RE: Please Extend CODENEXT Deadlines for Input!

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Steve Adler
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Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2015 2:12 pm

RE: Please Extend CODENEXT Deadlines for Input!

Post by Steve Adler »

Councilmembers,

Please see my response below to an email sent to the entire Council last week from the Austin Neighborhoods Council Executive Committee.

Subject: RE: Please Extend CODENEXT Deadlines for Input!

Hi Mary,

This email reply is being posted to the Council bulletin board.

I received the ANC Executive Committee’s letter regarding concerns with the timing for CodeNEXT feedback and input. I want to assure you that June 6 and July 7 are merely the initial deadlines for feedback on the first drafts of both the code and the map, and not final deadlines for overall public input and comments. Would you please let everyone know in case they're mistakenly believing that their opportunity for input will shortly be cut off?

As I have said throughout this process, it is important that we end up with a product that both the public and the council agree has been fully vetted. There will be several more drafts of both the code and the maps that will incorporate public feedback. Our citizen-led boards will have an opportunity to collect input, as will the council itself. I know that I will be listening and addressing concerns all the way up to final adoption on third reading, which we anticipate will be about a year from now. There are many additional months beyond this July for folks to give input, and many months for us all to discuss issues.

As we all know, Austin is struggling with an affordability crisis with increased gentrification spreading to more areas of our city, uncertainty associated with planning by exception and variance, and a broken permitting process. Clarifying the land development code is an important component of overcoming these challenges and an important component of implementing our city’s comprehensive plan. We've already delayed far too long.

This is a critical period in Austin’s history. We have to get CodeNEXT right. I think we can, if everyone focuses on the substance. If, at the time of council considerations a year from now, there are still major problems and glaring issues, then we must take the time to get it right.

Steve

From: mary ingle
Sent: Thursday, May 18, 2017 12:03 PM

Subject: Please Extend CODENEXT Deadlines for Input!

May 18, 2017
Austin City Council
City Hall
301 W. 2nd
Austin, TX 78701

Dear Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and City Council Members,

As members of the Austin Neighborhoods Council Executive Committee, we respectfully request that
the deadlines for comments on the draft code and maps be extended until the Fall, end of October.
The current deadlines are unrealistic for June 6 and July 7, particularly since some of the code chapters
are missing (such as the impervious cover regulations and the detailed flood plain analyses), and the
maps have changed since their release on April 18, 2017. So that we can make good judgments and
comments, it is important that we have all of the information to evaluate and digest, for
comprehension of the impact.

Many neighborhood groups- contact teams, steering committees and neighborhood associations- have
not had an adequate chance to meet after the release of new information and review the code/maps
with changes.

The online comment tool is not the easiest, and it is time consuming. Supporting this request, there are
few online comments to the 1100 pages of the draft code. It is important for us to take the time to get
this right, since the new code will affect all of us! We need more time for comments on the draft code
and mapping.

Respectfully,
Mary Ingle, ANC President Chip Harris, ANC Sector 2
Linda Bailey, ANC VP2 Sammy Easterday, ANC Sector 3
Kevin Wier, ANC VP3 Paul Schumann, ANC Sector 4
Joyce Basciano, ANC Co-Secretary David Conner, ANC Sector 5
Justin Irving, ANC Co-Secretary Daniel Llanes, ANC Sector 6
Mike Lavigne, ANC Co-Communications Wayne Shipley, ANC Sector 8
Jesse Moore, ANC Co-Communications Michael Valescu, ANC Sector 9
Brad Parsons, ANC Sector 1 Patricia King, ANC Sector 10
Mayor