YOUR-VOICE

Development code should prepare for the promise of Austin’s future

Patrick Rose
A multi-family dwelling is located next to residential housing on Live Oak Street in this 2018 file photo. [JAY JANNER/AMERICAN-STATESMAN]

In 2012, the Austin City Council unanimously adopted our city’s comprehensive plan called Imagine Austin. In doing so, our elected leaders acknowledged the need to move forward with Priority No. 8 in that plan, to “revise Austin’s development regulations and processes to promote a compact and connected city.”

The land development code governs nearly everything involving building and land use, from zoning and site plans to open space and drainage. Everything that is built (or not built) in Austin is subject to the land development code, and those regulations fundamentally shape Austin’s future.

The Real Estate Council of Austin, or RECA, is deeply committed to a more affordable, compelling, connected and opportunity-rich Austin. And it is for this reason that our organization’s 1,700+ members believe that the city’s efforts to revise the land development code are critically important.

The code under which Austin currently lives was adopted in 1984, and our city has tried to comprehensively revise this old code before. In 2013, the city council approved the hiring of Opticos Design to consult on a code rewrite, and CodeNext was born. CodeNext aimed to produce a new code that could be approved by the city council with the general support of the community.

After hundreds of hours of public testimony, three thousand-plus page drafts of a new code, five years and more than $8 million, CodeNext failed to gain a consensus from stakeholders. That led to a city council vote last August to stop work on the project, and a new directive to City Manager Spencer Cronk to design and implement a better process for developing a new land development code.

RECA maintains great confidence in the mayor, council and city manager. And as Mayor Adler rightly stated at the State of the City Address, the city council is “poised to act in big ways.” Importantly, Mr. Cronk has started the process in a prudent manner by asking city council members to provide guidance on several tough policy questions before a new code is drafted.

The public has already provided thousands of hours of public testimony, and the results of the recent city council elections prove the community wants our leaders to meaningfully address our housing shortage, high cost of living and mobility challenges. The new code must address several fundamental issues.

The code should be clear to everyone and provide better predictability for the development industry, which builds our schools, homes, churches, community centers and favorite restaurants. It should also be clear for everyday citizens who want to remodel a kitchen, or add a guesthouse or extra rooms for a growing family. And it should prepare our city to meet our future needs while acknowledging that our city will continue to grow.

A new code should also encourage additional, strategically located housing supply – across all product types and price points – as the key to solving our city’s  affordability crisis. We must accept the reality that traditional, large-lot, single-family homes are not for everyone and our new code must allow for more ‘missing middle’ housing for those who desire it. Austin needs more duplexes, triplexes, accessory dwelling units and townhomes, for our working families, recent college graduates, empty nesters and retirees.

RECA’s membership cares about the community we call home, and looks forward to contributing our expertise to this process. We are ready to work with everyone – elected officials, neighborhood groups, environmental leaders, the business community and all stakeholders – to arrive at a new land development code that prepares for the reality and promise of our community’s future.

Rose is chair of the Real Estate Council of Austin.