Changes to Capitol View may be on horizon
Austin Business Journal - June 29, 2007by Jean KwonABJ Staff
Print this Article Email this Article Reprints RSS Feeds Most Viewed Most Emailed
Brett Buchanan
Julian Read of the Heritage Society urges city offi cials to back off of recommended changes to the regulations that keep the Capitol’s dome visible from spots such as this one downtown.
View Larger An effort to mitigate a thorn in many downtown developers' sides -- Capitol View Corridors -- is intensifying.
Last September, the city's Downtown Commission began a review of the Capital View Corridors as part of Mayor Will Wynn's lofty goal to get 25,000 residents living downtown by 2015. The commission approved its final report last week, which will be submitted to the City Council in coming months. The report is available on the city's Web site
www.ci.austin.tx.us.
Local and state preservation societies, led by the Heritage Society of Austin, rejected the commission's original draft report in a 34-page response. Preservation Texas put the view corridors on its list of most endangered places, writing that "the [Capitol] views are priceless and any modification to the view corridors would endanger a treasure that belongs to all Texans."
Enacted into state and city law in 1983, the corridors protect views of the Capitol dome from about 35 locations in the city -- including selected spots along I-35 and even one along Loop 360 in far West Austin. For years, the view corridors have prohibited tall buildings in many spots and forced some developers to come up with creative designs for downtown towers.
According to Jeb Boyt, chairman of the Downtown Commission, opponents of the report "seem to be surprised we have the temerity to talk about this, but this is the first time anyone has done a comprehensive look at the corridors since 1983. We looked at where there is no public benefit, where you are protecting [a view of the Capitol that is unnecessary or doesn't exist anymore]. In those instances, we said 'let's just move the legal description to allow development where it would have no effect on Capitol views.'"
Ultimately, more land -- and airspace for those who want to build skyscrapers -- could be available to builders, but some stress that the growing effort is not just about accommodating developers and the mayor's residential goal for downtown.
"[The] report didn't have anything to do with obliterating [view corridors] in favor of development, but had to do with looking at them and finding out whether they really protected views," says Perry Lorenz, developer of Nokonah, Pedernales and most recently Spring condominiums. He is also a member of the Downtown Commission. "To the extent they are actually protecting views of [the Capitol], let's keep them on the books. To the extent they don't -- but could -- mean meaningful development downtown, let's take a look.
"The city has foregone millions, if not billions, of dollars to preserve those public views, and that's a good thing," he adds. "Let's just make sure we are actually protecting views and not arbitrarily limiting development."
Julian Read, president-elect of the Heritage Society of Austin, is urging city officials to hold off on alterations to the view corridors.
"It's important to understand this is not just a local issue; this is a statewide issue. These views belong to all of Texas," Read says. "We believe it is more important to protect and preserve our views of the Capitol rather than sacrificing them to a growing forest of high-rises and quick profits. When we lose those views, they are gone forever."
Because the view corridors were adopted by state lawmakers, Austin city officials concede that the City Council can do little, if anything, to alter the view corridors. Still, the issue and the Downtown Commission's report is scheduled to head to the City Council later this year for review, and insiders say it could culminate in a lobbying effort on behalf of Austin to get state lawmakers to alter the corridors. The soonest state legislators could consider such changes would be after the next legislative session starts in
January 2009.
Linear Mode
