Doin' the Turnaround

If Austin were a mid- dle-aged man, the urban core, frequently shunned by developers in favor of the suburbs, would be the bald spot. The solution to the baldness, if Councilmember Eric Mitchell is correct, would be CURE.

Not a CURE as in Rogaine, but as in Central Urban REdevelopment, Mitchell's relatively inexpensive and widely supported plan to stimulate investment in the downtown area by offering a package of fee waivers and other incentives to both residential and commercial builders. According to Mitchell, who will only utter unmentionable words at this reporter but did speak at a CURE hearing before the Planning Commission in July, the incentives will help redirect the delirious growth in the suburbs back to Central Austin.

It's a no-lose proposition, according to long-time developer Paul Bury, of Bury Pittman Consulting Engineers. "From what I've seen, both sides of the development community agree that downtown needs to be revitalized. It's a common goal we can all agree to."

Bury is quick to list off barriers to a physical revitalization of the area, first and foremost being the exorbitant cost of land, which in turn triggers higher-than-average development fees. Moreover, attempts to renovate many of the older structures bring on additional expenses associated with replacing decrepit infrastructure. "Growth is not taking place there because it's simply not economically feasible," says Bury.

During the first three quarters of 1995, 1,638 housing units were created in the city. Less than 10 were built in the downtown area. In the same span, 3,658 multi-family units received permits throughout the city. None were constructed downtown. "There's very little occuring in downtown," says city demographer Leigh Ann McDaniels. "There's some remodeling, but as far as redevelopment and development, compared to the rest of the city, there's basically nothing happening."

What many say the CURE should bring is an increase in multi-family residences downtown that will create a 24-hour, "livable" inner-city. As is, the CURE, which will be reviewed by the planning commission for the fourth and final time on December 5 before it goes to the council, does not address specific types of development. It simply allows for the waiver or partial abatement of all development fees associated with any type of construction that occurs in the CURE district. The proposed district extends from MLK Blvd. on the north to Cesar Chavez St. on the south, between I-35 and Lamar. Also, offshoots extend east down several commercial corridors into Central East Austin. The extensions are Cesar Chavez, Sixth, and Seventh east to Chicon, and 11th, 12th, and MLK to Poquito.

When the councilmembers discuss the CURE on December 7, they could decide to approve the waivers in the future on a case-by-case basis or -- as the Real Estate Council of Austin prefers -- they could authorize a blanket implementation of the waivers, to guarantee developers reduced fees. The regular process of submitting zoning, subdivision, and site-plan applications would remain intact unless the council chooses otherwise. The proposed waivers include:

* The Capital Recovery fee charged for new water and wastewater lines added to a development. Water and Wastewater Utility officials estimate the waiver would cost the utility between $25,000 and $30,000 a year.

* The Electric Aid to Construction fee. The Electric Utility Department expects a reduction in revenue of $40,000.

* Zoning, subdivision, and site-plan application fees. The Department of Planning and Development estimates that over the past seven years, 131 applications have been submitted in the downtown area. The total revenue has been $142,556, a little over $1,000 per project; with the discounts, the department would lose about $20,000 a year under CURE.

* More flexible parking requirements. New and redeveloped businesses and residences will be allowed to offer less parking than developments outside the CURE's boundaries. This will be accomplished by allowing more off-site parking.

* The water-quality fee, usually paid by downtown developers in lieu of building an on-site water-quality pond to capture run-off during construction. The fee, paid to the Drainage Utility, has brought in $133,680 since 1991 and helps fund major urban water-quality projects. Austan Librach, head of the Environmental and Conservation Services Department, opposes this waiver, saying a reduction could hurt water quality in urban watersheds. "The funding [for the water-quality projects] comes in bits and pieces from urban watersheds across the city, but it's another funding increment that is lost to the process," says Librach.

Craig Smith, vice-chair of the city's environmental board, agrees, and says the waiver would gut the Urban Watersheds Ordinance passed by the council in 1991. "If they do away with the fee, they're giving away the whole program," says Smith. "I'm sympathetic with desires to encourage downtown redevelopment and I don't want to put up roadblocks to discourage that, but on the other hand, we did set a community goal when that ordinance was passed to cut pollution into Town Lake in half."

Other than that, the plan has been almost universally accepted by interested parties. In fact, says Miloslav Cekic, chair of the Urban Subcommittee of the Citizens' Planning Committee, CURE should go even further, both physically and economically. "The city needs to consider not just waiving the fees, they need to do something to mitigate the negative effect of the high cost of land." Cekic suggests a partial property tax abatement. He also feels that CURE's eastern offshoots should be replicated on the western and southern boundaries.

But most important, Cekic says, the city council should create a "flexible" master plan for the CURE. If a master plan involves adjacent neighborhoods, it could result in a downtown where residents can walk to neighborhood-friendly businesses like a nearby grocery store or hair parlor. "I'm not talking about something rigid, but a flexible document that determines the livability of a city. If we continue like this, without any vision, we're just doomed. The CURE could be one of the first steps in seriously considering the planning of the urban core."

Mitchell's colleagues on the dais were either unavailable for comment on the CURE proposal, or said they were uniformed. Projections, then, for the proposal's chances on the dais this week would be pure speculation.

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This week in council: Final reading of the mayor's encampment (aka "anti-homeless") ordinance.