Planning CommissionOct. 8, 2024

04 NPA-2024-0012.02 - 2002 Manor Road Neighborhood Plan Amendment; District 9 Corrected Staff Report — original pdf

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Planning Commission: October 8, 2024 NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN AMENDMENT REVIEW SHEET DATE FILED: May 1, 2024 2002 Manor Road NPA-2024-0012.02 NEIGHORHOOD PLAN: Upper Boggy Creek CASE#: PROJECT NAME: 2002 Manor Road Neighborhood Plan Amendment PC DATE: October 8, 2024 ADDRESS/ES: DISTRICT AREA: 9 SITE AREA: 0.4054 acres OWNER/APPLICANT: Colonnetta Family Partnership AGENT: Thrower Design, LLC (Victoria Haase and Ron Thrower) CASE MANAGER: Maureen Meredith STAFF EMAIL: Maureen.Meredith@austintexas.gov TYPE OF AMENDMENT: Change in Future Land Use Designation PHONE: (512) 974-2695 From: Commercial Base District Zoning Change To: Mixed Use Related Zoning Case: C14-2024-0077 From: CS-V-CO-NP To: CS-V-DB90-CO-NP NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN ADOPTION DATE: August 1, 2002 CITY COUNCIL DATE: TBD PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION: October 8, 2024 – (action pending) ACTION: (pending) Planning Commission: October 8, 2024 STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff supports the Applicant’s request for Mixed Use land use. BASIS FOR STAFF’S RECOMMENDATION: Staff supports the Applicant’s request for Mixed Use land use because the property has frontage along Manor Road which is an activity corridor where mixed use is appropriate. There is existing Mixed Use land use to the south and east of the property and is a dominate land use along Manor Road from IH-35 to Airport Blvd. LAND USE DESCRIPTIONS: EXISTING LAND USE: Commercial -Lots or parcels containing retail sales, services, hotel/motels and all recreational services that are predominantly privately owned and operated for profit (for example, theaters and bowling alleys). Included are private institutional uses (convalescent homes and rest homes in which medical or surgical services are not a main function of the institution), but not hospitals. Purpose 2 Planning Commission: October 8, 2024 1. Encourage employment centers, commercial activities, and other non‐ residential development to locate along major thoroughfares; and 2. Reserve limited areas for intense, auto‐oriented commercial uses that are generally not compatible with residential or mixed use environments. Application major highways; and 1. Focus the highest intensity commercial and industrial activities along freeways and 2. Should be used in areas with good transportation access such as frontage roads and arterial roadways, which are generally not suitable for residential development. 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 Planning Commission: October 8, 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: • Property has frontage on Manor Road which is an activity corridor. Yes Mobility and Public Transit: Located within 0.25 miles of public transit stop and/or light rail station. • Bus routes along Manor Road, Cherrywood Rd, Dean Keaton Street and Chicon Street • 1.1 miles from M L King Jr TOD Station • Manor Road is Future Core Transit Corridor Yes Mobility and Bike/Ped Access: Adjoins a public sidewalk, shared path, and/or bike lane. Yes Connectivity, Good and Services, Employment: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles to goods and services, and/or employment center. • Manor Road has various commercial businesses Yes Connectivity and Food Access: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles of a grocery store/farmers market. • • • 0.3 miles from RBM Food Mart 0.9 miles from Sky Market 3.0 miles from Fiesta Mart #25 Yes Connectivity and Education: Located within 0.50 miles from a public school or university. • • • • • • • • Yes Connectivity and Healthy Living: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles from a recreation area, park or walking trail. 0.5 miles from Campbell Elementary School 0.8 miles from Maplewood Elementary School 0.2 miles from Alamo Pocket Park 0.6 miles from Cherrywood Pocket Park Yes 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.) 0.5 miles from People’s Community Clinic 0.7 miles from St. David’s Medical Center 1.2 miles from Dell Seton Medical Center a The University of Texas at Austin Housing Affordability: Provides a minimum of 10% of units for workforce housing (80% MFI or less) and/or fee in lieu for affordable housing. If VMU or DB90 is pursued then affordable dwelling units would be required. 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. Yes Yes 4 Planning Commission: October 8, 2024 • The applicant’s request for CS-V-DB90-CO-NP would allow for residential units to be built on the property. Yes Mixed use: Provides a mix of residential and non-industrial uses. Yes Culture and Creative Economy: Provides or is located within 0.50 miles of a cultural resource (ex: library, theater, museum, cultural center). • 0.7 miles from the LBJ Presidential 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 “Yeses” No Not known Not known No 12 Proximity to Imagine Austin Activity Centers and Corridors 5 Proximity to Public Parks Planning Commission: October 8, 2024 6 Planning Commission: October 8, 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. 7 Planning Commission: October 8, 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 8 Planning Commission: October 8, 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 plan amendment application was filed on May 1, 2024. The applicant proposes to change the land use on the future land use map (FLUM) from Commercial to Mixed Use. The applicant proposes to change the zoning on the property from CS-V-CO-NP (General Commercial Services district – Vertical Mixed Use Building combining district – Conditional Overlay combining district – Neighborhood Plan) to CS-V-DB90-CO-NP (General Commercial Services district – Vertical Mixed Use combining district – Density Bonus 90 combining district – Conditional Overly combining district – Neighborhood Plan) for a restaurant and retail uses. PUBLIC MEETINGS: The ordinance-required community meeting was virtually held on June 13, 2024. The recorded meeting can be found here: https://publicinput.com/neighborhoodplanamendmentcases. Approximately 264 meeting notices were sent to people with utility accounts or own property within 500 feet of the subject tract, including neighborhood and environmental groups who requested notification for the area. Two city staff members attended from the Planning Department, Maureen Meredith, and Mark Walters. Victoria Haase and Ron Thrower from Thrower Design, LLC attended with fourteen people from the neighborhood. Below are highlights from Victoria Haase’s presentation: • The property has an existing FLUM with commercial land use. Mixed Use is the proposed FLUM. • We are asking for CS-V-DB90-CO-NP. The DB90 is recently approved to replace VMU2. We want to keep the zoning but add DB90. The 90 means you can gain an additional 30 feet from the base height, but no more than 90 feet. • There’s a very tired-looking building on the property now but the building needs some work. The Colonnetta family would like the opportunity to look at this property becoming something more sustainable, more efficient use of the land moving forward. • We are here tonight to hear more about the neighborhood’s concerns. • We updated the Transportation Impact Analysis Worksheet and corrected some initial numbers. 9 Planning Commission: October 8, 2024 • With the proposed zoning it could have a possibility of 90 units with about 8000 square feet of restaurant and retail uses. The building now has about 8000 square feet, so it would have about the same amount of square feet in terms of retail and restaurant but would have residential above. Parking for the development would be structured or maybe subgrade. But those details are known yet, until there is a detailed site analysis. Q: I live behind the building. I’m concerned about privacy with a 90-foot building being built. Will there be balconies? Also, will the Heritage Oak Trees be preserved? Will the alley remain? What will you do to make sure people don’t park on our streets? A: The tree is a Heritage Tree. The critical root zone is in the alley and not on the Colonnetta property so I don’t see that the development would affect the tree. The alley will not be vacated. We understand that private open space is important for people, but also for the tenants on this property as well. I cannot foresee that we would enter into an agreement to not have balconies back there, but I can say that in my view that a larger building will be towards the Manor Road frontage. I foresee parking would be underground. Even though the City has eliminated parking requirements, I don’t see in the site plans that we process and large reduction of on-site parking. Q: We want to retain small local businesses and have adequate parking. Will this development increase bus transit frequency? I hope it will. For local businesses, Mueller has it in their deed that a percentage of businesses will be local. Can we do that, too? A: It would be everyone’s hope that local business could stay in Austin. The Colonetta Family has made sure local businesses survive with the properties they own. In the future, we can’t say for sure that the businesses will be local businesses. I would say it’s possible to have a deed that stipulates a percentage of local businesses. I can talk to the owners about this, but I think this hamstrings the property in a lot of ways when you force this commitment. As far as the question if this development will increase bus transit frequency, basically if more people ride the bus, you can generally get better transit service. Capital Metro updates its routes based on ridership numbers. Q: Do you know if this development will stress our power grid? Are there tests in place to see what it might do to the rest of the neighborhood? A: When a site plan gets submitted to the City, there is a policy that the development must pay for itself, so if the development requires a 1000-foot extension of a waterline, then that developer must pay for it. Same goes for the electric grid, water, and gas. If the capacity is not there then it must be brought there and that can only help the situation. Q: What’s the future of the billboard on the property? Will the billboard come down and not come back up? The Cherrywood Neighborhood has a long history of opposing billboards. A: I’ll have to talk to the owner about this. Q: What is the estimated value of the proposed zoning change and how it will increase the value of the property? 10 A: I have no idea what the value will be if the property is rezoned. The owner of the property wants to get out of the real estate business so he wants to sale the property. Planning Commission: October 8, 2024 11 Applicant Summary Letter from Application Planning Commission: October 8, 2024 12 Planning Commission: October 8, 2024 13 Planning Commission: October 8, 2024 14 Letter of Recommendation from the Neighborhood Plan Contact Team (NPCT) Planning Commission: October 8, 2024 (No letter as of Oct. 2, 2024) From: Meredith, Maureen Sent: Monday, September 16, 2024 1:59 PM Cc: Tomko, Jonathan <Jonathan.Tomko@austintexas.gov>; Victoria <Victoria@throwerdesign.com>; Ron Thrower <ront@throwerdesign.com> Subject: UBC NPCT Rec?: NPA-2024-0012.02_2002 Manor Rd Importance: High Dear UBC NPCT: NPA-2024-0012.02 and C14-2024-0077_2002 Manor Rd cases are scheduled for the October 8, 2024 Planning Commission hearing. If your team would like staff to include your letter of recommendation in our staff reports, please email it to me and Jonathan, the zoning planner, no later than Wednesday, Oct 2nd by 5:00 pm. If we get it after this date and time we will submit it as late material for the PC hearing, but it will not be included in the staff reports. Thanks. Maureen Maureen Meredith (she/her) Senior Planner – Long-Range Planning Division City of Austin Planning Department 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Dr. Austin, Texas 78752 (4th Floor) P: (512) 974-2695 E: Maureen.Meredith@austintexas.gov 15 Planning Commission: October 8, 2024 16 Planning Commission: October 8, 2024 17 Planning Commission: October 8, 2024 18 Planning Commission: October 8, 2024 19 Planning Commission: October 8, 2024 20 Planning Commission: October 8, 2024 21 Victoria Haase’s Presentation at the June 3, 2024 Virtual Community Meeting Planning Commission: October 8, 2024 22 Planning Commission: October 8, 2024 23 Planning Commission: October 8, 2024 24 Planning Commission: October 8, 2024 Correspondence Received From: Robert Schmidt < > Sent: Friday, June 14, 2024 6:24 PM To: Jim Walker < Meredith, Maureen <Maureen.Meredith@austintexas.gov> Subject: RE: touch base on NPA-2024-0012.01 / C14-0024-0048 for property at 1106, 1110 E. 30th Street Hello Maureen, Additionally, as someone who lives very close (at 31st and Robinson), changing a residential property to commercial zoning seems problematic and pushing commercial use farther into the neighborhood than it’s been before. There are lots of commercial properties along I-35 that are being taken, but that shouldn’t mean that the residential properties that remain nearby should now be changed to replace the commercial properties that are taken. There will very likely (hopefully) be a sound wall on the edge of the access road as part of the new I-35 project, and this property would fall on the residential side of the sound wall. A billboard would also basically tower above and look down on my house/yard, which I’m not very excited about. Thank you very much for your consideration of this. Best regards, Bob Schmidt Robert W. Schmidt he/him Robert W. Schmidt Law Firm 1502 West Avenue Austin, Texas 78701 Cell: (512) 484-2276 Office: (512) 537-6754 Fax: (512) 537-0708 www.texasemploymentjustice.com From: JC Sent: Friday, June 14, 2024 6:54 AM To: Meredith, Maureen <Maureen.Meredith@austintexas.gov> Subject: C14-2024-0077 My brother owns property at 3104 Breeze Terrace. My family has owned this property and it has been our family home since 1951. My parents built the house in 1951. That is 75 years. We are the last remaining orignial family who bought in the neighborhood when the neighborhood was built in 1949 who still owns their property. 25 Planning Commission: October 8, 2024 My brother died in December 2023 and I am an heir to the property and will purchase the property from my siblings. I listen to the vitual community meeting but did not register. I support the statements made by the surrounding neighbors. There must be underground parking on this redevelopment Privacy must be protected. Yes the city should encourage density and this neighborhood has supported density and not afraid of density but the city of Austin must consider what it is doing to quality of life of this city with the new density in its center city neighborhoods. . . The original families in this neighborhood were young third generation of the Swedish and German immigrants whose families settled in the farms east of Austin in the 1870s. They demanded and built good quality homes. Joe Lundell who lived on Walnut was the real estate agent who directed many of the young Swedish and German Americans to buy in this neighborhood when they came home from World War 2. I can tell you all the names and histories of the original families who bought on French Place and Breeze Terrace. The parents of this neighborhood sent their kids to Maplewood school and the kids played at Patterson Park. The property that is subject to this zoning change was original French Place Grocery. To give you a flavor of the families who lived here below is a story on the kids of this neighborhood from the Austin American. https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2012/09/01/the-kids-of- maplewood-school-and-patterson-park-we-always-had-each- other/9783137007/ The people of this neighborhood sent their kids to the only integrated junior high in the city of Austin in the 1960s.. When other parts of Austin refused to send their kids to integrated schools in the 1960ss the people of French Place/Cherrywood sent their children to integrated schools Below is a story I want you to read. https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2012/09/01/junior-high-led- austin-desegregation/9778744007/ I say all of this not to bore you but to make sure you know that lots of people who live here now also have deep roots and committed to making it a strong city centered neighborhood just a the old people who did years before. This is why it survived and did not experience the urban decay you see in lots of American cities. That is something that I hear over and over at city council that they want to preserve. When you make decisions on this zoning case I hope you will factor in that the people in the neighborhood today and the past want this neighborhood preserved and what a good quality of life. Take that into whatever decision you make. A new development should add to the neighborhood not make it worse. 26 Planning Commission: October 8, 2024 Would you please confirm that you got this email and my comments will be added to the file on this case. Jim Christianson 512 477-3448 27