The Zoning and Platting Commission was thinking of suggesting that the city start a planning process for the region west of Loop 360 on the north bank of the Colorado River, as the Austin Monitor has previously reported. Chair Hank Smith was the only member to vote against the resolution, which was approved by the commission on August 5 by a vote of 7-1.
Smith stated, “I’m going to oppose, but not strongly.” In order to provide us with guidance given the current budgetary limits, I believe this is something that needs to be examined in the overall comprehensive plan and examined more broadly.
During the June meeting, former Planning Commissioner Jennifer Mushtaler discussed a 2023 suggestion from the Planning Commission, which gave rise to the notion.
Since this area is expanding, we believed that the absence of a regulation strategy could cause harm to people and property, she said.
Lonny Stern and Betsy Greenberg, two of the Zoning and Platting Commissioners at the time, had determined that their recommendation needed to be modified further to ensure that the commission wasn’t promoting development in the area, which has been identified as having a high risk of wildfire destruction.
Much of the original Planning Commission report’s wording was retained in the suggestion that was eventually approved. However, commissioner Christian Tschoepe’s amendment especially addressing fire mitigation was included, along with a few minor adjustments.
Among the notable modifications were the insertion of text requesting that the city guarantee the safe delivery of city services, like fire evacuation, and the removal of wording requesting that the city increase the area’s road capacity and transit service.
According to Stern, we were worried about some of the wording that might have unintentionally implied that we were requesting that they optimize the area’s potential for development. Additionally, we aimed to convey a message that was more development-neutral.
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