Hundreds show up to speak on HOME part 2, other land code changes
Quick Summary: Hundreds of speakers showed up to Thursday’s Austin City Council meeting as the body looked to make major Land Development Code changes. The last time the body held a vote similar to this one, public comment lasted nearly 12 hours.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2024 BY GRACE READER
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Hundreds of speakers showed up to Thursday’s Austin City Council meeting as the body looked to make major Land Development Code changes. Council listened to the public from 10 in the morning Thursday until early the following morning.
City Council worked through amendments and passed those changes Friday. Here’s what you need to know:
HOME Part 2: Passed
The HOME initiative — which stands for Home Options for Middle-income Empowerment — has been rolled out in two parts. The first part, which was approved by Austin City Council in December and put into place in February, allowed for more units to be built on a single-family lot. Think, three townhouses instead of one home.
The second phase of the HOME initiative, which was approved Friday with Council Member Mackenzie Kelly and Alison Alter voting no, will change minimum lot size requirements — essentially, how much land you need to build a unit on it.
Right now in the City of Austin, you need 5,750 square feet to put a unit on most single-family lots. The city council voted to drop that to 1,800 square feet.
It’s important to note though, HOME part one and HOME part two don’t play off of each other. If you have a 5,750 square foot lot, you can’t subdivide it into three lots and then put three units on each lot.
In other words, you still need 5,750 square feet to put three units on a single lot. Or, you could subdivide your lot into three parts and put a single unit on each of your three lots. Either way, you get three units on a lot that would only allow for one right now.
Council Member José Velásquez also brought an amendment to “investigate the feasibility of an equity/anti-displacement overlay” alongside this, which passed. The overlay is something groups against HOME part two have asked for, though they wanted a stronger commitment to it.
Resolution to address HOME community concerns
While amendments were made to the Land Development Code (LDC) changes — including HOME part two — Mayor Pro Tem Leslie Pool and several city council members also intend to introduce a companion resolution that will be voted on during the May 30 meeting to address some additional community concerns.
According to the draft, that resolution could direct the city manager to look at things like:
- Partnering with lending institutions to make private financing more approachable for low and middle-income homeowners
- Find ways to streamline the process and cut costs for those moving to utilize HOME, including looking at procedures fees that can be waived for low and middle-income homeowners
- Expanding Austin’s existing Anti-Displacement Navigator Program
You can read the entirety of the draft resolution here.
Compatibility changes: Passed
The word “compatibility” as it relates to land code may sound familiar to you because it’s something both City and state officials have tried to modify before, without much success.
Right now in the Austin, you can’t build very tall buildings next to single family homes. We’ve told you previously that our city is more strict on that than most in Texas, which makes developing more dense housing near single-family homes difficult.
We like how Council Member Chito Vela of District 4 previously described compatibility as “a force field” around some homes. In the City now, there’s a sliding scale of permissible height that extends up to 540 feet from a single-family property, “which is a huge area,” Vela said.
That will be shifted from 540 feet to 75 feet after the vote Friday. Council Members Mackenzie Kelly and Alison Alter voted no.
Equitable Transit-Oriented Development (ETOD): Passed
The Equitable Transit-Oriented Development (ETOD) overlay which will exist on and near the future light rail line also passed Friday. The goal of an ETOD is to encourage land along a transit corridor, like Project Connect, to support public transit — think dense housing so that people have access to that transportation.
The ETOD will prohibit the building of certain car-oriented businesses like car dealerships and gas stations. City planning staff said it does not include drive-thru food establishments (your favorite burger joints are safe).
The proposal does not nix anyone’s existing home or business, although could impact whether some expansions or rebuilds — for business types no longer allowed under the overlay — can happen in the future.
There were several other Land Development Code changes on the table Friday — including where electric vehicle charging stations can be built — you can read about those in our previous coverage here.