FILED: July 24, 2023 PROJECT NAME: 7300 Metro Center PC DATE: February 27, 2024 ADDRESS/ES: 7300 Metro Center Drive DISTRICT AREA: 2 SITE AREA: 9.631 acres OWNER/APPLICANT: Veranda Apartment, LP AGENT: Drenner Group, PC (Leah M. Bojo) CASE MANAGER: Maureen Meredith PHONE: (512) 974-2695 STAFF EMAIL: Maureen.Meredith@austintexas.gov TYPE OF AMENDMENT: Change in Future Land Use Designation From: Industry To: Mixed Use Base District Zoning Change Related Zoning Case: C14-2023-0093 From: LI-NP To: LI-PDA-NP NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN ADOPTION DATE: October 10, 2002 CITY COUNCIL DATE: TBD ACTION: PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION: February 27, 2024 – (action pending) 1 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 STAFF RECOMMENDATION: To not recommend the application’s request for Mixed Use land use. BASIS FOR STAFF’S RECOMMENDATION: Staff does not support the applicant’s request to change the future land use map (FLUM) from Industry to Mixed Use to allow the construction of 280 multifamily residential units because the property is located with the McKinney Jobs Center where residential uses are not compatible with the dominant industrial character of the area. Industrial land uses should be preserved to provide much needed space for small businesses, warehouse, manufacturing, and blue-collar jobs. Below are sections from the Southeast Combined Neighborhood Plan document: Industrial Zones (Page 55) A distinctive element of the existing land use landscape within the Planning Areas is that there are defined districts with large amounts of existing industrial development, and numerous undeveloped properties with industrial zoning. The fact that this part of southeast Austin is surrounded by major Southeast Combined Neighborhood Plan transportation corridors, has a large amount of undeveloped land, and is in close proximity to the airport makes it a very attractive location for industrial development. The McKinney and Southeast NPAs host the majority of this type of construction, much of this in the form of large industrial office parks. Instead of rejecting industrial-type development around their homes, residents in the Franklin Park and McKinney NPAs have been successful at communicating and cooperating with nearby industrial property owners. Area residents have traditionally been amenable to those types of industrial uses that don’t interfere with neighborhood activities or infringe upon their quality of life. Goal 4: Ensure that existing residential and industrial zoned properties co-exist in a compatible manner. (Page 56) Objective 4.1: Provide appropriate buffer zones between residential and industrial zoned properties. Action Item 9: Where needed, create a conditional overlay for industrial property that abuts residentially-used land. (Implementer: NPZD) Goal 5: Create land use and zoning recommendations that reflect the existing industrial nature of parts of the planning area. (Page 56) Objective 5.1: Make non-industrial properties in areas with a dominant industrial character compatible with the prevailing land use scheme. 2 2 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 This MF land use was not supported by staff LAND USE DEFINITIONS: Industry - Areas reserved for manufacturing and related uses that provide employment but are generally not compatible with other areas with lower intensity use. Industry includes general warehousing, manufacturing, research and development, and storage of hazardous materials. Purpose 1. To confine potentially hazardous or nuisance‐creating activities to defined districts; 2. To preserve areas within the city to increase employment opportunities and increased tax base; 3. To protect the City’s strategic advantage as a high tech job center; and 4. To promote manufacturing and distribution activities in areas with access to major transportation systems. Application 1. Make non‐industrial properties in areas with a dominant industrial character compatible with the prevailing land use scheme; 2. Where needed, require a buffer area for industrial property that abuts residentially used land; 3 3 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 3. Industry should be applied to areas that are not appropriate for residential or mixed use development, such as land within the Airport Overlay; 4. In general, mixed use and permanent residential activities are not appropriate in industrial areas. An exception may be the edge of an industrial area along the interface with an area in which residential activities are appropriate. Such exceptions should be considered case by case, with careful attention to both land use compatibility and design; 5. Industry should not be either adjacent to or across the road from single family residential or schools; 6. Use roadways and/or commercial or office uses as a buffer between residential and industry; and 7. Smaller scale “local manufacturing” districts may be appropriate in some locations to preserve employment opportunities and cottage industries of local artisans. In these areas, hazardous industrial uses (i.e. basic industry, recycling centers, and scrap yards) should be prohibited. Mixed Use - An area that is appropriate for a mix of residential and non‐residential uses. Purpose 1. Encourage more retail and commercial services within walking distance of residents; 2. Allow live‐work/flex space on existing commercially zoned land in the neighborhood; 3. Allow a mixture of complementary land use types, which may include housing, retail, offices, commercial services, and civic uses (with the exception of government offices) to encourage linking of trips; 4. Create viable development opportunities for underused center city sites; 5. Encourage the transition from non‐residential to residential uses; 6. Provide flexibility in land use standards to anticipate changes in the marketplace; 7. Create additional opportunities for the development of residential uses and affordable housing; and 8. Provide on‐street activity in commercial areas after 5 p.m. and built‐in customers for local businesses. Application 1. Allow mixed use development along major corridors and intersections; 2. Establish compatible mixed‐use corridors along the neighborhood’s edge 4 4 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 3. The neighborhood plan may further specify either the desired intensity of commercial uses (i.e. LR, GR, CS) or specific types of mixed use (i.e. Neighborhood Mixed Use Building, Neighborhood Urban Center, Mixed Use Combining District); 4. Mixed Use is generally not compatible with industrial development, however it may be combined with these uses to encourage an area to transition to a more complementary mix of development types; 5. The Mixed Use (MU) Combining District should be applied to existing residential uses to avoid creating or maintaining a non‐conforming use; and 6. Apply to areas where vertical mixed use development is encouraged such as Core Transit Corridors (CTC) and Future Core Transit Corridors. Yes Imagine Austin Decision Guidelines Complete Community Measures Yes Imagine Austin Growth Concept Map: Located within or adjacent to an Imagine Austin Activity Center, Imagine Austin Activity Corridor, or Imagine Austin Job Center as identified the Growth Concept Map. Name(s) of Activity Center/Activity Corridor/Job Center: • Located in the McKinney Jobs Center Yes Mobility and Public Transit: Located within 0.25 miles of public transit stop and/or light rail station. • Proposed Bergstrom Spur Trail is directly south (Construction: Fall 2025 – Fall 2026) • Approx. 0.30 miles from bus routes along Montopolis Drive Yes Mobility and Bike/Ped Access: Adjoins a public sidewalk, shared path, and/or bike lane. • There are sidewalks along Metro Center Drive. Yes Connectivity, Good and Services, Employment: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles to goods and services, and/or employment center. • There are numerous industrial and light industrial employment centers, but not a variety of neighborhood-servicing commercial uses. Connectivity and Food Access: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles of a grocery store/farmers market. Connectivity and Education: Located within 0.50 miles from a public school or university. Connectivity and Healthy Living: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles from a recreation area, park or walking trail. • Approx. 0.8 miles MetroCenter Disc Golf Course (not public) • Approx. 0.9 miles from MetroCenter Hike and Bike Trails Connectivity and Health: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles of health facility (ex: hospital, urgent care, doctor’s office, drugstore clinic, and/or specialized outpatient care.) Housing Affordability: Provides a minimum of 10% of units for workforce housing (80% MFI or less) and/or fee in lieu for affordable housing. Housing Choice: Expands the number of units and housing choice that suits a variety of household sizes, incomes, and lifestyle needs of a diverse population (ex: apartments, triplex, granny flat, live/work units, cottage homes, and townhomes) in support of Imagine Austin and the Strategic Housing Blueprint. • Applicant proposes 280 multifamily residential units. Mixed use: Provides a mix of residential and non-industrial uses. Culture and Creative Economy: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles of a cultural resource (ex: library, theater, museum, cultural center). Culture and Historic Preservation: Preserves or enhances a historically and/or culturally significant site. Creative Economy: Expands Austin’s creative economy (ex: live music venue, art studio, film, digital, No No No No No Yes No No No No 5 5 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 theater.) Workforce Development, the Economy and Education: Expands the economic base by creating permanent jobs, especially in industries that are currently not represented in particular area or that promotes a new technology, and/or promotes educational opportunities and workforce development training. Industrial Land: Preserves or enhances industrial land. Number of “Yes’s” Imagine Austin Priority Program PUD Specific Bonus Features Public Space Features and Public Art: Incorporates public space features and/or public art into project (Ex: plazas, streetscapes, gardens, and other people-friendly spaces where different ages can socially interact). Integrates and/or Expands Green Infrastructure: Preserves or expands Austin’s green infrastructure (ex: parkland, community gardens, green streets, creeks, stormwater features that mimic natural hydrology) into the urban environment and transportation network. Protects the Environment: Reduces greenhouse gas emissions, water, energy usage, and/or increases waste diversion. Protects Environmentally Sensitive Lands: Protects Austin’s natural resources and environmental systems by limiting land use and transportation development over or near environmentally sensitive areas, preserves open space, and protects natural resources more than ordinance requirements. Water/Wastewater Infrastructure: Sustainably manages Austin’s water resources and stream corridors through on-site use of storm water, effective landscaping, flood mitigation, and other low- impact development techniques more than ordinance requirements. Total Number of “Yes’s” No No 5 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a PUD zoning is not proposed 6 6 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Proximity to Imagine Austin Activity Corridor and Centers Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 7 7 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 Proximity to Public Parks 8 8 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 Proximity to Public Transportation 9 9 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 Bergstrom Spur Trail Map IMAGINE AUSTIN GROWTH CONCEPT MAP Definitions Neighborhood Centers - The smallest and least intense of the three mixed-use centers are neighborhood centers. As with the regional and town centers, neighborhood centers are walkable, bikable, and supported by transit. The greatest density of people and activities in neighborhood centers will likely be concentrated on several blocks or around one or two intersections. However, depending on localized conditions, different neighborhood centers can be very different places. If a neighborhood center is designated on an existing commercial area, such as a shopping center or mall, it could represent redevelopment or the addition of housing. A new neighborhood center may be focused on a dense, mixed-use core surrounded by a mix of housing. In other instances, new or redevelopment may occur incrementally and concentrate people and activities along several blocks or around one or two intersections. Neighborhood centers will be more locally focused than either a regional or a town center. Businesses and services—grocery and department stores, doctors and dentists, shops, branch libraries, dry cleaners, hair salons, schools, restaurants, and other small and local businesses—will generally serve the center and surrounding neighborhoods. Town Centers - Although less intense than regional centers, town centers are also where many people will live and work. Town centers will have large and small employers, although fewer than in regional centers. These employers will have regional customer and employee bases, and provide goods and services for the center as well as the surrounding areas. The buildings found in a town center will range in size from one-to three-story houses, duplexes, 10 10 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 townhouses, and rowhouses, to low-to midrise apartments, mixed use buildings, and office buildings. These centers will also be important hubs in the transit system. Regional Centers - Regional centers are the most urban places in the region. These centers are and will become the retail, cultural, recreational, and entertainment destinations for Central Texas. These are the places where the greatest density of people and jobs and the tallest buildings in the region will be located. Housing in regional centers will mostly consist of low to high-rise apartments, mixed use buildings, row houses, and townhouses. However, other housing types, such as single-family units, may be included depending on the location and character of the center. The densities, buildings heights, and overall character of a center will depend on its location. Activity Centers for Redevelopment in Sensitive Environmental Areas - Five centers are located over the recharge or contributing zones of the Barton Springs Zone of the Edwards Aquifer or within water-supply watersheds. These centers are located on already developed areas and, in some instances, provide opportunities to address long-standing water quality issues and provide walkable areas in and near existing neighborhoods. State-of-the-art development practices will be required of any redevelopment to improve stormwater retention and the water quality flowing into the aquifer or other drinking water sources. These centers should also be carefully evaluated to fit within their infrastructural and environmental context. Job Centers - Job centers accommodate those businesses not well-suited for residential or environmentally- sensitive areas. These centers take advantage of existing transportation infrastructure such as arterial roadways, freeways, or the Austin-Bergstrom International airport. Job centers will mostly contain office parks, manufacturing, warehouses, logistics, and other businesses with similar demands and operating characteristics. They should nevertheless become more pedestrian and bicycle friendly, in part by better accommodating services for the people who work in those centers. While many of these centers are currently best served by car, the growth Concept map offers transportation choices such as light rail and bus rapid transit to increase commuter options. Corridors - Activity corridors have a dual nature. They are the connections that link activity centers and other key destinations to one another and allow people to travel throughout the city and region by bicycle, transit, or automobile. 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. Along many corridors, there will be both large and small redevelopment sites. These redevelopment opportunities may be continuous along stretches of the corridor. There may also be a series of small neighborhood centers, connected by the roadway. Other corridors may have fewer redevelopment opportunities, but already have a mixture of uses, and could provide critical transportation connections. As a corridor evolves, sites that do not redevelop may transition from one use to another, such as a service station becoming a restaurant or a large retail space being divided into several storefronts. To improve mobility along an activity corridor, new and redevelopment should reduce per capita car use and increase walking, bicycling, and transit 11 11 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 use. Intensity of land use should correspond to the availability of quality transit, public space, and walkable destinations. Site design should use building arrangement and open space to reduce walking distance to transit and destinations, achieve safety and comfort, and draw people outdoors. BACKGROUND: The plan amendment application was filed on July 24, 2023. The applicant proposes to change the land use on the future land use map (FLUM) from Industry to Mixed Use land use. The applicant proposes to rezone the property from LI-NP (Limited Industrial district – Neighborhood Plan) to LI-PDA-NP (Limited Industrial district – Planned Development Area – Neighborhood Plan) to build approximately 280 multifamily dwelling units. PUBLIC MEETINGS: The ordinance-required community meeting was held on November 7, 2023. Approximately 41 meeting notices were sent to utility account holders and property owners within 500 feet of the property. Two city staff members attended the meeting, Maureen Meredith and Mark Walters from the Planning Department. Leah Bojo and Temaria Davis from Drenner Group, the applicant’s agents, attended and one person from the neighborhood. Below are highlights from Leah Bojo’s presentation: • The property is 9.36 acres. We decided to only rezone the southern tract. The northern tract has a Parks Easement, so we realized we don’t need to rezone that part, so the application was amended. • The future Bergstrom Spur Trail is to the south and will be a huge benefit to site and to this part of town. • The ROW will be built out on Metro Center Drive and the Bergstrom Spur Trail will provide access to any services provided. • The proposed LI-PDA-NP is customizable, so we are keeping the 60-foot height limit and the 1:1 FAR, but we are adding multifamily uses with MF-4 site area requirements. We are removing heavy industrial uses, Basic Industry, Recycling Center and Resource Extraction which are not compatible with residential uses, there are already residential uses nearby and under construction. • We are proposing 280 rental units with 441 vehicle parking spaces and 62 bicycle spaces. Q: What about Affordable Housing, is this being considered? We are looking for affordable units for teachers, airport employees, and fire fighters. A: We have not talked about this yet, I would need to talk to my client. Right now we are proposing market rate units. I’ll have to get back to you. 12 12 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2 Applicant Revised Summary Letter Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 13 13 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 Letter of Recommendation from the Neighborhood Plan Contact Team (NPCT) (No letter as of February 20, 2024) 14 14 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 Site 15 15 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 16 16 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 17 17 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2 Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 18 18 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 19 19 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 20 20 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 21 21 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 22 22 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 23 23 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2 Leah Bojo’s Presentation at the November 7, 2023 Virtual Community Meeting Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 24 24 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 25 25 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 26 26 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 27 27 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 28 28 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 29 29 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 30 30 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 31 31 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 32 32 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2 Planning Commission: February 27, 2024 Correspondence Received (No correspondence received) 33 33 of 3308 NPA-2023-0014.03 - 7300 Metro Center; District 2