20240528-016: NPA-2023-0023.04 - 5810 Berkman Dr; District 4 — original pdf

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Planning Commission: May 28, 2024 NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN AMENDMENT REVIEW SHEET DATE FILED: December 5, 2023 5810, 5812, and 5816 Berkman Drive NEIGHORHOOD PLAN: University Hills/Windsor Park Combined (Windsor Park) CASE#: NPA-2023-0023.04 PROJECT NAME: 5810, 5812, and 5816 Berkman Drive PC DATE: May 28, 2024 ADDRESS/ES: DISTRICT AREA: 4 SITE AREA: 0.5780 acres OWNER/APPLICANT: WFT-ASW Property Management, LLC AGENT: Drenner Group, PC (Leah M. Bojo) CASE MANAGER: Maureen Meredith STAFF EMAIL: Maureen.Meredith@austintexas.gov TYPE OF AMENDMENT: Change in Future Land Use Designation PHONE: (512) 974-2695 From: Mixed Use/Office Base District Zoning Change To: Mixed Use To: GR-MU-CO-NP Related Zoning Case: C14-2023-0151 From: LO-MU-CO-NP ACTION: NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN ADOPTION DATE: August 2007 CITY COUNCIL DATE: TBD PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION: May 28, 2024 - (Action pending) Planning Commission: May 28, 2024 STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff does not support the applicant’s request for Mixed Use land use but recommends Neighborhood Mixed Use. BASIS FOR STAFF’S RECOMMENDATION: Staff does not support the applicant’s request for Mixed Use land use because the property abuts residential uses to the west with a portion of the site within the flood plain. Staff believes the Neighborhood Mixed use land use will provide some protection to the residential uses by limiting the intensity of the commercial uses allowed on the property. Although there is Mixed Use land use to the east and at the north and south nodes of Berkman Drive and US Hwy 290 and E. 51st Street, the predominate land uses on the western side of Berkman Drive are low-intensity land uses of Single Family and Office/Mixed Use, with one lot of Civic land use for a church. Below are sections from the University Hills/Windsor Park Combined Neighborhood Plan (Windsor Park), which staff believes supports the Neighborhood Mixed Use land use. Planning Commission: May 28, 2024 LAND USE DESCRIPTIONS: EXISTING LAND USE: Mixed Use/Office - An area that is appropriate for a mix of residential and office uses. Purpose 1. Accommodate mixed use development in areas that are not appropriate for general commercial development; and 2. Provide a transition from residential use to non Application ‐ residential or mixed use. 1. Appropriate for areas such as minor corridors or local streets adjacent to commercial areas; 2. May be used to encourage commercial uses to transition to residential use; and Planning Commission: May 28, 2024 3. Provide limited opportunities for live/work residential in urban areas. PROPOSED LAND USE: 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 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. • • • • • • Planning Commission: May 28, 2024 Imagine Austin Decision Guidelines Complete Community Measures 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: Mobility and Public Transit: Located within 0.25 miles of public transit stop and/or light rail station. Mobility and Bike/Ped Access: Adjoins a public sidewalk, shared path, and/or bike lane. Connectivity, Good and Services, Employment: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles to goods and services, and/or employment center. Connectivity and Food Access: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles of a grocery store/farmers market. • • • 0.6 miles from Los Vaqueros Supermercado, 1 mile from HEB at Mueller 1.5 miles from Sprouts Farmers Market Yes Connectivity and Education: Located within 0.50 miles from a public school or university. 0.3 miles from Harris Elementary School Yes Connectivity and Healthy Living: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles from a recreation area, park or walking trail. 0.25 miles from Westminster Pocket Park 0.4 miles from Windsor Park Community Garden 0.7 miles from Earl J Pomerleau Pocket Park 0.8 miles from Bartholomew District Park 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.) 1.3 miles from Dell’s Children’s Medical Center 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. • The applicant’s proposed zoning of GR-MU-CO-NP would allow for residential units to be Yes Mixed use: Provides a mix of residential and non-industrial uses. built, but the applicant said the proposed use is a restaurant. • The applicant’s proposed zoning of GR-MU-CO-NP would allow for a mix of residential and commercial uses, but the applicant says they are proposing to open a restaurant. Culture and Creative Economy: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles of a cultural resource (ex: library, theater, museum, cultural center). • 0.3 miles from Windsor Park Public Library 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, 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 Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No No No No 9 N/A N/A 5 Planning Commission: May 28, 2024 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” Proximity to Imagine Austin Activity Centers and Corridors N/A N/A N/A PUD Zoning is not proposed 6  Proximity to Public Parks Planning Commission: May 28, 2024 7 Planning Commission: May 28, 2024 Proximity to Public Transportation 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. 8 Planning Commission: May 28, 2024 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, 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 9 Planning Commission: May 28, 2024 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 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 applicant has submitted a plan amendment application to change the future land use map from Mixed Use/Office to Mixed use to open a restaurant on the property. The applicant proposes to rezone the property from LO-MU-NP (Limited Office district – Mixed Use combining district – Mixed Use combining district – Neighborhood Plan) to GR- MU-CO-NP (Community Commercial district – Mixed Use combining district – Conditional Overly combining district – Neighborhood Plan). For more information on the zoning request, see case report C14-2023-0151. PUBLIC MEETINGS: The ordinance-required community meeting was virtually held on February 12, 2024. The recorded meeting can be found here: https://publicinput.com/t8034. Approximately 224 meeting notices were mailed to people who rent or own property within 500 feet of the subject property. Two city staff members attended the meeting, Maureen Meredith and Mark Walters from the Planning Department. Drew Raffaele and Leah Bojo from Drenner Group, PC attended, the applicant’s agents attended and two people from the neighborhood. Below are the highlights from Drew Raffaele’s presentation: • There are two buildings on the property that have been used for personal services. • This is a good location from a restaurant because Berkman Drive has sidewalks and has a bus stop in front of the building. Protected bike lanes are planned in the future. • The existing zoning is LO-MU-CO-NP and we are requesting GR-MU-CO-NP. The existing Conditional Overlay is for a residential use may not exceed 25% of the total square footage of the first floor of the building constructed. No change is proposed to the conditional overlay. • We talked with the neighborhood and there is a list of uses to prohibited. We will amend our application to include these prohibited uses. • We feel this use will attract new vendors into the neighborhood. We do not plan to demolish the structures or change the size. There were no questions from the attendees. 10 Applicant Summary Letter from Application Planning Commission: May 28, 2024 11 Planning Commission: May 28, 2024 12 Letter of Recommendation from the Neighborhood Plan Contact Team (NPCT) Planning Commission: May 28, 2024 13 Planning Commission: May 28, 2024 Site 14 Planning Commission: May 28, 2024 15 Planning Commission: May 28, 2024 16 Planning Commission: May 28, 2024 17 Planning Commission: May 28, 2024 18 Planning Commission: May 28, 2024 19  Drew Raffaele’s Presentation at the February 12, 2024 Virtual Community Meeting Planning Commission: May 28, 2024 20 Planning Commission: May 28, 2024 21 Planning Commission: May 28, 2024 22 Planning Commission: May 28, 2024 23 Planning Commission: May 28, 2024 24 Planning Commission: May 28, 2024 25 Planning Commission: May 28, 2024 Correspondence Received (No correspondence received as of May 22, 2024) 26