Bouldin Creek Neighborhood Association General Meeting 8/12/2014
6:45 PM Welcome, intros
6:58 PM Announcements
7:00 PM Special Event Residential Parking Permits –
Special parking permits for the 25 event days to protect Bouldin Creek from event based parking. City will implement “attention getting fines” along with flip down no parking signs with parking permitted on non-event days. City Staff must pose the specifics in response to resolution from City Council. Development process is ongoing. Residents urged to be ready to comment once City of Austin requests stakeholder comment.
7:14 PM Code Next
City of Austin’s citywide rewrite of development code is called Code Next. Many possible changes are being suggested. BCNA has not weighed in yet, but in the next 2-6 months, there may be decisions coming that we will want to be a part of. Austin’s development community is a prime driver to push for a streamlined and easier code. There is concern that our Neighborhood Plan will be set aside or invalidated in the process. Next meeting is 505 Barton Springs (One Texas Center) on August 18th at 4 PM.
7:23 PM Oak Creek Village Sidewalk Construction and Funding
Sidewalks were built and BCNA Steering Committee disbursed $11,000 from a sum of money that was given to us by developer for this purpose. There is money left after paying for the sidewalks. Kevin suggests we ask stakeholders (Wilson/Fletcher residents) to ask for input on spending excess funds. We may hold off until the development is finished to see what the needs really are.
7:28 PM Hyatt development and attorney’s fees.
The Hyatt PUD developer was required to pay into Bouldin Creek Community Development Corporation (BCCDC) as part of a restrictive covenant with BCNA. BCCDC was recently paid $43,000 through this agreement. The developer was authorized for residential development only, but they now want to use some of the space for business and administration. The developer agreed to pay into the BCCDC for non-residential uses though this was not required; BCNA will not oppose their request to Council to allow the new uses. The BCCDC can receive up to $50,000 more if the Hyatt developer goes through with plans for development.
We incurred attorney’s fees to help us with the addendum to the restrictive covenant and the Steering Committee will need to vote to pay them once we see the bill.
7:38 PM Zoning Committee Report
Milton St, Board of Adjustment approved the homeowner’s request for a variance on a carport. BCNA voted not to oppose
900 Jewel, Variance granted for addition to rear of house. BCNA voted not to oppose.
910 Christopher St – City Council to hear Historic Zoning –BCNA supported the request.
PSW Condo development at 900 S 1st. St: variances and right-of-way vacations are in play. Of particular concern is the unnamed street that is the north border of this part of the neighborhood, which serves as one of the 2 entrance/exits to the this area. The future of the many live oaks and a heritage pecan tree on the property is in question. Next Board of Adjustment hearing on a request for compatibility waiver is next month. BCNA voted to oppose the request due to ambiguous language.
PSW Bouldin Court – A residential development with 22 houses/units. Right-of-way vacations are also an issue here. Concerns are visual impact, traffic impact, and watershed impact. If the unnamed street on the north is closed by PSW’s right-of-way vacation request for the PSW condo project, Copeland Street will be the only way into and out of the neighborhood. Limiting egress to one street would be a safety issue, especially with a possible 22 new residences added to the neighborhood. Bouldin Court could potentially be a 5A residential redevelopment, possibly the largest outside of the Oak Creek Village redevelopment. So far, there is no neighborhood support for the project. After 2 years of dialogue, there is no change in PSW’s plans or position despite meetings with Bouldin residents.
7:46 PM South Congress Area Parking
No action at the moment. Kevin was asked to meet with Council Member (CM) Riley and CM Morrison and Director of Transportation Spillar. CM Riley was proposing the idea of one side of street no restrictions the other side would be RPP. Neighbors were not happy with plan. Merchants on South Congress want more parking and want a solution. In the short term, there is no movement pending more from the CoA Transportation Office.
The City of Austin has allowed residents who would like to get their curbs repainted to do the painting with permission and guidance from the Public Works department. Paula.
7:54 PM Parks Committee Report
Parks Committee is reorganizing after many years of operation. Looking for people to take a small part of one of the many parks or roundabouts and help take care of these spaces. Parks committee is actively looking for new members to help us with the many parks and green spaces. Looking for independent groups to devote small increments of time to get a small area cleaned up. Several residents at the meeting volunteered, but more are needed.
W Bouldin Creek Greenbelt entrance – new entry area will be built in September. Building this with money from Rolling Stones concert many years ago and with other dedicated funds.
7:59 PM South Central Waterfront Planning process
Focused on Statesman site and nearby Crockett property.
8:02 PM Terry Black’s BBQ – Smoke issues
Concern that the smoke is a danger to neighbors and causing health problems. Neighbors researched problems caused by wood smoke and possible solutions. Neighbors will meet with Blacks on 8/26 to begin a dialogue to figure out what mitigation techniques might be affordable and effective.
8:06 PM Town Lake Park Long-Term Study interim recommendations
Next meeting with Tur Partners is August 20th, 6 PM at Palmer Event Center.
Past meetings discussed event RPP, traffic management, maintaining a 25 event-day limit. There is also interest in building a new parking garage, depressing Riverside Dr. (to make a tunnel, with land bridges over top) to increase green space without closing Riverside. A new parking garage would be around $42M.
The next meeting agenda will address funding, management and exploring public-private partnerships for managing parks.
Special events policy is also being rewritten at the City of Austin and is intertwined with parks use.
8:25 PM Adjourned