President’s Message by Holly Reed

MUNY Turns 100! 1924-2024

This year the Lions Municipal Golf Course (MUNY) is 100 years old! Events are happening throughout the year to honor this historic public golf course in the heart of Austin. As the first public course to desegregate in the South (1950) MUNY is a nationally recognized Civil Rights Landmark. Yet despite its incredible history, essential open green space with hundreds of heritage trees, wildlife refuge and water recharge zone, needed now more than ever in this growing City, MUNY is still in danger of being closed and paved over as a luxury mixed use development. We must not let this happen!

Please join WANG in celebrating MUNY’S CENTENNIAL by supporting the effort to SAVE MUNY. Visit www.savemuny.com for information on how you can help!

SAVE THE DATE: OCTOBER 3^rd, 2024 for MUNY’S CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION sponsored by the Founder Lions Club of Austin and the Muny Conservancy. Parade, Proclamations, Music, Golf Tournament and MORE!

WANG Board Member Mary Arnold has been working to SAVE MUNY for 50 years and has written this wonderful summary of how MUNY began.

IT’S JANUARY 1, 1924!

Calvin Coolidge is President of the United States. Pat Neff is Governor of Texas. William D. Yett is Mayor of Austin Texas.

Members of the University of Texas Board of Regents include Regents Stark (Chairman,) Caldweil, Cochran, 0’Hair, Royall, R. G. Storey of Tyler succeeding Marshall Hicks, (resigned,) Wooten, and Wroe. William S. Sutton is Interim President of the University of Texas at Austin.

The local newspaper reported that the New Year’s celebrations in Austin were certainly not as loud and noisy as usual!   The Society section reported many members and guests celebrating at the Austin Country Club.

And the Lions Club members in Austin were looking forward to continuing their efforts to initiate and support projects that would benefit the citizens of Austin. One of the projects that the Lions Club helped with in 1923-1924 was raising funds for the University of Texas to build the Texas Memorial Stadium.  Teams of Lions Club members were formed, and each team solicited funds.

Another group of Lions Club members had been working on a project to find land in Austin suitable for creating a Municipal Golf Course for the City of Austin. At this time, there was only one golf course in Austin and it was a private club….NOT open to the public, called the Austin Country Club. The Lions Club had examined several potential areas, but had decided to ask for land that was part of the Brackenridge Tract, belonging to the University of Texas. The Lions Club group approached the UT Board of Regents at their April 15, 1924 meeting.  The UT Board of Regents Minutes for that meeting report the following:

“BRACKENRIDGE LAND – MUNICIPAL GOLF LINKS – LIONS CLUB.

A committee from the Lions Club of Austin, Mssrs. A.W. Griffith, Johnnie Tobin, and Frank Rowe, came before the Board with a proposition to lease a portion of the Brackenridge Tract for the purpose of constructing a municipal golf links. After discussion, the Board, on motion of Mr. Jones, voted in favor of the lease, subject to the approval of the Attorney General, for a consideration of sixty dollars per year (which is an increase over present income) and the beautifying of the grounds and upkeep of the fences, with the understanding that the trees are not to be cut, only underbrush cleared off, and no concessions allowed on the grounds. The Chairman of the Board was empowered to execute the lease.”

At the May 28, 1924, meeting of the UT Board of Regents, the Minutes report the following:

“MUNICIPAL GOLF LINKS – On the motion of Dr. Wooten, seconded by Dr. Storey, the Board authorizes the Chairman of the Board to sign the lease contract with the Lions Club of Austin for a municipal golf links on the Brackenridge Tract after carefully examining the contract and finding it satisfactory.”

FOLLOW THE STORY OF WHAT COMES NEXT: CONSTRUCTING THE FIRST

NINE HOLES!

City of Austin’s Watershed Protection Department is planning to turn Reed Park’s ball field into a water retention pond – depositing 30,000 lbs of sediment per year into the ball field.  Our green space and park land are in danger of becoming a mud pit and the historical preservation and natural beauty of our park will be forever changed for the worse.  Everyone who visits our beautiful park will be affected.  Sign this petition to show you OPPOSE the Watershed Protection Department’s proposed plan for Reed Park!  Help us put an end to this proposal and keep Reed Park’s open play field the way it is!

https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-proposed-watershed-plan-at-reed-park

WANG has sent a letter to the City of Austin Planning Commission regarding the Proposed HOME Ordinance.  Click below to see the letter and information about the ordinance.

WANG Letter to PC HOME 042224C  H.O.M.E. and Compatibilty Ordinances

What Passed? and What Is Coming?

Land Code Changes Passed in 2023 (“H.O.M.E” Phase 1)

More Dwelling Units on Single-Family Lots
Three dwelling units per lot are now authorized in single-family districts SF-1, SF-2, and SF-3. An 11,500 square foot lot zoned SF-2 or SF-3 can now have six units without a zoning change, with a re-subdivision into two lots. If you don’t know your property’s current zoning designation, you can find it by entering your address here.

More Cars on Your Street
If more than one unit is being built on the lot it can be 15 feet from the street, with up to four parking spaces in the front yard. Mayor Watson’s council eliminated minimum parking requirements earlier in 2023, so all other parking may be on the street.

More Short-Term Rentals (STRs)
For a duplex or two-unit build, one unit can be used as an STR. For three units, there are no restrictions on short-term rentals.

Loss of “McMansion” Protections
Floor area ratio (FAR) regulates the cumulative size of structures on a site, and Phase 1 of “H.O.M.E” increases FAR as additional units are added. If all or part of an existing dwelling unit is preserved, the new units are exempted from the limits. The previous “McMansion” rules, limited FAR to .4, meaning a 4,000-square-foot house was allowed on a 10,000 square foot lot. Under Phase 1 of “H.O.M.E.”, a landowner or developer can build 10,000 square feet of units on a 10,000-square-foot lot if the existing unit is preserved.

Loss of Occupancy Limits
Local housing occupancy limits are removed, overriding previous rules limiting occupants to four unrelated people or fewer.

Reduction in Minimum Lot Sizes
Having established the right to build three units per lot in Phase 1, the city council plans to reduce minimum lot sizes from 5,750 feet in SF-2 and SF-3 zones during Phase 2. It also plans to reduce the 10,000-square-foot-lot limit in SF-1 to a much smaller size (perhaps as small as 2,500 square feet) and allow existing single-family lots to be subdivided into multiple lots. According to the council’s Housing and Planning Committee, the planned ordinance will “adjust setbacks, height, and impervious cover for single-family zoning to allow more units on smaller lots.” After lot subdivision, the net effect will be as many as nine or more units on existing lots depending on current size.

Extreme Changes to Compatibility Standards
The city plans to reduce compatibility standards to only regulate building height for the first 75 linear feet from a single family home.