CITY COUNCIL
City to consider expanding rules restricting home sizes
South Austin residents say the rules would preserve the character of their neighborhoods.
By Juan Castillo
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, December 10, 2009
When the Austin City Council decided in 2006 to limit the sizes of new or renovated houses in the central city, council members said they wanted to preserve the character of older neighborhoods.
Now, residents of some South Austin neighborhoods say their communities have character worth saving, too.
Today, the Austin City Council will consider a resolution asking City Manager Marc Ott to work with South Austin residents to identify boundaries for a potential expansion of the city's Residential Design and Compatibility Standards ordinance, which limits the size, shape and location of dwellings on urban lots. The ordinance currently applies to about 50 neighborhoods bordered by Ben White Boulevard on the south, U.S. 183 on the north and east, and Capital of Texas Highway (Loop 360), Lake Austin and MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) on the west.
Council Member Laura Morrison said she sponsored the resolution in response to the first-ever requests by residents outside the ordinance boundaries to be included in its regulations. "I'm certainly responding to people who are now saying, 'Let's have this discussion,' " Morrison said.
The resolution says that the Southwood Neighborhood Association and nearby residential areas south of Ben White Boulevard are facing increased pressure from new construction, redevelopment and additions to existing buildings. In October, Southwood voted to join the much smaller Red Bird Lane and Salem Walk Drive neighborhoods in asking the city to extend the ordinance's boundaries south of Ben White.
"We are simply asking for the same protection that Central Austin neighborhoods received with the McMansion ordinance," said Missy Bledsoe, president of the Southwood association.
Andrea McCartney, who lives on Red Bird Lane just south of Southwood, said she sought the association's support because the Red Bird Lane area doesn't have a neighborhood organization and because "there's strength in numbers."
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