At its July 22 meeting, the Planning Commission authorized yet another rezoning request pertaining to the city’s contentious Density Bonus 90, or DB90, zoning.
Commissioners heard from neighbors who are afraid of another tall structure as well as those who are in favor of a redevelopment that would provide relatively dense housing in a rapidly expanding neighborhood. This time, the location is just north of Mary Street on South Lamar Boulevard.
The South Lamar Business Park and the parking spots that are connected to it currently occupy the land, which developers, planning commissioners, and neighbors have all characterized as underutilized. As required by DB90 zoning, the property’s owner, the local development company Stonelake, plans to construct a building that will likely include some ground floor commercial space in addition to more than 300 residences.
In actuality, the request is for several rezonings at several addresses to support a single, more extensive development. Larger projects, which are frequently constructed on several smaller lots that are purchased and then processed in a bundle by the city’s regulatory apparatus, frequently do that. 1700 South Lamar, the intersection of the boulevard and Collier Street, is the address that is eligible for the DB90 designation. The request aims to add DB90 and its rights to the site, which is now zoned Commercial Services-Vertical, or CS-V. The request is for a combined CS-V rezoning with an overlay that would forbid specific uses on the other two smaller lots, which are zoned Limited Office (LO) and Single Family-3 (SF-3).
City employees backed the rezoning proposal, pointing to the project’s high unit density and Imagine Austin corridor location as justifications. Neighbors like Sharlene Leurig, who claimed to have negotiated with Stonelake on a number of issues, including the installation of a fence between her Kinney Avenue home and the development’s western boundary and steps to reduce the noise from nighttime garbage pickups that she claimed had long interfered with her sleep under the previous owners, also supported it. Leurig stated that she was willing to support the project because the developer was prepared to engage with her on a written agreement about those and other matters.
While acknowledging that she and Stonelake still need to work to ensure the agreement would give her the guarantees she desires, Leurig stated, “I appreciate that commitment.”
Another neighbor on the Kinney Avenue side who works in real estate, Graham Trull, called the project a unique and unusual chance to turn a run-down area into much-needed housing that will be carefully built.
“As of yesterday, we had no opposition to this case,” stated Michele Haussmann, a land use consultant who spoke at the meeting in support of the rezoning on behalf of Stonelake, “and we have the support of the city staff and surrounding property owners.” However, it appears that some opposition prevailed because a group of neighbors from The Sage, a nearby condominium complex, publicly opposed the rezoning.
Condo owner Yazmin Melero, who was the main opponent during the meeting, claimed that the development would harm owners like her by obstructing their views and devaluing their properties. She claimed that the construction of an unidentified tall structure on the opposite side had caused a sharp decline in property prices there, and she predicted that the Stonelake design would have the same effect.
Melero explained that she had relocated her family from a Bee Cave home to The Sage in order to be close to the city’s downtown. She claimed that a major factor in her decision was the view from her apartment, which faces the location of the planned renovation.
I moved my family and I across town for something that won’t even exist today because I made a really tough financial decision for us, she added.
In addition to Melero, at least seven other Sage homeowners opposed the rezoning at the meeting or sent the city comments opposing the project, which were included in the backup information given to commissioners.
In response to protests from Melero and others, Haussmann stated that a 60-foot building would already be permitted on the property under the current zoning. The zoning has existed since 2008, she said, long before the roughly 40-foot condos at The Sage were built.
In response to inquiries from Commissioners Greg Anderson and Casey Haney, Haussmann also affirmed that residents of The Sage would face other residential units under the current plan, which excludes a ground-floor parking garage. Additionally, there would be a setback between the two buildings that is at least 75 feet wide for a landscaped pedestrian walkway and fire lane.
Commissioner Felicity Maxwell abstained because of a conflict of interest, but Commissioner Greg Anderson moved to propose the rezoning, and it was passed 9-0-1.
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