Austin City Council Work Session Transcript – 2/25/2025 Title: ATXN-1 (24hr) Channel: 1 - ATXN-1 Recorded On: 2/25/2025 6:00:00AM Original Air Date: 2/25/2025 Transcript Generated by SnapStream ================================== Please note that the following transcript is for reference purposes and does not constitute the official record of actions taken during the meeting. For the official record of actions of the meeting, please refer to the Approved Minutes. [9:00:57 AM] You're watching a meeting of the Austin City Council Council members >> It's 9:00 in the morning. I'll call to order the Austin city council work session for February 25th, 2025. We are [9:01:58 AM] February 25th, 2025. We are meeting in the city council chambers, which are located in city hall at 301 west second street, and we have a quorum of the Austin city council present. Members and public. The way we'll proceed for this work session so that everybody can kind of prepare their time, is we will start with public comment on the items that are on the agenda. We have two items on the agenda, but we will then go to the briefing on the Austin convention center expansion design. And then we will go into an executive session before we take up a discussion of item a 40, which is one of the is an item related to the short term rentals. So with that, I will turn to the city clerk and ask if you will call on those who have signed up to speak on work session agenda items. >> Okay, mayor. So we've had one speaker on item B, one, which is the Austin convention center expansion design review. Then [9:03:00 AM] expansion design review. Then two speakers on number 40. Would you like me to call them? >> Please? Yes. >> Okay. >> Let's go ahead and let's go ahead and do that for their convenience and time. If they want to stay, they're welcome to stay. But that way we will have heard them before we take up any of the items. >> Okay. For item a 40, we have bill bunch and Ryan Saunders. >> If your name has been called, please come forward. Please state your name for the record and let us know what you think. >> Ryan Saunders I'm going to have a video play first, and then I'm going to talk for the last minute. >> Okay. >> 1912 zo street. 20 from 96 lake street. [9:04:01 AM] lake street. A little after 10 P.M. Erp. So this is this is what I have to hear 15 hours a day, every day. And I've with the str regulations, I'm just trying to [9:05:04 AM] regulations, I'm just trying to draw attention to the fact that there's a lot of other quality of life issues. And I have concerns with the wording with how the str regulations are written and how they can be taken advantage of by city staff to punish good str users like myself that's licensed and pays my hotel occupancy taxes. Buildings like this that are on my street. And so the next slide and this one. And then the last one, and then a porta potty that's now been installed ten feet from my front door at a food truck park next to my house. I'm just asking that you all take into consideration all these other quality of life issues, and the difficulty that I have of talking to the chief of staff of the police, the commander. I've been to public safety commission meetings. I've talked to all numbers of city elected or city staff to try to get answers to these, and I keep hitting brick walls. I've gone to municipal court, and so I just personally find it kind of offensive, the short term rental regulations that you're trying to shortcut to provide alleviation. When I have all [9:06:04 AM] alleviation. When I have all these other issues that I can't get. >> Thank you sir. >> Thank you. >> Good afternoon mayor. Morning, mayor. Council members, thank you for your service to our community. I'm bill bunch, longtime resident of district five. Zilker, just speaking for myself on the short term rental ordinance and would ask you all to just slow down a bit on this. I think that people don't really understand what you're doing. What's the purpose behind this, and whether you're actually taking and exercising the authority that you do have to address the quality of life concerns, the affordability concerns, what str is really do mean for displacing people who might actually want to live in multi-family units or single family units that are going into [9:07:05 AM] family units that are going into this airbnb business. You know, it's a mixed blessing and sometimes it's not a blessing at all. I think it's also you need more information. There's no good information out there on this of exactly how many there are and how many are paying or not paying. And then how are they going to really react to this ordinance if you pass it? My understanding is there's almost certainly going to be all kinds of different evasion to avoid collecting the funds. And yet it seems rather obvious to me anyway, because I am paying attention to the convention center, that this is really all about grabbing the money to fill the hidden and gaping hole in the budget for the magic hole of the convention center. Y'all haven't been honest about disclosing how much that's really going to cost. Total costs and contingencies. Debt [9:08:06 AM] costs and contingencies. Debt service, o&m losses, demolition costs, all of it. I mean, there's no disclosure. So please go slow on it. >> Thank you, Mr. Bunch. Mr. Bunch signed up on the next item to Wright. >> Item B one. Yes. >> Yes. Bill bunch again. Speaking against this convention center rush. You've heard from me before. There's no there's zero transparency here. And. Well, may I ask, could I reserve the rest of my time till after the presentation so I could actually comment on what y'all learned? >> Sure. >> Okay. >> You have a minute? 35. Thank you. And I'm. The rules don't allow you to stand up the way y'all are standing up, because there wasn't anybody behind you. I went ahead and let that happen [9:09:07 AM] I went ahead and let that happen on the last one, but. But now there are people behind you. So I'm going to need to enforce the rules we're going to because we need to enforce them at other meetings when there may be more people in the chamber. So I'll just let you know that now. Yeah. Kind of hard to miss you. All right. Members that will now take us to a briefing on the. The way we're going to do this is we'll go to the briefing on B one, and then I guess we'll hear from Mr. Bunch for a minute. 35. Then what we will do is go into an executive session on the pre-selected item item a 40, and then we'll come back out and have a discussion with regard to that item. So with that, I will turn to the manager to kick off the Austin convention center expansion design review. >> Thank you mayor. And our team, led by the director of the convention center, will come up and share a brief presentation. I don't know about brief, but a presentation unveiling the [9:10:08 AM] presentation unveiling the design for the new convention center. Tricia. >> Good morning, mayor, council and city manager. I'm Tricia Tetreault, the director of the Austin convention center department, and I am excited to be before you today to introduce you to your new Austin convention center. Today is an important day not only for our department, but for the community at large, and marks a huge milestone in our ten year journey to expansion. Today, we are unveiling our vision of a transformative space that reflects our community through a robust public art investment. It demonstrates our commitment to the environment by being the first zero carbon certified convention center in the world, and it sets a new standard for convention spaces, while strengthening Austin's reputation as a premier destination. Before I turn the presentation over to our team, I want to take a moment and truly thank not only everyone on the dais for their support, but everyone who has helped us and who is helping us along this journey. We would not be here [9:11:09 AM] journey. We would not be here without their dedicated efforts. This building is truly reflective of our hard work, our thoughtful contemplation by the council and the community that we receive, the community input that we received over the past decade. We are here. We are excited to bring this presentation to you today, and now I will turn it over to Katy zamesnik, assistant director for the Austin convention center department. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Whaley. The rules do not allow you to do what it is you're doing, and I know it helps you to get that attention, but we can't have you doing that. So if you please keep that, if you want to hold it up in the air, you can go to the back of the room. Yes, sir. >> I'm not trying to get attention for myself of the issue. >> Well that's wonderful. We appreciate that. And that's why we're paying attention. But you're not. You're not following the rules, Mr. Whaley. You're not? No. No, sir. You cannot hold up signs unless you do it in the back of the room. Please begin. >> So good morning, Austin city [9:12:10 AM] >> So good morning, Austin city council. My name is Katy zamesnik. As Tricia said, I'm an assistant director with the Austin convention center. You guys have seen me up here a lot, and you're probably sick of it. So I'm going to be real quick and try to get you guys to the real stars of the show today. So, as you might recall, we are the 11th largest city in the country. However, our convention center is only the 65th, 61st largest, which makes it really tough for us to compete in our space. The new convention center will elevate us up to the 35th largest with room for future growth. It will allow us to make a strategic investment in our hospitality and tourism sectors. It will allow us to host larger events, as well as to host multiple events at the same time. It will also make us larger than many of our current peer cities, including Nashville, Pittsburgh and Baltimore and Fort Worth. Additionally, it will allow us to have a whole new competitive set letting us play in the space with Seattle, Philadelphia, and Denver. So, you know, we are here about ten years after we [9:13:11 AM] here about ten years after we initially began our conversations around expansion. And so in April of this year, we will close the facility to begin our demolition activities. Construction will continue through 2028, and we will reopen in time for the spring festival season in 2029. And quickly, just want to show you our project tag. This is unconventional atx. This is what we're calling the project, and we believe is really reflective of the unique building that we are delivering to you over the next couple of years. So looking at the facts and figures, everyone's favorite subject, we still are on target. With a construction budget of $1.26 billion, we will be increasing our current rentable square footage, which is 365,000ft S, up to 620,000ft S. In addition, we are future proofing the convention center, planning for the ability to add an additional 140,000ft S at a later date. And I want to just remind council that the construction, the project cost is being funded [9:14:12 AM] project cost is being funded through the convention center's allocation of hotel occupancy tax, as well as our convention center revenues. And with that, I will turn it over to Marc and Larry. Larry speck is with Paige architects, based here in Austin. And then Marc Reddington is with LMN out of Seattle. >> Thank you. >> Thank you very much. You know, the goals for this project started with city council. There was a council resolution, and you ask us to be producing a world class design, innovative ideas not only in the programing of the convention center, but also in placemaking and downtown Austin. A real landmark of great distinction that would really make the community proud. And that's absolutely where we're going. We have made big efforts to make this a uniquely Austin facility for our visitors. We want to showcase who we are and for our citizens. We want this to feel like, yes, this is a reflection of who we are. We begin with what we call the [9:15:13 AM] begin with what we call the Austin matrix. These nine different areas where Austin has a real distinction. We really do have a public life in Austin that is almost unique among American cities. We have parks, we have trails, we have pedestrian life in our downtown that is the envy of many cities. This project will extend and express that we have this unique downtown that is very, very urban and dense and also at the same time, very green and soft and natural. That kind of juxtaposition is what makes magic out of our city. And we very much want to express that. These are our guidelines for the design. And then we also want this to be a showcase for our visual arts, for our culture, for our music, for our food. And this program is perfect for being a place where all of that comes out. This is also an important facility for making us a festival city, a real destination for visitors who come for the many, many, many, many events that happen in the center of our city. It also is [9:16:13 AM] center of our city. It also is important that we express ourselves as a tech city, a place for innovation, a place for forward thinking, a place for entrepreneurship. And as you'll see, the design, the convention center really gives that opportunity now and in the future. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. >> In addition. >> To those characteristics that Larry just described, we also recognize that sustainability has been a really important part of the city of Austin, and it's been a very important part of this project. Austin has been known as a leader in in developing a city framework for sustainability. With your climate equity plan, that, along with many other things that are about sustainability in the built environment and current thinking about those issues, have been at the heart of how we've approached this. One of them is a sustainability standards. You've probably heard of Leed standards. The baseline for Austin is Leed silver. We're [9:17:15 AM] for Austin is Leed silver. We're on target to be Leed gold high Leed gold, maybe eventually platinum, which is something that gets sorted out later. But in addition to that, one of the really important things about sustainability now is that people are studying net zero carbon or carbon sustainability. So for this project, we've established a standard that this would be the first net zero carbon convention center in the world. We've been working very closely with the international living futures institute, which is the gold standard for carbon sustainability certification, and our on target, working very closely with them to achieve that goal for this project. That means a number of things. We're building into the project strategies like mass timber roof structures that will reduce the carbon footprint. But not only that, they'll be beautiful. They'll be part of what you see and experience as a part of the building. We're also have been [9:18:15 AM] building. We're also have been studying very carefully what do we do with the existing resources of the existing building as we're tearing it down and have targeted a number of pieces of the existing building that can be reused in the new project, which will also reduce the carbon footprint. An example of that are the sort of notable blue glass sunscreens that are currently on the west side of the atrium, which will be reused as sunscreens on new windows facing east. And we're also targeting a strategy for low carbon concrete, which is not only going to be meaningful for this project, but it will help establish opportunities in the future for low carbon concrete for other projects in the local industry. So this approach to sustainability is built into our design. It's important for the city. It's important for the convention center, as many, many clients are looking for sustainable places to hold their events. It not only lives up to the to the [9:19:16 AM] not only lives up to the to the core values of the sustainability climate equity plan, but it also is designed in a way where people will experience a better place. Because of this sustainable elements that are part of the building. >> So another really important aspect of the project is how it connects into downtown. I mean, all of, you know, the eastern half of downtown is totally transforming, and we have spent many, many, many hours interfacing with all of the plans for the revitalization of east sixth and especially stream realty's intersection of sixth street and red river. Working with the extension of the second street district, moving east and now up to our front door at Trent on Trinity street. Interfacing with the Rainey street district and that massive amount of new population in hotels and things that will be coming into the convention center. Interfacing with the red river cultural district, kind of [9:20:16 AM] river cultural district, kind of knitting together red river cultural district to the north and the Rainey street entertainment district to the south, and laying the convention center be the glue between those two. Interfacing with the red line, which comes on our north side, interfacing with the light rail that's coming on our west side. Thinking ahead to I-35 being depressed and the cap on that and the kind of both protection and connection to the east Austin neighborhoods. All of these have been urban design moves that are happening in the eastern edge of downtown that we want very much to the convention center to knit together and to make into a more holistic city. One of the major things we're doing is we're opening up the streets. So third street will become a multi-modal street that will go through the convention center site as it has not before. Second street will be an indoor outdoor pedestrian street that will make a connection between the second street [9:21:18 AM] between the second street district and palm park to the east. The old neches right of way, which never actually has been in the history of the city. Very strong connection. But we're going to have a indoor outdoor pedestrian way that goes all the way from brush square, all the way down to a pedestrian crossing of Cesar Chavez. That will be new and will connect in to water line, and then allow all the Rainey street district to move as pedestrians up into this site and into downtown, which has been a big bottleneck before all of that. Super important. And then that means that we've kind of divided the building into smaller blocks, bite sized chunks that are more the scale of the rest of the city. This will not be a big six block behemoth. This will be individual pieces and parts that connect together and really express the different activities of the convention center. Two of those blocks are going to be park space, open space, green [9:22:18 AM] park space, open space, green space. And so a lot of the events will be outdoor events that people can see and experience. Each of those blocks will have architectural character that knits into the kind of masonry, local brick scale of sixth street. There's some of that kind of feeling. The open space, you know, Rainey street food and activity that that all of those kinds of feelings of the neighborhoods around will be very much incorporated into blocks in this district. Two big ideas here. This kind of movement from urban to landscape. That's one of the cool things about our city, is how much beautiful landscape we have right next to great density. And in this project, we're going to be moving from the north and the west of very, very urban to on the south and the east, where we've got Waterloo greenway going through there. We've got palm park, we've got a lot of really beautiful new investment in green open space. The convention center will very much have a [9:23:20 AM] center will very much have a soft green side on the natural landscape. We're also doing a heck of a lot with indoor to outdoor. This is a cool thing about our city. Even though we got a tough climate, we know how to manage it and we live outdoors a lot. And in the convention center we're doing the same thing. A lot of outdoor space, outdoor event space, outdoor hangout space. And that is very much integrated with the program of the convention center. North. South. We have these two green blocks linked by what we call the ravine, which is this this space that runs on the right of way and connects vertically through the convention center. And then on the east west axis we have the paseo and blue there, which is a more urban connection. But all of these are indoor or outdoor spaces that really link into the rest of the city. There also is this cool thing on Cesar Chavez where we're going to have the central library, a major civic landmark, on Cesar Chavez. We [9:24:20 AM] landmark, on Cesar Chavez. We have the city hall, major civic landmark on Cesar Chavez, and then very much the same scale as those other two buildings. A kind of pavilion, a piece of the convention center that will sit on Chavez and be a major civic landmark as well. Marc. >> So we're going to describe briefly the way the program works, and starting with the ground level and the organization of the building at the street level starts with all those things. Larry just described integrating the experience of the streets, the surrounding neighborhoods, the landscape spaces, and mixing that with active other street level activities. There are pre-function lobbies, there's central arrival lobby in the middle of the project, next to what we're describing as the ravine. There are outdoor event spaces on the on every of one of the blocks. As you can see, there are a series of meeting rooms that are accessible at street level with lobbies facing [9:25:23 AM] street level with lobbies facing the street. There's a ballroom at ground level which allows events in that red boxes the ballroom to work into a lobby and work in the outdoor event spaces, and participate in the experience of being adjacent to the Waterloo greenway. There are retail spaces along Trinity street, and there are opportunities to program the way these spaces are used at ground level, where convention center events can use it when they need to in various portions of that footprint, and in parts of it can also be open for public access or public use at other times. The schedule allows. This is the street level. We're building this project both up and down. So underneath the entire footprint is the big exhibit hall and the associated loading dock. The things that you currently see at street level are now down below, which allows the street level and above to be much more porous and open and connected to the [9:26:25 AM] open and connected to the surrounding streets and then above street level, we have an additional group of meeting rooms, and above that, the light blue room is a flex hall, which is a flexible multi- purpose event space. Long span, no columns, which allows many, many things to happen in that space. This is organized to be very flexible. A wide variety of events can happen in this building, and a very efficient operational organization. And it's configured in a way that it above grade. It feels like it's a scale of the urban environment, and it knits itself into the activities of the surrounding neighborhood. And then, as Katy described on the north two blocks, we future proof this design to allow the possibilities of future expansion in the future. >> So let me just take you through the various blocks. The top two blocks to the north are largely outdoor space, and they are programed for outdoor events. And that can be tented [9:27:26 AM] events. And that can be tented dinners, that can be performances, music performances, large scale, small scale, multiple ones at the same time. That can be just informal everyday activity. It will be we need in downtown. We need a programable outdoor space. We've got lots of cool outdoor green spaces, but they don't accommodate very well these kinds of really demanding, you know, like a performance space like that. So that'll be there on on a full block. And then you can see at the top of that full block there's a kind of handsome but rather neutral facade, which then can be activated in all kinds of ways. That can be banners. And the convention occupants will certainly want to have their identity there when they're having a show, but it also will have projection on that. And very much like design Austin has been doing with the intake building in the fall with waterworks. This will be a place where you can do projection art. [9:28:27 AM] where you can do projection art. You can do projection. Advertisement. It can be a really lively, vital thing. And that whole space, you know, think Rainey street, think food and music and outdoor events and activation and the kind of place that can really be occupied, as Austin does so well. Then the middle two blocks between second and third street, that's the workhorse that Marc was talking about, where most of the activity, most of the meeting rooms and flex hall and all of that thing, sort of thing are the ravine runs through that. And as you can see in that section on the left, it then digs down into the ground and takes you to the exhibit hall and some outdoor event space. That's on a lower level as the topography goes down to waller creek. That ravine is a major pedestrian movement space all the way through the site. Then there is an east west major pedestrian movement space that runs on the second street right of way. That's what we call the paseo, and that's indoor and [9:29:27 AM] paseo, and that's indoor and outdoor. And it really is more urban, more structured than than the ravine is. This is that entrance looking down second street. That would be a major entry point to the convention center. You can see right straight through the second street indoor outdoor pedestrian environment. There you can see on the right and left side there restaurants there. They'll spill out onto the street. They'll extend the character of second street, that kind of indoor outdoor dining that happens there. And then right inside the door here, if you hang a left, there's a community room which will be available for the community to rent and to occupy when the conventions are not in town, so that all of that becomes a kind of more public, more community oriented side of the building. And then that paseo goes right straight through to red river, and on the red river side, it starts getting softer and greener, and you start seeing the Waterloo greenway and palm park and in that case, it's got a big [9:30:28 AM] that case, it's got a big trellises and shady outdoor spaces that are rentable spaces for outdoor events, both by Waterloo greenway. And this one is outside the meeting rooms on the first floor that Marc was talking about. Even some of the pre-function spaces are outdoors so that people are constantly moving indoor or outdoor, experiencing our our larger urban environment. And then on the bottom two blocks, that's where, as Marc pointed out, there's the ballroom, this kind of pavilion, a really kind of unique ballroom for convention centers. It's not tucked away somewhere. It's on the ground level. You can spill out from it to the pre-function space, from the pre-function space out to this big deep porch, from that porch out to an outdoor terrace, from the terrace, then on to Waterloo greenway and the series of ramps and publicly accessible spaces that move up and down and inhabit that green environment. You can see the existing bridge from the fairmont that comes on [9:31:31 AM] from the fairmont that comes on the right there that will stay, and that will land into this soft, green, very activated environment next to Waterloo greenway. Another huge feature of this building. I got to tell you, this is my maybe my favorite part of it. We have done art in a very different way. I've been involved in public art projects in Austin forever, the airport and all over. But this one is a scale we've never done before. Total of $17.7 million in public art investment, the largest we've ever done in Austin. And we did it in a completely different way. We have architecturally integrated art. We selected ten artists and this was a great process. We're all the arts leaders in the community nominated people. We had about 90 people they nominated. Then we had a jury that selected ten outstanding artists, local artists here in Austin to work with us. From schematic design on large scale integrated art [9:32:33 AM] on large scale integrated art and the group of artists, we've been working with them. I love this, this crowd of people. It's everything from Deborah Roberts, who is a world renowned artist who has no presence in Austin. Now. She is she's probably the most famous artist living in the city, but she has no public art in Austin. This will be a major piece for her. And then we have little, you know, baby artists, just emerging artists that are exciting and this will be a boost for their career. People like Diego Rivera or Genaro. Good. This will be a great opportunity for them and they're super excited and invested in this integrated art project that will be all over the convention center. It will our culture, our visual arts will be pervasive in the building. Seven of those will be outdoors, so they'll be available for the public to see at any time. And three of those are indoors. About the current. [9:33:34 AM] are indoors. About the current. >> Artwork. >> Is that Mr. Wiley calling attention to himself again? >> No, no. >> Okay. I don't know who's speaking, but you're not allowed to speak while somebody else is at the podium. >> So just to close on a few big images, the whole idea of this is to make places in downtown that complement, that extend, that grow our ethos of what downtown is. And that's everything from the outdoor spaces to very much through the whole building, these places that feel like the kind of scale and character and material quality of sixth street, places that integrate into the green and the parks and the and they're shady and they're lush and they feel like the best of Austin landscapes, places that are where public can come and go, and they can see activities that [9:34:34 AM] and they can see activities that are happening in the convention center. But at the same time, they're they feel very much like you're in the city, not just on the convention center property. We've worked to try to make this building really an extension of our city, an expression of our city. And with that, we'll close. >> Thank you. Dean, you have anything else you want to say? All right, staff. >> That concludes the presentation for today. And we're happy to take any questions or comments you might have. >> What I, what I would suggest we do members is Mr. Bunch has a minute. 35. Let's let him give his minute 35 and then we'll open it up for questions for us. >> Thank you. Mayor, council members, those are a lot of pretty pictures. But the truth is, in Steve mills new documentary, the magic hole, I want to encourage you and everybody who cares about this to go find it on YouTube and watch it and think about it. I'm [9:35:35 AM] watch it and think about it. I'm I'm offended to say this is speaking about who we are because you all voted on what this project is really about already. When you voted to destroy. Professor Yancey's riffs and rhythms art piece, you have a $17.7 million budget that you're bragging about, but you can't scrape together a few tens of thousands, or maybe at most 100,000, to save this incredible art piece and several others that haven't been mentioned but are also going to be lost. I mean, that's what that's what you're telling the community. You really don't give a about art and public places. I think there's a whole bunch of other lies here. Zero carbon. I don't believe it for a second. Where's the document that paints that picture and shows that? Does it count the embedded carbon we're losing by scraping a perfectly good convention center? How much are we paying to bury it in the [9:36:37 AM] are we paying to bury it in the landfill? What about all the emissions of people who are going to be flying here for meetings that may or may not happen? Is that counted in this report? I want to see that report. Let's document it. I think that's a bogus claim. You see, they talk about rentable square feet. Mr. Hotel, Scott josloff stood here and told you to your face, nobody pays rent. >> Thank you, Mr. Bunch. Mr. Bunch, thank you. >> For free. >> Tell the truth. Thank you, Mr. Bunch. All right, members. The best bill, Mr. Bunch. >> In the hallway. >> Why don't why don't you. Why don't you either sit down or leave? All right. Members, now is an opportunity for us to ask questions about the design, layout. If anyone has any questions or thoughts, now would [9:37:39 AM] questions or thoughts, now would be a good time. Let me know if you can punch your light or just raise your hand right now. Council member duchen. >> Oh, you beat me to the hand raise. I have a couple of questions. I know that I want to follow up on our conversation from, I think, last week. First of all, I want to say it's probably been six weeks or so since we originally requested some of the financials that are related to this project. Everything from future projections to, you know, any kind of proforma or, you know, even just a budget for how the spending will work. I know you've explained how it will be the funding mechanism, but the actual details of how that will work. And so I'm hoping you can give me a timeline of when we can expect that information. >> Yes. Thank you for that. We're happy to provide that as soon as we possibly can. I apologize. >> That's not a timeline. >> Mr. Bunch. You're going to have to leave if you can't control yourself. [9:38:40 AM] control yourself. >> I know we'd also requested the information from the hvs report from, I think, 3 or 4 years ago now, which was about the how they're calculating the economic impact of this. There's an implant. There's another vendor. We talked about that. So if you can add that to the list of things that we are looking for, I'd appreciate that. >> Have that we have that for you okay. >> I'm curious about the this is going to be built. We talked about the green space that the architects just went over. There's my question is, is there like a hydrology study has have we evaluated any kind of environmental risk related to that? And is that anything you can share with us to. Anybody. >> Yes. >> Riley Triggs I'm project manager for the city of Austin for this project. Yes. We've done all of the usual and required environmental impact assessments on the property. [9:39:40 AM] assessments on the property. We've done geotech reports. We also have a very established group of architects and contractors who have worked in the downtown area and are used to the issues, and the things that we see on our site. >> Is it possible to request some of that or is that proprietary? >> I don't see why not. Yeah. >> It's okay. Well then I'm going to request that we add that to the list of the items we just talked about. >> Was there something in particular that you're interested in? >> I'm curious just to know if there were if in the process of discovering or doing those analysis, there were any kind of water quality issues you discovered that might be impacted from even the demolition process or moving all the rubble. That'd be from that demolition process or just, you know, I guess there's a real question I should be asking, which is the we talk about this being zero emission and zero waste. Does that extend? Is that just the building materials that are going into this and the [9:40:41 AM] are going into this and the construction of the project, or is that actually the demolition, the hauling, the rubble, moving the existing carbon that's currently in the facility right now? >> It is the entire process from demo all the way through operations. >> Okay. Well, I'd be curious to see again if there's a way to get more information about how that works and how you've calculated that. I think that's all I've got right now, so I appreciate your time on that. >> Thank you. Council member duchen. Council member alter. >> Thank you very much. I was wondering if you could help. Y'all touched on this in various parts, but to kind of just enumerate for us here, some of the public benefits spaces that are going to be within this, whether that's the restaurants or the usable space, just kind of condense for us here. What the average citizen who isn't attending a convention is going to be able to utilize or benefit [9:41:41 AM] to be able to utilize or benefit from this space. >> So there are a lot of this is eventual policy of are you going to use it for that or are you not going to use it for it? But but the design is incredibly flexible for being able to use it for whatever community events or convention events. So, for instance, that big open space between third and fourth street, you know, that will be programed for convention events. But it also there's no fence around it. There's no I mean, it's a public space now. It's very much the convention center space. And they're going to be some times where they have events there and that's going to dominate that area. But it is it is open and that's the way it's designed. Very much the same way with that area by waller creek. You know, you'll be able to walk through [9:42:41 AM] you'll be able to walk through that green space. And even if there's an event going on, you'll be able to do that. And then I spoke about the community room. Where on the paseo there. There's a really nice sort of like the library, that meeting room. That's their really great room there that if there's no convention center there that's available and it's in a very public part, in fact, the convention can be going on in the rest of the building, and that's designed so it doesn't interfere with that at all. So with zoned the building so that it can be used by the community and by conventions, but kind of depending on the demands of what the conventions want. Now it's got to be a convention center. So that's got to be a top priority. But the building is designed in such a way that there can be pieces segmented out for community activities, concurrent with events, or certainly when there aren't events going on. >> And what about ground floor, whether that's retail, restaurants. >> On Trinity street, there are several restaurant spots there. [9:43:42 AM] several restaurant spots there. We have an alternate that means we haven't quite got it in the finances yet. There's a very, very tight budget, but we're absolutely committed to trying to. This is our top priority. Alternate for a whole kind of food area in that top block on Trinity street there at the corner between third and fourth street on Trinity, that would be, you know, think you know a little. Well, certainly there can be food trucks there even if we can't afford to, but we'd like to have some more permanent kinds of things there. That really was a kind of nexus of small entrepreneurial food venues that would be there with lots of indoor and outdoor dining, that sort of thing. And then along Trinity, we have several in the building, restaurant sites that are there, as I mentioned, right as you go in the building on second street, restaurants on both sides there that spill out to outdoor dining, very generous sidewalk areas there. You're right. At the eventual light rail stop. Really great place [9:44:43 AM] rail stop. Really great place for that kind of activity to occur. >> Okay. And you all touched on a little bit some of the materials that you're going to reuse from the existing convention center. Do you have an estimate or ballpark of how much of the existing materials you're going to use? Either volume percentage. >> So we have really I mean, we've been out there with the demolition contractor and walking through that and trying to say what's easy to say, what's hard to save, where can we store it? How much will it cost? And this I've never been on a project where we've looked at that that so thoroughly. So we have I think there are 80, 75 foot trusses that are in the existing building. Structural members in the existing building that we're saving and that we're going to reuse. We have 75,000ft S of metal panels. These were in the original convention center, really high quality [9:45:44 AM] center, really high quality metal panels, and they're German made. They're they're really a good material. We're saving all of that and we're reusing it as exterior materials on the building. We have tons of shade elements in the existing building. All of those are being harvested, and we're reusing them as shade and trellis elements. In the new building interior. There's, you know, convention centers have to be real tough because you got lots of carts and things moving around. So all over in the convention center, there's like steel or metal at the lower portion up to a wainscot height. We're harvesting all of that and we're going to reuse it in the new building. There are many, many elements, but we have we've just inventoried everything we possibly could in that building that we could reuse. The first thing was, can we make it cost neutral to do that? I hate to say this, but there's very little that's cost neutral because it is more expensive to harvest it, store it, and put it [9:46:45 AM] harvest it, store it, and put it back in the building than to buy something new. But we have a as Marc mentioned, we have a piece of the budget that we hollowed out and we said that money is there for zero net carbon and we can save carbon. We'll spend that money specifically on it. And for that salvage, reuse, it's going to cost more money to do that. But we're going to spend the money because it reduces the carbon. Okay. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Councilmember else. Did you wish to speak? >> I did. Good I think this design is fantastic. I've seen a couple different iterations over the years that I've been on this dais about what the new convention center might look like, and I think most people in town agree that a giant big box that takes up all that acreage in downtown Austin is not the best use of space. One of the original asks that I put into this was to make sure we had that bike pedestrian connectivity, and so I'm really glad to see there's a creative process to how we accommodate meeting space, and how we also make sure that the general public is not excluded from [9:47:46 AM] public is not excluded from this. The main goal was to make sure that it wasn't just people coming from out of town that were able to use this space, but the folks that operate and live and work in this area could reengage with the downtown network, revitalize the portions of second street that are not as busy as the ones that we see outside of city hall, and it connect into the palm park district plan. So the city has had their eyes on how to make sure that that is not just stuck in the middle of a giant brick and a highway. And I think this is a really creative plan to be able to bring those different aspects of the city together. And so I appreciate the effort to make sure that those wishes have been incorporated into this project. You know, I hear a lot about, like, are people really going to conventions these days? And I'll just say, I'm getting emails almost constantly about conventions in other cities and trying to make sure that experts that work in fields like government and engineering and working on big projects like roads, transportation, infrastructure, how cities [9:48:46 AM] infrastructure, how cities actually manage the tight budgets that they have. And so these are the talks I've been able to be a part of over the past couple of years. I would say people are going to conventions more than they ever have, because people didn't like not being able to go to conventions for a couple of years. Now, everybody wants to see a city that is thriving has oftentimes been a case study in how you take difficulties and obstacles and turn them into successes and creativity. And I think that's something that Austin is very gifted at. I appreciate the attention to the use of materials aiming for the highest levels of Leed certification are things that we care about. I know that in my briefing, we talked about rainwater capture and trying to make sure that this building is a gold standard in how to how to implement the practices that city council has been working on for a number of years. And I will also say, you know, the idea that we could have people coming in from out of town and helping to beef up our sales tax revenues is very useful to all of our departments that aren't [9:49:48 AM] of our departments that aren't enterprise departments, as well as public transportation. Capital metro works a lot on that sales tax money, and it's important to make sure that they can serve the needs of people all across town to be able to do that. And so the only questions that I'll ask today are about the conversations with rail and bike connectivity. Are you having conversations with the transit partnership and making sure that we're not putting the cart before the horse on any of the issues that might involve shared right of way or other sorts of pedestrian connectivity onto a rail system, either the new one or the existing one. >> Absolutely. We're having, I think, biweekly meetings with atp right now and been coordinating with them for probably a year now on how their new station, which is going to be on Trinity right next to our convention center, fits in with what we're doing. So a lot of extensive work there, also dealing with cap metro and the red line, the existing station that's there and ensuring that, [9:50:49 AM] that's there and ensuring that, you know, while we're under construction as well as afterwards, that we maintain the connectivity and the access to their station. >> Okay, fantastic. >> And as far as load in and load out, where exactly is that planned into this? Is it going to be managed underground or certain street connectivity, like on third street that you had presented as still having car traffic? >> So unlike the way the convention center is right now, where there's the loading bay on red river, our loading docks are actually going to be below grade next to the exhibit hall. So there's a driveway that goes in and a helix that will take the 18 wheelers down to the exhibit hall level. So all of that activity will be off the street. And then, of course, there's the marshaling yard where trucks wait until they're called, until they're brought downtown when there's room for them. >> Well, I'm very eager to see what that helix looks like and how that's going to operate. >> But get your skateboard. >> I know it can be done. What's [9:51:49 AM] >> I know it can be done. What's that? >> Get your skateboard. >> Okay, well, I'll be I'll have to get a skateboard to be able to do that. And then my last question is going to be about the bike connectivity. Oftentimes the places that people lock up their bicycles when they're going downtown are just kind of afterthoughts. They look like big staples that are next to next to the busy roads. Is there any effort to have safer bike storage capacity like we have at the. Library? Can you talk me through if those conversations have taken place yet or if it's on your radar? >> Yes, there's already provisions for, I think, bike lockers with within the facility. A lot of that is for employees or, you know, whoever may be using the building. But we're working through the details of exactly where that is and how big it is, plus, the other bike facilities around the site. But also as part of this project, we're working with transportation and public works department to put in a new bike Laine along red river that will be right next to our site. So we're actually taking that on as [9:52:50 AM] we're actually taking that on as part of our project to help them out. And so that will be something really nice that will connect Rainey street all the way up to the Lance Armstrong bikeway. So we're going to make definite improvements to the bike transportation around our site. >> That's fantastic. There's been a number of different workshops and study tours that have come to town to understand how we are adopting best practices for safe bicycle lanes and other sorts of connectivity, including her majesty the queen of the Netherlands was here a couple of years ago, and so I hope that we can continue to do that, because I think that's a good way that we can partner with road safety and make sure that folks who are coming here to learn more about the city or to enjoy their time here and patronize the businesses, have a chance to get around town safely. A lot of people want to use metro bike when they're here, because it just doesn't make sense to try to catch a ride for a short period of time. And I want to make sure that this is engaged in that conversation. Thank you. >> Thank you. Councilmember. Councilmember Laine. [9:53:51 AM] Councilmember Laine. >> Yes, I wanted to thank you for this briefing and all the work that has gone into this. Something that's very important to me is that when we are making big investments that support people who live and work out primarily outside of Austin, that it also serves our community of residents and workers here. And I see so much of that in this design, and I really appreciate it. The additional porousness for pedestrians and cyclists, you know, we hear a lot about I-35 and its impact on this, on the division of the city. And I have long felt that the current convention center also creates these kinds of divisions, and I love seeing a project that that strives to overcome that. I also am very impressed with how much this design reflects and improvement in our buildings, reflecting our community values, how you have created an effective transition into the city. You have brought the arts in a very public way into this design, the environment, the transition between the [9:54:52 AM] transition between the environment and the city. I again, just so impressed with what I'm seeing in here. And it is clear the level of planning and collaboration that made it come together, I do, I'm going to return to my topic statement. I do find it really important that these types of investments serve our residents and workers. And so, circling back to transportation, I'm going to add one more thing there. It is critically important to me. I represent district six, which is one of the only districts that is almost entirely in the suburbs. Most of our district is not accessible to the rail and will not be anytime soon. We do have a lot of highways in txdot roadways that go through our district. I think it's really important and I invite you. I hope that you can become a voice for the need for some express bus service to bring our residents from district six in, to enjoy these amenities as well as the workers. As the cost of living has increased, people have been displaced outward, including into district six, and it is quite a challenge for workers to make it into the city [9:55:53 AM] workers to make it into the city right now. So I hope that that will be part of the transportation conversation as well. And let's see, I'm just looking at my notes to see if there's anything else. I think, oh, cost, of course, I appreciated the public comment that I heard and as I have been asking questions in preparation for this discussion, I also want to say that I was very impressed to hear and glad, I would say heartened to hear, that the financial planning that has gone into this has been long term and effective. Using reserves allocations to build up the money over time. What we're seeing here is not precipitous. It's a lot of planning, both financial and otherwise, that has gone into it. And it is very evident to me even as a new council member. So I very much appreciate that, and I really look forward to the way that this design will fit in with the other large projects, just like the city hall, to become something beautiful that we can all enjoy in town and out of town. Thank you. [9:56:54 AM] town. Thank you. >> Thank you, council member. Anyone else? Councilmember qadri. >> Please. >> Mr. Whaley, I don't know why you decided you weren't going to act nice today, but it's good to see you. >> All right. >> It's good to see you. Please, please, please, please make your way out. Councilmember duchen. And then I'll come to councilmember qadri. If you had more. >> Yeah, I've got two more questions. One, building on what councilmember alter has started, I'm curious. We talked about a community room. Is there any other space available for the public to use there? I know that's something that came up again in our conversation last week, like, can the if somebody wants to perform, can they use a space there? If somebody wants to have a yoga class outdoors, can they use space out there? How does that work? >> Great question, councilmember. Thank you very much. So we as a department are going to be reevaluating the overall booking policy that we have. So we're going to be [9:57:55 AM] have. So we're going to be creating a nonprofit rate, and we're going to be expanding that program as we move forward. So there will certainly be places that the community can rent. All of the meeting rooms, you know, can be rented by the community. The community room that Larry spoke about in particular is going to be a nice additional feature. It's about the size of the special event space at the library currently, and the space that's filling out to that is even bigger. We do imagine that there's going to be flexibility and opportunity, especially on the outdoor event site at fourth and fourth and Trinity street. We will have the opportunity to program the space with local, perhaps art, musicians and things of that nature. So as we move forward over the next few years, as we're building this new building, there will be a new booking policy that comes out for the department, and we will share that with you. >> Okay. I look forward to that when that's available. The other question I had was when we looked at that, the specific layout last week, it looked like [9:58:56 AM] layout last week, it looked like there were ten spaces reserved across the property for the different new artist installations that are going in there. I'm just wondering how malleable the design is, that it could potentially incorporate some of the art that's going to be deaccessioned from the current convention center. >> So there are several different types of installations that are in the works. They're in the process. They've just started to settle out on where each artist is going to work. But as they do their thinking about the types of art they're going to do and how that's going to be installed, it's going to get into the architecture in the first phase. So several of them are looking at actually engaging the materials of the building, some CNC stone and things like that, that will become part of the building. But then there's also other artists who are looking at analyzing their projects so that they'll be easily moved. And if necessary. But what we're doing is we're [9:59:56 AM] But what we're doing is we're planning to have these art installations in places that are not going to be affected by the future expansion, so that we don't have any issues with having to move around any of the art that we're currently procuring. >> And again, is there any flexibility in that process for potentially reviewing whether it's possible to take some of the art that's going to be deaccessioned and add that to the existing plan that you've got? >> I think, yes, I think a lot of the artists are looking at how that work can again, be panelized so that it's easy to remove, especially in in some of the areas around the exterior of, of the building. So yes, that's that's part of what we're thinking. >> Okay. And then just one last question, which is do we have any kind of cost estimate of what it would take to salvage the doctor Yancey's work or anything else that may not be possible to, at this stage be? Reused as part of the process? >> Council member. That's a [10:00:57 AM] >> Council member. That's a great question. I think what I'll do is additionally speak to the fact that there are 27 art pieces currently in the Austin convention center. We have been working with aip. They have been leading the efforts to document, categorize, and make sure that we are putting together a living history of the pieces that are in the existing convention center right now. Additionally, there are a few artists who have decided to come and take their pieces back. There is also a catalog of art that we are keeping that was possible to, we believe, put back into the new convention center due to the way that it was hung or the way that it was designed. So there are pieces in the existing convention center that will go in the new convention center, and there is a catalog of and we're, you know, trying to tell the story of the 27 pieces that were in this building previously to keep that legacy and to share the fact that that art is moving forward into the future. So this new building will have a blend of brand new art by these artists. It will have a blend of art that was in the previous [10:01:58 AM] art that was in the previous convention center as well. >> No, and I'm grateful for your efforts to do all that and try and preserve that history. I'm just curious, again, if there's a way to scope out what it would take for any art that may not be part of that process, that may at this point be, I suppose we could say, unsalvageable. >> Yeah, I believe that we can get that information to you in ape might be able to answer that question about the specific quote, but the art pieces that we're able to be, several of the art pieces that we're able to be repurposed will be reused in the new convention center. >> Okay. That's good to know. Thank you. >> Councilmember qadri. And let me make sure. Is there anybody else? Councilmember qadri great. >> I appreciate the presentation. I enjoyed it the first time. I enjoyed it even more. The second time I just wanted to touch on the, the ten artists. You know, we're really excited about that. And, you know, we've heard a lot of concerns from from folks about the current convention center and the art pieces. And there's [10:02:58 AM] and the art pieces. And there's an item that my office, along with a lot of my colleagues, have worked on, item 29 on the March 6th agenda. That will address a lot of the concerns that have come up about the existing convention center and the existing pieces. And, you know, before I get into my question, I'm also just really excited about how the public spaces will kind of be used, and I'm excited to see how locals can use it, how creatives can use it. You know, what vendors, you know, can can use that space and really show who we are as a city. My question just mainly has to do with timeline. Convention center is in district nine. There's a lot of people who work in district nine. They live in district nine, they visit district nine, they travel through district nine. I know south bay starts in just a few short weeks, and I believe the convention center then is going to close its doors in April, and demolition will start in may. Is that right? That's correct. And then? And then I guess my question is how will outreach look like to residents and workers in the area? Because I imagine there's going to be a lot of street closures, and [10:04:00 AM] lot of street closures, and there's going to be a lot of strain on on businesses and whatnot. >> Yeah. So during the construction process, especially demo and excavation, there will be a lot of extra traffic downtown with construction trucks, especially hauling away the debris. So we have worked very closely with tpw on what's called a traffic control plan, a tcp, in order to plan out how traffic will be adjusted during this time. So we've been working with them for several months on developing that and also coordinating with other projects in the area. So they're looking at, you know, how all of downtown is going to be affected, especially when I-35 starts and some other major projects downtown. So all of that's being coordinated quite closely. We've also reached out to hotels, residences and businesses within about a half mile radius of us. And so we've been keeping them up to speed about what we're doing, what the effects are taking their their needs and desires into account. [10:05:00 AM] needs and desires into account. So just a very specific example at the San Jacinto, I'm sorry, the four seasons building at Cesar Chavez and Trinity, we were we got feedback that they really needed a left turn Laine into their facility for their service trucks. So we're making accommodations in our traffic control plan specifically for that. So that's just an example of how we're working very closely with our neighbors to make sure that we have as little impact as possible. I'm not saying it's going to be great, just it's extra traffic, but we're doing everything that we can in order to minimize that and the impact on our neighbors. >> Great. Thank you. >> Thank you. Council member members, I think that completes the briefing on this item. Let me say on behalf of the council. Thank you all very much. Thanks for all the work that's going into it. And thanks for the robust briefing and council members. Thank you all. Members. Now, the city council will go into a closed session to take up one item pursuant to section 551071 of the Texas government [10:06:02 AM] 551071 of the Texas government code. The council will discuss legal issues related to item a 40, which is the approval of an ordinance amending city code section four 1825 to remove references to short term rental types, amending city code title four to add short term rental related regulations that apply to short term rental owners, operators, and platforms. Creating offenses and establishing penalties. It indicates on the agenda that the funding for this item has no fiscal impact. Is there any objection to going into an executive session on the items announced? Hearing none. The council will now go into an executive session at 10:05 A.M. Members of the public, when we finish the executive session, we will come back out and we will we are out of the closed [10:58:26 AM] we are out of the closed session, and in closed session we discussed legal issues related to item 840. It is 10:57 A.M. And the council is going to go to item 840. Except I may have jumped the gun. Hang on folks, I want to make sure we've got everybody we need to have. I may have jumped the gun a little bit. Give me one second. All right. All right, members, [11:00:31 AM] All right. All right, members, I'll bring to the table item 840, which is the ordinance related to short term rentals. There's a couple of things that we'll talk about. And I want to start by recognizing council member Velazquez. He, he he pulled the item, and I want to recognize him as the person that pulled the item and open it up for any questions that he might have. >> Thank you. Mayor. So, colleagues, I pulled this item. As you all know, we've been working on this for a while, and district three is the second most starred area after my compass district nine. So we just want to make sure that we get this right. How are we going to improve the time it currently takes to get a license issued? And what is the current time frame? >> Outside of the actual [11:01:34 AM] >> Outside of the actual ordinance proposal? We are looking at securing a vendor to help us on the licensing side of the process, to create a more user friendly experience and also solve some back end transfer of information that makes the process a little less efficient. Additionally, and to answer your second question, it I would say on average, you're looking at about a four week turnaround for licenses, but it depends a lot on the responsiveness of the applicant to providing additional information that's requested during the process. >> And should should they have all that, that information that that is upfront to be able to provide that? What are we looking at for the for the turnaround on that. >> As currently or under a new system. >> Under the new system. >> My hope would be that that could shorten the timeframe, you know, by half or more. But until we actually have that vendor contracted and in place and [11:02:34 AM] contracted and in place and implemented, it's hard to say for sure. >> Thank you. What is the exact timeline for the rfp that that for the proposed platform scraping software and the new license processing system that was approved in this year's budget. >> So we are really close to having our scope of work completed. We're looking at these conversations to help refine that and to make sure we're asking for the system that we need to implement what comes out of an ordinance. I think once we submit for rfp, as I understand it, the minimum time frame we can run that is two weeks. But I think sometimes that timeframe is dependent upon the complexity of the contract being requested, and then it's into the vendor evaluation selection process and awarding the contract and then the implementation phase. >> And when are you expecting that to go out? [11:03:36 AM] that to go out? >> The rfp? You know, once we have reasonable clarity on what what the future looks like, I think we would get the scope of work delivered into the rfp process very quickly. >> Okay. And when can we expect to see the new administrative rules around strs from dsd? If we pass this ordinance? There's a lot of concerns that have been raised by the community and stakeholders and council. And I'm particularly thinking about the parameters that that constitute a nuisance. >> Sure. So there is an emergency rules adoption process in the code today to stand up the procedures that we would need to implement the ordinance as proposed, we would submit through that emergency rules process that generally gives us a runway of about 120 days to implement, I guess what you might call permanent rules. [11:04:37 AM] might call permanent rules. >> Okay. And what is the community engagement that is being done by dsd comms or cpio to educate the community about this, about these changes? And will there be a public information and education campaign ahead of enforcement, and what's the timeline for that stuff? >> So primarily our engagement so far has been focused on the draft proposal that's been brought forward and increasing awareness around this discussion. And the public hearings involved. Once we land on a place with a finalized ordinance, we would certainly design some kind of outreach program to raise awareness. And then once we have a contract implemented for licensing, we'd want to advertise that as well. So we do advertising campaigns through our social media accounts, through our website, through press releases. We use multiple strategies to reach the public. >> And just one, I'd implore you all to also utilize a lot of the council offices. We have [11:05:38 AM] council offices. We have newsletters and a strong social media presence, and any graphics that we can share out or videos or anything that we can help educate the public on what's what's changing and enforcement. I know I can speak for myself, I'm happy to do that. And my last uestion is, will there be a list of faqs or standard lines that that council offices can refer to? Because this is a very emotive issue for district residents. >> Faqs regarding the changes, the changes, yes. That's certainly something we could develop and put online and share out with the council offices as well. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, councilmember Velasquez members. I'll I'll say a few things and then if anybody's got additional questions and thoughts, what I wanted to start off with was a reminder that there are there are bills that have been filed during the legislature during this legislative session. And you'll recall that at the joint meeting with the planning [11:06:39 AM] meeting with the planning commission, one of the things that I pointed out is and I put it on the I put it on the message board as well, that I want us to be mindful of the conversation of and the legal context in which we find ourselves and how the state actions might impact the work that we're doing right now. As we look at this, as we discussed these items today and on Thursday, I want us to be aware of that conversation and what's going on, because there are some some key aspects of what it is that we want to do that could change during this legislative session. And I think it creates an opportunity for the city to partner with, if you will, members of the legislature as they work on how you might what what the regulatory framework might be for strs. And as we work on it from a very practical standpoint, and we'll be doing all of that, we'll be working to kind of partner with them on [11:07:39 AM] kind of partner with them on this. And in addition, as councilmember Velasquez just pointed out with his questions, and I really appreciate those answers. There are key parts of this process that seem to feel at least a little unfinished. There's some technical and administrative processes for improved permitting, improved enforcement, licensing, that kind of thing that need to be considered and worked on as we go forward. So what I proposed yesterday on the message board was a way that we might get things done now and move forward, which is simply that what we do is we take the administrative task, we the administrative action of moving our regulations out of the zoning code and into title for business regulations. What this looks like is moving forward on item 39 that will have on Thursday, but with a simplified [11:08:40 AM] Thursday, but with a simplified version, a simplified version of item 40. And that only focuses on the requirements related to having a license. I would also ask that, and I'm going to make the big ask here in just a second of staff, but that that there be a delayed implementation on those so that we can work through the potential partnership with, with the members of the legislature and how we're going forward on that. And some of these administrative questions that that council member Velasquez has brought to light. So that would also lead, by the way, item 41, which relates to hotel occupancy taxes and the collection of those. And I think we'd be in a position to probably move forward on that with just a little bit more work between now and Thursday. So my what I want to lay out is a possible possibility is what I said on the message board and the request I made of staff. And I want to now direct this to [11:09:41 AM] I want to now direct this to staff. I mean, you've heard you saw what I put on the message board. You've heard what I just said. Now, if we make if the sense of the council in this work session and I make that request of you to bring us back a version of those, those items, would we be able to do that and move forward? >> Yes. >> That's that was a simple answer. Okay. All right. Very good. Thank you. Appreciate your brevity, councilmember vela. >> Mayor, I. >> Would also be supportive of a pause, at least. >> Again, let's get what we can done done right now. But the legislature is in session. I know the city of Houston is also has a pending proposal. Dallas is in litigation over their str regulations. My sense would be to a few months of understanding [11:10:42 AM] to a few months of understanding the environment before we move would be prudent in in this case. >> And I don't know whether I said it and I apologize if I didn't, but we would delay the implementation so that what would happen is we'd be operating, except for if we pass the ordinance related to the hot taxes, we'd be operating essentially, as we are right now, delay the implementation until after sine die. We'll know a little bit more about some litigation that's out there, things of that nature and set the target of July 27th, which would be the first day back after. Well, actually, there's two potential meetings after signee die, but one's June 5th and that's just right after sine die. So come back July 27th. So consistent with what you just said, councilmember vela. >> And the one part that I do have urgency on would be the collection of the hotel [11:11:43 AM] collection of the hotel occupancy taxes. We've missed out on almost a decade of hotel occupancy taxes from strs, which again, I don't know what that number is, but it's a lot of money. We are about to move forward with a $1.2 billion convention center redo. This money will go pay for that. And our cultural arts historic preservation, which our hotel tax also funds. Again, we know what the struggles of our artists in the community are and their need for support. I do have a real sense of urgency on the getting those hotel taxes into the city coffers and getting them out into the community. >> Thank you, councilmember. Councilmember Ellis. >> I didn't have my hand up. >> Oh. Oh yeah. >> It's still a sign of my old chair. >> A soft suggestion that we get this where when I look down here, you're now councilmember Ellis. Yes, that's right. The. So I recognize the new council [11:12:43 AM] So I recognize the new council member. Ellis. Councilmember qadri. >> Great. Thank you, mayor. Thank you, councilmember Ellis. I want to thank my councilmember Velasquez, the Rosie Velasquez, for kicking off for kicking off this for this conversation, and very much appreciate the mayor's message board post. I just want to signal what other folks have already done, very much supportive of his his suggestion in that. And I really do appreciate the community feedback we've been hearing from constituents both in district nine, district three, and I'm sure throughout throughout the city, you know, this is a very sensitive topic, and we need to make sure we hit the right balance because as it relates to district nine, you know, I really want to make sure in our office wants to make sure that we're working towards increasing compliance of our current str stock, that are also mindful of the impact that that has, the impact that it has on, on neighborhoods and affordability throughout the city. But that being said, you know, we also want to make sure that, you know, we understand the [11:13:43 AM] know, we understand the importance of having diverse lodging options for visitors and that for some people operating their home, their back house or their spare bedroom as an str is often what helps them still achieve the Austin dream. And being able to live in the city and being able to stay in the community. So it's a, it's a, it's a, you know, a fine thing to kind of thread. But, you know, I'm looking forward to the many conversations and the work that's ahead. >> Great. Thank you. Councilman qadri. Yes, councilmember Siegel thank you, mayor. >> I just want to also signal my support for this this pause. You know, I filed an amendment that would kind of address some of the, you know, protecting the community, protecting affordability, preventing displacement issues. But I think it's wise to wait to completely understand the regulatory framework we're operating in. And it looks like just a very small correction, mayor, that July 24th would be the meeting we're shooting for here. >> Well, that's a friendly amendment. Thank you. Yeah. So the Thursday, July 24th. >> Yes, sir. [11:14:43 AM] >> Yes, sir. >> I have no idea where I came up with 27th then. So but we'll figure that out. I'm sure it was wild Turkey related, so yeah. Yeah. Councilmember alter. >> I was hoping to get a clarification on something from Trish here. And Daniel right now, from an enforcement perspective, if we want to enforce our current rules for someone operating unlicensed, we can't look at a calendar where they say, my str is available on March 1st, and then you show up at their door today and say, hey, you're operating unlicensed because you've advertised for March 1st. You have to wait until March 1st. Hope for someone to be there, knock on the door, say, do you live here? And that then allows for you to enforce? Is that correct? >> So the current ordinance provides us two different ways [11:15:45 AM] provides us two different ways of enforcement we can enforce for advertising without a license, and we can enforce for operating the operating piece. You're correct. That requires a human to human interaction at the property. The advertising piece, though, simply having an advertisement up as long as I can identify the property it belongs to, then we can carry forward on advertising with a we can carry forward a citation for advertising. >> And I know our enforcement is pretty limited, but what do you typically do? Is it on the advertising side or on the operating side? >> Yeah, it's I mean, it generally ends up being both because once we have an advertising, once we identify the property, we'll carry forward the advertising without a license enforcement. Then we'll also start checking on the property on site to see if we can also determine that they're operating as well. Okay, okay. >> And the reason I ask is I think the problem that we have as a city is not the rules on the page or the rules in the [11:16:46 AM] the page or the rules in the books, it's that we have no enforcement tool. I mean, you guys are doing the best you can, but you're very limited in the information. You have to be able to go and enforce these. And so if we can get the tool in place that councilmember Velasquez was asking you about as quickly as possible, I think that solves a large problem outside of what the code says, whether it's in 25, two or title four, we need to have an enforcement tool that we don't have. And so I think if we move forward with this proposal, we're still able to address what I would say is the significant problem in our regulatory system. And that's back end enforcement. >> So good. Thank you. Anybody else? Yes. Councilmember duchen. >> I had one comment which was just to say I support waiting on the regulatory environment also, and I think hopefully using this time period to really better understand the technology [11:17:47 AM] understand the technology compliance aspect and options that we've got available to us that we could potentially pursue in the interim to try and address the hot tax collection and enforcement challenges. It seems like we've been experiencing over a period of years, because it does seem like there are vendors in this space that might be able to and have been doing work in other cities and municipalities, counties to try and address this for other places that are experiencing similar challenges as well as potentially, as I mentioned earlier, trying to get better data on where we are. One thing I'm curious to get your perspective on, Daniel. I think from the prior presentation you mentioned something like, was it 60, 70 or 80% of our marketplace is the large vendors and like 20% is. 20% of smaller operators or smaller platforms. Do you have a sense of what the breakdown is between, like [11:18:47 AM] breakdown is between, like direct booking, between major, between the major platforms that we'd be trying to regulate in the proposal you've suggested versus other options that are out there? >> As far as the breakdown in terms of which platforms are being utilized, or whether there's bookings occurring outside of the platform. We don't have direct available data on that. A lot of our estimates come from kind of what we've been told, but I think we believe that probably somewhere between 80 and 90% of the bookings occur on some of the major platforms. But again, that's not information we have direct access to. So that's that's just what we think okay. >> Because that's something that I'll tell you I've been struggling with also is trying to get different conversations and different data that's available online. Most of it's national data. I don't think any of it's local data, but understanding the different breakdowns, because that would heavily influence the solution that I'd be thinking about if it turned out that, let's just say [11:19:49 AM] turned out that, let's just say by example, the inverse occurred, and most of the most of the action was happening on direct booking or smaller platforms. Then looking at enforcement from a larger major platform perspective wouldn't make as much sense or wouldn't give us as much coverage. So anyway, I'm just curious. Again, that's one reason I'm trying to think about if we can figure out a way to get better data in the next weeks and months. Then in the summer when we revisit this, we might have a better understanding of what the best solution looks like. At that point. I do have 1 or 2 other questions. I'm curious to know what the genesis of the thousand foot rule was that you all proposed. And by the way, I'm happy to take this conversation offline. I know I already talked to Daniel earlier about talking about technology compliance. So if we're already in agreement about pursuing a particular solution here, I can just shelve these and take them offline. >> It's up to you. I mean, this is a work session. Feel free to ask the questions. >> Okay. I'll just try and speed through these then. So one [11:20:51 AM] through these then. So one question is what's the genesis of 1000 foot rule? Is that from other cities using that rule is how do you all come up with that? >> On some level, the 1000 foot rule is a carry forward from what we have existing on our short term rental regulations for our type two short term rentals on the on in the ordinance today, there's 1000 foot requirement, a separation requirement of 1000ft between type two str. So part part of the 1000 foot logic is just carrying forward that existing regulation. Additionally, when we look at our zoning code more broadly and we look at areas of the code that have what we might describe as anti clustering provisions, there's a similar 1000 foot requirement in our bed and breakfast regulations that require bed and breakfast to be spaced at least 1000ft apart. Adult oriented businesses also have a 1000 foot requirement. So we're we're we're borrowing essentially from existing code and just using that to carry forward. [11:21:52 AM] forward. >> Thank you. And then if we're talking about like a an along the lines of the sort of spatial or density or type of limitations, I know that other municipalities in fact, I think here also, ten years ago, we tried or looked at using a census tract limitation. Is that something you guys considered when you were looking at your different options? >> Not really. Kind of. In light of the universe we're working in and understanding the council's full goals. So if we look at the issue of affordability, one of part of affordability is for owners to be able to use their property as a short term rental. Then once you live or have lived there long term and would like to use it, you know, a few times out of the year, whatever it might be, the census track cap is doesn't allow for that because we cannot distinguish [11:22:52 AM] because we cannot distinguish between who is owner occupied and who is not owner occupied, because the census track cap never applied to owner occupied properties. So kind of in light of that, the second piece of it is once your census tract hits its cap, what if that license goes away? Then how do we address the fact that we have one opening or two openings? It's a challenge under this. Essentially, the court decisions we're working under and also creates a potential for rushes to the city to get licenses and things like that. So and Franck to be Franck. No, we did not, just because of what we're in right now. Like the reality of our regulatory framework. >> Thank you. And is there have I'm just curious if you in your investigation if in others again cities or municipalities or counties have been successful in collecting back taxes from people that have been brought into compliance but might have been out of compliance for a [11:23:54 AM] been out of compliance for a period of years? >> I don't know, at the str level. Plus every state has a different set of regulations, so I'm not sure how that has worked for folks. For from an str level. Point of view. >> Would you know if any of the Daniel in your conversations with the technology compliance vendors, have any of them been helpful in that capacity? >> That's something I would need to circle back with them on. You know, most of the conversations I've had have been around their capabilities, but particularly around the ability to identify addresses, less so in terms of the ability to collect or their possession of past data that might be potentially beneficial in terms of looking at hot tax that went unpaid. So that's something I would need to circle back on. >> One last question in your investigation or understanding of the current enforcement tools [11:24:55 AM] of the current enforcement tools that we've got, are you discovering that different city departments like APD or code enforcement or development services are exchanging information about problematic properties and using that to help with enforcement? >> So dsd and APD have a relationship now we are actively working on improving our data sharing capabilities. That's been something that as this conversation has progressed, we've identified as an area that we can definitely work better at. >> Okay. Thank you, I appreciate it. >> Thank you. Councilmember duchen anybody else have anything they want to talk about? All right, members, that concludes all of the items that are on the agenda for this work session. So without objection, the city council work session for February 25th, 2025 is adjourned at 11:24 A.M. Thanks, everybody.