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Who speaks government and real estate that can translate this for me?

2,078 Views | 10 Replies | Last: 4 yr ago by PabloSerna
Btron
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AG
So there is some buzz happening in my neighborhood. We're off parmer down the road from the new Apple campus. We've heard that 700 ft of single family homes can and will turn into duplex/fourplex housing. I'm sure it won't be that bad but what does all this mean and how could this impact our neighborhood?
This is not just parmer but other major artery roads in Austin.

https://www.statesman.com/news/20190828/austin-city-council-gets-glimpse-at-plan-to-bump-housing-density-on-neighborhoods-edges?template=ampart

Quote:

The questions that arose Wednesday on the city of Austin's ongoing effort to overhaul its land development code centered on so-called transition zones at the edges of the city's central neighborhoods, where it appears the rewrite will create the greatest potential for more housing.

Those areas, where neighborhood lots sit closest to Austin's high-traffic streets, have emerged as one of the rewrite's main targets for creating more than 285,000 new housing units in the next decade.

As the City Council ordered in May in a hotly debated policy guideline document that is now shaping the rewrite, transition zones were broadly defined as areas where two to five housing lots could extend into a neighborhood.

On Wednesday, staff gave a more detailed look at what that means, offering the council a peek under the hood as to how they will determine where the city code will allow neighborhoods' housing density to increase and to what extent.

City staffers showed that in areas that meet all of their criteria to create transition zones, lots on the outer edges of neighborhoods could be redeveloped into six-unit housing developments. Farther into neighborhoods, the transition zones could allow for four-unit housing.

Staff also said there would likely be areas where transition zones would extend farther than five lots into a neighborhood. They could extend up to 850 feet into a neighborhood from a busy street, but most would top out at 700 feet.

Council Member Alison Alter, who was on the losing end of many votes during the council's creation of the rewrite's policy document, said she hopes she'll get more clarity soon about the effects transition zones will have on neighborhoods.

"We need to communicate that so people know what it means for their neighborhoods," Alter said.

Council Member Jimmy Flannigan, conversely on the winning side of most of those same votes, said he was committed to sticking with compromises ironed out during the meeting that led to the policy document's creation.

"I feel strongly that we made our compromises, and I am going to stick to what we agreed upon as a body," he said.

The council's next meeting on the rewrite will be Sept. 11, when some council members asked city staffers to provide some mapping of where transition zones will be. A draft map and code are set to be released Oct. 4, to be followed by a rapid round of community meetings.

The council will hold its public hearing on the rewrite in November and is slated to take up the approval of the overhaul in December.

After the meeting, Clarksville resident Brooke Bailey said the process was moving too fast.

"There's too many unknowns," Bailey said. "There's too much that is undefined and too many variables."
rugger74
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AG
Will squeeze more homes on the edge of your neighborhood and create more congestion. These homes will be closer to the street.
MBUSA
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^that. Also could increase or decrease your property's value depending on what ends up there.
Btron
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But the city of Austin will not "buy out" existing homes to build these denser options?
From what you're saying these are just rezoning changes and new developments COULD start popping up.
BBDP
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"neighborhoods could be redeveloped into six-unit housing developments. Farther into neighborhoods, the transition zones could allow for four-unit housing."
6 units are apartment buildings in my opinion.
4 units are more likely townhome type.
The housing market in Austin is moving to high density due to cost (mostly land cost but also code compliance costs) but I expect your area will be pretty high end type stuff.
evan_aggie
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They are speaking out of both sides of their mouth. They want to make Austin more affordable by changing zoning in areas where many SF1 homes already exist. People may have lived there for 5, 10, 15, 20+ years. The land now is suitable for stacking 6-12 "homes" onto a lot, and therefore the land value based on redevelopment when exchanging hands will continue to skyrocket.

They don't really care about existing home owners, regardless of whether they are transplants or have lived here for the majority of their lives.

From a nextdoor group in my area...

http://www.zonedoutfilm.com/watch-the-film.html
https://communitynotcommodity.com/do-you-live-in-a-transition-zone/

MouthBQ98
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They want to raise the taxable valuation of the land and open much more of it up for high density redevelopment in a vain political attempt to keep residential development inside city limits and help the poorer residents have options given population growth.

I have no idea where all the cars for these residences would park.
Martin Cash
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I am completely amazed than anyone with an IQ higher than their shoe size would EVER live in the city limits of Austin.
evan_aggie
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Martin Cash said:

I am completely amazed than anyone with an IQ higher than their shoe size would EVER live in the city limits of Austin.

I don't know what my IQ is, but I wear an 11-11.5, so i'm hoping higher!

I used to live in Cedar Park (8 years) and thought about driving off the road every day on the way home during my hour commute from downtown. The only problem is that i would have hit the median/wall at 5-10mph in traffic and not accomplished the goal of ending it all...just a dented bumper.

Now, normally, you might think: easy, get different job closer to where you live. I actually did do that for a couple of years near the Arboretum, but the job was terrible. So then...I decided, because I am greedy and selfish: I'm going to have it all! I'm going to have the job I want, and live 15 minutes from the office which puts me within the city limits.

My tax rate is actually lower ( I think 2.3% vs 2.8%?) in the city than it was in Cedar Park, but obviously my valuation is higher and I do end up paying more in taxes.
PabloSerna
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This is good news for you if you own a lot in the transition zone. These zones are ALREADY congested. Meaning they are close to busy streets and transportation nodes. What the city is proposing is changing the type of housing available to more density for the size of the lot. Use to be you needed a huge lot to build 3-4 unit town homes that are then sold to Californios at $500k each, now... well I wish I had a lot there.

If you live in a house there, then yes, you probably are already seeing a lot of congestion.. this will better order this already growing trend and make folks who own lots there.. rich!

+Pablo

PabloSerna
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Martin Cash said:

I am completely amazed than anyone with an IQ higher than their shoe size would EVER live in the city limits of Austin.

Lol... Austin is incredible. I know quite a few folks who have "cashed in" on their family land/house. Don't know too many folks from Hutto saying that.

+Pablo

PabloSerna
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evan_aggie said:

They are speaking out of both sides of their mouth. They want to make Austin more affordable by changing zoning in areas where many SF1 homes already exist. People may have lived there for 5, 10, 15, 20+ years. The land now is suitable for stacking 6-12 "homes" onto a lot, and therefore the land value based on redevelopment when exchanging hands will continue to skyrocket.

They don't really care about existing home owners, regardless of whether they are transplants or have lived here for the majority of their lives.

From a nextdoor group in my area...

http://www.zonedoutfilm.com/watch-the-film.html
https://communitynotcommodity.com/do-you-live-in-a-transition-zone/



Its already happening. The City is responding to change that is ALREADY going on. That is good news for you guys (I live in Bastrop).
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