Hole in the Wall
More and More and More Is Too Much
RECEIVED Tue., Oct. 30, 2007
Dear Editor,
More construction, more toilets, more car traffic in the fragile Barton Springs Watershed? More speculative “grandfathering,” more administrative approvals, and limited public input? These are the likely results if the City Council approves the proposed amendment to the Save Our Springs Ordinance for redevelopment in the Barton Springs Watershed.
Save Our Springs Alliance, Save Barton Creek Association, and Austin Sierra Club are asking the Austin City Council not to approve the proposed amendment to the SOS Ordinance for redevelopment, as drafted by city staff and Council Member Lee Leffingwell.
We have suggested necessary changes to the proposed amendment, many of which the Planning Commission and Environmental Board adopted into their recommendations to City Council. Chief among them are making the redevelopment amendment a pilot project (available to the first 10 properties or 35 acres that want to use the proposed new redevelopment procedure), with a public evaluation in two years, and requiring public hearings at City Council for large redevelopment projects.
A pilot project approach will prevent an onslaught of construction in the Barton Springs Watershed and speculative “grandfathering” applications, while allowing redevelopment that benefits the community. The current proposal has no limitation on the number of redevelopment sites, so we risk massive construction and density increases – and the pollution that follows – in our most fragile watershed.
The current proposal also allows developers to avoid public hearings they would have to go through under the SOS Ordinance today, reducing citizens’ input into what gets built in our neighborhoods.
Unless the City Council wants to engender a building boom and wave of “grandfathering” applications in the Barton Springs Watershed, they will adopt the recommendations from the Planning Commission, Environmental Board, and local environmental organizations. City Council is expected to vote on Nov. 8. More information is at www.sosalliance.org.
More construction, more toilets, more car traffic in the fragile Barton Springs Watershed? More speculative “grandfathering,” more administrative approvals, and limited public input? These are the likely results if the City Council approves the proposed amendment to the Save Our Springs Ordinance for redevelopment in the Barton Springs Watershed.
Save Our Springs Alliance, Save Barton Creek Association, and Austin Sierra Club are asking the Austin City Council not to approve the proposed amendment to the SOS Ordinance for redevelopment, as drafted by city staff and Council Member Lee Leffingwell.
We have suggested necessary changes to the proposed amendment, many of which the Planning Commission and Environmental Board adopted into their recommendations to City Council. Chief among them are making the redevelopment amendment a pilot project (available to the first 10 properties or 35 acres that want to use the proposed new redevelopment procedure), with a public evaluation in two years, and requiring public hearings at City Council for large redevelopment projects.
A pilot project approach will prevent an onslaught of construction in the Barton Springs Watershed and speculative “grandfathering” applications, while allowing redevelopment that benefits the community. The current proposal has no limitation on the number of redevelopment sites, so we risk massive construction and density increases – and the pollution that follows – in our most fragile watershed.
The current proposal also allows developers to avoid public hearings they would have to go through under the SOS Ordinance today, reducing citizens’ input into what gets built in our neighborhoods.
Unless the City Council wants to engender a building boom and wave of “grandfathering” applications in the Barton Springs Watershed, they will adopt the recommendations from the Planning Commission, Environmental Board, and local environmental organizations. City Council is expected to vote on Nov. 8. More information is at www.sosalliance.org.
Sincerely,
Colin Clark
Communications director
Save Our Springs Alliance
Colin Clark
Communications director
Save Our Springs Alliance
[Editor's note: For more, please see this week's News feature "Watershed Redo."]