City Council Special Called Meeting Transcript - 4/1/2025 Title: ATXN-1 (24hr) Channel: 1 - ATXN-1 Recorded On: 4/1/2025 6:00:00AM Original Air Date: 4/1/2025 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. [2:00:44 PM] It is 2:01 P.M. On April 1st, 2025, and I will call to order the this special meeting of the Austin city council. We are meeting in the city council chambers that are located at city hall at 301 west second street in Austin, Texas. And I have a quorum of the Austin city council present. I'll turn it over to the planning commission. Thank you. >> Thank you. Mayor. With a quorum of commissioners present, I'm going to go ahead and call this meeting of the planning commission and joined city council planning commission meeting to order at 2:01 P.M. On Tuesday, April 1st, 2025, in the city. City council chambers at 301 west second street. Thank you mayor. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is as was pointed out, this is a [2:01:44 PM] is as was pointed out, this is a joint meeting of the Austin city council and the Austin planning commission. I want to welcome everyone and everyone that's paying attention to this and watching. Today, we're going to conduct a public hearing on the preservation bonus code amendment. We're going to hear a presentation from city staff on this agenda item first and then members. If you have members of both the commission and the city council, if you have questions that are brief, clarifying questions after the after the presentation, please ask those questions. And then we will hear from people th are wishing to that are signed up to speak. And each person will have two minutes to sign up to speak. Let me point out that there will be no vote today. This will be a public hearing only. The planning commission will meet again on April 8th, and at that time, there will be a chance for further public comment and input. And if the planning commission is ready at that time, it will be able to vote on the recommendations that it makes to the mayor and city [2:02:45 PM] makes to the mayor and city council. The city council is scheduled to consider this item on April 24th. This will be another opportunity for public comment and input. And with that, and without objection, I will open the public hearing for this joint meeting of the Austin city council and the Austin planning commission. There being no objection, the public hearing is now opened and I will turn it over and ask our professional staff to give us a briefing. >> Afternoon. Mayor, council members, planning commissioners Keith Mars, assistant director of development services department I will give you the staff presentation and afterwards available for questions. As the mayor mentioned, this is the preservation ordinance or preservation bonus ordinance revion and a very specific amendment to that ordinance. And we'll go through the background of why this ordinance in this public hearing is in front of you. The staff proposal and the timeline associated with it. So in December of 2023, city council approved home phase one [2:03:46 PM] council approved home phase one and home phase one allowed a couple of things. One is constructing up to three units on a residential lot. It excluded what's called the floor to area ratio calculations for preserving the existing home on the property. It also limited the two new units that were constructed 2.55 floor area ratio, or roughly 3200ft S. After that ordinance was passed in December, council came back through a resolution in July of 2024 and asked staff to come back with an ordinance on a very ific amendment, and that was to revise the two new unit limit from 0.55 fa up t65 fa, or roughly 4300ft S. The purpose of this is to incentivize preservation of smaller residential units. As part of that resolution, it was also look at the city's preservation [2:04:47 PM] look at the city's preservation programs at large. And my colleagues in the planning department are working on that more long term effort. But before you today is very specific to changing the floor to area ratio. So the proposal is changing one line in the land development code in the zoning chapter to state that the two dwelling units exceed 0.65 F.A.R or 4350ft S if the existing residential unit is preserved. It's important to note that this changes no other land use regulations. This does not change impervious cover. This does not change building height or setbacks. This is limited to that floor area ratio. Now the impact and part of this is in plain language. What does this mean. It incentivizes preservation of the smaller homes in our community, such that the full floor of the area ratio allowance can be [2:05:48 PM] area ratio allowance can be achieved for the property. When it was first adopted at 0.55 floor ratio. Our analysis suggests that the tipping point for the average lot in Austin is that if you preserve a home about 800ft S or less, and you still build two new units on the property, you cannot reach your full 0.65 fa that's allowed on the property. So this very specific amendment to allow 0.65 for the two new units truly incentivizes preserving the smallest of homes. Anything less than again, on average, 800ft S, 700ft S, the 600ft S existing more naturally affordable homes in our community will now have incentive in code to preserve those. When you build two new residential units. The public notice for this went through [2:06:50 PM] notice for this went through with the short term rental notification. This is a change to the city's zoning code. It was put out with citywide tice, along with short term rentals that was issued in January of this year. On that on that notice, it laid out the next steps and the dates associated with them. Here today is the April 1st joint hearing of city council and planning commission. On April 8th, this specific item will go to planning commission for their recommendation on April 24th, for city council to conduct the public hearing and adopt changes to this ordinance. And if you have questions, staff are here to answer them. Thank you. >> Members of the council, members of the planning commission. Do we have any questions of staff at this point? Okay, then. Thank you for that presentation. It looks like we don't have any questions right now. So I will turn to the city clerk and ask you to please help us with the public comment, period. >> Thank you. Mayor. We have one remote speaker, Monica Guzman. [2:07:51 PM] remote speaker, Monica Guzman. >> Thank you. >> Yes. >> Thank you mayor. Good afternoon. I'm Monica Guzman, policy director. Garza lugo. Austin. Austin. My statement will actually be short. It's a lot to read. I've got people asking me about it. Main thing is, I understand and appreciate trying to preserve original housing, but people shouldn't feel that they're forced to get it only if they build more units. So that's it. Thank very much. >> Thank you. >> Next speaker is in person Megan king. Is miss king here? >> Good afternoon. I'm Megan king, policy and communications planner for preservation Austin. I'm here to express our organization's support for the [2:08:51 PM] organization's support for the proposed code amendment, which seeks to rectify council and planning commission's intent for the preservation bonuses. Far entitlement preservation bonus Ms to promote preservation and disincentivize demolition, creating net benefits for preservation, affordability, anti- displacement and sustainability. We're losing older, smaller and more affordable homes to larger, less affordable ones daily. Austin averages over 500 residal demolitions annually, and the average residential new construction is 2800ft S. In a development climate that incentivizes demolition, the preservation bonus creates more opportunities to preserve for those who want to take it. Recalibrating the bonuses far entitlement to match the planning commission and council's intent is the first step in making the bonus work for more potential projects. Council's July resolution directed staff to explore additional entitlements, including allowing relocated pre 1961 homes to access the bonus, reducing rear and front setbacks and allowing for froack subdivisions. In addition to these recommendations fro council, increasing site coverage and entitling [2:09:51 PM] coverage and entitling preservation bonus projects to a fourth unit will increase the bonuses efficacy in adding density to historic neighborhoods. Preservation Austin and our partners at Austin infill coalition and I. Austin's housing advocacy committee are proud of our collaboration with city council and the planning commission to create this preservation bonus. We look forward to our continued work to make the bonus stronger, unlock its potential to save more Austin homes from the landfill, and generate more housing. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> That concludes all the speakers, mayor. >> Thank you, members, as you heard, that concludes all the speakers that have signed up to speak at this public hearing. Let me announce again that the planning commission will meet again on April 8th. And at that time, there will be a chance for further public comment and input if the public if the planning commission is ready at that point in time, it will be able to vote and it will vote on recommendations to the mayor and council. The city council is also scheduled to consider this [2:10:53 PM] also scheduled to consider this item on the April 20th, at the April 24th regular meeting of the Austin city council, and at that time, we will also hold a public hearing. And this will be another opportunity for public comment. And we will be in a position to vote on it if we decide that's the right time to vote on this. Members. Since that concludes all of the people that have signed up to K. Without objection. >> I'm sending to. Thank you for running the smoothest, >> Quickest. >> Well-run meeting. >> Yeah, he's the reason he's talking is he was betting on the over under that it would be to 11 that we would. Without objection, we will close the public hearing. The public hearing is closed without any further business to come before the Austin city council at this special meeting. Without objection, we are adjourned. I'll turn to the planning commission. Chair. >> Thank you. Mayor. Without further objection, we can go ahead and close the public hearing for this item. Seeing anything, we can move ahead with that. And with no objection, we can go ahead and adjourn this meeting of the planning [2:11:53 PM] meeting of the planning commission at 2:11 P.M.