The rail plan is intended to guide future public and private actions to expand mobility of people and goods on rail and meet federal and state legislative requirements.

Attendees of the August rail meeting will be able to ask rail division staff questions, submit comments and complete brief questionnaires.

“This plan will provide an inventory of all transportation modes and address the need for improvements to roadways, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, transit, freight and passenger rail, airports, water parts, pipelines, and Intelligent Transportation Systems,” said Amadeo Saenz Jr., TxDOT executive director.

TxDOT will be conducting a second set of open house-style public meetings in August to discuss preliminary findings and take additional public input on the state’s long-range transportation plan. The department will host its Austin meeting Aug. 12, also at its Austin district office, from 4–7 p.m.

Public comments on the state’s rail plan may be mailed to the rail division or submitted via its website. Visit Texas Rail Plan’s website (http://www.txdot.gov/public_involvement/rail_plan/) for more information.

Comments will be accepted through Oct. 9, 2010.

All families are invited to participate in the parade (feel free to make a small or big donation by contacting tarrytownparade@gmail.com) or to cheer on the participants along the route.  The parade route will begin at the Tarrytown Shopping Center (Windsor at Exposition) and travel west on Windsor to Pecos, and then follow Pecos to Reed Park. At Reed Park we will enjoy hot dogs, watermelon, lemonade, cold water, entertainment for the kids and more!

Your neighbors from around the corner and just down the street will gather to celebrate this festive occasion and support our neighborhood parks.  We need your donations and your time to put on this festive celebration!  100% of the proceeds from the Parade will go toward enhancements at Reed and Tarrytown Parks.

Please join your neighbors in supporting this holiday tradition.  The Parade Sponsorship form is below.  All donors and volunteers will receive recognition on banners displayed at Reed Park, and in addition, Star-Spangled sponsors will be recognized on parade T-shirts, flyers and yard signs.  Sponsor Forms that are received by Friday, June 18^th will be included on the event banner that will be displayed at Reed Park. All other sponsors will receive recognition on event day banners.

And a special Thank You to the“early bird” Star Spangled Sponsors: WAYA, Grande Communications, Plains Capital Bank and Avenue One Properties!!

The 2010 Tarrytown Parade Planning Committee

Collin Ohanian
Elise Bridges
Laurel Hooper
Natalie Kinsel
Holly Norman
Julie Lewis
Brannon Smith
Erika Holmes
Anne Schniederjan

In general, we believe that the draft chapters reflect a lot of work and captures many of the points the community made during the process.  However, there are two very significant omissions because the planning process failed to meaningfully address the Brackenridge and Austin State School tracts in terms of how they fit within our vision for the future of our neighborhood.  Therefore, the draft chapters must be improved if this plan is to help us preserve our neighborhood.  Those of us in the neighborhoods on both sides of MoPac who have been working on the Plan for the last several years have submitted detailed comments and have proposed changes to the  draft plan during the process.  For example, our revisions to the “Transportation” chapter are posted at Neighborhood Stakeholder Revisions to Draft Transportation Chapter _March, 2010_, and our revisions to the “Land Use” chapter are posted at Neighborhood Stakeholder Revisions to Draft Land Use Chapter.

Without attempting to capture all of the details, here are some basic points the City needs to hear regarding the “Vision Statement” and the “Land Use” chapter.

1.  The Staff’s “Vision Statement” language in the Plan — that “new office, commercial, retail or multi-family development should be located along the edges of the neighborhood” — sounds safe enough, but “edges” is too vague to provide a meaningful guideline, and to the extent its meaning can be gleaned from the Plan it includes locations most of us would not want to see new development, such as “Lake Austin, Lady Bird Lake and 35th Street,” Lake Austin Boulevard, Lions Municipal Golf Course, WAYA, Johnson Creek Trail, Eiler’s Park and Deep Eddy Pool, “the medical district located between 38th and 31st Street between Lamar Boulevard and Shoal Creek,” and  Shoal Creek Hike and Bike Trail is the edge of the neighborhood as well as Lamar Boulevard.  We most certainly do not envision “new office, commercial, retail or multi-family development” being located at these “edges.” It is also unclear whether “new” means a commercial or multi-family use on a property not now being used as such or whether it refers to redevelopment of existing commercial sites. We spent months developing a Future Land Use Map to establish the location of future land uses.  Accordingly,  we recommend  that development or redevelopment of existing commercial or multi-family property should be in accordance with the Future Land Use map  adopted by the community.  Any new commercial or multifamily development should  be located on the State School or the Brackenridge properties if they are developed (as opposed to existing residential areas).

2. The current draft of the Land Use chapter is a good first step but it needs to do a more complete job of reflecting neighborhood interest in preventing increased traffic and parking on neighborhood streets and in guarding against potential negative effects of future redevelopment of  W. 35^th Street properties on the abutting single family homes. We also need additional language to more fully express our concern about the impact of  redevelopment of the commercial properties between 34^th and 35^th Street on the school and the neighborhood.  The language in the Plan should be revised to more fully and clearly make these points.

3.  Another major problem with the current draft of the neighborhood plan is that City Staff has not allowed the Brackenridge Tract to be included in the Land Use chapter, and has provided very limited planning options for the Austin State School tract.  In the current draft, the Land Use chapter would appear to allow multi-family along the Exposition side of the Austin State School tract, contrary to the overwhelming weight of opinion of the neighborhood.  In addition, the Land Use chapter entirely fails to address the community’s stated preferences for the Brackenridge Tract.  The first preference is to encourage UT to keep the Lions Municipal Golf Course, West Austin Youth Association, and Field Research Laboratory uses in place with consideration made for additional recreational opportunities on site, and to otherwise comply with the parameters established by the 1989 Brackenridge Tract Development Agreement.  The second preference is that, in the event that the Brackenridge Tract is (re)developed, it should be done in harmony with the adjacent neighborhood, transportation system, and natural resources, as set forth in the neighborhood’s proposed revisions to the Land Use Chapter.

Please attend the Open House to provide feedback on the drafts.  You can also take an on-line survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XQ3GVZ8 where you will be shown a summary of the Plan and given an opportunity to comment.

Bylaws Meeting:  The bylaws for the Central West Austin Combined Neighborhood Plan Contact Team will be discussed on Tuesday, February 16th 6:30 – 7:50pm at Bryker Woods Elementary School.

Set forth below are the proposed bylaws for the Central West Austin Combined Neighborhood Planning Team (NPT).  These bylaws have been prepared based on your template, with additional input from each of the West Austin Neighborhood Group (WANG), Bryker Woods Neighborhood Association (BWNA) and Pemberton Heights Neighborhood Association (PHNA) neighborhood associations.  In addition, the attached bylaws have been designed to comply with the City’s Ordinance No. 20080306-073.

Bylaws for

THE CENTRAL WEST AUSTIN COMBINED NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING TEAM

Adopted and effective on ____ 2010

SECTION I

Purpose

The Central West Austin Combined Neighborhood Planning Team (NPT):

(1) shall act as an educational resource for residents in land use matters;

(2) shall establish and implement the vision, goals and recommendations of the Central West Austin Combined Neighborhood Plan (CWACNP) as it applies to the Central West Austin Combined Neighborhood Planning Area;

(3) shall review and make recommendations to City Staff, Planning Commission and City Council on all proposed land use cases that may impact the Central West Austin Combined Neighborhood Planning Area and review and make recommendations for all proposed amendments to the Central West Austin Combined Neighborhood Plan (CWACNP); and

(4)  may decide to initiate a plan amendment when appropriate.

SECTION II

Members

Eligibility.

a. Boundaries.  The Central West Austin Combined Neighborhood Planning Area is bounded to the north by 35th Street and 38th Street, to the south by Town Lake (west of MoPac) and 24th Street (east of Mopac), to the east by Lamar Boulevard, and to the west by Town Lake. MoPac is the eastern boundary of the West Austin Neighborhood Group Planning Area (Tarrytown) and the western boundary of the Windsor Road Planning Area (Bryker Woods and Pemberton Heights).

b. Qualifications.  Each Member of the Central West Austin Combined Neighborhood Planning Team (NPT) shall reside in the defined boundaries of the Central West Austin Combined Neighborhood Planning Area, and there shall be twelve (12) Members of the NPT, including:

(1) Two residential property owners holding homestead exemptions from the WANG Planning Area;

(2) Two residential property owners holding homestead exemptions from the Windsor Road Planning Area;

(2) One business owner;

(3) One non-property owner resident (renter); and

(4) Two board members or officers from each of the following neighborhood associations: West Austin Neighborhood Group (WANG), Bryker Woods Neighborhood Association (BWNA) and Pemberton Heights Neighborhood Association (PHNA).

c. Appointment and Election of NPT Members.  The initial composition of NPT is as listed in Addendum A of these bylaws.  The current membership of  NPT is as listed in Addendum B and shall be updated yearly by the secretary.

(1) NTP Membership terms shall be two years beginning June 1st.  Current NPT Members in good standing may be re-elected to serve consecutive terms.
(2) Elections to replace or re-elect NPT Members whose terms have expired, who have died, resigned, or who have become unable or unwilling to serve shall be held within 90 days after such expiration, death, resignation, incapacity, or unwillingness to serve.
(3) When any NPT Member’s term expires or there is a vacancy, a majority of the voting NPT Members serving at the time of an election shall elect the replacement from a list of no more than 3 nominees provided by the NPT Members serving at the time of the election.

d. Agreement.  By joining, NPT Members agree to abide by the Bylaws herein, and agree to support the Central West Austin Combined Neighborhood Plan.

e. Communication with the Public and the Applicant.  NPT Members may not publicly speak or communicate in their capacity as a NPT member outside an NPT Meeting on a matter which is subject to the Purposes set out in Section I without first having such communication approved by vote at an NPT Meeting, excepting emergency requests for postponements.

f. Loss of Eligibility.  NPT Members are encouraged to participate through regular meeting attendance, group discussion, group communication, or other activity in support of the NPT.  NPT Members who do not show evidence of active participation for 6 months shall lose their Membership without further notification.  Such individuals may again become NPT Members in good standing thirty days after communicating to the Secretary their intent to re-join the NPT unless a replacement has been elected.

g. Rights of Members. Only NPT Members in good standing may hold office, introduce motions, or vote.  Each NPT Member shall be provided a copy of the of the adopted CWACNPT bylaws

SECTION III

Meetings and Public Hearings

Agenda.  An agenda for each meeting shall be prepared by the Chair in consultation with the other NPT Officers and NPT Members.  Any NPT Member can place an item on the agenda for discussion, if such item is given to the Chair three days prior to the meeting. Members not meeting this prior notice requirement may discuss any item in New Business.  The agenda must be e-mailed to all NPT Members in good standing not less than one day prior to the meeting.

Quorum.  A minimum of six (6) NPT Members in good standing including one Officer shall constitute a quorum.  Any act of a majority of the Members present at any meeting and constituting a quorum shall be the act of the NPT.

Voting. Members must be present to cast votes.  Proxy voting is prohibited.  All matters shall be decided by the affirmative vote of a majority of the NPT Members present in person and voting, except as otherwise expressly provided herein.

Meeting Records. Minutes for every meeting shall be recorded and maintained by the Secretary.

Regular Meetings. Regular meetings shall be held on a quarterly basis when needed as determined by the Officers of the NPT at 7 p.m. on the last Monday in the months of January, April, July, and October.  The location of the meetings will be at ____________________.

Special Called Meetings.  Special Called Meetings may be called by four (4) NPT Members, one of whom must be an Officer.

Notice of Meeting. A notice giving the date, time, place, and agenda of each Meeting of the NPT shall be given 5 days prior to the meeting if by electronic means or hand delivery to at least the NPT Members in good standing, and 7 days prior if deposited in U.S. mail.

All meetings will be publicized in the neighborhood using whatever reasonable means that are available, for example, but not limited to:  flyers, mailings, newsletters, print publications, neighborhood listserves, neighborhood association website postings, the ANC listserve and the Neighborhood Planning and Zoning on-line calendar.

As technological means become available, the following communication tools may be utilized; the City of Austin Public Information Website and when feasible email lists maintained by the Neighborhood Planning and Zoning department.

Failure to receive a meeting notice does not invalidate the meeting.  However, the provisions of this section must be complied with in good faith. Meetings shall be open to the public.

Annual Meetings. The Annual Meeting for the election of officers shall be held at the date, time, and place of the Regular Meeting in April, or at such other time as may be determined by the Officers of the NPT.  Notice shall be given in accordance with the provisions for providing notice of a regular meeting.

Two Public Hearing Limit Per Meeting There will be no more than two hearings scheduled in any meeting of the NPT. In no case shall a Land Use Presentation Hearing and a Land Use Action Hearing occur at the same meeting for the same property. Scheduling will be first-come, first-served. Applicants who have submitted the materials described in the respective Applicant Requirements sections first and before the deadline will be scheduled first.

Land Use Presentation Hearing.  The purpose of the Land Use Presentation Hearing is to initiate a recommendation in a land use matter or Neighborhood Plan Amendment. Zoning changes are not to be addressed by the NPT, but are instead addressed by the appropriate neighborhood association.  No action will be taken at any Land Use Presentation Hearing. This is a public hearing to collect facts, receive a proposal from an applicant, obtain community input, and to register contact information from interested parties. Land Use Presentation Hearings can be held concurrent with and at the date, time, and place of any Regular Meeting, Special Called Meeting, or Annual Meeting. The Secretary shall collect contact information from interested parties attending the hearing.

Informal discussion with project stakeholders in NPT Regular and Special Called Meetings is encouraged. Such discussions in any meeting that does not qualify as a Land Use Presentation Hearing would still require a future Land Use Presentation Hearing to initiate a recommendation.

Notice of Land Use Presentation Hearing. A notice giving the date, time, place, and agenda of each Notice of Land Use Presentation Hearing of the NPT shall be given 5 days prior to the meeting if by electronic means or hand delivery, and 7 days prior if deposited in U.S. mail. The notice shall briefly describe the action to be considered.  In conjunction with the City of Austin’s noticing department, such notice shall, at a minimum, be sent to:

1) all NPT Members in good standing who have provided e-mail addresses for the purpose of receiving notices;

2) all registered owners of properties falling within 500’ of any affected property; and

3) all residents of properties falling within 500’ of any affected property; and

4) a representative designated to receive such notices from the Department of Neighborhood Planning and Zoning of the City of Austin.

Applicant Requirements for Initiating a Land Use Presentation Hearing. Prior to the NPT scheduling a Land Use Presentation Hearing, an applicant must provide the following written and/or electronic materials no fewer than 30 days prior to the Regular Meeting date at which the case is to be heard:

1) a statement of full intent for the proposal; and

2) a written statement from an employee of The City of Austin’s Watershed Protection and Development Review staff listing all the regulatory processes that will be needed to legally permit and fully implement the proposal; and

3) all supporting materials needed for the application of regulatory processes identified by the statement of the employee of The City of Austin’s Watershed Protection and Development Review; and

4) a data file in a format specified by the NPT Chair including the name and mailing address of all current registered owners of properties falling within 300’ of any affected property as maintained by Travis County Appraisal District; and

5) a map showing building outlines and affected property with indication of the 500’ radius, showing current uses, current zoning, and trees 19 caliper inches or greater located on the property; and

6) a copy of any deed restrictions for the subject tract; and

7) a statement on whether the subject property is a contributing or non-contributing property in the Old West Austin National Register Historic District; and

if for Variance, a complete Board of Adjustment application and supporting plans or documents as requested; or

9) if for Zoning Change, a complete Zoning Change application and supporting plans or documents as requested; or

10) if for Neighborhood Plan Amendment, a complete Neighborhood Plan Amendment application, Future Land Use Maps, both current and proposed, a list of Plan Recommendations obtained from the CWACNP within a radius of 500’ around the property, and supporting plans or documents as requested; or

11) if for Site Plan, or a Site Plan for a Conditional Use Permit, a complete Site Plan application and supporting plans or documents as requested; or

12) if for Historic Zoning Designation, a complete Historic Zoning Designation application and supporting plans or documents as requested. Materials listed in item 5 are not required for Historic Zoning Designation.

Land Use Action Hearing The purpose of Land Use Action Hearings is to act on and issue recommendations on specific proposals presented introduced at a prior Land Use Presentation Hearing. If in the opinion of the Chair, or a majority of the NPT Members present, there are substantive changes to the proposal first heard at the Land Use Presentation Hearing, which render aspects of the prior proposal invalid, then action must be deferred to a future Land Use Action Hearing.

Notice Requirements of Land Use Action Hearing. A notice giving the date, time, place, and agenda of each Land Use Action Hearing of the NPT shall be given 5 days prior to the meeting if by electronic means, and 7 days prior if deposited in U.S. mail. The notice shall briefly describe the action to be considered. In conjunction with the City of Austin’s noticing department, such notice shall be sent, at a minimum, to:

1) all NPT Members in good standing, and

2) all board members of the following neighborhood associations:  West Austin Neighborhood Group, the Bryker Woods Neighborhood Association, and the Pemberton Heights Neighborhood Association; and

3) to other parties of interest either registered at the Land Use Presentation Hearing or expressed an interest by other contact.

Rehearings. There are no provisions of a rehearing for any Land Use Presentation Hearing or Land Use Action Hearing.

SECTION IV

Conflicts of Interest

Each NPT Member shall comply with the conflict of interest provisions in this subsection.

(a) An NPT Member may not participate in an NPT decision on a matter affecting a person, entity, or property in which the member has a substantial interest.

(1)     “Interest” is defined, with respect to this Section IV, as an NPT Member or Officer having, either directly or indirectly:

a. Ownership in or an investment in any property before the NPT regardless of the amount of ownership or investment; or

b. A financial or business relationship with any applicant or any person or business associated with the applicant or the property at issue regardless of the amount of or type of financial or business relationship; or

c. Past or present employment by any applicant or any person or business associated with the applicant or the property at issue, including, but not limited to, being a corporate officer or member of the board of directors; or

d. A known or expected future business, employment, or financial interest or relationship related to the applicant, the property at issue, or any person or business associated with the applicant or the property at issue; or

e. Indebtedness to the applicant or any person or business associated with the applicant or the property at issue regardless of the amount of the indebtedness;

f. Any other direct or indirect relationship with an applicant, property at issue, or any person or business associated with the applicant or the property at issue that may hinder an NPT Member’s or Officer’s objectivity in a decision before the NPT.

An “Interest” shall not include being a neighbor of a property or of an applicant.

(2)     ”Substantial Interest” means an interest in another person or an entity if: the interest is ownership of five percent or more of the voting stock, shares or equity of the entity or ownership of $5,000 or more of the equity or market value of the entity; or funds received by the person from the other person or entity either during the previous 12 months or the previous calendar year equaled or exceeded $5,000 in salary, bonuses, commissions or professional fees or $20,000 in payment for goods, products or nonprofessional services, or 10 percent of the person’s gross income during that period, whichever is less; the person serves as a corporate officer or member of the board of directors or other governing board of the for-profit entity other than a corporate entity owned or created by the city council; or the person is a creditor, debtor, or guarantor of the other person or entity in an amount of $5,000 or more except that a home mortgage loan for the person’s homestead or a loan or lease of a personal automobile shall not be deemed a substantial interest in the creditor or guarantor if entered into at a market rate with a commercial lending institution before the previous 12 months.

(3)     “Substantial Interest In Real Property” means an interest in real property which is an equitable or legal ownership with a market value of $5,000 or more.

(4)     “Decision” includes a decision to file an application for a plan amendment and a final recommendation on a proposed plan amendment.

(b) An NPT Member who has a substantial interest that disqualifies the member from participating in a decision under Paragraph (a) shall submit a disclosure statement to the NPT describing the substantial interest.  The NPT Member shall submit the disclosure statement when the NPT files an application for a plan

amendment or a final recommendation on a proposed plan amendment, as applicable.

NPT Members and Officers are highly encouraged to disclose any Interests they may have, regardless of how insignificant, in order to ensure the integrity of any decision made by the NPT. If an NPT Member or Officer has an Interest or a reasonable expectation that they may have or will have an Interest, the NPT Member or Officer must:

1. Immediately disclose such Interest to the other NPT Members and Officers. Such disclosure must occur, at the latest, prior to the Land Use Hearing. The NPT Member or Officer with the Interest must also disclose such Interest in any correspondence, contact, or discussion pertaining to the project in which the Interest has arisen.

2. If an NPT Member or Officer has an Interest, the NPT Member or Officer cannot participate in any decision concerning the property at issue, including, but not limited to, the decision of the NPT to submit an application for a plan amendment or the decision to support or not support the project at issue on the property.

In the event that an Interest is not disclosed and such NPT Member or Officer participates in the decision related to the property at issue (including, but not limited to, the Land Use Hearing), then the NPT’s decision related to such property shall be null and void and the applicant must reapply with the NPT for a new decision with respect to the property at issue.

Furthermore, in the event that an Interest arises for an NPT Member or Officer within twelve (12) months after a decision is made, then the NPT may declare its previous decision null and void in its sole and exclusive discretion and take whatever action the NPT deems reasonable with respect to the property at issue. Such decision to negate a previous decision by the NPT shall be done by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the NPT Members at any Regular or Special Called Meeting. The NPT Member or Officer with the Interest is encouraged to attend such meeting to discuss their Interest.

SECTION V

Officers

Officers. The officers of the NPT shall be a Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary.

Terms of Office. Each officer shall serve a term of one year commencing upon election in April. Notwithstanding any other provision hereof, each officer shall serve until his or her successor is elected and qualified.

Chair. The Chair shall preside over meetings and oversees the running of the NPT, and shall be responsible for the operation of the NPT and its officers pursuant to these bylaws. This shall include conducting meetings, representing the team at official functions, appointing subcommittees, and generally overseeing the business of the NPT.  The Chair shall have the primary responsibility for coordinating with the City of Austin Implementation Planner on the implementation items in the adopted Neighborhood Plan

Vice-Chair. The vice-chair shall assist the Chair in preparing meeting agendas and conducting meetings and shall assume all duties of the Chair when required.

Secretary. The secretary shall maintain all written records as required by the City of Austin, including recording and maintaining the minutes, membership records, and contact information on interested parties, and shall produce all written communications as directed by the Chair, or the NPT Members.  The prepared minutes should only reflect what was done and not what was said at the meeting.  They should not contain the record keepers’ or any meeting participant’s opinions.  The membership records shall include current addresses and voting status of NPT Members.

Election.

A.               The officers shall be elected at large by the NPT Members at the Regular Meeting in April.  All candidates must be qualified NPT Members.

B.               Officers will be elected by the NPT Members, by a majority vote if there are two or fewer candidates, or, a plurality vote if there are three or more candidates.

C.               The secretary will notify the Neighborhood Planning and Zoning Department in writing of the names of the newly elected officers, their contact information, and the date they are due to take office.

D.              Any elected officer may be removed from office for good cause.  Removal shall be debated by the NPT and shall require a two-thirds vote of NPT Members eligible to vote and present at a meeting of the NPT, providing that a resolution proposing the consideration of the removal has been adopted at a preceding meeting and that notice of the vote for removal has been included in the call to the meeting at which the vote shall take place.

E.               Should vacancies occur outside the normal election process, candidates for the unfilled term shall be nominated from the floor and elected at the next scheduled meeting following the vacancy.  The person elected to the vacated office will serve for the remainder of the term.

SECTION VI

Parliamentary Procedure

Robert’s Rules. When not inconsistent with these Bylaws, Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised shall be the parliamentary authority for all matters of procedure. These rules may be suspended at any meeting by a majority vote.

SECTION VII

Prohibited Actions

Political Endorsements. The NPT shall not endorse any candidates for political office.

SECTION VIII

Adoption and Amendment of Bylaws

Adoption. These bylaws of the Central West Austin Combined Neighborhood Planning Team shall become effective on ___________________, 2010.

Amendments.  These bylaws may be amended or repealed and new bylaws may be adopted by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the NPT Members at any Regular or Special Called Meeting, provided that a resolution proposing the amendment has been adopted at a preceding regular meeting and that notice of the proposed amendment to the bylaws has been given in accordance with the provisions for providing notice of a regular meeting. ]]> http://westaustinng.com/2010/02/15/proposed-bylaws-for-central-west-austin-combined-neighborhood-planning-team-npt/feed/ 0 http://westaustinng.com/2010/02/13/austin-marathon-races-through-austin-streets-valentines-weekend-full-and-partial-street-closures/ http://westaustinng.com/2010/02/13/austin-marathon-races-through-austin-streets-valentines-weekend-full-and-partial-street-closures/#comments Sat, 13 Feb 2010 23:15:33 +0000 admin http://westaustinng.com/?p=916 Austin Marathon races through Austin streets Valentine’s weekend – Full and partial street closures

Travelers in Austin should be aware of potential traffic delays expected on Sunday, Feb. 14th in Central and North Austin from the 2010 Austin Marathon and Half Marathon.

Austin Marathon and Half Marathon

The Austin Marathon and Half Marathon is taking place on Sunday, February 14, 2010. The Marathon and Half Marathon begin at 7 a.m. on Congress Ave at 2nd Street and conclude on Congress Ave. near 10th Street. Street closures will affect roads from 3:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on February 14 on a rolling schedule. Below is a list of some of the major road closures:

Full Road Closures:

• Congress Ave. from 11th St. to Cesar Chavez St.
• South Congress Ave. from Cesar Chavez St. to Riverside Dr.
• Ben White Frontage from Congress Ave. to South 1st St.
• Veterans Dr. from Stephen F. Austin to Lake Austin Blvd.
• Enfield Rd. from Scenic Rd. to Exposition Blvd.
• Shoal Creek Blvd from Hancock Dr. to White Rock Dr.
• Great Northern from White Rock Dr. to Foster Ln.

Partial Road Closures:

• South Congress Ave. from Riverside Dr. to Ben White Blvd. (Open to North bound traffic)
• South 1st St. from Ben White Blvd. to Riverside Dr. (Open to South bound traffic)
• Cesar Chavez St. from Congress Ave. to Stephen F. Austin Dr. (Open to West bound traffic)
• Lake Austin Blvd. from Loop 1 (Mopac) to Exposition Blvd. (One lane open in each direction)
• Exposition Blvd. from Enfield Rd. to West 35th St. (Open to North bound traffic)

You can find the entire street closure schedule at: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/specialevents/downloads/austinmthon_closures_021410.pdf

To see a map of the street closure, click here: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/specialevents/downloads/austinmthon_map_021410.pdf

Event Web site: www.youraustinmarathon.com

We have concluded the zoning portion of Neighborhood Planning and await the scheduling of the Open House for the purposes of reviewing the plan prior to submission to the City’s Planning Commission.  The date and location of the Final Open House for the Central West Austin neighborhood plan will be on Thursday, March 4 from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the LCRA Red Bud Center (3601 Lake Austin Blvd).  The meeting will be an open house format where you can go to tables and provide feedback on the draft plan.  As no formal presentation will occur, please feel free to come at a time that is best for you.  Staff will be available to help you.

At this stage of the process, City Staff has prepared and posted drafts of the “Transportation,” “Land Use,” “Neighborhood in Context” and “Parks, Open Space & the Environment” chapters for the plan at  http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/planning/neighborhood/cw_austin.htm#Draft%20Plan.  Please review these drafts to make sure there are no errors, and attend the Open House to provide feedback and make corrections.

The  draft plan chapters reflect a lot of work and captures many of the points the community made during the process.  But the drafts must be improved if this plan is to help us preserve our neighborhood.

Those of us in the neighborhoods on both sides of MoPac who have been working on the Plan for the last several years have submitted detailed comments and have proposed changes to the  draft plan during the process.  For example, our revisions to the “Transportation” chapter are posted at Neighborhood Stakeholder Revisions to Draft Transportation Chapter _March, 2010_, and our revisions to the “Land Use” chapter are posted at Neighborhood Stakeholder Revisions to Draft Land Use Chapter.

Without attempting to capture all of the details, here are some basic points the City needs to hear regarding the land use chapter.

1.  The Staff’s language in the Plan that “new office, commercial, retail or multi-family development should be located along the edges of the neighborhood” sounds safe enough but “edges” is too vague to provide a meaningful guideline and to the extent its meaning can be gleaned from the Plan it includes locations most of us would not want to see new development.  It is also unclear whether “new” means a commercial or multi-family use on a property not now being used as such or whether it refers to redevelopment of existing commercial sites. We spent months developing a Future Land Use Map to establish the location of future land uses.  Accordingly,  we recommend  that development or redevelopment of existing commercial or multi-family property should be in accordance with the Future Land Use map  adopted by the community.  Any new commercial or multifamily development should  be located on the State School or the Brackenridge properties if they are developed (as opposed to existing residential areas).

2. The current draft of the Land Use chapter is a good first step but it needs to do a more complete job of reflecting neighborhood interest in preventing increased traffic and parking on neighborhood streets and in guarding against potential negative effects of future redevelopment of  W. 35^th Street properties on the abutting single family homes. We also need additional language to more fully express our concern about the impact of  redevelopment of the commercial properties between 34^th and 35^th Street on the school and the neighborhood.  The language in the Plan should be revised to more fully and clearly make these points.

3.  The current draft of the Land Use Chapter should include the Brackenridge Tract in the Plan and reflect the community’s stated preferences for the Brackenridge Tract.

Please attend the Open House to provide feedback on the drafts.  You can also take an on-line survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XQ3GVZ8 where you will be shown a summary of the Plan and given an opportunity to comment.

This is an important chance, maybe our last chance, to review and comment on the final draft plans before the plan is presented to Planning Commission and City Council.

For more information , please visit the Central West Austin Neighborhood Planning website at http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/planning/neighborhood/cw_austin.htm (a new website which does not have all of the information posted that was previously available), or contact City Staff by calling Paul DiGiuseppe at 512-974-2865 (paul.digiuseppe@ci.austin.tx.us) or Carol Haywood at 512-974-7685 with any questions (Carol.Haywood@ci.austin.tx.us).

The next Central West Austin neighborhood planning workshop (Zoning Workshop VII) will occur on Monday, November 23rd (6:30pm to 9:00pm) at Bryker Woods Elementary School (3309 Kerbey Lane).

Topics:  First, we will examine the possibility of changing the current zoning of the office and residential development located at 1717, 1721, 1801, 1803 and 1805 W. 35th from office to zoning that allows office and residential uses. Second, we will discuss the potential to rezone the property at 3402 Kerbey Lane (currently used as an office) from residential to office zoning.

For more information , please visit the Central West Austin Neighborhood Planning website at http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/zoning/central_west_austin.htm, or contact City Staff by calling Paul DiGiuseppe at 512-974-2865 (paul.digiuseppe@ci.austin.tx.us) or Carol Haywood at 512-974-7685 with any questions (Carol.Haywood@ci.austin.tx.us).

Large-scale maps of the city will be set up for residents to identify specific transportation gaps or traffic bottlenecks such as missing highway interchanges, left-hand turn lanes, trails or bicycle lanes, sidewalks, car/vanpooling options and rail transit.  Comments about specific transportation elements will help the City develop a master list of projects that should be addressed, immediately or longer-term in a bond election.

The Strategic Mobility Plan outreach meetings are being conducted at the same locations as the Comprehensive Plan community forums at the following times and places:

Nov. 9, 2009 Meetings

- Westwood High School, 12400 Mellow Meadow Drive (6 p.m. — Transportation comments)

- Baty Elementary School, 2101 Faro Drive (6 p.m. — Transportation comments)

Nov. 10, 2009 Meetings

- St. David’s Episcopal Church, 304 E. Seventh St. (7:30 a.m. — Transportation comments)

- Bowie High School, 4103 Slaughter Lane (6 p.m. — Transportation comments)

Nov. 12, 2009 Meetings

- Reagan High School, 7104 Berkman Drive (6 p.m. — Transportation comments)

- Travis High School, 1211 E. Oltorf St. (6 p.m. — Transportation comments)

If you are not able to attend the meetings, you can still provide input by identifying areas of transportation concern in a quick survey.

For additional information, please contact Rob Spillar, P. E., Director, Austin Transportation Department (phone:  (512) 974-7092, fax:  (512) 974-7101, email:  Rob.spillar@ci.austin.tx.us)