15 South Menchaca Neighborhood Plan Contact Team Opposition Letter — original pdf

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August 9, 2024 City of Austin Planning Commission Attn: Nicole Corona 301 W. 2nd Street Austin, TX 78701 Cc: Marcelle Boudreaux Re: C14-2024-0023 – Zoning Change Request for 4507 Menchaca Rd. Dear Ms. Corona: I am writing on behalf of the South Menchaca Neighborhood Plan Contact Team to express opposition to a requested zoning change at 4507 Menchaca Road. Our contact team met with the applicant’s representative on April 30, 2024, to discuss the request. We have since met with other neighbors and talked with some parents of children who attend Joslin Elementary, which is directly across Menchaca from the property. As a result of these discussions, we have voted unanimously to oppose the change from LO-NP to LR-NP. Please note that we have no objection to a coffee shop on this property; what we are opposed to is a drive-through coffeeshop, in a school zone, near a very busy intersection that students in our neighborhood must cross to get to or from the school. Our understanding is that the zoning change is needed in order to allow the drive-through. As the attached diagram illustrates, the entrance/exit to this proposed drive-through would be directly between the two drop-off spots for Joslin: one just south, on Menchaca, and the other just north, on Redd. Scores of students and their families use the sidewalk in front of this property every weekday morning to reach the intersection at Redd, where there is a crossing guard. Other pedestrians use this sidewalk to access the Capital Metro bus stops on Redd and Menchaca at the same intersection. A drive-through at this location would turn that section of sidewalk into an obstacle course for pedestrians, as they attempt to navigate sidewalks that cars are repeatedly crossing in both directions as they enter and exit the drive-through. A coffeeshop can be expected to be busiest in the morning, and in fact the developer has told us they expect the business will be dependent on commuter traffic. This is precisely the time when children are using the sidewalk to get to school. Moreover, drive-through users would be distracted by the heavy traffic on Menchaca during the morning hours. Traffic on this section of road, which is immediately south of the Menchaca/Hwy 71-BenWhite intersection, is always backed up during the morning commute, and northbound drivers already face multiple distractions and hazards as they attempt to change lanes to turn right on Ben White, or to get out from behind the Capital Metro busses stopping on Menchaca. Adding a stream of vehicles that want to exit the drive-through will snarl traffic further—even if they are only turning right, onto northbound Menchaca. If southbound cars attempt to enter the drive-through by turning left, they will hold up southbound traffic going past the school. If they turn left out of the drive-through, they will be holding up four lanes of traffic in both directions. There is also the possibility that traffic entering the drive-through will back up onto Menchaca, creating another obstacle that everyone else has to maneuver around. Our Neighborhood Plan calls for a walkable neighborhood, and businesses that have been successful here have understood how important walkability is to residents. The original plan for El Chilto, the restaurant immediately north of 4507 Menchaca, included a drive-through. Several of our residents, including David Foster, met with the owner to explain our concerns about traffic and walkability in that location, and the owner listened, and removed the drive-through from the restaurant’s plan. El Chilito has been successful in its current location, and has earned substantial goodwill from our neighborhood, because they took our safety concerns seriously. The city’s Safe Routes to School initiative has invested a great deal of money into making it easier for children to walk or bike to school at Joslin. This zoning change would allow a drive-through that undermines the city’s own stated goals of transit-friendly, walkable streets, and negate much of the spending that was intended to improve safety for Joslin students. Finally, we note that our Contact Team has recently supported several re-zoning requests in our neighborhood, including a large mixed-use housing development on Stassney (C14-2024-0033) and a re-zoning on the corner of Menchaca and Forestglade, two blocks south of this property (C14- 2024-0088). We are eager to see appropriate development in our neighborhood that improves the quality of life for everyone. But the safety of schoolchildren and pedestrians is a key component of our vision for the neighborhood, and a drive-through at this location would put a lot of people at risk. We therefore ask the Planning Commission to deny this request and leave the current zoning in place. Thank you for your time and service to our city. Respectfully, Susan Schorn, Secretary South Menchaca Neighborhood Plan Contact Team DIAGRAM: 4507 Menchaca and adjacent school and pedestrian risk zones.