Public Notice: Peace on Earth, Good Will to Most

I haven't gotten so much criticism in a while as when I wrote a column on CodeNEXT three weeks back ("Public Notice: Back to the Present," Dec. 1) suggesting that – given the delay of the much-anticipated third draft until February, and despite continuing bitter sniping from both sides of the density fight, and hard questions from the middle on the ZAP and PC boards – we may be closer to a satisfactory resolution than we've been at any point in this long and tortured quest to rewrite the city land development code.

Why do I think that, and how can we get there? I try to cling to the belief that while there are a myriad of interests and viewpoints out there, they're not all necessarily in conflict. So to the person with the "Stop Code Next" sign who's afraid that the new code is going to flood her yard and price her out of her neighborhood, I think the city will be able to promise better *flood mapping (and *strategies to deal with it), and *better protection for "market affordable" housing stock than are currently in place. To the AURA member trying to live a car-free lifestyle who currently has to maintain two parking spaces that in turn keep him from being able to build an ADU, the city should be able to offer a *routine waiver on the parking (probably with *affordable housing strings attached), and much simpler and more flexible *building codes and *development process. To the renter who's trying to grab on to the low end of that elusive market-affordable market, the city can promise they're *keeping as much of that existing stock as possible, while opening a lot of new possibilities for residential developers: *upzoning, allowing *residential in more zones, and *more housing forms in more areas. (To those needing truly affordable housing, that's a more difficult matter, that falls outside the land development code because it requires direct public money of some sort; there is simply no market-based formula to produce housing affordable for minimum-wage workers.)

To be sure, that doesn't address everyone's concerns, but it's a start. And, you'll notice there are a number of *asterisks inserted into the paragraph above. Each of those represents a process, or a part of the code, that has not yet been worked out, and on which some serious problem-solving is yet to be done. In some cases that's happening now, as staff, consultants, and commissioners work in preparation for the draft three release. But a good bit of the work will come later, in response to the options draft three presents.

By the time that draft is released in Feb­ruary, we should actually have a functional draft code for the first time, and a process for mapping (or perhaps a few scenarios mapped), plus the ability to forecast the effects of different strategies. The planners have not had that yet. Given that tool, there will need to be a period of scenario testing, which will be the first time either the public or the planners will be able to see the predicted effects of any mapping changes. And I truly think that at that point, many of the preferred strategies will become clearer, and the remaining questions more tractable. There'll be a more transparent mapping process, so everyone can see how and why zoning changes are going to be made. And City Council will get a chance to see what their options are, and what their various actions might result in.

But in the meantime, I think we'll find that we don't have nearly as many differences as you might believe from reading the latest breathless releases from AURA or the Austin Neighborhoods Coalition. There are a lot of places where a consensus can be formed, and others where compromises can be reached. And in the end, while you may not like all the decisions that get made, hopefully you'll like the ones that are most important to you. As for myself, here's my year-end wish list:

• I hope the result is a simpler, more user-friendly code – which is the biggest thing this process can do for cost savings.

• I hope the mapping builds on the strengths of the existing neighborhoods, and tries to improve every one of them, creating a framework so that every neighborhood can become its own "complete and connected community" – with a mix of housing, and local retail, to encourage walkability and biking, while having easy transit connection to other parts of the city.

• I hope the code itself is flexible enough to allow all that, and to allow for any reasonable use of a given piece of property; firm enough to define what's not reasonable or compatible with the neighborhood; and accurate enough that every property owner will know just what they can build, and can do any sort of reasonable construction without the need for zoning changes or variances. And development attorneys would be a thing of the past.

That's not too much to ask, is it?

Capital Metro has announced their holiday service schedule, including an extended schedule and free rides on New Year's Eve.

• Sun.-Mon., Christmas Eve and Christmas Day: Buses run on a regular Sunday schedule, with no MetroRail or Night Owl service.

• New Year's Eve, Sun., Dec. 31: Cap Metro will offer free rides on MetroBus, MetroRapid, MetroRail and MetroAccess from 6pm until the end of service. MetroRail and MetroRapid bus service will be extended that evening, with the last Downtown departures at 2:30am. Night Owls will not be in service.

• New Year's Day, Mon., Jan. 1: Buses run on their regular Sunday schedule; no MetroRail or Night Owl.