From: Shade, Randi To: Ott, Marc Subject: Billboard debrief Date: Tuesday, December 15, 2009 1:48:04 AM Thanks for your help earlier re: billboard mess. As the Statesman reported: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/2009/12/15/1215billboard.html we may or may not end up taking action this week. We will be meeting with the various parties tomorrow late afternoon and I hope we can work out a better deal for everyone. I wish I had stayed on this deal from beginning to end as I believe that without the continuity of leadership throughout this episode we didn't achieve the best outcome we could have. I learned a lot from this one....sigh. Below is my opinion of the situation now that I've had the time to step back a bit....we'll see where it goes from here. Thanks again. ---- In June of 2008 the City Council passed a new bill board ordinance that allowed billboards to be re- located within 500 feet of a residence, only if that residence was commercially rather than residentially zoned. In other words, that action created a new disparity between people who live in a residentially zoned home versus those who live in multi-family mixed use community - the kind of mixed use communities the City is encouraging through countless other policies; the kind of place like the Bridges. That action was against the Planning Commission and staff's recommendation. That action was taken before CM Riley or Morrison or I were members of Austin City Council. That action resulted in the first and to-date only billboard re-location of this kind. This is not a situation where we are faced with a nonconforming billboard, nor is it a case where the City is choosing to help remove one billboard over another. This sets no precedence for the City to be in the business of negotiating and funding billboard re-locations. This is a special case, involving one billboard re-location -- a re-location that was legal under a new ordinance, but should not have been; a re-location in large part being made possible by private agreement between the developer and Reagan. Timeline -- The new ordinance went into effect in June of 2008 and Reagan legally obtained its re- location permit under that new ordinance that fall. Reagan constructed its new billboard the following April, without anyone at the Bridges having any idea such a thing was allowed, much less in the works. The condo project was well underway before the Council took the action they took in June 2008, changing the rules and essentially through a new City Policy enabling units to be sold and occupied several months before a new billboard was legally constructed just outside their windows. Again, the action the Council took in June of 2008 was wrong and it created a problem that many on this City Council want to fix. Reagan does not have to move this billboard, but we are glad they are taking the steps to do so. We have encouraged the Bridges and Reagan to come to a mutually agreeable arrangement, and we're glad they have. The City's role in fixing the problem is small but given the fact that the City had a role in creating the problem, I am glad we are taking action to not only address this problem but also to prevent it from happening again. ---------- Randi Shade Austin City Council Council Member Place 3 (512) 974-2255 (phone) (512) 974-1888 (fax) http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/council/shade.htm From: Shade, Randi To: Morrison, Laura Subject: Eco Devo Follow-up Date: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 9:26:13 PM Attachments: clean copy Shade-Morrison Edits DRAFT ECO Devo RESOLUTION.doc Shade - Morrison Edits DRAFT ECO Devo RESOLUTION.doc Hi Laura I am glad we got to discuss the economic incentives resolution earlier today. Thanks for making the time. As promised, attached is the draft we discussed at our meeting this morning. I have attached two versions -- a clean copy and a tracked changes version. Both attachments reflect the changes you asked me to make and both have two sections of text highlighted in yellow. I would prefer not to include the highlighted sections of text for the reasons we discussed, but I left them in since you asked me to do so. I have also included both my proposed version of section (b.) and yours. I went over your version of section (b.) with Lee --- in fact it was the only version I presented to him since I had already made the edits you asked me to make by the time Lee and I had our one-on-one. Lee suggested alternative language for that section that was essentially the exact version I had originally presented to you when you and I met this morning. That prompted me to show Lee my earlier version and ultimately I decided for purposes of our discussion going forward I would include both versions for consideration. I look forward to getting your next round of suggestions as soon as possible. I share your commitment to having this ready to go for February 26th, and I want to be sure we have the time to circle back with our stakeholders once we (you, me, and Lee) come to agreement. It seems we are very close to something that could work for our stakeholders, but we won't know for sure until we have something definitive to share with them for reaction. I still hope to discuss process when you have some time. You made a comment earlier about wanting to "control your resolution" I didn't say anything at the time, but that comment has bothered me all day. I don't think of this as"your resolution." I joined the effort thinking it would be "our" resolution -- that is: mine, yours and Lee's. I can't speak for Lee, but I expected to be collaborating throughout the process but instead I have felt like I've been behind the eight ball. I don't want to dwell too much on what hasn't worked process-wise because I am confident that the end product will be a good one. But I want to do better next time. Relly, that's the point. I want there to be a "next time" because despite AND because of our different perspectives, it makes sense for us to work together. -Randi ---------- Randi Shade Austin City Council Council Member Place 3 (512) 974-2255 (phone) (512) 974-1888 (fax) http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/council/shade.htm From: Shade, Randi To: "coryellwalton " Cc: Edwards, Sue; Gonzales, Rodney; Morrison, Laura; Garza, Bobby; Bier, Marti; " Subject: Fw: [ANC] Fw: Invitation to meet the City of Austin"s Music ProgramManager finalist Date: Thursday, December 10, 2009 8:27:24 PM Cory Below is a note I just sent to Joyce. I agree that it was insensitive to do a last minute invitation to you to participate in tomorrow's interviews, but I want to re-iterate how committed my colleagues and I are to ensuring that the concerns Danette raised earlier in this process along with the subsequent input you and others have provided are top of mind with respect to filling this position. You are absolutely right that the public is a “stakeholder” in this process, but I take issue with your statement that the public has been left out of it especially when I consider the segment of the public you are representing via your role as ANC President. It is because of neighborhood input that our city staff is proceeding to fill this position in spite of the fact that the position came under such significant fire during the summer. If you remember, that was also a time when music industry interests were far more visible and vocal than neighborhood sound issue proponents were in terms of public participation in the process and certainly in terms of media coverage. Nevertheless, we, with the help and support of our City Manager and staff, have proceeded in an earnest effort to see that this position be created and filled before year-end specifically to address the many problems we've all seen go unsolved without having an adequately experienced person in place to bring neighborhoods and the music community together. Again, I'm sorry for the last minute rush but now that we are so close to getting this position to actually exist, I am focusing on what seems to finally be going right in this arena rather than focusing on what isn't. I hope you'll consider doing the same. -Randi From: Shade, Randi To: Cc: Edwards, Sue; Gonzales, Rodney; Bier, Marti Sent: Thu Dec 10 19:41:23 2009 Subject: Re: [ANC] Fw: Invitation to meet the City of Austin's Music ProgramManager finalist Thanks for writing. I've been following this process closely. I'm sorry for the late notice re: interview panel but feel sure the interview questions submitted will be used. Furthermore, I'm confident that the staff is well aware of how important the ANC sound issues are to any decision they make in terms of filling this position. -Randi From: To: Leffingwell, Lee; Martinez, Mike [Council Member]; Spelman, William; 'Laura Morrison' >; Shade, Randi; Cole, Sheryl; Riley, Chris Cc: 'Executive ANC' <ANCExec >; Everhart, Amy; Moore, Andrew; Rush, Barbara; English, Barksdale; Wilson, Beverly (Council Place 6); Estrada, Deena; Coleman, Glen; Corpus, Grace; Gerbracht, Heidi; Ballas, Marisa; Nathan, Mark; Bier, Marti; Curtis, Matt; Williams, Nancy; Garza, Robert; McDonald, Stephanie; Long, Tara Sent: Thu Dec 10 19:20:26 2009 Subject: FW: [ANC] Fw: Invitation to meet the City of Austin's Music ProgramManager finalist Dear Mayor Leffingwell, Mayor Pro-Tem Martinez and members of Council, Earlier this evening I received an invitation to “meet and greet the new City Music Program Manager” this coming Monday.