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SRCC General Membership Meeting Minutes - 2/7/2011

1. room arrangement, meeting procedures, etiquette, welcome newcomers.
presenter throughout: sarah campbell, president, unless otherwise noted.

2. membership & voting announcements.
presenter: carol martin, membership chair

3. approve minutes from december 6, 2010, regular monthly meeting.
MOTION: betty weed/wolf - to approve the minutes = PASSED

4. 4th quarter 2010 report of srcc finances and annual contributions to grace methodist chruch and john jordan, caretaker, to be made in march.
presenter: bob drew, treasurer
special thanks to bob for serving as srcc treasurer for the last 3 years! he won't be running again for next year.

5. livestrong austin marathon impacts on srcc.
presenter: christina conklin, community relations director.
this is the 20th anniversary of the austin marathon. it starts at bob bullock museum and runs to south congress but will be out of our area by 9:30am. mary, oltorf and cumberland will be the south congress crossings during that time.www.youraustinmarathon.com. the race is over at 2pm and cleared out entirely by 4pm.

6. short term rentals (aka STR) discussion.
presenters: maurice anderson, chair of committee from allandale neighborhood; srcc contributors: sandy bowman and charles price, residents; planning commission guest and resident, danette chimenti.
a VRBO (vacation rental by owner) is an owner-occupied property that is rented on a short term basis while the owner is out of town. a STR(short term rental) is NOT owner-occupied and is rented for less than 30 days, often times just a few days/weekend. a bed and breakfast is registered with the city, is regulated and pays a 9% city tax and 6% state bedding tax and carries insurance. the conflict is that STRs often times operate under the radar and are sometimes creating issues with neighbors, this is due mostly to the newness of this type of residential property use. STR properties have grown from just a handful to over 400 in the austin area in just a few years. the city is working to create rules as they are currently in a legal grey area. planning commission has asked staff to study the issue. Staff has held two open meetings to gain information, and is currently researching how other cities have dealt with STR's.

7. rezoning and neighborhood plan amendment requests for 1406 parker lane.
presenter: toni house, resident, srcc and eroc.
a meeting has been set to address flooding issues which the developer may be willing to pay to resolve in exchange for neighborhood agreement to a zoning change to SF-6 w/conditional overlay. the flooding issues exist from previous development gone bad and the neighbors want this property to help resolve the issue rather than exacerbate it.

8. slain officer memorial on live oak at travis heights blvd.
presenter: richard weiss, resident.
APD contacted richard in april about locating the memorial within the ROW of his front yard at the corner of travis heights blvd and live oak. discussions took place to move the memorial to stacy park but the city recently poured the slab across the street, to the south side of Live Oak, with installation slated for march. only a 25' notification is required for this project. the family of the officer requested a wording change on the marker. you can find the slab at 1000 east live oak.
MOTION: jean mather/betty weed - request to move the marker to stacy park = PASSED

9. executive committee position on 1606 east side drive.
the owner is requesting a variance above/beyond allowed FAR in the mcmansion ordinance and the issue is currently going to the Residential Design and Compatibility Commission (RDCC). The Executive Committee voted to oppose the request for lack of hardship.
MOTION: jean mather/mary lovel - to support the decision of the executive committee = PASSED

10. upcoming reconstruction of oltorf from ih-35 to s congress ave.
the current work on oltorf is just a teaser... it's leftover from the sherwood oaks drainage project. the new project will start after that is done and last a year.

11. annual 4th of july parade and picnic needs organizers.
presenter: russell fraser, resident, 4th organizer
please contact russell is you are interested in helping - he has a checklist of tasks of all sizes for anyone looking to lend a hand. the other option is to scale back the event.

12. update on east riverside corridor regulatory plan meetings 2/26 and 3/10.
presenter: toni house, resident, srcc and eroc.
the feb 26th meeting will be for input and the march 10th meeting the response. areas 6 and 7 will be affected. participation in the meetings is urged as the changes are expected to continue on down riverside.

13. update on city's Imagine Austin comprehensive plan process.
presenter: jean mather, co-chair zoning and planning committee.
SRCC will be severely impacted be the proposed Imagine Austin Plan. We are edged by four major transit corridors, Congress Avenue, Riverside Drive, IH 35, and Ben White. The plan calls for upzoning the single family to mixed use the width of one fourth of a mile along both sides on such corridors, (from Congress this would reach to Newning on Monroe, from Riverside this would reach to Milam on Travis Heights). The plan calls for increasing density by 7,500 people for every two miles. The staff says this density might be achieved by clustering at major intersections instead of along the corridor. However, this scenario is an invitation to developers (If you build it, they will come!) to invest in properties, waiting for the day, driving up taxes and removing long time residents.

14. update from ANC on norwood study.
presenter: wolf sittler, anc rep.
on march 23rd, 2011, ANC will hold a special meeting devoted to a city council candidate forum. the city's election is may 14, 2011; early voting is from may 2nd to may 10th. ANC passed a resolution to start over with imagine austin.AISD issue discussed without solutions. $110,000 has been allocated to architects to provide 3 ideas for the norwood property.

15. new city park for area 7.
presenter: fred krebs, area 7 co-coordinator.
at 2100 parker lane behind the harpers creek apts there is 3.5 acres slated to become a new pocket park. the purchase has been delayed in part due to the appraisal of the property at condemned property value. the city is to purchase the property to be made into a park.

16. update on st edward's university outdoor amplified music issue.
presenter: elloa mathews, resident, area 5 coordinator
st eds outdoor amplified sound has become a problem resulting in a letter being written to the president and a meeting scheduled with the vice president. st edwards has a sound policy but it has not been enforced. any student can check out a PA system to use. the limits are 100dB on campus and 75 at property line. recently the sound seems to be toned down but talks will continue.

17. srcc members participation in city's deliberations on draft PBD (parking benefit district) ordinance and relationship to RPP (residential parking permit program).
the PBD would install parking meters with a % of the income dedicated to improvements in that same district.

18. newsletters announcing our annual elections and potluck supper will be on jean's porch very soon. get ready! many thanks to helen dey valdez for producing our newsletters for 3 years, and to gloria lee who is stepping up to take over where helen left off.

19. city council vote on park pud on barton springs road.
this issue goes to the design commission and then back to city council.

20. aisd budget: wed feb 9th, 6pm, travis heights elementary cafeteria, to discuss possible school closings - travis heights elem is not on the list but this does not mean it won't be added. meeting hosted by austin interfaith and parents and neighbors are encouraged to attend. sponsored by the PTA.

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