Resolution Opposing the Austin Oaks Planned Unit Development Whereas, Imagine Austin has identified nineteen possible Neighborhood Centers across the city, including Far West and Anderson Lane Station; and Whereas, The Drenner Group has proposed the Austin Oaks Planned Unit Development (PUD) rezoning under the guise of a Neighborhood Center, the first in Austin but not on the Imagine Austin list of nineteen; and Whereas, residents within a Neighborhood Center under Imagine Austin live in mixed- use buildings, smaller apartment buildings, townhouses, row houses, duplexes, and single-family homes; and Whereas, a Neighborhood Center under Imagine Austin has a local focus that includes the types of businesses and services that would serve the center and the surrounding neighborhood; and Whereas, Neighborhood Centers under Imagine Austin are located by “high-frequency” or “high-capacity transit” such as bus rapid transit or rail but the nearest bus rapid transit station is almost 2 miles away on Burnet Road, and commuter rail and urban rail have yet to be built or funded; and Whereas, existing or conventional zoning allows for doubling the current height and density of Austin Oaks, which would be more in keeping with the height and scale of a Neighborhood Center as depicted under Imagine Austin and would require the construction of water quality ponds; and Whereas, increases of 400% in building height to 15 stories, 400% in density to 1,420,000 square feet, and 500% in traffic over existing zoning render the proposed PUD more consistent with Imagine Austin’s depiction of a Regional Center, such as downtown Austin, than a Neighborhood Center; and Whereas, the proposed Austin Oaks PUD meets only 5 of the 15 minimum Tier One requirements for a PUD, specifically by providing for open space that equals or exceeds 10% of the residential tracts and 20% of the nonresidential tracts, complying with the City’s Planned Unit Development Green Building Program, exceeding the landscaping requirements of the City Code, prohibiting gated roadways, and including at least 10 acres of land; and Whereas, the proposed Austin Oaks PUD does not meet 10 of the 15 requirements, specifically that all PUDs must meet the objectives of City Code; provide for development standards greater than those of conventional development; be compatible with adjacent properties and land uses; provide for environmental preservation and protection as well as keep the natural and traditional character of the land; provide for public facilities adequate to support the proposed development including school and public safety entities; provide for appropriate mass transit connections and mitigation of adverse cumulative transportation impacts; protect and enhance sites that are of architectural, historic, archaeological or cultural significance; comply with the Design Standards and Mixed Use Subchapter of the Land Development Code; provide sidewalks along Mopac that comply with Core Transit Corridor Standards; and contain pedestrian- oriented uses on the first floor of a multi-story commercial or mixed use building as minimum standards; and

Whereas, the proposed Austin Oaks PUD does not meet City Code because the depiction of a Neighborhood Center is not as proposed in Imagine Austin; is incompatible with the built environment which Code Next characterizes as Drivable Suburban; razes 45% of the protected trees between 19”-24” and 21% of the heritage trees greater than 24;” provides only conventional water quality ponds not a superior treatment method yet has several tracts deemed critical habitat for the Jollyville Plateau Salamander, a threatened species; adds 69-120 students to already overcrowded schools; does not provide for adequate mass transit when the nearest high frequency and high capacity transit station is almost 2 miles away; does not fully mitigate its traffic impacts at affected intersections at MoPac as well as the intersections of Spicewood Springs Road and Hart Lane, Spicewood Springs Road and Woodhollow, Far West and Hart Lane, and Far West and Woodhollow; has two historic archeological sites that need protection; and does not comply with the Design Standards and Mixed Use Subchapter of the Land Development Code including the use of pedestrian oriented uses on the first floor; and Whereas, the proposed Austin Oaks PUD is not the highest and best use for this property since it does not meet the intent of the Zoning District, nor minimum Tier One requirements for a PUD; and Whereas, Allandale Neighborhood Association, Balcones Civic Association, North Shoal Creek Neighborhood Association, and Northwest Austin Civic Association, the four neighborhoods adjacent to Austin Oaks, in unison as “NW Austin Neighborhood Alliance” registered their opposition to the PUD as well as several other neighborhood associations; now THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Austin Neighborhoods Council Executive Committee opposes rezoning of the Austin Oaks property to a Planned Unit Development or any rezoning that does not conform to community development goals.

Presented to the Austin Neighborhoods Council Executive Committee: March 12, 2015 ANC Executive Committee Approved: March 12, 2015 Sponsor: Ann Dennkler, [email protected]