Austin City Council Work Session Transcript – 10/21/2025 Title: ATXN-1 (24hr) Channel: 1 - ATXN-1 Recorded On: 10/21/2025 6:00:00AM Original Air Date: 10/121/2025 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. [9:00:34 AM] good morning everybody. It's 9:00 on October 21st, 2025 and I will call to order the city council of Austin, Texas work session. We have a quorum of the city council present, and we are meeting in the city council chambers, which they're located in city hall, which is at 301 west second street. The order of business will go in is I'm going to verify here in a second that we don't have any speakers signed up for public comment, and we will then go to a couple. We're going to do it this way. We're going to go into an executive session to take up item E two, and I'll announce that in more detail here in just a second. We will also go into executive session to take up item E one. And after that we will come back in and we will take up the briefing item B one. I will note that the mayor pro tem is absent today conducting important city business. And so she's she's not with us. I'll turn to the city clerk's office to verify. We don't have any speakers. >> No, mayor. There are no speakers. >> Very good members in that case, without objection. [9:01:34 AM] case, without objection. Pursuant to section 551087. Hang on a second. We're going to go into executive session and we'll take up two items. The first one will be pursuant to 551074 of the government code. We will go in to discuss personnel matters. Related. As I indicated, item E two, those are personnel issues related to the appointment of a new city auditor. And pursuant to section 551086 and 551071 of the government code, the city council will discuss utility, competitive matters and legal issues related to item E one. Discuss Austin energy generation, operation and resource issues. And again, that's under 551086 and 55107. One of the government code members. Is there any objection to going into executive session on the items that were announced? That being the case, without objection, the council [9:02:36 AM] without objection, the council will now go into executive session at 9:02 A.M. As I indicated, as soon as the executive session is complete on these two items, we will come back out and convene in open session and we will take up item B one, which is the briefing. Thanks, everybody. Hello everybody. It's 1129 and [11:29:16 AM] Hello everybody. It's 1129 and I will call back to order the work session of the Austin city council. We are out of a closed session. In the closed session we discussed utility, competitive matters and personnel matters related to items e1 and e2 members. I just want to point out for the record, that on Thursday, we will take up an item related to the city auditor, and at that time, there will be a motion that will be to direct Robert berg, the senior vice president of Ralph Andersen and associates, our consulting firm, to negotiate a contract with Jason hadavi to be the Austin city auditor starting in January of 2026. The next item on our agenda is item b1, which is a briefing regarding the development assessment of proposed pud, located at 1400 and a half and 1404 east Riverside drive, within the lady bird lake watershed urban watershed. And I see that miss Hardin has found a place to [11:30:16 AM] Hardin has found a place to address us. And so I'll call on miss Hardin. >> Thank you. Good afternoon. Oh, still. Good morning, mayor and council. I'm joy Hardin with Austin planning. I'm here to present this project assessment, which we call a development assessment for case number CD 2025 0002. This is a briefing on a proposed planned unit development, or pud, located at 14.5 and 1404 east Riverside drive. I know I presented a development assessment last month on September 9th, but just as a quick reminder, since I don't present these often, the city's land development code requires that prior to an applicant submitting a application, the applicant is required to do what we call a development assessment, which is essentially a dry run of what they are proposing to submit. Staff offers, comments and the comments come back from numerous city departments, and we give them back to the applicant. And then we give a briefing to the council on some of the overall big picture [11:31:17 AM] of the overall big picture items, in reference to what the applicant is going to submit in their future pud application. This is the time where you provide feedback to this proposal. And of course, as you know, there is a staff report provided in your backup for your for you to review. As I stated, this site is located at 14.5 and 1404 east Riverside drive. The site is 2.62 acres in size and is currently undeveloped. Previously the site of actin business school, it is zoned irc. Cmu, which is east Riverside corridor corridor mixed use subdistrict. It is designated as specific regulating plan on the future land use map. Flum in the east Riverside oltorf combined neighborhood plan that was adopted on November 16th, 2006. The property is located within the lady bird lake watershed, which is classified as urban watershed and within the waterfront overlay. Again, the applicant is proposing pud [11:32:18 AM] applicant is proposing pud zoning. The proposed project will consist of a residential development of approximately 381 residential units. The applicant is seeking cs general commercial services district zoning as the baseline zoning district for the pud, so any development over the height of 60ft or a 2 to 1 floor area ratio ratio would have to comply with this section of the ordinance, which outlines the affordability requirement. The applicant is requesting 12 code modifications, which are outlined in exhibit D, and there are big ask is the request of a maximum building height of 180ft. Just know currently any development on this site cannot exceed a height of 96ft in exchange for receiving the increase entitlement of height and other modification the applicant is seeking. Excuse me. In exchange for receiving the increased height, entitlement of height, and other modification, the applicant is seeking. Some of [11:33:19 AM] applicant is seeking. Some of the applicant's proposed superiority items are as follows 15 on site affordable units 60% totaling 8568ft S off site storm water will be captured and treated with an innovative water quality. Controls. 1.17 acres of the property will be dedicated as parkland. Parkland, which is 44% of the property providing for open space that is 10% above minimum requirements and providing on site long term bicycle parking and 150% of code requirements. Other superiority items are listed on page two of the staff report and in exhibit E in the backup. Also to note, the property is located near the hike and bike trail and a quarter of a mile from the proposed rail stop. So council, just know that once this briefing is complete, the applicant may submit their actual pud application. It will go through the usual process review by multiple city departments, review by a [11:34:19 AM] departments, review by a minimum environmental commission, planning commission, and finally back to council. So this concludes my presentation and please feel free to relay any comments at this time. Thank you. >> Thank you very much for the presentation. But the the mayor pro tem and the mayor are off. And the mayor asked me to to step in. >> And thank you. >> Drive the bus for just a bit. Thank you very much. Any questions from the Dyess councilmember? Alter? >> Mayor pro tem pro tem, I do have a question. This is actually not about the the merits of this case, but harkening back to the question I asked the last time we were here talking about a future pud. And you know the exact number. But generally speaking, how much did this process cost the applicant to get here? >> I, I don't know, I would say I don't know what they paid in their notification cost and their submittal. I'd have to look that up in Amanda. But of course it would cost thousands [11:35:21 AM] course it would cost thousands of dollars. And then I don't have a price for the time. >> Yeah. >> I don't have a cost for that. And I don't know how much the application process cost for this. >> Okay. >> I could look it up and get it back to you. >> Just I think that, you know, once again, we're here and I think we're going to walk away in no different spot than we were 30 minutes ago. And we have put a lot of effort and time on your staff. We have required the applicant to spend a lot of time and money just to get to this point, and I think we need to really start talking about a process that maybe it's a partial way check in or something that can shorten this timeline and reduce the cost so that we can, you know, maybe that adds ten more affordable units or maybe that, you know, has other benefits in terms of they can have more open space because we're not carrying an extra six months of cost. So I [11:36:22 AM] extra six months of cost. So I just I want to take this moment once again to reiterate that I think while I understand why we got here, it could potentially use a a fixing. >> Thank you for the comments. Council member alter, any other thoughts? Comments from the Dyess councilmember Siegel. >> Thank you. Council member thank you for the presentation. Just had a brief question. I was looking at the superiority items, and it did mention that the project would pay a fee in lieu for affordable housing, and do we know how much that would be or how that would be calculated? >> No, it's $9 a well, there's two things. So for this development, they are doing 15 on site affordable units. But the code does allow for them to just pay a fee. And Lou. So any square footage and we just don't have that at this time, but any square footage above [11:37:24 AM] but any square footage above 60ft in height and above their F.A.R, and that's calculated once they are ready to present a site plan and we can do that ratio. It would be approximately $9 a square foot, but minus the 15 affordable units. But I don't we don't have the cost at this time of what they're going to be paying. >> Thank you ma'am. >> Thank you very much. I just wanted to echo councilmember alter's comments. We we love to to hear your presentations, but this kind of a pre-show before the show might not be, you know, the best use of of everybody's time. I do want to reiterate. Council member Velasquez. >> Thank you ma'am. So 1515 affordable units, it would be only 4% affordability. >> 60%. >> 60%. >> 60%, 60% affordability. So there are they are located currently within the east Riverside plan. And with the height that they can do under [11:38:27 AM] height that they can do under the plan, that plan requires approximately 15 units for their square footage. Now they are going to keep that even though they're trying to come out of the plan. The plan does require 15 affordable units for their proposed development, and they're keeping that. And that's at 60% mfi. >> And I apologize, I meant 4% of the actual units, not mfi. >> Oh, I think that's correct. >> Okay. Just to make a general comment, like and I apologize for my voice. My my cowboys won this past weekend. So I was screaming my head off at the actual game. I would like to see that increase. And if there's I know that that we're getting a lot of but but that's just just my comment to this development. >> Thank you. >> Appreciate that. Council member with no further questions or comments. Thank you very much, miss harden. >> Thank you. Thanks. >> And I believe that is the last item on our work session agenda. Just let me just double [11:39:28 AM] agenda. Just let me just double check with and with nothing further before the council. Then we are adjourned today at 11:39.