SRCC
general membership meeting notes 4/6/2009
1- welcome newcomers: 2 - Cappy White, resident, and
Cathy Morgan, rep. from
Austin Art Alliance.
2- discuss SRCC letter to the board of adjustment
regarding building permits
issued by the city of
Mather (srcc zoning and planning committee) and Cappy White (property owner):
cappy was issued a permit by the city for the remodel
of his SF-3 property to
be altered from a single family home with the garage converted to a studio. the
plans included a kitchen in the studio. 3 days before the final inspection and
after having all permits and prior inspections approved, cappy
was informed by
the city that they
made a mistake and the addition of the kitchen made this project a duplex for
which his lot size is too small. the construction is
already complete and the
city admitted error. the garage apartment/studio is
scheduled Cappy's project before the Board of
Adjustment for April 13, asking
for 5-6 variances in order to have their mistakes approved. the
city asked him
to get neighborhood support for the variances.
MOTION: jean mather (dawn cizmar)- to deny the variances = vote tied
MOTION: danette chimenti
(betty weed)- to do nothing = PASSED
3- presentation on 4th of july parade and picnic
organization and need for new
volunteers, training provided. Betty Weed and Teri Hubbeling
(SRCC area 3a
coordinator):
Neighborhood volunteers are looking for new people to take charge of our annual
4th of july parade, and to have SRCC pay for the
following items... get an APD
parade permit ($200-$300), event insurance ($450-$600), extended pool hours
($200) and put a flyer in the newsletter.
MOTION: to pay for these items up to $1200, and to discuss SRCC's
policy for
financial support of the 4th of July activities at Executive Committee meeting
4/20/09 = PASSED
contact betty weed for more information. local businesses have proven to be very
open to the idea of sponsorship, we just need concrete event info to show them
and time for them to get approval. be a part of srcc tradition and help make it
happen!
4- presentation on the city's big stacy
rain gardens project now beginning at
annie/woodland as it crosses the blunn
creek bridge. mike kelly
(watershed
protection and dev review dept, city of
basically what the city is working on in a select few areas is
instead of having dirty rainwater run from the streets directly into the creeks
and rivers, it is diverted by way of curb breaks into gardens. these gardens are
like spongy filters that allow for the capture of large particles as well as
give the water a chance to soak into the ground for further filtration. these
rainwater filters are landscaped into gardens that then thrive on the extra
water as well as help to break down contaminants that would otherwise end up in
the creek. two of these gardens are being installed in stacy
park with more in
the works under the guise of park improvement based on the idea of "green
infrastructure" upgrades rather than going through the usual process of
being a
modification to the park which takes a public hearing and much longer to
approve.
5- discuss parking lot recently built across 10 single
family lots under one
ownership at 1006 melissa lane, thought to be a code
violation. jean mather(srcc
zoning and planning com) and suzanne schuwerk:
there was no presence or response from either parties so no
discussion took place.
6- congress avenue baptist
church rezoning and neighborhood plan amendment
applications with city: c14-2009-0032 and mpa-2009-0022.01. danette
chimenti(chair GSRCCNP contact team):
the church wants to tear down the large brown building and rebuild a new church
facility on the entire lot. the lot itself is rather
large and extends east into
an area surrounded by single family homes where they would like to get the land
use changed from civic to commercial and office. with
this change they'll be
able to build out the property to include many new uses including a parking
garage. the suggestion is to keep the back (east half,
divided as if the alley
to the north and south of the lot continued through the lot)
property as single family or neighborhood office to limit the impact on
neighbors bordering the property. srcc
is waiting on more info before making a
motion. The applicants should come before SRCC for the rezoning, and before the
GSRCC NPCT for the Plan amendment.
7- presentation on soco
lofts need/desire for more daily vehicle trips. chris
randazzo (project manager) and derrick brown (owner):
they are in the process of getting a zoning amendment to change the allowable
vehicle trips per day from 3360 to 4100, this requires no zoning change. the
limit on vehicle trips affects the sorts of businesses that can operate in the
storefronts. the city is looking for support from srcc to adjust this limit but
we are asking the developer to pressure the city to allow for traffic calming
on
willow run before agreeing to support. a traffic light
will most likely be
installed at the alpine/congress intersection putting even greater pressure on
willow run as a cut through street. the srcc already has the funds to install
the traffic calming but needs approval from the city. SRCC postponed action to
the May agenda. We are supportive of the applicants, but want to try to get
assurances from the City that traffic calming will occur before final vote.
8- presentation on art city austin (formerly austin fine arts festival and
fiesta) street closures, including 1st street bridge, saturday,
april 25th,
10am-6pm and sunday, april
26th, 11am-6pm. would like our support:
there is a 3/4mile notification requirement which includes the srcc boundaries.
220 nationwide artists to be showcased in a family friendly
event. the event is
going to take place and we have supported it in the past.
MOTION: garret nick (kenny hilbig)- to support the street closures = PASSED
9- discuss formation of a ad hoc security patrol committee to address crime in
srcc. marc
marc has been gathering information about his proposal to have
private security patrols in travis heights to curb
the recent crimewave. there
are liability insurance issues with costs between $5,000-$10,000/yr plus
$5,000/month to hire offduty officers. this translates into needing 200 homes
spending $30/month each. another option is to organize
a neighborhood watch with
some residents getting training from apd and car stickers.
this is how zilker na
does it. marc volunteered to chair the committee.
10- one-time waiver of the two annual, large gatherings allowed at st
cecilia by the restrictive covenant between srcc and st cecilia,
in order to
thank donors to the latest oak wilt trenching project necessary in the
neighborhood near park and newning. srcc executive committee votes to
approve on
march 16, 2009:
this new venue is limited to 2 events but we are allowing a 3rd to benefit
www.SaveAustinOaks.org fundraising efforts. $150/person donation gets you into
this fine event where food, drink and music will be provided. the fundraiser
takes place this weekend, sunday, from 6-8. interested parties should visit the
SAO website to make a donation or contact robin sanders at
info@saveaustinoaks.org
11- other business:
a- a new representative (or co-rep) is needed for the
Neighborhoods Council. meetings are the 4th wednesday
of each month from 7-9pm.
b- on march 26th the historic zoning for the norwood
house was
approved, the "norwood posse" is seeking
donations or volunteers to raise funds
for the restoration. this will be discussed in detail
at the next executive
committee meeting. check www.RestoreNorwood.org for
more details