02 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 10 Staff Report — original pdf

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CASE NUMBER: PR-2024-021145; GF-2024-043942 ZONING CHANGE REVIEW SHEET HLC DATES: May 1, 2024; June 5, 2024; July 3, 2024; August 7, 2024; September 4, 2024; October 2, 2024; November 6, 2024 ZAP DATE: January 7, 2025; January 21, 2025 APPLICANT: Historic Landmark Commission (owner-opposed) HISTORIC NAME: Running Rope Ranch WATERSHED: Shoal Creek ADDRESS OF PROPOSED ZONING CHANGE: 7304 Knox Lane ZONING CHANGE: SF-3 to SF-3-H COUNCIL DISTRICT: 10 STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Recommend historic zoning (SF-3-H) only for the portion of the property already restricted by the conservation easement and critical water quality zones. Exclude the portion of the property set aside for the construction of a detention pond. QUALIFICATIONS FOR DESIGNATION: community value, historical associations, archaeology, landscape features HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION ACTION: May 1, 2024 – Postpone the public hearing. September 4, 2024 – initiate historic zoning. November 6, 2024 – Recommend historic zoning under the criteria for community value, archaeology, and landscape features for the conservation easement, critical water quality zones, and THC-identified archaeological sites located on the property. ZONING AND PLATTING COMMISSION ACTION: January 7, 2025 – Postpone the public hearing. CITY COUNCIL ACTION: CASE MANAGER: Kalan Contreras, 512-974-2727 NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATIONS: Austin Independent School District, Austin Lost and Found Pets, Austin Neighborhoods Council, Friends of Austin Neighborhoods, NW Austin Neighbors, Neighborhood Empowerment Foundation, Northwest Austin Civic Association, SELTexas, Sierra Club, Austin Regional Group, TNR BCP - Travis County Natural Resources DEPARTMENT COMMENTS: As the property is listed as a state archaeological site, collaboration with the Texas Historical Commission may be required. BASIS FOR RECOMMENDATION: § 25-2-352(3)(c)(ii) Historical Associations. The property has long-standing significant associations with persons, groups, institutions, businesses, or events of historical importance that contributed significantly to the history of the city, state, or nation or represents a significant portrayal of the cultural practices or the way of life of a definable group of people in a historic time. The property is most recently associated with the Knox family and Running Rope Ranch. The farmstead may have an earlier association with the Spicewood Springs settlement served by Esperanza School. The ranch complex at Knox Lane and Running Rope Lane, known as 7304 or 7306 Knox, was constructed in the early twentieth century—as early as 1900 according to an interview with long-time owner Margaret Knox1—and augmented heavily by the Knox family in the 1940s and later. Located less than a mile from the original site of the Esperanza School,2 now located at Zilker Park, the farmstead was part of the rural Spicewood Springs community.3 The land was purchased in the 1930s by Mary Lou and Warren Penn Knox, according to an oral history given to writer Carol Jones for the Northwest Austin Civic Association by their grandchildren,4 though archival records of the Knox occupancy there do not extend to 1 Turner, Robyn. “Margaret Knox.” In Austin Originals: Chats with Colorful Characters, 71-74. Paramount Publishing Company, 1982. 2 “1866 Esperanza School at Spicewood Springs.” Travis County Historical Commission Blog, 2017. https://traviscountyhistorical.blogspot.com/2017/02/1866-esperanza-school-and-spicewood_3.html 3 Correspondence with Vice-Chair Richard Denney, Travis County Historical Commission 4 Carol Jones for NWACA News, May 2022: https://nwaca.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/2022-05-May-NWACA-Newsletter.pdf 02 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 101 of 27before the 1940s. W. P. Knox, the district commissioner for the Boy Scouts of America, turned the property into a day camp for boys called Running Rope Ranch in 1947. The ranch offered riding lessons, hiking and survival training, and swimming in the spring-fed pool. The land boasted seven natural springs, later identified by Margaret Thomas Knox as a habitat of the threatened Jollyville Plateau salamander.5 From 1959 to 1966, legendary Austin horsewoman Ginger Pool taught at the ranch.6 The Knox family operated the day camp for ten years. In later years, James and Margaret Thomas Knox and their children moved to the property. Margaret Knox, Captain W. P. Knox’s daughter-in-law, was the daughter of famed Austin architect Roy L. Thomas. She married aviator and P.O.W. James Knox in 1944. After he retired from the military, the couple moved back to his family home on the ranch in 1966. There, Margaret Knox, described as a “contemporary Mother Goose”7 by author Robyn Turner, worked as a seamstress, a beekeeper, a children’s book author, and a wildlife rehabilitator until her death in 2022. § 25-2-352(3)(c)(iii) Archaeology. The property has, or is expected to yield, significant data concerning the human history or prehistory of the region. The building is listed as a Texas archaeological site (41TV156). Preliminary research by the University of Texas indicates a high probability of significant archaeological data, including evidence of middens and springs purported to be used by Native American residents of the land. The Knox property was identified as a Texas state archaeological site in 1969,8 though it appears only a cursory survey of two middens was completed at that time. Notes from the development of the adjacent Walter Carrington subdivision suggest that the listing of the property was done to foster goodwill with the Northwest Hills residents at the time considering the enaction of the Texas Antiquities Code. However, exact locations of archaeological resources are unavailable: state archaeological site information is not disclosed to the public to dissuade vandalism, and information obtained from the Texas Historical Commission on the site’s relative location and integrity may not be distributed. § 25-2-352(3)(c)(iv) Community Value. The property has a unique location, physical characteristic, or significant feature that contributes to the character, image, or cultural identity of the city, a neighborhood, or a particular group. The property has served human inhabitants of the Spicewood Springs area for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Many communities, from the area’s original Native American inhabitants to the children served by the day camp there in the mid- twentieth century, have valued this site for its natural springs. The property has been noted in several Northwest Austin Civic Association publications and by neighbors as a community fixture for many years during its occupancy by the Knox family. It also appears to be of value as one of the last remaining indicators of the original Spicewood community served by the Esperanza School; the oldest building on the site—a log cabin like those utilized by cedar choppers and early ranchers—has been moved to its current location, but likely came from somewhere nearby with the same or similar historic context. § 25-2-352(3)(c)(v) Landscape Feature. The property is a significant natural or designed landscape or landscape feature with artistic, aesthetic, cultural, or historical value to the city. While some of the original ranch has been developed and some outbuildings removed, natural springs and a spring-fed swimming pool remain. These landscape elements show the progression of the site and its occupants’ needs: natural springs were likely used by the site’s original Native American residents, then by the occupants of the farmstead, then converted to a swimming pool for the children of Running Rope Ranch. PARCEL NO.: 0140030611 LEGAL DESCRIPTION: ABS 217 SUR 15 DAVIS G W ACR 5.772 ESTIMATED ANNUAL TAX EXEMPTION (non-homestead, not capped): AISD $1,751.82 COA $1,817.24 TC $1,241.88 TC Health $410.46 Total $5,221.40 APPRAISED VALUE: Land: $1,137,500; Improvement: $246,522; Total: $1,384,022 5 “Jollyville Salamander.” Austintexas.gov: https://www.austintexas.gov/department/jollyville-salamander 6 “Ginger Poole.” The Chronicle of the Horse, 2006: https://www.chronofhorse.com/article/obituaries-021006?page=2 7 Turner, 1982. 8 “Universal Data Form: 41TV156.” University of Texas at Austin, 1969. Courtesy of Travis County Historical Commission. 02 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 102 of 27PRESENT USE: vacant DATE BUILT/PERIOD OF SIGNIFICANCE: ca. 1907; 1907-1974 INTEGRITY/ALTERATIONS: The area within the current proposed conservation easement and critical water quality zone is undeveloped, and—though archaeological resource locations are not available to the public—there is no evidence that the subsurface resources therein have been disturbed since their documentation in 1969. However, archaeological site information is not available to the public to dissuade vandalism, and information obtained from the Texas Historical Commission on the site’s relative location and integrity may not be distributed. PRESENT OWNERS: Chase Equities, Inc. (Jimmy Nassour) ORIGINAL OWNER(S): G. W. Davis OTHER HISTORICAL DESIGNATIONS: Property evaluated as state archaeological site #41TV156 02 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 103 of 27LOCATION MAP 02 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 104 of 27PROPERTY INFORMATION Photos Google Street View, 2022 Annotated 1940 aerial photo, courtesy of Commissioner Rich Denney, noting property entrance and that the buildings onsite predate the Hart Ranch. 02 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 105 of 271958 aerial photo showing additions to main house and outbuildings 1965 aerial photo showing main house, outbuildings, and riding arenas 02 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 106 of 271976 aerial photo showing neighborhood development on farmstead 02 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 107 of 27Footprint progression from 1940, 1965, 1977, 1984, and 1997 aerial photographs Occupancy History City Directory Research, October 2022 Address not listed in City directories. Biographical Information Knox-Rogan. The Statesman (1916-1921); 07 Mar 1920: A2. 02 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 108 of 27BOY LEADERSHIP COURSE AT ST. EDWARD'S; KEEN INTEREST IS MANIFEST. The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); 15 Aug 1924: 4. Circus Scheduled Friday. The Austin American (1914-1973); 03 Sep 1933: A2. 02 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 109 of 273 Scout Leaders To Attend Course. The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); 19 Apr 1939: 3. Knox, Thomas Rites to Be Solemnized Here Saturday. The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex. [Austin, Tex]. 18 June 1943: 6. 02 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 1010 of 27Class Views Pack Exhibit. The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); 11 Nov 1947: 11 Display Ad 14 -- No Title. The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); May 1949: 5. Reuben's HALF ACRE. DAVE SHANKS Farm-Ranch Editor.  The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); Austin, Tex. [Austin, Tex]. 22 May 1952: B3. 02 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 1011 of 27Young Pioneers Hit the Trail West. Grover, Dan.  The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); July 1953: A13. Campers Plan Sports, Exhibits To End First Summer Session. The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); 30 June 1955: A17. 02 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 1012 of 27Starlight Revue: Rope Tricks Next Zilker Fare. The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); 27 June 1962: 10. WESTERN FLING DING AT RANCH. The Austin American (1914-1973); 06 May 1962: D17. 02 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 1013 of 27 Universal Data Form: 41TV156. University of Texas at Austin, 1969. Courtesy of Travis County Historical Commission. 02 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 1014 of 27VOLUNTEERS. The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); 28 May 1965: 8. Capt. Knox, Longtime Scouter, Dies. The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); 27 July 1971: 17. 02 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 1015 of 27Legal Notice 1 -- No Title. The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); 20 Aug 1971: 66. JIM SHAHIN American-Statesman Staff.  The Austin American Statesman (1973-1980), Evening ed.; 23 Oct 1980: K1. 02 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 1016 of 2702 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 1017 of 2702 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 1018 of 27 02 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 1019 of 27Turner, Robyn. “Margaret Knox.” In Austin Originals: Chats with Colorful Characters, pp.71-74. Paramount Publishing Company, 1982. Courtesy of Commissioner Rich Denney. 02 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 1020 of 272017 interview by Luci Thompson for NWACA News: https://issuu.com/peel_inc/docs/1704nac 02 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 1021 of 27NWACA News, January 2021: https://nwaca.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2021-01-January-NWACA-Newsletter.pdf 02 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 1022 of 27Carol Jones for NWACA News, May 2022: https://nwaca.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/2022-05-May-NWACA- Newsletter.pdf 02 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 1023 of 27 Obituary for Margaret Knox. Dignitymemorial.com 02 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 1024 of 27Commissioner Rich Denney for NWACA News, 2024: https://nwaca.org/newsletter/ 02 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 1025 of 27Permits 02 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 1026 of 27 Tap records, 1978-1990 02 C14H-2024-0162 Running Rope Ranch; District 1027 of 27