Naked City

A proposed set of design standards for Austin's commercial strips, two years in the works, got its first public hearing at City Council Thursday. Responses were, of course, mixed. Council Member Brewster McCracken, who has steered the good ship Make Austin Pretty for the last two years, began by explaining the point of the whole effort. Most of Austin's commercial zones are ugly, McCracken said: interchangeable, unwalkable acres of strip malls and parking lots, littered with big, boxy signs. A design standards ordinance would encourage new developments to hide their parking lots, create unique architecture, lighten up on the corporate logos, and build denser, more walkable shopping districts that will encourage alternative transportation, fight sprawl, and look nifty to boot.

"People want a sense of place," he said. "I think what we all know is that the development patterns in our community don't give us that any more."

Nevertheless, months of stakeholder meetings haven't smoothed out all the sticky spots. Of particular issue is what implementing the ordinance will cost businesses. Several members of the sign industry showed up to object to harsh disincentives against pole signs, which they say are necessary to bring people into roadside businesses. In response, McCracken pointed out that other local communities like Westlake and Buda have banned them, but folks are still somehow finding their way to their Whoppers and Go-Go Taquitos. Similarly, Mary Anne Dosier argued that the ordinance would hurt her family's "unique, family-owned Austin business, which happens to benefit from the tools that were given to us by national franchise agreements" – that is, their Taco Bell franchise. Dosier's beef was with disincentives against branded architecture. "We love Austin. We want Austin to be beautiful. And we want to continue to develop our business and our employees in Austin," she said. "But we need to keep our brand name and the elements of our brand on the building to identify to our customers who we are and where we are."

The discussion also touched possible unintended consequences of the ordinance. For example, developer Tom Terkel pointed out that the new, pride-of-downtown City Hall would actually be illegal under the current draft of the standards. Say what? The ordinance, he explained, would require downtown buildings to be located within 15 feet of the street – the idea being that storefront parking lots discourage walkability. City Hall's south plaza exceeds the 15-foot limit, and the draft standards allow no exceptions, not even for virtuous public spaces replete with native plants and tastefully arranged boulders.

Glitches notwithstanding, the ordinance received support from such groups as the Downtown Austin Alliance and Liveable City. "I believe that the standards should be stronger, and in particular that the more stringent standards should apply to a far larger part of the city," said Cathy Echols of Liveable City. "But I'm supporting the standards as a truly significant first step in improving the character of the community."

The Council voted to pass the draft standards on to the city manager to start working on official language, and to put together an economic-impact study so businesses large and small will know what all the ribbons and bows might cost. The council will revisit the two remaining sticky areas – development orientation and building design – in two weeks.